In need of guidance buying my first custom knife

Blues Bender said:
Personally, I like gambling. Life is too short to wait:D:p

What/where are these 3-4 shows near me? The only one I'm aware of is the Badger Knife Show in Wisconsin. Is my Google-Fu really that weak?
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Western Michigan and somewhere in western Ohio.
 
I've handled two of those three and neither impressed me.

Brian is a super cool guy and his knives are neat but they are a little too over done for my taste. Also the button lock inhibits a good detent which makes them just okay flippers.

The vast majority of Bodegas you see are just production knives. The chances of ever seeing or affording an actual custom are slim to none. The original Bodega and the FG Bodega are just production knives and they aren't anything to write home about for the money.

Be careful with Youtube and Instagram, it's hard to tell who is genuinely enthused by something and who is acting that way because they got a free knife...
 
I don't think I can bring myself to stop hunting for a custom knife until the next knife show comes around in a couple months. I too don't mind gambling. Perhaps you guys could help me hedge my bets and increase my odds of beating the house though...

Take a look at this post over on the USN forums (you'll need to login to USN to see it). It shows several variations of a beautiful CKF (custom knife factory) Sukhoi Dragon Spine blade.

I've never really been into the whole 'Fantasy' knife genre, and while these CKF knives might not be as sophisticated or classy as a full custom Todd Begg Bodega, in my opinion they're quite beautiful and would definitely raise an eyebrow of anyone I showed them to.

Having said that, these knives seem to be available for purchase from this online dealer (the first 3 knives at the top of the page are slightly different variations of this knife.

Anyone care to weigh in on whether or not this prospect might be worth a role of the dice?
 
m021478 said:
I don't think I can bring myself to stop hunting for a custom knife until the next knife show comes around in a couple months. I too don't mind gambling. Perhaps you guys could help me hedge my bets and increase my odds of beating the house though...

Take a look at this post over on the USN forums (you'll need to login to USN to see it). It shows several variations of a beautiful CKF (custom knife factory) Sukhoi Dragon Spine blade.

I've never really been into the whole 'Fantasy' knife genre, and while these CKF knives might not be as sophisticated or classy as a full custom Todd Begg Bodega, in my opinion they're quite beautiful and would definitely raise an eyebrow of anyone I showed them to.

Having said that, these knives seem to be available for purchase from this online dealer (the first 3 knives at the top of the page are slightly different variations of this knife.

Anyone care to weigh in on whether or not this prospect might be worth a role of the dice?
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Regarding the Sukhoi, that really comes down to ones definitions. To me, that is not a custom knife; it's a "pimped" (as some say) or modified production knife.

There are "custom" knives, and then there are truly-custom knives... A "custom" knife is a pre-configured piece that has been modified to your tastes. A true custom knife is one that you personally designed from scratch (maybe with help from the maker) and had someone build for you. The latter is more rare.
 
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Blues Bender said:
Regarding the Sukhoi, that really comes down to ones definitions. To me, that is not a custom knife; it's a "pimped" (as some say) or modified production knife.

There are "custom" knives, and then there are truly-custom knives... A "custom" knife a pre-configured piece that has been modified to your tastes. A true custom knife is one that you personally designed from scratch (maybe with help from the maker) and had someone build for you. The latter is more rare.
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I definitely understand this... I should have clarified better I guess. In my initial post of this thread I mentioned not really wanting to have to deal with getting a full custom knife built from scratch and then to waiting months (if not years) to finally get it in hand...but rather pickup a custom knife second hand or just go for a semi-custom (i.e. pimped) knife like the CKF Sukhoi Dragon Spine blade. I guess I am sort of in search of knives of various degrees of customization... Just something to add to my collection that stands out from the knives that can be bought directly from Production Knives 'r Us
 
m021478 said:
I definitely understand this... I should have clarified better I guess. In my initial post of this thread I mentioned not really wanting to have to deal with getting a full custom knife built from scratch and then to waiting months (if not years) to finally get it in hand...but rather pickup a custom knife second hand or just go for a semi-custom (i.e. pimped) knife like the CKF Sukhoi Dragon Spine blade. I guess I am sort of in search of knives of various degrees of customization... Just something to add to my collection that stands out from the knives that can be bought directly from Production Knives 'r Us
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Yea, I know what you meant by "custom":)

If you really want to narrow something down, you'll eventually have to single-out a maker or a certain type of knife (for example: Pohan Leu Hamachi or custom sub-hilt fighter). The word "custom knife" can embody almost any knife out there!:D
 
Are you trying to stay within a certain price range, or are the skies the limit? The reason I am asking is because the knives you have on your pinterest board vary drastically in price. If you were to point out a certain price range I am sure more people could chime in and point you in the right direction of specific makers to look at whom members have had experience with.
 
