Artisan Cutlery price Hike?

[Me!]

Hello All,

I'm new to the blade scene (about 9 months) and even newer to this forum. So new in fact, that I've only owned a Buck Bantam, and a nice Case Stockman. To add to that, I have a question in which the answer may be as obvious as I assume.

I've been keeping an eye on Artisan Cutlery and their ~$40-$50 blades for a couple of months now and I swear that the prices on the blades just went up across the board within the past week or so(I mostly check bladehq and smkw as they seem to be generaly trusted by the community). I realize that knives are subject to price fluctuations like any other product, and this may be the case. However, I've never seen the uniform ~$6 jump (which is relatively significant) in any $40-$50 blade, and certainly not across several stores.

Is this normal or is AC gaining popularity and taking the opportunity to raise prices?

-Me!

 

[danbot]

Tariffs?

 

[jmh33]

Cant help on the price increase.. But.. Did just get a Green G-10 S Waistline and am very impressed with it.. Great knife for 50.00!!! John

 

[marcinek]

Welcome.

I don't know of much of any kind of stuff getting any cheaper.

You are overthinking it.

 

[GermanyChris]

Tariffs?

No a dastardly plot to get a US Grant from the OP instead of a couple Andy’s or something in their supply chain increased a couple bucks. I dunno about you but I think the first is way more likely than the second.

 

[Mo2]

$6 is nothing.

 

[dkb45]

$6 is nothing.

Depending on model, $6 is around or more than a 10% price increase. That's a significant increase. When you scrounge for $50, a 10% increase is really high.

 

[GCG199]

Yes, it may have to do with the tariffs.

But you should shop around and see if there are any other dealers offering lower prices.

 

[danbot]

Depending on model, $6 is around or more than a 10% price increase. That's a significant increase. When you scrounge for $50, a 10% increase is really high.

If you are "scrounging" for $50, maybe you should buy some food?

 

[Me!]

Tariffs?

I was wondering about that, but I figured a similar %hike would show up in other manufacturer lineups as well....or across imports in general for that matter.

 

[Me!]

Cant help on the price increase.. But.. Did just get a Green G-10 S Waistline and am very impressed with it.. Great knife for 50.00!!! John

I'm most likely gonna buy one either way, Ive got my eye on one of the two cleaver models or the Apache :3 Im just cautious with my money.

 

[Me!]

Welcome.

I don't know of much of any kind of stuff getting any cheaper.

You are overthinking it.

Hello, and thank you!

That's what I'm hoping for. I just have no clue how this market works and I'm careful with my money

 

[Me!]

Th

$6 is nothing.

The $ amount itself is not as much of a concern as the occurrence itself. Hell, I'm fine with paying ~$60 for these blades as far as I've researched em. They look great, are made to be used, and seem to be reliable as far as I have heard.

My concern here is whether or not this is to be expected with blades. You don't see a ~%10-15 hike with just about any other products without some info circulating.

 

[Me!]

Depending on model, $6 is around or more than a 10% price increase. That's a significant increase. When you scrounge for $50, a 10% increase is really high.

Exactly! Minus the scrounging at least, I'd have some more significant issues of I'm struggling financially AND trying to buy blades

In the end it comes down to that % spike, seemingly limited to that company, and with little explanation. I don't know much about the blade market and whether or not it's the norm, so I figured I'd ask some vet's.

 

[Me!]

Yes, it may have to do with the tariffs.

But you should shop around and see if there are any other dealers offering lower prices.

