AG Russell store visit

Chief

Chief

Chief Master Sergeant USAF (ret) 1975-2000
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Nov 15, 1998
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While on a fall foliage drive yesterday, took advantage of the opportunity to visit AG Russell's Store.

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Brought my list of knives from AG's website I was interested in, arrived shortly after they opened and had the store to myself. Was met by a friendly salesman, Jerry. We discussed the sentimental value of knives, so I showed off my Dad's '40-65 Case 6332 that is performing temporary EDC duty while I search out an EDC, and Jerry showed me his first knife that he got when he was 10 years old (Jerry looked to be about my age, mid 50s). It was a small Old Timer pen knife, the main blade had been sharpened down to the width of a kitchen match, very cool.

While browsing the store AG came in and I was fortunate to have an opportunity to chat knives with him. Asked what he carried and he pulled out one of the knives on my list, the AG Russell Acies, a Sebenza clone. Have owned a few Sebbies but never learned to like em. The Acies was super smooth, vault lockup, ZDP-189, and, dare I say it, better looking than a Sebbie. AG schooled me on the virtues of the Hinderer Stabilizer but in the end, to me it was still too Sebenza-ish so I moved on. AG and I discussed the knife I was holding, an AG Russell Curved Regular Jack. I have a bit of an issue buying a knife made in China and mentioned that to AG. Said I would be willing to pay more for a similiar knife made in the USA, AG asked how much more, 4 times more? Since I am looking for a user, quickly realized that I'm not willing to pay _that_ much more. I asked why not leave "China" off the blade, and he explained that would be fine for the initial purchaser, but he didn't want subsequent buyers to be misled about the country of origin and overpay. I really liked the Curved Regular Jack so my first selection was a RUS-CJ13SWBX. The smooth bone looks very classy, much better than the yellow delrin and even nicer than the amber jigged bone IMO. Nice snap, perfectly centered blade, internal stop pin to prevent dulling the blade when closing, for $59 it is a lot of knife.

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AGRussell1.jpg

Nits ... just my personal opinion but the bolsters would make the knife more symmetrical if they were closer in size. Not a fan of the shield shape / size, would look better with a smaller shield or none at all.

Other knives I looked at closely were the AG Russell Pinched Peanut in mammoth ivory, made in Japan, very nice, but for $225 I passed. The AG Russell 3" lockback in CF, VG10 steel but the knife is too thin for my grip. The black pearl on the Ultimate Pen I looked at was stunning, full of color, but also too thin for my grip. The AG Russell Sowbelly Trapper was another nice knife for the money, another lotsa knife for the money, but way too big to fit in my front pocket. The AG Russell Small Wharncliffe Whittler with India Stag Scales was a nice slippy, but @ $155 not enticing enough for me to bring one home. The AG Russell Beak is a beast of a knife, perfect for my brother-in-law farmer who uses stuff up, and Christmas is just around the corner. AG showed me how to operate the lock on his One-Hand Knife but the function was not natural for me, maybe with practice, but I passed. AG told me a little about Rucarta (Russell + Micarta?), a brown micarta he had made just for his knives. Micarta is almost indestructible, and with the fiber Rucarta kind of mimics wood to my eye. Next, AG showed me his Medium Gunstock Lockback. I liked this knife a lot, you can push on the deep nail nick with your thumb and open it one handed, very convenient. Referred to as a medium, but @ 4 1/4" closed it is still too big to easily fit in my front pocket. Then Jerry, my salesman, informed me they were making a smaller version of this knife (perfect!) and they had just gotten the proto in. Jerry brought out the proto and allowed me to take pics of it but marketing was not done with it so it wasn't for sale.

AGRussellproto.jpg

Jerry told me these would be available the end of November so I added one in Rucarta to my purchase. My wife returned from the quilt store and picked out 3 kitchen knives to finalize our tally.

If you are ever in the Rogers Arkansas vicinity, recommend stopping by to check out AG's line of China manufactured knives. I never would have bought one without seeing them firsthand, but bought a couple after seeing them in person, they are an excellent value.
 
