stvep780 said:
That was hard to read, I have been absent for some time and just now decided to jump on to see what was going on on. I'm sorry to hear that Carl64 was not happy. Call me cell: 401-527-5372 or e-mail me back so that I can fix the problem or at least me the opportunity to make things right. Most of the guys on this site know why I used the cheap import knife and I appoligized but to not have somone happy with Colonial is sad and I want to make things right. What will it take.
Steve
Colonial
Sorry if I sounded angry about it. The fact that you are here talking to customers gives you and your company major points. I completely understand if a promo knife is just a low cost item. The one I got was probably just a lemon. It has already been discarded. I sent an e-mail asking some questions about the knife and detailing the problems with it, but received no reply. I don't know where to start, as I have both specific and general questions, so I will just ramble off my thoughts.
I am not sure what the relationship is between Colonial Cutlery and Colonial Knife Company, so I don't know if all of my questions are for you or if you only work within the part that does the "good" knives or what. Is it all one in the same, just different brands, or are they seperately operated?
What does Colonial do in the US? Are only raw materials imported, are all finished parts imported and assembled here, or something in between?
The first question I had after examining the knife was if it was just a cheap item for the promo, or part of Colonial's regular lineup. Previous discussion here made me think it was just a cheap knife that had nothing to do with Colonial, just a free knife for the promo, but the knife I received looks like this one:
http://www.colonialcutlery.com/modelg100.htm
http://www.colonialcutlery.com/hightech.htm
Is this one that was used for a free knife, or just the same design as one of the cheaper free knives by chance? The description for the "high tech" knives says ats34, but if it was it wasn't very hard.
I noticed it did not look like an original design. It is obviously the same design as Tom Anderson's "Wolf Pup":
http://www.bladeart.com/artists/tom_anderson/tom_anderson.htm
I have seen Tom Anderson's name attached to cheap knives before, but the knife I received did not say.
I saw that the free knife is now the LK95, which looks like an old Bucklite. I don't know when Buck last made that model, maybe it has been long enough that nobody cares.
If the "colonial cutlery" end is just there to stamp logos on cheap knives I guess that doesn't bother me. I am more concerned with the knives not being original designs. I suppose if there were a good reason why those specific design were considered fair game it would be OK. If they got through because someone at Colonial called an importer and said "quick, give us a whole pile of knives ASAP," it is also different than if they are knives regularly sold as Colonial products.
Is the LK95 imported as a finished product, or actually made by Colonial?
I ask these questions here because I would like comments from both you and others.
add-on: I am very much interested in knowing if others here don't think this is such a big deal, or if the designs mentioned are no longer considered unique to another company/maker.
Just wan't tapped in enough is all. I sorta have the 303 NRA knife, my 303 has the cocobolo handles and a nra shield but no blade etc, the colonail shiel is much nicer 
