I have an idea and I want some input/suggestions

brewcitymike

brewcitymike

Joined
Aug 26, 2011
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I came up with the idea for a swap thread. Unlike pass arounds where a bunch of people wait to use a certain knife, with this thread, Part takers will post pics of the knives they own and then fellow members can pick and choose a knife to swap with the owner. This way people will get a chance to use a knife, axe, or hawk that they don't own , can't afford to buy, or maybe missed out on if it were a limited edition. As a rough idea I was thinking there could be a time limit of 1-2 weeks(so only ask if you know you'll have a chance to use it), any one interested in taking part will have to be a decently established member here on BF with either a good amount of time as a member, be a member of a group such as Beckerheads, or at least show that you are logged on and posting regularly w/o any huge gaps in appearance.
But for right now I'd like some suggestions, recommendations, or input of any kind regarding getting this up and running. I was picturing it working where say, I borrow a Busse from one guy and maybe he borrows a custom something or another from me something from me or maybe chooses to borrow a Tom Brown tracker from another user so one and so forth. Now I know that some of you are gonna think 'screw that, I'm not putting my trust in people I never met', but that's why I'm asking for some input. What kind of precautions can be taken to put everyone at ease? I personally would borrow to many of the people I chat with on a regular basis(fellow BH's that's you), so I hope others out there feel they can trust their fellow knife lovers. I have seen an enormous amount of kind gestures made toward people who are basically strangers since joining this forum and I think this idea can work. If nothing else, at least between a small group of us who "know" one another a bit better and feel we trust each other. So chime in and let me know what you think. Also if anyone knows where a thread like this would go, let me know. I hope to get a good response from people willing to try this out.
 
Well tell your 'friends', anybody you know, or at least believe is trustworthy and tell them to pass it on the same way. I'm gonna reach out to some fellow beckerheads personally w/ PM's to spread the word a bit more quickly.
 
Well the idea I'm going for is if you want in, post a pic of your collection, or at least all the stuff you would borrow out and that way people can view the pic and just message you about the item they want to barrow. But if you should happen to only offer 2 items then you would only be allowed to barrow that amount. And I'm not aiming for there to be an equal value arrangement necessarily either. For example, maybe you want to try out someones' Condor Bushlore, and after they check out your stuff, they ask to borrow your Busse Battle Mistress. Provided it's not a safe queen(unlikely, but its just an example:)) you should agree. This is why I want trustworthy people and members who are either well established or vouched for by an established member who is participating.
 
Cool, I'll evaluate what I have and see. You'll hafta have some criteria for borrowing. You wouldn't get many that are willing to loan to a newb with only 4 posts as an example. Nothing against new folks, but you'd need a little time in . That's up to the people loaning obviously.
 
once the rules get figured out, if anyone owns a koster bushcrafter I'd love to get my hands on one to try it out.
 
If you damage the knife?

1) Supply satisfactory replacement (owner's discretion), in the case of a knife which is no longer available for whatever reason

2) Pay for repair

There ought to be some hard and fast rules to supplement trust. Obviously, no torture tests on borrowed knives, and the owner gets to say what he considers a "torture test".

These things should be obvious, but it would be a good idea to have them written down as a "code of conduct" or some such thing.

It will also serve to weed out those people who are squeamish about loaning out their knives, or who are too picky about what they consider damage. Knives get used.

There also ought to be a "mortality clause", which says something about waiving liability on the part of both parties if the borrower becomes deceased while using the knife in a survival situation.

Just kidding about that last one...
 
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1.) Must have 100 posts or more?
2.) Must have some sort of feedback?
3.) If you have little to no feedback or are a newer member and are swapping with someone whom has sufficient feedback or is an upstanding member of the community, you must send your end first.
4.) You must agree to the owners terms of use and abuse.
5.) If you abuse, misuse, harm, or destroy the knife(going by the owners terms) you must replace the knife or pay for the repairs.

Uh.... what do you guys think? Of course there would be more rules and terms but I'm coming up with things I think seem fair.
 
1. An easy way to make it fair would be to swap knives of equal monetary value. Instead of swapping a Busse for a SAK the swaps should be kept more even so to avoid any funny business. This way there would be alot less temptation for people to simply run off with anothers blade.

