cult brands: what knife brands are cults, and why?

there are a lot of things that can go into gathering a cult following,

style
materials
customer service
personality of maker
advertising
quality
variety
time (buck112 + randall)

hit any of them in the right manner and you can accrue a hardcore dedicated fan base. i still think a "cult following" is a different breed though
 
SethMurdoc said:
there are a lot of things that can go into gathering a cult following,

style
materials
customer service
personality of maker
advertising
quality
variety
time (buck112 + randall)
Click to expand...

true...but many companies have these without having a cult brand. They may be necessary ingredients but they are not sufficient.

Cult brands equate with certain values that customers believe they believe in, if that makes sense.

One thing that seems to be common is a sense of exclusivity. A cult brand is a private club with members "in the know", while everyone else remains ignorant.

Striders = toughness, military prowess, anti-sissy, can-do, etc. Strider people "know" things, wink wink, and Striders are expensive but "worth it." Most people think it's looney tunes to spend $450 for a non-custom folder, but not Strider people.

An interesting question is: can a cult brand be built purposefully? I doubt it...but, conversely, I do think a cult brand can be killed off.

Excessive popularity can kill cult brands. The sense of exclusivity leaves when "everyone" recognizes the brand. That's why I think that some brands make a mistake when they lower prices, introduce a low-end sub-brand, and so forth, because these moves increase may increase popularity but they risk killing the exclusivity.

Also, often the cult brand is closely identified with personalities and if the personalities leave, the brand can die.

Or if the quality goes downhill the cult brand can lose its status.
 
Good points all.

I can see why makers of great quality knives develope such loyal fans (like Chris Reeve), but it's very perplexing to me why certain makers have devotees even though their product is'nt that great.

I don't want to name any makers here on the forum, but sometimes you hear folks talking about this "holy grail" of a knife, which has a cult-like following, but when you actually get your hands on the knife, you just can't see why they love it so much.

It's the same with alot of other things also.
I remember when I just HAD to have a Rolex watch and nothing else would do--until I finally got a Rolex.
Now don't get me wrong, Rolex makes a great watch, but it just did'nt affect me the way I thought that it would.

I will name one specific item:
The SOG Power-Pliers!
This multi-tool has or had a cult-like following for awhile, and I just HAD to have one for myself.
I was very disappointed.

Allen.
 
STR said:
Carry this over to automobiles. The AMC Gremlin and Pacer, the VW Beatle, the VW Bus are cult vehicles. But were they anywhere near the best? Not hardly.

I have to disagree. Just look how many Beetles are still on the road. And the VW Bus is the Godfather of the Mini-Van craze!
Click to expand...
 
I have to disagree. Just look how many Beetles are still on the road. And the VW Bus is the Godfather of the Mini-Van craze!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I know what you disagree with. The fact that there are still many on the road has absolutely nothing to do with their status as a cult vehicle. For that matter reliability has little to do with being the best, although it is one of the things you hope to get with the best. MY Jag was anything but reliable but said to be best in class at the time. I could say more but wish to stay on topic.

But speaking of staying on topic. How about the Marbles Safety folder? That is a good one to call a 'cult' brand also.
 
STR said:
I'm not sure I know what you disagree with. The fact that there are still many on the road has absolutely nothing to do with their status as a cult vehicle. For that matter reliability has little to do with being the best, although it is one of the things you hope to get with the best. MY Jag was anything but reliable but said to be best in class at the time. I could say more but wish to stay on topic.

I guess I am biased having owned more than one Volkswagen in my life. If an object is not Reliable, however, I can harldy see how it would be considered "The Best." Just my opinion.
Click to expand...
 
I have had three Beatles myself. I have a Pinzgauer now with the same style air cooled engine.

I agree the best is just opinion of luxury usually. So, in effect I was quite comforatable sitting in my XJ while waiting along side the highway for the tow truck. It was a POS but toted as the best for that model year. At least the heater worked good though.

I have another cult knife brand that came to mind. AG Russell knives. He has some pretty avid followers with his now famous one hand knives.
 