Blues Bender said:
Yea, I know what you meant by "custom":)

If you really want to narrow something down, you'll eventually have to single-out a maker or a certain type of knife (for example: Pohan Leu Hamachi or custom sub-hilt fighter). The word "custom knife" can embody almost any knife out there!:D
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As I said before, I'm a fan of Todd Begg, Ron Best, Brian Tighe, Eric Ochs, Kirby Lambert, Brian Nadeau, Rick Lala, Van Barnett, Ron Appleton, Rick Barrett... among many others.

I haven't yet singled out a specific 'type' of knife (Bodega being model, not a type).

Too broad to be a 'type' I guess, but semi-custom tactical folding knife is as close as I can get to narrowing it down to a 'type' at this point.
 
Try "window shopping" at online purveyors like ebosshoss or Arizona custom knives and others. It'll give you a good idea of the secondary market from run of the mill to more than most sane people would ever want to spend. Besides, it's fun.
 
m021478 said:
As I said before, I'm a fan of Todd Begg, Ron Best, Brian Tighe, Eric Ochs, Kirby Lambert, Brian Nadeau, Rick Lala, Van Barnett, Ron Appleton, Rick Barrett... among many others.

I haven't yet singled out a specific 'type' of knife (Bodega being model, not a type).

Too broad to be a 'type' I guess, but semi-custom tactical folding knife is as close as I can get to narrowing it down to a 'type' at this point.
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You can buy Brian Nadeau knives right from his site. I think he has a few up there. They are awesome and he is awesome.
 
TGreen said:
Are you trying to stay within a certain price range, or are the skies the limit? The reason I am asking is because the knives you have on your Pinterest board vary drastically in price. If you were to point out a certain price range I am sure more people could chime in and point you in the right direction of specific makers to look at whom members have had experience with.
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My Pinterest board is literally anything and everything that I found beautiful, regardless of any specific classification. As far as price range I don't think I could bring myself to spent over $2,500, though if the grail knife to end all grail knives turned up at $2600, I could find a way to make it work. To be honest, that CKF (custom knife factory) Sukhoi Dragon Spine blade I asked about before is listed at about $1,800 and even that dollar amount makes me slightly queasy.

Bob Leedy said:
Try "window shopping" at online purveyors like ebosshoss or Arizona custom knives and others. It'll give you a good idea of the secondary market from run of the mill to more than most sane people would ever want to spend. Besides, it's fun.
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I've spent the last month or two window shopping at Arizona Custom Knives and the like... I definitely agree it's fun, but eventually, a fella needs to get in on the action!

Scurvy092 said:
You can buy Brian Nadeau knives right from his site. I think he has a few up there. They are awesome and he is awesome.
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Great tip. I'll take a look. Thanks!
 
My suggestion is to go to Blade (in Atlanta next month). You'll get to hold and try dozens of the kind of knives you're looking for. It's worth the expense if you really want to spend $2000-$3000 (based on your pintrest file), and you may find that talking to some of the lesser known makers can get you an knife built to your spec a lot quicker than you think.
 
I don't know if Blade forum members do local gatherings, but USN (which you indicated you were also a member of)certainly do. It would be a good time to get your hands on some knives and very likely will see something you like. If not you may have a better idea of what you don't like, which will narrow the field some.
 
eisman said:
My suggestion is to go to Blade (in Atlanta next month).
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I know that's the best way to go about things, but it's so much easier said than done... For a variety of reasons I won't bore you with. My best bet at this point is to figure out a way to get what I want without flying across the country. It's possible. Perhaps not as easy as attending Blade Show 2016, but possible nonetheless.
 
I did pick up a Lambert recently and his work is very good. Another maker not on your list that you might like to look at(or might not) is John W. Smith-very good work and very reasonably priced.
 
With regards to the CKF Sukhoi Dragon Spine blade I mentioned before... Is rusblade.com a legit purveyor known to the community that typically offers 'competitive' pricing on their knives? And does $1800 seem in the range of reasonable for the knife I mentioned?
 
Peter Hartwig said:
I did pick up a Lambert recently and his work is very good. Another maker not on your list that you might like to look at(or might not) is John W. Smith-very good work and very reasonably priced.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I took a look at John W. Smith's work over at Arizona Custom Knives. He certainly has some beautiful stuff, but I don't think it's quite as "holy shit!" as I'm looking for (if you know what I mean)
 
I definitely suggest going to a knife or a gunshow. Big gunshows usually have some knife makers aswell. My mind was blpon after seeing real knife makers jewels after having mass production knives for years.
 
Have you tried going to some of the knife stores in LA.
There are at least 3 amazing knife stores I can think of that have a terrific selection of custom knives.
Best of luck in your search.
Cheers
 
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