Hi Marcelo,
I think I might be able to help explain this
I made my first knife solely for me. I was in search of the perfect bushcraft knife. While the design is still around and literally unchanged, the fit and finish, and manufacturing details were not all that great. But, I figured if I liked the design, other people might as well. And things just snowballed from there. I also finally got my fit and finish to a level that I am quite happy with : ) Ironic.
I started receiving lots of e-mails on specs, handle material, thickness, steels and prices. It was all very time consuming. I figured that a formal website, with all the specs and all the options would be the way to go. It would allow people to figure out the knife they wanted, with the final options, all without having to contact me directly. Hopefully it would save everyone some time. Along with that came the website fees, hosting fees, credit card processing, phone line and other associated “business expenses.”
In order to cover these costs, and actually make a little money, I set a modest goal for the number of knives that I should make per month. Any less, and really seemed like “Why even bother?”
Those of you that know me, know that I have always considered myself a woods bum more than a knife maker. I do have a full time job, and have always done knives on the side. Also, that I have 3 kids that I try to get out in the woods as much as possible. My oldest son’s school is getting more and more involved and I don’t want to miss that. He also joined Scouts, and I want to be heavily involved in that. In fact, I somehow got signed up as the new den leader : ) I also feel like I have missed out on a lot of woods time, learning new skills, practicing old ones, and working with the kiddies on some.
I have always tried to do my knives early in the morning, or later at night, when the kids were in bed. While I was doing somewhat okay at that, I still found that my “free time” still had me very distracted by the many things that I had to do. Besides the fact that I seemed continually exhausted and the deadlines pushed my priorities in the wrong direction.
In order to spend the time in the woods and with the family that I want, I have decided to stop doing knives in the formal manner than I have been. Eventually, the Off The Map website will come down, and I will not take money for pre-orders. Instead, if you want one of my knives, I will go ahead and put you on a waiting list. Nothing formal, just give me a call, or shoot me an e-mail. The real difference is that I am not guaranteeing any time of delivery time. I am truly going to work on them in my “free time.” I have no idea what this may do the wait time or the demand (or lack of it) for my knives. But, it is what I need to do at this point in time.
What I can do is contact folks a week before I start on their knife and see if they still want it, or want any changes. If they want it, great! I will make it. If not, no biggie. I figure no money, no foul : )
You have to know that this is a hard decision for me. I finally got my knives to a fit and finish level that I am extremely proud of. This decision also comes at a time when I am hearing raving reviews from users about my knives. At the same time, every time I look at one of my kids, they look much older than they did the day before : ( I don’t want to miss a moment of it. Good or bad, this is the direction I think I have to go.
B
