Fear of Customs? thread in General

Kohai999

Kohai999

Second Degree Cutter
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http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=624598

In a nutshell, those that choose production knives over customs responded with one, two or all of the responses below....I thought that the makers and collectors of custom knives would find this interesting. For those that actively seek to promote custom knives(ie. CKCA), this is quite informative, and will help us create a blueprint for this situation:

1. Cost….why pay thousands when you can get great quality for a hundred or less?

2. Wait time…..instant gratification rules…..it could take years.

3. How do I know that I am making a smart purchasing decision?

4. The variety of production knives make choosing any one custom less than appealing.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
To each his own..................


I have a good friend who will not pay for a nice knife and wears a Rolex and shoots a Grade IV Belgium Browning Shotgun.......He has a very expensive car and another house on the big island.

My take: Pride of ownership is a big one for me.

Life is VERY short............there are a few things that are worth paying for, a nice katana from Bailey Bradshaw is one of them.

I love nice watches, and nice knives, and nice guns and shoot I wish I was rich!!!:D
 
I agree with Tom, to each his own.

I wear a cheap watch, drive a Toyota and usually bring my lunch to work with me. But you won't ever catch me carrying a cheap production knife, life's to short for that. The quality of a well made custom knife is worth the extra time and expense to me at least.
 
I agree with Tom. To me, it's a pride of ownership thing. I enjoy carrying an expensive pocket knife as well as a lesser production knife at times. Is the custom any better made than a well made production model? Who knows?

Heck, right now in my pocket is a $22 black SAK Climber model with a $10 Photon micro light attached to it.

I also own a number of wathces that cost thousands each. Are they any better than the Seiko I own. I doubt it.....But I sure do feel good wearing them. :D
 
Bobby G said:
I agree with Tom, to each his own.

I wear a cheap watch, drive a Toyota and usually bring my lunch to work with me. But you won't ever catch me carrying a cheap production knife, life's to short for that. The quality of a well made custom knife is worth the extra time and expense to me at least.
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X2 in every detail...too funny.

STeven,
In regards to your post, I don't see how anyone can change what is at the heart of 1 and 2 short of instilling information and patience in prospective buyers. Certainly, makers are not in a position to drastically shorten their times to create a knife. They also owe no obligation to those who would prefer to have something made by a particular maker, but out of cheaper materials. If you want a custom knife from a reputable maker who prides himself/herself on what they create, it will take time AND high quality materials. And while everyone would be happy to just own a Fisk that didn't turn out quite the way Jerry had planned, if Jerry did not get rid of them in his own indomitable way and the knives ended up in the hands of collectors, I think that somehow he would be doing a disservice to himself and knife collections in general, especially those with Fisk knives in them.

Points 3 and 4 come down to the education of the end user. It's not about which is better--custom or production? It is about which one does a collector/user want. If they don't know enough to know that they don't know alot about customs, then the choice of choosing a custom over a production is likely one they won't make.
 
I have no fear of custom knives. I love them.:)
 
I agree with Tom also.

I love custom knives. BUT, I REALLY enjoy the whole custom experience; talking with the maker, coming up with ideas, and then the resulting friendship.

I get such great pleasure out of using a knife that was made for ME.
 
Prouduction knives are great and I have a bunch but what drew me to customs is the performance aspect of it. I believe that if more people where educated to the aspects of good steel and differental heat treats and the advantages of a knife made to fit you then a light would come on. For most people a knife is just a knife.
 
T.K.C. said:
I agree with Tom also.

I love custom knives. BUT, I REALLY enjoy the whole custom experience; talking with the maker, coming up with ideas, and then the resulting friendship.

I get such great pleasure out of using a knife that was made for ME.
Click to expand...

Suz hit the nail on the head, so to speak. :)
 
I am a firm believer in the "Pride of ownership" notion. Not to say that I don't like productions also, I have many of all different price ranges and a whole slew of saks. I carry everything I own.

My first and second custom knives were bought for very significant events in my life, they sort of marked the occasion in a way that hopefully my son will be able to remember by holding that knife in his hand someday and saying "I remember when Dad bought this and why".

Customs have just become a passion for me. If I see a good deal I just might jump on it. In another way right now I have found a maker (two brothers actually) who make such amazing knives that I already have three and am planning on more.

But like I said I also have plenty of productions and now I seem to have developed an addiction to slippies lol.

This thread was a great idea by the way, Me and Pops keep having this debate over why anybody needs or wants a custom. It's been going on for years...since I bought my first custom lol.
 
Kohai999 said:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=624598

In a nutshell, those that choose production knives over customs responded with one, two or all of the responses below....I thought that the makers and collectors of custom knives would find this interesting. For those that actively seek to promote custom knives(ie. CKCA), this is quite informative, and will help us create a blueprint for this situation:

1. Cost….why pay thousands when you can get great quality for a hundred or less?
It's about more than just quality at a price. A custom knife is functional art made like no other by an individual from select material that's unique. The individual artisan ensures the custom knife's quality by construction processes he's refined and proven over many years.

2. Wait time…..instant gratification rules…..it could take years. IMO, the phrase "anything worth having is worth waiting for" applies to custom knives.

3. How do I know that I am making a smart purchasing decision?
You don't know until you invest the time and effort to learn what makes a great custom knife and familiarize yourself with the different makers. All part of the gratification one gets from collecting custom knives.