2. Why not swap through a middle man? Get a trusted public figure like a prominent knife maker etc... and have the swap go through them. That way you can avoid the dreaded "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SHIPPED IT!?!?" trading phenomenon.

3. Why not require a review by the people who swap for the knives. This way they can tell everybody what they think about the knife and we can obtain more data for our members to puruse. Heck there could even be an APP for that! :eek:

4. I think a definite contract must be drawn up between the two swappers, verbal agreements don't count for monkey butt when your trying to get your money back, about what is considered acceptable use and what would be considered abuse. If it's not written down somewhere then you didn't agree to it and don't come crying to me because your knife now has wear marks on it!

By the way would this only be limited to knives? I'd love to trade some axes, machetes, etc...

-MC
 
Well I don't want to do the equal value thing cuz that kinda defeats the idea. If someone knows they can never afford to buy a busse they probably won't have anything of equal value but I still want them to be able to try one out. This is why I only want a group who truly feel they can trust each other. Like I said in my OP, you have to have at least a few months on the forum with regular posting(it don't have to be a ton of posts but it has to show they are logged on regularly), and the basic rules of how to treat the item will follow the same guidelines as the pass arounds. Plus you will have to swap phone #s with the loaner so they can reach if you haven't logged on lately for some reason. We all know that sh#@ happen with computers, modems, net connections, whatever and that way you can be reached. I was thinking of do this for Beckerheads, but judging by what I saw in my recent contest, several of them have pretty small collections, and for this I want as much variety as possible. Also if a person has a low/no feedback that doesn't really mean anything except that they haven't sold or traded anything so we shouldn't keep them out just for that. And also like I said in my OP, if a person is a newb with short time/low posts, but they can have a vet vouch for them, then I think they should be allowed(depending on who vouches I suppose).
I know this is going to require a lot of trust and I myself have many worries, but I also think it it could open up a lot of great opportunities for people to experience a wider variety of blades than they might ever be able to otherwise. I personally would love to try a Tom Brown tracker, Gossman Tusker, or Stromeng Leuku 7-8", but I want it also to include 'cheaper' stuff to. Like for someone who wants to test lets say a Condor Nessmuk to see if they should buy one.
 
medcommander said:
1. An easy way to make it fair would be to swap knives of equal monetary value. Instead of swapping a Busse for a SAK the swaps should be kept more even so to avoid any funny business. This way there would be alot less temptation for people to simply run off with anothers blade.

2. Why not swap through a middle man? Get a trusted public figure like a prominent knife maker etc... and have the swap go through them. That way you can avoid the dreaded "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SHIPPED IT!?!?" trading phenomenon.

3. Why not require a review by the people who swap for the knives. This way they can tell everybody what they think about the knife and we can obtain more data for our members to puruse. Heck there could even be an APP for that! :eek:

4. I think a definite contract must be drawn up between the two swappers, verbal agreements don't count for monkey butt when your trying to get your money back, about what is considered acceptable use and what would be considered abuse. If it's not written down somewhere then you didn't agree to it and don't come crying to me because your knife now has wear marks on it!

By the way would this only be limited to knives? I'd love to trade some axes, machetes, etc...

-MC
Click to expand...

You make a good point or two. I will say that if you are giving out a like new knife to new used and tested then you should expect it to come back with some scuffs and scrapes but nothing more really. If they should happen to cause some micro chips or something then they should sharpen them out or make arrangements to have it fixed. Any broken blades/handles will result in the knife being replaced, or substituted w/ something of the owner's choice. So if you get my Becker and break it, and I see that you own a C.S. SRk then I will ask for it in return for the becker. And if I have a knife of yours but don't want that specific one then I may keep it until you settle up with me.
 
I also wanted it to be designed where if you borrow my Becker, but you don't own anything that peaks my interest at the time then I will still loan it to you and then I just borrow something from someone else. Its meant to be more of a borrowing system, not necessarily a swap meat,lol. Where the loaner doesn't NEED to get something from the loanee. Maybe we could start with a small group and a few knives ranging in value and do a few passarounds to see how it goes. We could each post a pic of a couple knives from our collections, and the others will each choose and we'll try it out like that
 
So if some of the Beckerheads want to do a trial run, lets get something organized. We could limit to say 10 people for 30 days???
 
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