Yeah, that does seem like the most reasonable answer at the moment....I just figured I'd see it elsewhere. Do you have any recommendations for dealers? Just in general TBH, even if they don't carry AC. I like to see what all people trust and I prefer word of mouth over Google results

 

[ROCK6]

Even with the price hike, they are superb deals. I did a short review on a couple I picked up on whim just to check out the quality...I was quite impressed:

Okay, so I want to avoid the whole anti-China-made products and politics issue, which I can understand, but instead, I want to just focus on knife designers, makers, and higher-end manufactures where some just happen to reside in China. There are several knife companies in China making high quality knives that have really stirred up some emotion in the knife industry. Now, just simply looking at the knives, their fit and finish, quality materials, etc., there’s no denying that there are some quality knife products in this mid-tech range coming out of China…just focusing on the product, not the origins or politics.

With that said, I saw a couple of moderately priced (each priced under $60) Artisan Cutlery knives. I know nothing about them, other than they are listed with several other Chinese-based knife manufacturers. I liked the designs of these two, the S-Waistliner and Apache liner locks, and figured I would see how well they were designed. I’m quite honestly surprised at the quality and attention to detail. Materials are average, D2 blade steel, G10 and/or aluminum handles, stainless liners and ball-bearing flipping actions; priced very reasonably.

Again, these are extremely well executed. The S-Waistliner has the G10 handled radiused which is a nice touch that most manufacturers ignore. Both liners lock up solid and centered, and the blades are perfectly centered. I’ve noticed no cut-corners, they seem almost hand finished compared to some higher end production knives I own (like Benchmade and ZT), but that just gives credit to their QA/QC manufacturing processes. I can honestly say you would be hard pressed to find many American-made knives in this price range for this level of quality. That’s a little embarrassing, but it also puts good pressure on our domestic made knives to step up their game.

Oh, I also like that the blades are pretty "clean". Not a lot of logo and crap written all over them.

Well, even if you don’t want to admit to buying a knife made in China, and the designs appeal to you, I can recommend that these are well-priced, high-quality folders that will likely surprise you. Now, I typically prefer “buy in America”, but this higher-end knife community in China are true knife-enthusiasts and craftsmen…my rationale is that I’ll support the broader, international knife community as well as on the home-front.

ROCK6

 

[Mo2]

This brand is uglier than sin. Mall ninja in effect for more than half of them. But I can't argue with what people say about there quality and the rep that goes to the shows is really cool dude.

 

[Me!]

Even with the price hike, they are superb deals. I did a short review on a couple I picked up on whim just to check out the quality...I was quite impressed:



ROCK6

For sure. I was attracted to the fact that they have a nice varitey of sub $75 blades that are in D2, are made to work, and look clean to boot! As for the poli-talk, I try to buy Made in the good ol' U.S.A, but I recognize that other people around the world make great products. My overall "guidance" is purchasing products from their country of origin. As in engineered, designed, tested, made, etc. I've noticed that the quality is a good bit less of a crap shoot that way. All in all, I caved over the weekend and settled on an Apache w/gray/normal aluminum handles....along with a Kershaw Leek and Leatherman Squirt >.>

 

[Me!]

For sure. I was attracted to the fact that they have a nice varitey of sub $75 blades that are in D2, are made to work, and look clean to boot! As for the poli-talk, I try to buy Made in the good ol' U.S.A, but I recognize that other people around the world make great products. My overall "guidance" is purchasing products from their country of origin. As in engineered, designed, tested, made, etc. I've noticed that the quality is a good bit less of a crap shoot that way. All in all, I caved over the weekend and settled on an Apache w/gray/normal aluminum handles....along with a Kershaw Leek and Leatherman Squirt >.>

Aluminum+black G10.....CF just feels too slick for me, especially when wet.

 

[Me!]

ROCK6 Hello! Since you pointed out that you own the Apache, and seem to have a good bit more experience here, I was wondering if you would answer something for me: Does your Apache have a very strong detent, and does it close smoothly once the lock is 'disengaged'?

My detent is pretty strong, far more than im used to, but I'm assuming that's to be expected the bigger the blade as my back-locks do the same as they get larger. My main "concern" is the blade closing. It feels like it catches a quarter of the way to closing and needs a lil push. It won't close with just a wrist flick.

-Me!