How Does One Get to Commission a Special Run of Knives?

A

Alnamvet68

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Mar 26, 2013
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I've been thinking about commissioning a special limited edition run of the BK-11 or 14, in a bright stainless, with black G-10 scales, for military members who have fought in some of our most contentious "police actions" since the 60's. I was thinking about a numbered series, about 100 for each campaign (Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan, et al). The blade would have on one side the name of the war, a laser etched facsimile of the service ribbon denoting that war, and on the other side, a laser etched US flag, with a "Welcome Home" and Ethan Becker signature. I'm willing to fund this myself, since I don't believe BK&T/KB have the time to do this themselves, I'll market it, and sales go only to service members who have actually served in these areas of conflict. I tried to PM Mr Becker, but I'm still in a time out status I guess.

Any help would be appreciated in making this a reality.
 
You would have to get in touch with KABAR directly, and realistically, you would probably need to buy a run of 2000+ for them to even consider stopping a production line completely and converting it to your run.
I know that Sparx who is the owner of Bladeforums, gets some special runs made when he can, and hes been in talks with KABAR, but they basically said that they couldn't re allocate the resources needed right now, since sales are growing and they are cranking out current and future production lines as fast as then can.

That said, it cant hurt to ask.
 
I'm not sure on logistics, but I'd be interested in buying one if it ever sees light.
 
As I recall, BladeForums was able to get a special order of Kershaw Skylines at an order of 500 knives x about $90 each.
 
i have doubt KaBar has the logistics to bamp out 2000 custom knives...

but you can ask

they DO make a FINE nee-stainless D2 BK14 called the BK24, you could buy what you like, and then have them laser etched at your convenience...

that would work well.

and not much finer than D2 :D

in sufficient quantity, they might even be able to sell you them at a good cost, but i'd probably also think they'd need a contract and other details to make sure you aren't pulling a fast one.

give them a call.
 
Spark has a laser etcher -- you might talk to him about commissioning the blade etching and talk to Kabar about a bulk order of BK24's -- or see what kind of package deal Spark would make you on supplying the blade and 2 sided etch.
Since you're talking about a run of at least 500, I'd not be surprised if you're looking at $30-35k in costs, which puts your selling point around $100 if you plan on making any kind of profit.
keep in mind, this is based on a couple of WAG's -- blade cost for a bulk buy and cost of fairly complex and busy double sided etching with 6 pieces of art. (1 flag side, 5 campaign ribbons)
Also, if you plan on selling these here on BF, you'll need to go through a dealer -- which will drive the price up -- or buy a dealer membership.

good luck!
 
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