All That Is Survive! Knives, Post Here Reopened

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Has anyone seen a pic of a finished 3.5? I've been eagerly awaiting mine but haven't come across a completed piece.

Thanks,
Adam
 
My first gen GSO-10 wasn't numbered and I never heard of any of them being so... Yesterday Guy was supposed to do some cold weather testing on the cpm-20cv steel. He never posted the results, I wonder if all did not go as planned?:eek:
 
Has anyone seen a pic of a finished 3.5? I've been eagerly awaiting mine but haven't come across a completed piece.

Thanks,
Adam

It sounds like Guy is competing with some other folks on laser-cutting and grinding, and the GSO-10's are enormous. Since the GSO-3.5 and NeckerII are slated behind those, and SHOT is next week, I wouldn't expect to see a blank of either knife until the week of 1/19/14 at the earliest. Will he have them handled, finished, sheathed and out the door by early February as planned? *shrug* Don't hold your breath, but don't be angry either. It'll show up :thumbup:
 
Has anyone seen a pic of a finished 3.5? Been eagerly awaiting mine, but have yet to see the completed piece.

Thanks,
Adam
 
I don't believe there are any pics of a completed 3.5 because no scales are done yet... There are pics of the 3.5 blanks on Guy's Survive! facebook. Go to the photos and go down a bit... several pics in hand so you can at least see the size.
 
My first gen GSO-10 wasn't numbered and I never heard of any of them being so... Yesterday Guy was supposed to do some cold weather testing on the cpm-20cv steel. He never posted the results, I wonder if all did not go as planned?:eek:

I'm guessing a video will show up eventually

As far as numbered GSO 10's... I'm weird, but I actually prefer not to have a numbered knife. The numbers on my Busse LE's bother me a bit, and I can't explain why.
 
Yeah it fishy. Makes me wish I didn't buy two of them.

The good news is you probably would have no issues making your money back if you decided to sell one or both of your gso-10's... the bad news is of course the same with a lot of survive! blades these days, you don't have them yet.
 
I too expected a numbered GSO 10. I can't remember why I thought that because it was so long ago. I do know that I placed the order just as soon as I could after the pre order notification in hopes of getting a single digit knife.

Given the total pre order experience on the 10, I think that I am done with pre orders from Survive. I know there was an initial GSO 10 release, but according to posts here, those knives were not numbered either. I own three numbered knives from Survive. If the 10 ever comes, I will be happy to pay a little more for my next purchase and buy it from stock. The last 4.1 I ordered from stock was just about a month ago, and I still see no signs of it. So buying from stock at Survive does not ensure a reasonable delivery time. For the future I'm thinking that if Blade HQ does not have it in stock, I don't want it.
 
To those who have received their blade after a long wait and no communication from the company, was it worth it? Not trolling, I am honestly curious. The knives look great, but I personally don't see anything revolutionary about them to justify such a long wait and lousy customer service. Does the blade performance justify this? How does it compare to other blades you have bought from the big companies?
 
To those who have received their blade after a long wait and no communication from the company, was it worth it? Not trolling, I am honestly curious. The knives look great, but I personally don't see anything revolutionary about them to justify such a long wait and lousy customer service. Does the blade performance justify this? How does it compare to other blades you have bought from the big companies?

The only other available CPM3V knives in this price point that I can think of are Koster and Bark River. Maybe Fehrman, but they are a bit more expensive.

If you think the wait time is a problem with Survive!, you would slit your wrists waiting for a Koster.

And as far as Bark River goes... the fit and finish of Survive! is significantly better than any Bark River I've owned. No uneven grinds, no uneven handle scales, and no edges ground too thin.

So yes, to me, the product is worth it. The knives I have received from Survive! are some of the highest quality knives I've owned. I don't know if I would say revolutionary, but when it comes to fixed blade knives... what could be?

Edit: And I refuse to acknowledge their customer service as "lousy". Their communication has been poor, but has improved since this thread was started (probably as a result? Guy has an account here). But my only experience with their customer service to this point was when I ordered three of the leather drop loops and they accidentally only sent me two. My email was replied to within a day, and the very next morning the third drop loop was in the mail. Now, you could argue that screwing up in the first place was bad customer service, but I am okay with mistakes, as long as they are corrected. And they corrected it, quickly, never once questioning whether or not I really received all of the items I was supposed to have received.
 
The only other available CPM3V knives in this price point that I can think of are Koster and Bark River. Maybe Fehrman, but they are a bit more expensive.

