Custom Knife Factory - Anton Malyshev Elf

RamZar said:
The same Chinese factory that manufactures the Custom Knife Factory knives now has the Duboia. Titanium frame lock with carbon fiber on the non-lock side. They have Tritium glow-in-the-dark cones in the thumbstud and pocket clip so you can find it in the dark, no matter which side is facing up. Comes in black or satin blade.

Available from KnifeCenter for $240.
Specifications

  • Blade Length: 3.875" (98 mm)
  • Blade Steel: S35VN Stainless Steel
  • Overall Length: 8.375" (213 mm)
  • Closed Length: 4.5" (114 mm)
  • Handle Material: Carbon Fiber Face Scale with Titanium Liner and Frame Lock
  • Weight: 4.9 oz. (139 g)
  • Made in China

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That knife is made by kevin john. They did a black blade version, removed the venom II logos that were on them originally for the us market. Still i had to have one. Especially since they now have the plain blade in stock with no logos.
 
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PURPLEDC said:
That knife is made by kevin john. They did a black blade version, removed the venom II logos that were on them originally for the us market. Still i had to have one. Especially since they now have the plain blade in stock with no logos.
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I can't decide between the satin or black. In the pictures the black looks awesome but I have a feeling I'd be more satisfied with the satin.

Which one did you order?
 
Why support counterfeit knives? I wanted one of these until I found out who made them.

It's goes against what everyone talks about here. Why even discourage counterfeit knives if you're supporting them...
 
^ That is a 1000.00 knife.Now I have the district 9, horizon and 2 kizers and love them, but this I think is going too far when price is concerned. Its not clear how much of the "leg work " china is doing. they might be making everything, and then its set to Russia and they might be doing the final handle and blade finish, and assembling,but it doesn't warrant that kind of money. I recently saw all these knives on their site, and I don't think its worth what they are asking. You might as well go slightly further and get a Les George or mosier midtech,or even a sebenza with graphics. In the long term, those would be easier to sell than these if you ever got tired of them,these you might take a big loss trying to get rid of them.
 
RamZar said:
I can't decide between the satin or black. In the pictures the black looks awesome but I have a feeling I'd be more satisfied with the satin.

Which one did you order?
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I got the satin because I know the makers satin work is very good. And I despise black blades. It does look cool I will give you that. But I just cant do black unless it was like a rockstead and never wear off or at least be extremely resistant.


Blues Bender said:
Why support counterfeit knives? I wanted one of these until I found out who made them.

It's goes against what everyone talks about here. Why even discourage counterfeit knives if you're supporting them...
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Are you talking about me specifically? If so I surely don't fit into the everyone category. If not asking me, sorry for the response. I cant and wont discuss that issue any further though as it never goes well and my opinions on it aren't welcome. I will only say this as I dont feel it violates the rules as it doesnt promote fakes. Honestly if people really are against the counterfeiting like they say they are then these are the knives people should be buying. One thing is for sure these makers arent going anywhere. They are thriving. And they get better every day. Ignoring them has done nothing but allow them to have the ability to pass us by. But we the people, the ones buying the knives have the power to influence what they will decide to make. And voting with your wallet on one of the unique designs to me is more proactive that simply boycotting them. Because if you dont buy the originals, then that means their bread and butter will still be the fakes and they will continue to make them. Do we know if they will ever fully stop? no. But honestly you have to ask yourself how has boycotting them worked for you so far? The quality of the products alone should answer that question. I may dislike custom knife factory for their business practices but I have to give them credit for commissioning these makers to make unique designs and turning a negative into a positive. It is something I recommended US manufacturers do a long time ago and people though I finally lost it. IMHO there is no more reason to hate chinese makers than there is to hate russian makers. We are all human, we all make mistakes and we all have the same capacity to learn the craft of knifemaking.

goldie said:
^ That is a 1000.00 knife.Now I have the district 9, horizon and 2 kizers and love them, but this I think is going too far when price is concerned. Its not clear how much of the "leg work " china is doing. they might be making everything, and then its set to Russia and they might be doing the final handle and blade finish, and assembling,but it doesn't warrant that kind of money. I recently saw all these knives on their site, and I don't think its worth what they are asking. You might as well go slightly further and get a Les George or mosier midtech,or even a sebenza with graphics. In the long term, those would be easier to sell than these if you ever got tired of them,these you might take a big loss trying to get rid of them.
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People who have them love them. I have only heard one complaint. But from what I have seen fit and finish is actually astonishing. You have to understand these are very limited and a very complicated design. The handle is a multi piece 3d machined handle made of titanium. You arent just paying for the materials here but the execution. And not to mention that handle has to produce a lot of wasted titanium. Sure that stuff probably gets melted down and recycled for their lower end knives but still its waste when compared to what could have been made with it. I was at first shocked at the 1000 price tag myself. But its like you say we dont know how much is being done in russia. But honestly I dont think it really matters. Think about what that knife would cost if made stateside or by shirogorov. That knife would be three times the price. Sure if you get hung up on "china knife $1000" its seems really crazy. But if you look at it like, what if it was made by any one of the other makers who might not even make the design considering its intricacy? Now it doesn't seem so far off. You have to remember the quality some of these companies are producing at is insanely good. In many cases the latest knives I have got from china have rivaled and in a few cases surpassed any production knife I have ever purchased and I have had some expensive and reputably epic production knives. I dont say take these words lightly and I would say them if I didnt feel they were true. And now that we are seeing these companies taking the leap to making their own designs and distance themselves from the counterfeits? I fully support that and I think others should too.
 
