higher end production, mid tech, even customs

jbmonkey

jbmonkey

baldcypressswampmapleslashpineandcabbagepalm
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Jun 9, 2011
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not complaining, just amazed at the amount of supply. i get emails from bout every dealer about every day, as i buy from them, and the shift and movement daily of these much higher dollar knives coming at me is mind blowing. there has to be many more collectors/users/buyers than i realize out there to keep this supply at the higher prices afloat.

am i the only one amazed by this? is there a bubble, or is this just the way it always has been and i wasnt paying attention?
 
You are not alone in your way of thinking JB!
Just the KC e mails alone! New customs and higher end stuff every week!
Lot of that stuff is selling, so I think you're right.....LOTS of collectors, users & buyers out there!
Joe

jbmonkey said:
not complaining, just amazed at the amount of supply. i get emails from bout every dealer about every day, as i buy from them, and the shift and movement daily of these much higher dollar knives coming at me is mind blowing. there has to be many more collectors/users/buyers than i realize out there to keep this supply at the higher prices afloat.

am i the only one amazed by this? is there a bubble, or is this just the way it always has been and i wasnt paying attention?
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shinyedges said:
JB, what's the word on the Chinook 4?

I think the bubble is still expanding but will level off after it busts. Like any lucrative market ,it expands until it is over saturating the market.
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great knife. sorry forgot to tell ya when they popped in. in fairness someone posted on one of the chinook threads it wasnt gonna happen this year, so i stopped watching everyday. then it came in. go figure.
 
I was just thinking the same . Blade HQ sent there email out today and I saw a new knife make or a least to me I never heard of them BESTECH company . Made in China and a price tag of $200 .
I don't know how it works but to keep knives in inventory that have a price of $200 and a no name tag on it is insane . I guess people buy them I don't .
 
jbmonkey said:
great knife. sorry forgot to tell ya when they popped in. in fairness someone posted on one of the chinook threads it wasnt gonna happen this year, so i stopped watching everyday. then it came in. go figure.
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Just Googled it (I'm on a googling spree) looks good. I've been drifting away from folders and edcing a carothers EDC. I don't know if I'll buy more folders anytime soon.

Hell, who am I kidding next week that could change lol
 
I agree jb. Obviously these knives are selling and I like looking at them but they are above what I'm willing to pay. Above $200 and I get a little hesitant.
 
jbmonkey said:
not complaining, just amazed at the amount of supply. i get emails from bout every dealer about every day, as i buy from them, and the shift and movement daily of these much higher dollar knives coming at me is mind blowing. there has to be many more collectors/users/buyers than i realize out there to keep this supply at the higher prices afloat.

am i the only one amazed by this? is there a bubble, or is this just the way it always has been and i wasnt paying attention?
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Can you give examples. Are we talking $200 price range, $400-$600 or more? Always interesting to see what other peoples thoughts on the market are.
 
whitty said:
Can you give examples. Are we talking $200 price range, $400-$600 or more? Always interesting to see what other peoples thoughts on the market are.
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high 200s and up.
 
20-ish years ago I wondered how long Chris Reeve would be able to keep shoving $300 folders out the door before the bubble burst.

Apparently, there are enough of us out here with more dollars than sense. So who am I to wonder any more?

Not much is going to surprise me anymore, I suspect.
 
Apparently there are more of us knife enthusiasts than we thought. There has to be in order for all the higher end knives (and higher end prices) to exist and sell.

I get emails from KC , BHQ and DLT the most.

When the price of a knife gets beyond $400 , I get a bit iffy. Beyond $500 , I really need to love the knife (or think I love it).

But lately I've been more than thrilled with my $170-$240 knives.
 
Velitrius said:
20-ish years ago I wondered how long Chris Reeve would be able to keep shoving $300 folders out the door before the bubble burst.

Apparently, there are enough of us out here with more dollars than sense. So who am I to wonder any more?

Not much is going to surprise me anymore, I suspect.
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and that there says a whole lot. didnt even think that way or of that example and a good one it is.

good points all, thanks.
 
I have a hard time with knives that cost more than $200, generally - so I'm really glad to see that the market has changed in the ways that it has - where your standard production knives from Spyderco, Benchmade, etc are inching up in quality, and ZT and Reate are doing collaborations to bring insane quality to the $200-400 range. There seems to be something for everyone in every price bracket.