If you think the wait time is a problem with Survive!, you would slit your wrists waiting for a Koster.

And as far as Bark River goes... the fit and finish of Survive! is significantly better than any Bark River I've owned. No uneven grinds, no uneven handle scales, and no edges ground too thin.

So yes, to me, the product is worth it. The knives I have received from Survive! are some of the highest quality knives I've owned. I don't know if I would say revolutionary, but when it comes to fixed blade knives... what could be?

Edit: And I refuse to acknowledge their customer service as "lousy". Their communication has been poor, but has improved since this thread was started (probably as a result? Guy has an account here). But my only experience with their customer service to this point was when I ordered three of the leather drop loops and they accidentally only sent me two. My email was replied to within a day, and the very next morning the third drop loop was in the mail. Now, you could argue that screwing up in the first place was bad customer service, but I am okay with mistakes, as long as they are corrected. And they corrected it, quickly, never once questioning whether or not I really received all of the items I was supposed to have received.

Thanks for your insight. It seems you have had a good experience with their customer service, others have not; I guess it is hit or miss. To me, poor communication=poor customer service, but ymmv. Like you, I am OK with a company making a mistake as long as they are willing to correct it in an expeditious manner which they did.
 
To those who have received their blade after a long wait and no communication from the company, was it worth it? Not trolling, I am honestly curious. The knives look great, but I personally don't see anything revolutionary about them to justify such a long wait and lousy customer service. Does the blade performance justify this? How does it compare to other blades you have bought from the big companies?

The wait time that I had for the other examples of Survive knives that I preordered was not as long as for this GSO 10 knife. This one is going on 9 months, and since I do not have it yet, I cannot comment on if it was worth the wait. I can only comment on the examples that I own and compare them to other similar examples that I have handled.

First, let me say that I am a Pennsylvanian, and I very much want to see Guy (another Pennsylvanian) succeed in his business. Especially after seeing his products being put to use by some people that I respect. I have only gotten back into knives over the past year and a half or so, and when I was looking for a good survival/woods/camping/hiking/bushcraft knife, I came across Survive. Given everything that I had read in this forum and given the amount of money that I was willing to spend, I initially began leaning towards ESEE, particularly the ESEE 5. I handled a friend of mines ESEE 5 knife, and for me, it was not extremely comfortable in the hand. The scales were too squared off, and I got some beginnings of hot spots forming when thumping on it. Guy had addressed the ergonomics of his handles in a couple of videos, so I took a chance on Survive. This along with what I consider to be an exceptional steel in 3V with respect to impact resistance and overall toughness. Upon getting my two 5.1 knives, I was not at all disappointed. They feel good in the hand, have enough forward weight balance that they are good choppers, they hold an edge very well and I have thumped the hell out of them. They are a thicker blade stock (3/16'), so cutting efficiency is likewise effected. But I would place this above the ESEE as well as the ESEE is 1/4' thick. The only down side is that the 3V will in fact rust. The ESEE is more stain resistant, but in every other category the 3V steel done by PHT (also a Pennsylvania company) is far superior in the Survive 5.1. So in this case, I say that the 5.1 was well worth the wait. I have had no example of Survive 3V rust on me yet, but I have not been caught out in the rain with one for a couple of days as I'm sure that some have and I might be in the future. I currently own the GSO 7.7 with false grind in 3V that I bought from stock with little to no wait, three GSO 5.1s (two pre-orders and one 1 of 50 Nutnfancy edition that I did not have to wait for at all), and one GSO 4.1 in M390 (stain resistant) that is an EDC knife when and where I can carry a fixed blade on my belt that I also bought from stock. The GSO 5.1s were absolutely worth the wait, and I think that the wait was delayed by 30- 60 days over the initial estimate. Mid June was the estimate when pre-ordered in late February, and the knives shipped near August 1. The sheaths on these knives are what I consider to be nearing perfection for a kydex sheath. Retention is exceptional, drains well, belt or MOLLE carry. By the way, I ordered my GSO 4.1 in M390 the same day that I pre-ordered the GSO 10, April 23. The estimated delivery on the 10 at that time was August 15. I do not have the 10 yet, and it seems like I have been carrying and using the 4.1 for a long time now. When Guy does a pre-order, he provides a substantial discount on the knife comparing it to what he will sell this knife for out of stock. In the case of the 10, this discount is in the neighborhood of $100. I consider this to be a win/win as he gets to use my money interest free, and I get a hell of a deal on a knife. I only wish that Guy would try to be more realistic in stating his expected delivery on pre-order knives. If the GSO 10 said it would take 10 months to get the knife at the pre-order stage, I would have ordered it any way. I anticipate that it will be worth the wait based on the other examples that I own. I think that Guy just needs to tweak his customer service a bit to better manage his customer expectations regarding delivery times, then when crap happens and the date is not going to be able to be met, he needs to inform his pre-buy customers of the delay, and the reasons. He has started to do this recently with the email that I cited above in this thread.