4. The variety of production knives make choosing any one custom less than appealing.
Choosing one, the right one for you and not the masses is what it's all about. There's a lot to be said for owning a beautiful and unique work of art, that preforms to function as no other.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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**************
 
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One of the reasons I don't do the gun and knife show thingy.... when someone has an $800 pair of Swarofski binocs and an expensive rifle and they get on my tail about my $100 drop point hunter. They lecture me about how their grandpappy made the best knives in the world out of old files and saw blades and they want to know why my knife is better than their Buck 110 they got for $25. :(
 
I have fear of customs! That they will confiscate my custom knives! ;) It takes only one customs agent to think that a knife is a prohibited weapon, and even if it's not you're in a heap of trouble!

Of course I intetionally misunderstood the question. As for the real question: a few years ago I was thinking: I can't pay that, why would a maker want to make a knife for me, I don't want to wait for years, etc...

But now, I love 'em. And I really like the interaction with makers, visiting tem if possible, going to knifeshows...

Kind regards,

Jos
 
T.K.C. said:
I agree with Tom also.

I love custom knives. BUT, I REALLY enjoy the whole custom experience; talking with the maker, coming up with ideas, and then the resulting friendship.

I get such great pleasure out of using a knife that was made for ME.
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I try to buy a knife made by the next hot thing and hopefully I can flip it before he falls off. I dont care about making friendships with the makers.

Im not scared of customs or productions.

Tom is biased. lol;)
 
tom mayo said:
To each his own..................


I have a good friend who will not pay for a nice knife and wears a Rolex and shoots a Grade IV Belgium Browning Shotgun.......He has a very expensive car and another house on the big island.

My take: Pride of ownership is a big one for me.

Life is VERY short............there are a few things that are worth paying for, a nice katana from Bailey Bradshaw is one of them.

I love nice watches, and nice knives, and nice guns and shoot I wish I was rich!!!:D
Click to expand...

Tom,

In my experience...you don't wish yourself rich....you MAKE yourself rich....specifically referring to money here.....those that I know that are wealthy did what they needed to do to make that happen.....family, religion or pursuit of pleasure did not get in the way of ensuring a more-than-adequate income.

In order for "us" to overcome preconcieved notions of what custom knife interest "could" be, we need to look at the objections, and overcome them...which Kevin mostly did....time delays being a significant factor....I would suggest that in order to bypass this that more makers look at a "mid-tech" approach...not only will it cut down on time, but will cut down on ultimate cost for both makers and collectors, and will further blur the line between production and custom knives, which I feel is crucial to the ultimate survival of the craft.....and will ultimately yield the proper premium price and respect for the truly one-off, custom made, hand crafted knife that it deserves, when executed by a competent maker.

The point of the original post was not to create a new concept or stir up murky water...it was simply to point out an ongoing discussion independant of what we normally do here.

severedthumbs said:
I try to buy a knife made by the next hot thing and hopefully I can flip it before he falls off. I dont care about making friendships with the makers.

Im not scared of customs or productions.

Tom is biased. lol;)
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I find you lacking in so many ways...it is difficult to consider your viewpoint....however, it is your viewpoint, and should be considered......you miss much of the joy of collecting custom knives, imo.....I have gotten HOURS of time with R.W. "Bob" Loveless, time he could have spent otherwise, SIMPLY because I have the proper respect and attitide for the craft, in his opinion, and he liked my style....something that I know you simply will not have access to....because of a situation like this, you have no comparison for what you are missing....the multitude of interpersonal relationships with the makers is the engine that drives the dynamic for hand-made objects, always has, and always will....it is the give-and-take, the yin and yang that creates a community....NOT just a business.

This shortsightedness is but another symptom of the difficulty we face if we are to grow beyond the small numbers that we are.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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I always have several knives on me, including at least one production and one custom.



With the following exception: If I am flying commercial for a very short time, I will pack only production knives, as I do have a fear of my luggage getting lost or stolen.

Many of my customs were made for me, and are therefore irreplaceable. I do not care to lose them. One of my small sources of pleasure is carrying and using a first-class handmade knife. Perhaps made by someone as crotchety and crabby and old as myself--and possibly just for me. But even if purchased from a purveyor, there is something about using a handmade knife that just does it for me.

Unlike severedthumbs, my little hobby is not about making money. I enjoy all aspects of the knives, including the idea of input on the designs and other interactions with makers. The very large majority of knifemakers with whom I have interacted are exceptional people--and this has, in a sense, spoiled me. I will not buy a knife from a maker that I do not care for.
 
Yes, I have fear of customs.
This is because fine custom knives make my knives look poor.
But I cannot resist looking into this board.
Oh dear.
 
I Agree with T.K.C (normally do :D). I used to be curious and somewhat warry of custom knives, especially since I didnt understand them when I was younger. Why DID this one cost so much? So I decided to make my own. After months in a garage and in stores buying the materials I needed and making mistakes, reading as many books and websites I could. I came to the conclusion...not only is it not EASY but its HARD and dedicated work. And I still didnt turn out anything near as nice as what I would have liked too. I had been around my uncle who made knives for troops in the area and for farmers but never saw him go through the whole thing.

This gave me perspective into the time it took and the cost of actually making one. So I figured why not order one. Thats when I really appreciated the correspondance back and forth between myself and the maker and have ever since. When the knife finally arrived I was 100 times more excited than with a production I had ordered because its something that I had a part of and it was made FOR me. Using the knife was made all the more fun because of the whole process.

I still buy lots of productions and semi-customs, but they still dont add up to what I get out of ordering an custom. The wait has just never bothered me much, I dont share the need for instant gratification as many others.

Like Tom said. Life is too short anyway.
 
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