Will it last? Maybe. I haven't seen anything that makes me think knives have become more mainstream, so it seems odd that knives are doing so well right now - maybe the economy is just doing well enough that people are dropping more money on luxury items (which, let's face it, a $150-500 pocket knife is a luxury item)

I honestly don't understand how Chris Reeve, Strider, and Hinderer have weathered the influx of high-quality knives with similar materials at considerably lower prices. Competition is fierce right now, and a lot of new and old companies are raising the standards. You can get a S35VN ceramic-bearing-pivot knife for $150. What a time to be into knives.
 
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This post is interesting and is on point with something someone recently said to me.

Reading through the forums there have been several companies that I assumed were in big trouble. People on here and other forums will talk about quality slipping, customer service problems or over saturation of the market. It is understandable because we see it from the limited angle of other knife nuts who join a forum. As a knife nut we do not often think there is an entire group of people that also like knives but do not get on forums. They could care less if the knife is centered, has blade play, locks up well, or for some they don't even know what a sharp knife really is. These people still buy knives and actually buy a ton of them.

I recently had a conversation with a knife reviewer. He posted a negative review of a knife I happen to think very highly of. His review of the knife itself was decent but his review of the company as a whole was pretty tough. I ended up calling him to discuss my displeasure. He was a great guy and we ended up talking for almost 2 hours. He explained his issues, and when I listened to him, I had to agree he made good sense. He pointed out to me that the information I get from forums and places where knife nuts are is like a 500 ft view, and he was trying to show the 50,000 foot view. I think it puts things in prospective.
 
I ponder on this subject from time to time as well. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a time where internet didn't exsist. How did knife addicts like myself even find out about all these custom and semi custom knives really besides a monthly mag or the local hardware store. I think us knife addicts have been here for a long long time, just now we have access to every damn knife made, anywhere anytime. So I'd say its always been like this, just now we can actually 'see' it. But hell I don't know, I truly don't meet too many knife nuts in person too often. Maybe we are more rare than we think my friend
 
The only issue with a lot of these brands is resale value.compared to CRK,for example, You will definitely take a loss on many of these brands if you decide months later you want to get rid of them.
 
I think there might be a good measure of the number of people who are into knives - blade show attendance. If we assume that only a certain percentage of people who are into knives are going to visit Blade show, and that percentage stays more or less consistent (lets say within 5-10%), then Blade getting record attendance nearly every successive year since 2013 or so is probably a sign that there is a notable increase in the number of knife people out there.

Here's a quote about Blade 2016 from, well, Blade Magazine (same company does both, so, take this with a grain of salt as it could just be self-promotion):
"The show proper kicked off noon Friday with VIP ticket holders pouring into the show hall after waiting for hours—some as long as from the day previous—in long lines that snaked all though the show lobby and beyond. And once the patrons flooded the show hall, the race was on to get to their favorite exhibitor’s/exhibitors’ tables and booths. All told, more people attended the show the first two days of the event than for the entire show last year—and last year’s show enjoyed the highest attendance ever until this year’s rendition. A number of exhibitors commented on the large crowds, with many selling out of knives the first day."

So, maybe the industry is drawing in more consumers in a manner that we don't really see day-to-day. It's not as if 20-30% of the population suddenly got into knives, or we'd see a lot more recognizable pocket clips out there. However, even a small increase (0.1%-1%) of the world population getting into knives would make for a huge increase in knife people.

I'll bet this honestly has a lot to do with crossover interest from fidget spinners, keychain tools, watches, and guns - knives are a natural compliment and side-hobby to people who like well-made man-jewelry and firearms. Social media (instagram) makes it easy for people who are interested in one or more of those to also get exposed to - and then interested in - the others, and a lot of knife companies are making those products too. So, when someone sees a "#edc #knife #watch #tacticalpen #fidgetspinner #rolex #glock" instagram post, they might start thinking about picking up some of the classes of items they don't currently own...
 
Knife news had reported on a few occasions of knife sale decline from prior years. Not sure how accurate that is with the sales on Instagram, eBay, etc and the used markets. But yea. Also sale of customs has been down dramatically.

I would rather buy a product at a higher price without issues than anything below $200 with issues. And it pains me when something in the higher range is crap or some how missed qc. Argh.

whitty said:
I recently had a conversation with a knife reviewer.
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Which review? I'd like to watch.
 
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