Feedback on A.G. Russell Knives

[bigcountry73]

I was wondering if anybody had any comments on A.G. Russell knives. I'm kind of interested in his camp knife, but was wondering if it was worth the money. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Rob

 

[Blues]

Thread title changed to include the word "knives" so that members did not think this was a thread opened to critique A.G. Russell himself.

 

[dsvirsky]

You can't go wrong with A.G. Russell knives. Their guarantee is simple: if you're not satisfied with a knife that you purchased from A.G. Russell -- for any reason, today, tomorrow, after 10 years of hard use -- they'll take it back.

 

[CH]

Great company, great guy. I'll be going there later today. I live just a few miles away.

You can oftentimes get better prices on the net, no secret there, but you'll be hard pressed to find someone that offers a better guarantee, as mentioned already.

Regards,
Clay

 

[Grapevine]

I have their drop point hunter with quince handle, made in Japan. I like the knife very much. AG seems to be of the philosophy that wants his knives to cut, so the ones with the AG Russell branding tends to be thin and very sharp. The camp knife I imagine would be thicker due to its purpose. I don't think I've come across a review yet that was unhappy with an AG Russell brand knife.

 

[Roadrunner]

I've been very happy with my dealings with A.G. Russell. As was mentioned, the warranty is pretty much bulletproof. If you don't like it, you're only out shipping. Not a bad deal really.

 

[PWork]

I've only had good dealings with A.G. Russell.

Paul

 

[Architect]

Guys - They don't have a warranty.

They have a "customer guarantee". If you bought the knife from them yourself, then what is said above is true.

If you buy one of their knives second-hand, and later discover a defect, then they don't care - it's not covered. I know this all too well.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Architect :

If you bought the knife from them yourself, then what is said above is true.

If you buy one of their knives second-hand, and later discover a defect, then they don't care - it's not covered.

Since they sell custom and production knives made by others, the warrenty is on those guys. You can't buy a knife from Discount Knives and return it to the Knife Outlet.

However what about the knives that are made by (or for) A.G. Russell specifically, do they cover these knives bought on the secondary market?

In terms of the quality of the knives, as mentioned in the above they are designed to cut very well, and sharpen easily. Specifically the Woodswalker, Camp Knife, Kukri and Camp Axe all look solid to me.

-Cliff

 

[bigcountry73]

Guys,
Thank you very much for the info and quick responses. I guess I have no other choice but to purchase the camp knife.

 

[Richard]

Prices slightly higher than some other dealers, but customer service is far above any others I have tried. I will continue to make AG Russell my first choice when buying.

I have one of his Camp Knives and like it very much. Good quality, very sharp and definately recommended.

 

[FullerH]

A.G. Russell is now and has for years been an outstanding asset to the cutlery community. The knives that he sells under his own name are top quality and the knives of other makers and manufacturers that he sells are those that he feels are up to his standards of quality. Add in his guarantee and you just cannot go wrong if he has a knife that you desire.

 

[Architect]

However what about the knives that are made by (or for) A.G. Russell specifically, do they cover these knives bought on the secondary market?

Cliff - I was specifically referring to an A.G. Russell produced folding knife. Again, they DO NOT have a warranty on their products - even those specifically produced for them with their name on them. So to me, that say they do not stand beind their products, only their customers. This is a significantly different approach than most other knife manufacturers. Most manufacturers stand behind their product.

From the A.G. Russell home page:

For many years our knife guarantee has been the total satisfaction of our customer. Please read our guarantee, it means exactly what it says. No one has a more complete and total guarantee.

Then further, from their "guarantee" page

Does anyone pick up one of our knives in a flea market or pawn shop and send it to us saying, give me a new knife for this? Yes, two or three a year do this. They misunderstand our guarantee, they are not our customer. The customer obviously felt that the knife had served its purpose and traded or sold it to somebody else.

If you were to purchase a knife by say, Spyderco, from someone on this forum, and they find a problem with a liner lock or some such thing and send it back to Spyderco - if is not abused, they will fix it for free.