:) Yes, Cult Cars can be like Cult knives...so many to own, so little money to spend...for now, I will stick to being a member of TWO knife cults...

STRIDER & SEBENZA.... :eek:

As for vehicles, I seemed to have gotten too practical in my old age( Honda Element ) but I REFUSE to be practical when it comes to knives ( much to my wifes dismay!) :D
 
SethMurdoc said:
there are a lot of things that can go into gathering a cult following,
Click to expand...
I disagree. I think there is only one thing that does it.
IMAGE.
IMO, lots of people buy Striders, Busses, and stuff like that for the same reason 4WDs and Carharrt work clothes are popular with yuppie pencil pushers. They get to pretend they're something they're not.
Nothing wrong with buying those things(I have to say that, I've bought Striders, Busses, Carharrts, and a 4WD-course I'm not a pencil pushing yuppie, either:p), it's just funny when they go overboard about a product they buy. It has to be "the best", and they'll believe and repeat any outrageous hype, while ignoring any facts, criticism, reality, or anything else that doesn't feed their little fantasy.
Strider is a great example. The "hardcore, high-speed" image attracts wannabe losers like flies.

edit: btw, I was rereading this thread, and wanted to be clear that I was not referring to anyone who happens to buy or collect any of the brands mentioned, just my opinion of the mentality of some who do, and how it amounts to a cult-like following.
 
an objective screen to determine cult status could go like this:

1. Nicknames for the cultists (e.g. usual suspects, hogs, sebenzanistas) 10 pts
2. Owner is a hard drinking ass kicker 10 pts
3. Knife brand has an actual alcohol brand associated with it by hard drinking ass kicker owner and cultists (e.g. guiness, carling black label) 10 pts
4. Quality control issues are dismissed as sissy or gay. 10 pts
5. Knife can be flipped open and used to lift a Peterbuilt with broken axles off a case of (insert brand name here) scotch, and warranty will still be honored. 10 pts
6. Knife is on my belt or in my pocket. 100 pts.

0-10 pts: non cult knifeowner, you drink chardonnay and clean your fingernails with your cheap knife.
11-20 pts: you need treatment for alcoholism.
21-30 pts: you need treatment for alcholism and poor self image.
31 +: you're a bad ass mo fo and you spend time doodling new urban camo schemes on notepaper during meetings.
 
Well, I understand we are on an internet forum, but I wonder how much of this cultization (cultisity? :D ) is largely because of internet users? I bought my first EAA Witness (clone of a CZ75) befure I had ever visited an internet gun forum but nowdays it seems as if most folks that ask about CZs in gunshops are likely to have found a recommendation on the internet. Glocks, SIGs, Colts, Kimbers etc seem to have internet fans and detractors, but a LOT of folks that ask about CZs by name are a member of a gun forum.

With knives, it seems like Spyderco, Emerson and Benchmade (and CRKT at a generally lower price point) have a strong internet basis. I realize there are folks that have carried Spyderco for a decade before the internet, but I think if you ask a random member of a gun forum to name three good knife companies, those three will come up very often.

As of my last trip to the local knife shop (not gun shop with knives and not store specializing in sub $40 swords) I'd say the most loyal fans are those of Case knives. A fourth of the entire store was Case and the lady said that the Case fans are the most ravenous. Sure there are guys that have several Reeves or William Henrys but the worst (ie best) fans are Case fans.
 
I fully agree. Case knives have to be the biggest cult knife brand out there, especially here in the slipjoint belt of the American South. Many people around here who know nothing of any "typical" cult brand (Busse, Strider, Spyderco, Benchmade) are rabid fans and collectors of this type of knife. It seems to mostly have to do with tradition and a favored form of traditional knife apperance. How else could one justify spending $60 on what is essentially a delicate, light-use, fairly impractical knife with sub-par steel (at least in current models). Yet, they have the kind of cultic, die-hard, zealous, accept no substitute fan base of many other knives of cultic status.

Other cult-type knives:
Opinels
Any type of Mora or traditional Scandinavian knife (especially among outdoors people)
The Fallkniven U2
Gransfor Bruks axes (not a knife, but what the heck, very cultic still)
 
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