I recommend that you try to buy an example of his knife either through stock at Survive or through one of his retail outlets that he supplies, then answer for yourself if the product would be worth the wait. For me, the 5.1s definitely were. I fully anticipate that the 10 will be as well. But I do qualify this with my bias that I really want to see Guy and Survive succeed for the reasons that I have stated. If you do not have the same bias, then you might have a different perspective.
 
how does the 3V sharpen?

I may not be the best person to ask this question to as I have never tried to freehand sharpen any 3V knives. I used a Wicked Edge with 800-10000 grit Chosera H2O stones with a 16, 17, 18 and 19 dps convex edge. The bevel was even on both sides from the factory, so I spent little to no time evening up the bevels. This is a very acute angle for a knife of this size, intended use, and I did not have to remove a lot of steel to sharpen it. This tells me that the factory edge has a pretty acute angle ground in as well. I have a 4.1 in M390 that is thinner, and I feel like they both sharpened equally well and both would push cut phone book paper. I have a 4.1 in 3V coming, hopefully very soon. I will be able to provide you with a better feeling after sharpening them both side by side. According to the information on 3V linked from Survive website, the optimal HRC of 3V is 58 to 60. I am not sure what PHT is getting with this steel. But it is plenty hard.

Prior to sharpening the 5.1 in 3V, I noticed a small, almost micro, chip in the blade towards the tip. I probably put this chip in it thumping on it and hitting a small stone or something while batoning with it (I had it on wood, but crap happens). I did not sharpen this chip totally out, but it should be gone the next time I sharpen it. Both the M390 and 3V sharpened well to a very good, mirror polished, edge. All in all, I did not notice that the 3V was particularly hard to sharpen, but as I said, I do cheat a little (or a lot). But it is by no means a soft steel. I was able to raise a bur pretty quickly at 19 dps on both sides.
 
I recommend that you try to buy an example of his knife either through stock at Survive or through one of his retail outlets that he supplies, then answer for yourself if the product would be worth the wait. For me, the 5.1s definitely were. I fully anticipate that the 10 will be as well. But I do qualify this with my bias that I really want to see Guy and Survive succeed for the reasons that I have stated. If you do not have the same bias, then you might have a different perspective.

Thank you very much for your thorough response. I was very interested in the 4.1, but have not been able to find a retailer that has any in stock. I've read a few comments that said they ordered directly from the survive site which said they were in stock, but over a month later still no knife so I can only assume they are not in stock. I'll keep my eyes open to see when a reliable dealer gets them in.
 
Thank you very much for your thorough response. I was very interested in the 4.1, but have not been able to find a retailer that has any in stock. I've read a few comments that said they ordered directly from the survive site which said they were in stock, but over a month later still no knife so I can only assume they are not in stock. I'll keep my eyes open to see when a reliable dealer gets them in.

According to the website, 4.1s are in stock with or without spine jimping in 3V. It might take up to a month to receive it, but I am pretty sure that you will get it.
 
how does the 3V sharpen?

I smashed in a segment of edge on my GSO-10 hitting a heavy-gauge tree-spike (lock-staple for fencing), then tore off the folled edge on some barbed wire hiding in the brush :mad:

I hand-sharpened the entire edge on a large (8x2) Norton Crystolon combination oilstone, blending back the shoulders to improve cutting performance. I'll post a picture tomorrow. The steel responded well to the abrasives, I could feel the stone cutting, and I had a shaving-sharp chopper with improved edge-angle in < 30 minutes though not all of the damaged section was eliminated. If you have a belt-grinder, you can resharpen a knife of this size MUCH quicker though you should try to avoid heat build-up. I sharpen my machete on the belt, next time I'll use it for the GSO-10 as well, but honestly it takes a while before the knife needs it. If you've seen my GSO-10 videos, all were made PRIOR to any sharpening by me, and the blade had been used regularly. I didn't sharpen it until after the major edge-damage and the rust clean-up. I like CPM-3V :cool: :thumbup:
 
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