From Russia with Love

There is a reasonable opinion to believe that the situation in Europe with Russian goods is even worse than in the United States. The trade turnover (with the exception of oil, gas, and rare earth metals) is practically reduced to zero. There is no direct transport service, and it is not possible to make any payments. If something is moving in both directions, only in gray patterns through third countries. That's a fact.
 
Sid Post said:
It is in the General Forum, and in a "show and tell" picture thread, so it got my curiosity up about recent acquisitions, whether in the USA, in Europe, or in other parts of the world. It was not my intention to ask where to buy them in the USA today, or how to get around USA import policies.

I don't want to get into politics, and I realize other nations have more relaxed import/export policies in place, so I was curious whether the new knives being shown were from other parts of the world given the current policies in place that are impacting many of us in verious ways.
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Rostovsky said:
There is a reasonable opinion to believe that the situation in Europe with Russian goods is even worse than in the United States. The trade turnover (with the exception of oil, gas, and rare earth metals) is practically reduced to zero. There is no direct transport service, and it is not possible to make any payments. If something is moving in both directions, only in gray patterns through third countries. That's a fact.
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I was simply hoping we could avoid this "show and tell" thread wandering astray, so I answered generally, based on my familiarity with many of the posters here, as to the location of the knives in question and when they were likely purchased. I wasn't questioning anyone's intent, just reinforcing the expected parameters of a GKD thread. I meant no offense, S Sid Post , nor to chide you.

That said, I'll wander off topic a bit myself here. R Rostovsky 's point is well-taken as I've seen two European dealers I'm well acquainted with--one Finnish and the other German--that featured Aleksandr Cheburkov's knives no longer offering his work. The former had been personally recommended to me by Alex himself as a preferred dealer. I don't know if those two, or perhaps others, made voluntary political decisions in that regard or if their lack of offerings was based on sanctions, import inability, or some monetary difficulty.

OTOH, there are still a fair number of places in the US to buy Russian knives with work by Shirogorov, Cheburkov, and others available.

Back on topic, here's my Cheburkov Gudzon LW which was out of the drawer, into my pocket, and in use today....

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I am curious if any members have done business with Alex @ Breathtaking Steel recently? The website has some interesting items that appear to be in stock for shipping out of the St. Louis, MO general area BUT he doesn't seem to be responsive via email. I have seen the name Alex mentioned relative to some lovely Cheburkov knife photos but I don't know if they mean Alexander Cheburkov or...
 
blixa00 said:
I am curious if any members have done business with Alex @ Breathtaking Steel recently? The website has some interesting items that appear to be in stock for shipping out of the St. Louis, MO general area BUT he doesn't seem to be responsive via email. I have seen the name Alex mentioned relative to some lovely Cheburkov knife photos but I don't know if they mean Alexander Cheburkov or...
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I've dealt will Alex at Breathtaking Steel a number of times. He was responsive early on and the knives I bought shipped quickly. I don't know what's going on as I had a minor problem with one knife a little less than a year ago and he couldn't be reached / did not reply. I fixed the minor problem myself. I think if you order from him, you will get what you ordered, but as far as communication goes, I don't know what to tell you. He was always solid in the beginning, but the communication dropped off as time went on.

As for Cheburkov knives, I love them! Well made and with quality materials and workmanship. I currently have about 10-11 of his knives.
Good luck.
 
Sid Post said:
From Texas: How many of these are making it to the USA? Russian razors have totally disappeared, along with the Russian DE razor blades I liked.

Since the tariff thing, my acquisition options for made in Russia items, which were normally relatively cheap and easily sourced from places like Jordan, are a distant memory.

While risking a political statement, I didn't buy from sources that supported the Invasion of Ukraine, but I also did not penalize those who opposed it. Individual Russian citizens should not be penalized due to a national policy they DO NOT support. I would consider Russian razors, Russian razor blades, and Russian knives today if they could be sourced at reasonable prices from politically neutral sources.

I am assuming most of the Russian knives shown are in Europe or, were bought prior to the current politics and tariffs.
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NC Blade is the distributor for CKF releases in the states. They have facilitated the release of many different models even after the war kicked off and tariffs were imposed. If you visit their website you can still see what they have in stock.

Any future preorders for CKF knives will be through them as well. It's best to join the Facebook CKF group or follow their Instagram for the most up to date news.
 
birdave said:
I've dealt will Alex at Breathtaking Steel a number of times. He was responsive early on and the knives I bought shipped quickly. I don't know what's going on as I had a minor problem with one knife a little less than a year ago and he couldn't be reached / did not reply. I fixed the minor problem myself. I think if you order from him, you will get what you ordered, but as far as communication goes, I don't know what to tell you. He was always solid in the beginning, but the communication dropped off as time went on.

As for Cheburkov knives, I love them! Well made and with quality materials and workmanship. I currently have about 10-11 of his knives.
Good luck.
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I've dealt with Alex a bunch of times but not in the last year or so. I've picked up some beautiful pieces from him. I also had a few I didn't love, not due to any defect but in terms of fitting my hand well, and the return process was seamless. I enjoyed talking with him and he even helped me to special-order something from Cheburkov. I hope everything is good on his end.
 
I emailed Alex at Breathtaking Steel a couple weeks ago and got a quick reply from him. I've bought at least a couple knives from him over the years and everything has gone smoothly.
 
Yes, it's a Sickness...owning three of the same model.
Pictured here is the bronze one I just got (#72)...pictured with a buffed model that I've had for some time (#253).
When I first saw this model, I thought, "No way".
After getting my first one, I knew I'd be buying more.
It's aesthetically balanced (small details repeating), as well as feeling GREAT in hand.
The third one...that's serial #2 and it doesn't see the light of day.

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blixa00 said:
I am curious if any members have done business with Alex @ Breathtaking Steel recently? The website has some interesting items that appear to be in stock for shipping out of the St. Louis, MO general area BUT he doesn't seem to be responsive via email. I have seen the name Alex mentioned relative to some lovely Cheburkov knife photos but I don't know if they mean Alexander Cheburkov or...
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I have purchased two Cheburkov russkys from him. No problems at all great communication. Am currently trying to find someone who has a Cheburkov paik they are willing to part with. Have an early leader from 2016 with k340 steel and compression lock, a scout, a wolf, ubris xl, strizh on the way and a hudson laser engraved with Templar graphics from Germany. The paik would top the collection off...
 
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