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When I see the CRKT Klecker, that has a lot of machining,too, + anodized in 2 colors, but that's stainless or aluminum which is cheaper, but im sure that machining process has to be very complicated.I guess if we stood there in a day and saw what it took to make one of these we can better understand.it is impressive looking and this kind of work being put into a knife is amazing no matter where its made.I had a Boker Kressler subhilt, it was very nicely made, 1 piece of 440c forged into the knife and guard,with the micarta scales and then completely polished. Again it must take an incredible effort to make those as well.
 
Blues Bender said:
Why support counterfeit knives? I wanted one of these until I found out who made them.

It's goes against what everyone talks about here. Why even discourage counterfeit knives if you're supporting them...
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I made a comment on custom knife factories instagram about Kevin John and they were pretty clear that they told him he had to stop the counterfeiting business in order for them to make his knife.

for anyone that doesn't know.... Kevin John, the designer of the knife on this page, has made counterfeit copies of many well known knife makers and companies. He sold them on ebay and refused to stop selling them. I had one of these in my cart until I saw the designer name.

Now with that being said..... the knives coming out of Custom Knife Factory are absolutely incredible. I've been fortunate enough to handle the Malyshev ELF and the fit and finish is amazing at the price point. I've seen $800+ knives with worse fit and finish and that's saying something. If they continue putting knives out like these at similar prices, other knife companies are in trouble lol.
 
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goldie said:
When I see the CRKT Klecker, that has a lot of machining,too, + anodized in 2 colors, but that's stainless or aluminum which is cheaper, but im sure that machining process has to be very complicated.I guess if we stood there in a day and saw what it took to make one of these we can better understand.it is impressive looking and this kind of work being put into a knife is amazing no matter where its made.I had a Boker Kressler subhilt, it was very nicely made, 1 piece of 440c forged into the knife and guard,with the micarta scales and then completely polished. Again it must take an incredible effort to make those as well.
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The CRKT klecker designed knives are not 3 D machined. You need more expensive equipment, more intricate programming and better tolerances to get things to fit. We dont even know if the CRKT is fully machined. It could be molded or stamped and then finished. We really dont know. But I can tell you that the fit and finish will be worlds apart. They may look similar but its kinda like saying a granny smith apple will taste like a bartlett pear because they are both green.
 
PURPLEDC said:
The CRKT klecker designed knives are not 3 D machined. You need more expensive equipment, more intricate programming and better tolerances to get things to fit. We dont even know if the CRKT is fully machined. It could be molded or stamped and then finished. We really dont know. But I can tell you that the fit and finish will be worlds apart. They may look similar but its kinda like saying a granny smith apple will taste like a bartlett pear because they are both green.
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But we do know that lots of Chinese knives with elaborate CNC milling are sold for well under $100. You can apparently even buy some high quality CNC milled Chinese knives through reputable dealers in the US for reasonable prices, like say, the one RamZar linked (clearly also a well-made, CNC milled knife from the same factory).

I don't have a problem with buying a Chinese knife (I have a bunch of them, after all); my problem with buying a Decepticon would be that paying ~$1100 for a Chinese knife just because it was shipped to Russia first is ludicrous. It's like the people paying $750+ for Hinderers not long ago, before the secondary market prices collapsed--they were still great knives, if you like that sort of thing, but the going rate was just silly.

Chinese made knives are usually much cheaper, because it's much, much cheaper to make them there. Kizer, ReaTe, the high quality clones, and the knife RamZar linked provide all the proof you could need that you can get plenty of high quality CNC milled titanium pocket knives for $50 - $250 depending on size and fit and finish level.
 
I'll be very curious what the Decepticons are selling for in a year's time. With more and more of them being shipped out, and the release of the Decepticon 2, the prices will certainly fall.

My guess would be that they are going for around $600 a year from now. The Decepticon 2 is a bit more pocket-able so perhaps that one will remain in higher demand.. but it's all probably based on supply at this point.
 