Great post, Chief. I find it interesting that A.G. said the same quality as his $59 imports would cost 4 times as much if made here in the U.S. Most of our members are pretty enthusiastic about GEC's quality, and their models in micarta have all been under $100, not even twice as much. That said, I've never heard of anyone being unsatisfied with the quality of A.G.'s knives, or his service. It's alway great to go to the source. Sounds like a memorable trip!
 
Thanks for the review.
There are two AG Russell knives that keep catching my attention...
One is the curved regular jack with wharncliffe blade and smooth white handle that you just posted a pic of. Something in that knife speaks to me and someday I might listen to it :D
The other is the Sowbelly Trapper. If they ever made a smaller version of it, I would have no doubt and get one immediately. Too bad it's north of 4"...too big for my carry.
I've never handled any AG Russell knives, but they get good reviews...and maybe time will lead one of these edgy things into my hands eventually...

Fausto
:cool:
 
Great post. I have purchased about a dozen knives from Mr Russell over the years and have a lot of respect for his
ethics and business savvy. It must have been a great experience to actually meet the man and talk knives with him.
 
black mamba said:
I find it interesting that A.G. said the same quality as his $59 imports would cost 4 times as much if made here in the U.S. Most of our members are pretty enthusiastic about GEC's quality, and their models in micarta have all been under $100, not even twice as much.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the exact same thing...
 
black mamba said:
Great post, Chief. I find it interesting that A.G. said the same quality as his $59 imports would cost 4 times as much if made here in the U.S. Most of our members are pretty enthusiastic about GEC's quality, and their models in micarta have all been under $100, not even twice as much. That said, I've never heard of anyone being unsatisfied with the quality of A.G.'s knives, or his service. It's alway great to go to the source. Sounds like a memorable trip!
Click to expand...

You read my mind. Maybe he said it for emphasis' sake, but I doubt a knife would cost 4x as much if made here. My gut tells me 2x is the right number, but even then that is a difficult proposition for American companies.

- Christian
 
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black mamba said:
Great post, Chief. I find it interesting that A.G. said the same quality as his $59 imports would cost 4 times as much if made here in the U.S. Most of our members are pretty enthusiastic about GEC's quality, and their models in micarta have all been under $100, not even twice as much. That said, I've never heard of anyone being unsatisfied with the quality of A.G.'s knives, or his service. It's alway great to go to the source. Sounds like a memorable trip!
Click to expand...

I agree with you to some extent Jeff but GEC is not the "be all - end all" knife manufacture when it comes to USA made prodution knives. I have several recent Case manufactured knives along with Schatt & Morgan knives that are equal to or exceed anything that GEC can produce.

I gotta say that some of the knives coming from China are first rate - just as good as anthing produced comercially in the USA. Now I know some people don't want to hear that but products from China are improving over time. I may not like it but that's where it is.

I'm sure AG wasn't implying that EVERY knife he had to offer in the $59 range would cost 4-times more than anything made in the US but that some would come into that price range.

Anyway, GEC makes some great knives (I have a bunch) as do others.

EDIT: Chief - That was a great report and it sounds like you had some quality time with AG. Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure with us.
 
Thanks Chief! I need to get by there someday, it would be a bigger high light to chat with A.G. then getting another knife!
 
Ed, I agree with you about S&M and Case quality. In fact, the first thing I thought of in conjunction with the "4 times more" statement was the Case/Bose collaborations, as they are some of the few knives actually in that $240 range. If the $59 import Russell's are truly that good, then they are indeed a heck of a bargain.
 
One thing about many of the A.G. Russell knives is, they're in patterns and designs that've never been approached in mass-production before, and wouldn't be found anywhere else (save for custom). Most of what we see from Case, S&M, Queen & GEC are more or less standard, long-established patterns, using standard materials (carbon/brass/nickel), and perhaps resized or tweaked a bit. I've been buying many of his knives since the early '90s, and although many of them seemed pricey to me, I knew I wouldn't find anything similar anywhere else. He tends to push the envelope quite a bit further with each new design, and often uses 'high end' materials (all stainless frames/liners/bolsters, mammoth/stag/micarta scales). Even the blade stock is often a step above (how many 3/16" thick blades do we see from Case, GEC & others, on FOLDING knives?). And the seams from backspring-to-tang on most of his folders are virtually invisible. So I can see the higher cost of ramping up production for each new model. For a long while, I viewed many of the knives I bought from him as close to custom as I could afford, without actually being custom.
 