If you get a Chris Reeve knife and send it in for say, sharpening, and they find a defect, they replace all the defective parts, free of charge.

These companies stand behind their products as well as their customers. These companies deliver more customer service value for the dollar than A.G. Russell.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I would agree, most cutlery manufacturers, custom and production cover the knives not the owners. I can see how a satisfaction guarantee would not pass the origional owner, but a defect warrenty should be on the knife regardless.

-Cliff

 

[TheBadGuy]

This is my personal thoughts on the subject, they are not flames.

I would never buy a knife from A.G. Russell such as a Spyderco or Benchmade for example, because there mark up its just way to high in my opinion. If I want to spend that kind of extra money to support a business, I would do it at my local Brick and Morter store that has competative prices.

I never ruled out the A.G. Russells brand of knives as they are the only place I know of that you can get them of course. But after hearing the info above about their policy on the secondary market, I choose not to purchase those either.

As I stated, this is not a flame, but there is no room in my collection for an A.G. Russell anymore

 

[ichor]

[

These companies stand behind their products as well as their customers. These companies deliver more customer service value for the dollar than A.G. Russell. [/B]

So, are you saying that if a person pays $100 for a brand new knife from A.G. Russell (or anyone for that matter), and 10 years later, you come across the knife at a flea market or garage sale and buy it for 20 bucks, that you should be entitled to the same consideration as the original customer? Sorry, I just don't buy that. My 2 cents, YMMV.

 

[TheBadGuy]

ichor, I think your taking things to the extreme. If YOU bought a A.G. Russell from the exchange and its LNIB, but you have a problem with it. Would you expect them to fix it for you?? I would

 

[Cliff Stamp]

ichor :

... if a person pays $100 for a brand new knife from A.G. Russell (or anyone for that matter), and 10 years later, you come across the knife at a flea market or garage sale and buy it for 20 bucks, that you should be entitled to the same consideration as the original customer?

What he stated quite clearly was that there are makers and manufacturers that will do this and thus their customer services is clearly ahead of those that don't.

Consider that you buy a knife and give it to a friend as a gift. Under the customer has a warrenty but the knife doesn't - your friend now has a knife with no warrenty at all.

-Cliff

 

[A. G. Russell]

Architect
Guys - They don't have a warranty.

They have a "customer guarantee". If you bought the knife from them yourself, then what is said above is true.

If you buy one of their knives second-hand, and later discover a defect, then they don't care - it's not covered. I know
this all too well.

____________________________________________________________________________________________Architect:

Dtails, Please. Let it all hang out. When was an A. G. Russell Product refused warranty? I would like to know just what I did that left such a bad taste in your mouth. Tell me or tell the World if the poison is that bad, you cannot do me much more harm than you have already done. Not knowing who "Archartect" is makes it a little hard and with over 250,000 customers over 40 years I might be forgiven for getting it wrong once in a while even trying as hard as we do.

I have refundedknives bought 20 years earlier. BUT I have TWO cases that stand out in my mind. A man bought a mordeth knife in a pawn shop, it had wood micarta handle, it had some minor checks in the handle, he wanted me to replace it with stag. The other was a man who had recieved an all steel k-87 as a gift, he cut himself and put the knife, closed, in a vise and folded it in half, sent it to me wanting a fefund, I told him that I would send the refund and the knife to the purchiser if he would give me the name.

Why not let us all know who you are and what I did to you? If you want your problem solved try me at agr@agr3.com If you just want to spew poison, be my guest.

A. G. Russell

 

[A. G. Russell]

Originally posted by Cliff Stamp
ichor :



What he stated quite clearly was that there are makers and manufacturers that will do this and thus their customer services is clearly ahead of those that don't.

Consider that you buy a knife and give it to a friend as a gift. Under the customer has a warrenty but the knife doesn't - your friend now has a knife with no warrenty at all.

-Cliff

Cliff:

Your friend has the Gurantee as the purcheser. What we do not cover is the person who looks for broken or worn out knives in the flea markets and want us to replace them with new knives.

PLEASE show me ANYONE with better service or a better guarantee than ours.

A. G.