Got an email from KnifeCenter regarding the coating on the Duboia:


"We believe it is Titanium Nitride, however, this is not verified as they do not list what the finish is on their products. The same coating is on the liner and handle of both this one and the satin blade."
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RamZar said:
Got an email from KnifeCenter regarding the coating on the Duboia:


"We believe it is Titanium Nitride, however, this is not verified as they do not list what the finish is on their products. The same coating is on the liner and handle of both this one and the satin blade."
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One post on Instagram pointed to it being PVD. Assuming I was getting one, it would be the satin. I'd really like to get one in for review, but I already have several other knives incoming :'(
 
austonh said:
One post on Instagram pointed to it being PVD. Assuming I was getting one, it would be the satin. I'd really like to get one in for review, but I already have several other knives incoming :'(
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I have a feeling that the coating is a fingerprint magnet like my Akribis and Tiger Jump. The satin blade will really show off the grind. However, since the coating is all over it may look better with the coated blade. I'm waiting on PurpleDC to get his. :)
 
I spoke with the buyer at Knifecenter.com yesterday for a while. He's a very nice guy, honest and upfront and willing to offer information when asked. Amazingly to me, he, and the first salesperson I spoke to there, both said they've NEVER yet been asked about warranty info or how to go about getting a knife fixed, if need be, by Custom Knife Factory. Here is the reality according to the buyer at Knifecenter.com -- They will warranty (exchange) a knife by CKF for 60 days...after that, if the knife breaks in anyway, a detent ball pops out, whatever, (and things do occasionally happen, imagine if it is an expensive knife...I've seen videos on Youtube of Shirogorovs that developed detent ball issues...and as a multiple Shiro owner, I wasn't happy to watch that, believe me...but at least you can send a Shiro back for repair if you must, still a drag, but a viable option...I recently sent an Andre Thorburn L50 to Mr. Thorburn due to a weak detent issue. He fixed it and sent it back to me from South Africa, promptly and at no charge! THAT's customer service. I will continue to buy/collect his amazing knives.) they, Knifecenter, CAN NOT WARRANTY CKF product...and THEY HAVE NO IDEA if they can get CKF to do anything. CKF offers nothing as far as warranty or repair services thus far. Laughable and totally amateur level, in my opinion. Knifecenter.com says they will "do their best" but can promise nothing. Buyer beware. They also say that if Custom Knife Factory is still around in a year, they will likely have some sort of warranty situation worked out, hopefully. No help to anyone buying CKF product now, other than the 60 day exchange period Knifecenter will honor. If CKF is gone in a year, oh well, what can Knifecenter do for the customer? In reality, "nothing". So...potential buyers should know the truth and not simply assume that because you bought CKF product from Knifecenter.com (in the US) as opposed to ordering directly from CKF...that you're really any better off beyond 60 days. From my experience with CKF, (I own 3 different CKF knives...Konygin Maxi, Sukhoi & Deception-1, and now they've lost me as a customer) I will not buy from them again due to detailed info given in an earlier post I placed in this thread (on pg. 2)...and because I am not willing to buy from a company that will not back, warranty, offer any customer care...among other reasons given in earlier post. In my opinion, they've already blown it too many times (CKF). How U.S. dealers/distributors can do business with CKF without getting warranty coverage from the "manufacturer" (CKF...and I use the term "manufacturer" loosely here) for the US customers of Knifecenter.com, etc. is amazing to me...and I think premature. I think Knifecenter is totally legit and doing what they can with this "manufacturer"...but CKF...no way. They need to learn how to do business like professionals, not Joe-shady selling on ebay, no where to be found if there is a problem. You should't have to hope & rely on Paypal protection in order to trust a "manufacturer". They shouldn't operate like a slimy, individual rip off artist. I do commend the Chinese for making better & better knives at great prices. THEY are beginning to do it right.:)
 
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The way this outfit in Russia is set up, they might not have the spare parts or equipment readily available to fix these knives.Compared to Kershaw or Benchmade where everything is in house,that can be the only issue with some of these brands.And their far off location does not help the situation at all.One can just hope its made well enough that a problem does not arise.Ive never had to send a knife in for warranty work ever.
 
austonh said:
One post on Instagram pointed to it being PVD. Assuming I was getting one, it would be the satin. I'd really like to get one in for review, but I already have several other knives incoming :'(
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I have two uncoated Daboias on the way to me that should be here in the next week or so (they are coming from Russia since they had them on sale the other day), if you'd like one to borrow to review.

I know it's Kevin John and all, but it is a unique design that isn't a knockoff and I'm all for supporting Chinese brands attempting to "straighten up" (even if that doesn't seem to be totally the case with Kevin John). Oh well. The problem is, the design is 100% my kind of thing, with a tritium icing on the cake (I'm like a moth to a porch light when it comes to tritium), that's why I couldn't resist.
 
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