Thanks for sharing; that sounds like a very interesting visit and conversation to have with the man himself. :thumbup:

I really like the design of those knives and would love to try one but simply cannot get beyond that particular outsourced production. Ah well.

As for the price... if Victorinox of Switzerland can sell a Super Champ for $60, much is possible.
 
Part of AG's 4X comment was a probably a little early morning salesmanship that he didn't plan on being quoted on, or maybe I misunderstood him :o

Don't own any GECs yet, would like a single bladed Northfield or Tidioute wharnie. Spent some time browsing the distributor's web site but haven't located one exactly like I want.

Don't own any of the Case Bose collaborations but kinda doubt AG's China models are in the same league. The last few Case stockmans I bought left me a little disappointed in the brand due to blade rub. My recent Petite Sky Blue Case mini copperhead has excellent fit and finish with the wharnie blade I prefer, but no CV in that pattern. When I buy another Case it will probably be the CV mini trapper with the single wharnie / burnt stag, but it has that hideous "Rancher" etched on the blade. :-(

Was an honor to get some of AG's time / wisdom. Thanx for the positive comments.
 
Thanks for the report. Glad to hear the Gunstock Lockback is coming out in a smaller size. I have one of the current models that I really like, but it is too big and heavy for (comfortable) pocket carry. Wish they'd downsize that Large Folding Hunter!
 
My parents now live about 20 min. from his store, so I get down there to visit about 2-3 times a year. My first quality knife came from A. G. Russell almost 20 years ago, and I've purchased probably about 15 knives since then.

It was his glass counters filled with knives back in his old Springdale location that got me hooked on knives, and I'd make the grocery-shopping trip with my mom when I was young, just so I could have her stop by the store and let me drool.

A few years ago, I went the the "Knife Event" held for the grand-opening of the new location / anniversary (40th?), and met and talked with Bob Loveless, Bob Dozier, Jim Weir (at the birth of Lonewolf knives) and A. G., along with several other representatives from the big names in production knives.

If I have my way, I'm going to retire early, move to the Ozarks, and get a part-time job in A. G.'s store. Yeah, that's the ticket.:D
 
kamagong said:
You read my mind. Maybe he said it for emphasis' sake, but I doubt a knife would cost 4x as much if made here. My gut tells me 2x is the right number, but even then that is a difficult proposition for American companies.

- Christian
Click to expand...

If I could buy MY designs in the US, Germany or Japan for double, or even triple the cost of using the GREAT makers I have developed in China I would be doing so.

I sent a trapper design to Germany and got a quote of $50,000 in tooling and $75 cost per knife, that kwould mean an investment of $125,000 to order the first 1,000 knives. How long would it take to sell those knives at $250?, at $199???? Think Sowbelly.

Yes you can buy knives made in the U. S. for less than $100, but they are the same designs your granddaddy was buying. Yes the predjudice some folks have against China keeps our sales lower than I think they should be, but the designs and prices bring us more business than you might think.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. Blade forums keeps me learning.

A. G.
 
Speaking of the economics, and not of the politics, I think the kind of production A. G. is getting from China is exactly what we want to encourage. Creative designs with excellent fit & finish, not mass market rip-offs overloading the low end of our expectation spectrum.

Getting China involved in high-end workmanship will strengthen the workers position in society, the same way my immigrant grandfather made a success of a career as a machinist.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Speaking of the economics, and not of the politics, I think the kind of production A. G. is getting from China is exactly what we want to encourage. Creative designs with excellent fit & finish, not mass market rip-offs overloading the low end of our expectation spectrum.

Getting China involved in high-end workmanship will strengthen the workers position in society, the same way my immigrant grandfather made a success of a career as a machinist.
Click to expand...

Very good point, and very well spoken. AG's knives are really well made, there are so many different makers here that I want to buy from too.
 
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