Is that a glut of knives in the market?

[golok]

From what I can see and read in Bladeforums, there seems to be an oversupply of knives in the Knife World.

Collectors, buyers and knife traders are spoilt for choice. The situation has become one in which there is a glut of steels of all makes and models.

Of course, there are some knifemakers who have backlogs of orders that stretch for two years or more. But that is more of an exception rather than the rule.

Other than that, there is a mass of knives floating around.

We are not talking of custom knives here but the other types.

Knife magazines seem to indicate that the market is also reaching saturation point. So what does that augurs for the future?

Are we spoilt for choice? Are there then really too many knives in the market?

 

[Buzzbait]

I will say that there are A LOT of knives to choose from right now. Some manufacturers make an incredible number of different models, and all in the same price/size category. That’s a mistake if you ask me.

Just look how at how many Spydercos there are, all with about the same sized blade. If they were to put all of their energy into two of these models, they’d probably be able to reduce the overall cost, as well as perfect the designs much sooner. I don’t have anything against Spyderco. They make a great knife. It’s just hard to look at a million different Spydies and choose one. I usually get tired and pick a manufacturer with fewer models.

I’d much prefer to see half the number of models there are to choose from today, if it meant getting some better features. A manufacturer adds this bell or whistle to one knife, and adds another bell or whistle to a different model a year later. Both knives are same price. I love all the bells and whistles, but the manufacturer doesn’t make them all in the same knife. That’s darn aggravating.

Camillus has the right idea with the EDC. It’s a solid design through and through. Instead of adding another totally different knife in the same range, they add another steel option for me to choose from. That’s the way to go.

 

[Daniel Dorn]

I don't think I can ever have too many knives, but there is probably a point at which I would say "Enough." There are so many people out there who have yet to convert to KnifeKnutism, that if we do our jobs and spread the word, there will be more than enough people to keep all the knife manufacturers in business.

It IS really hard to decide just what knife will be next, but I actually enjoy the comparing, contrasting, and shopping around for the next new thing. It's kind of a challenge to get one of every cool design feature. e.g. axis lock, titanium blade, talonite, carbon fiber, ceramic, "Super-Duper-Do-All-Cut-all Wonder Steel," etc. I am far from having everything I would like, and I really like having all the choices.

The choices make it more likely that every person will be able to find that knife which is just perfect for them. I'd rather be in this situation than saying, "Well, I can't find exactly what I want, so I'll settle for this one."

The poor sellers will be discontinued, so I always try to get a hold of the ones I like before they go the way of the dinosaur. This is one more aspect that makes collecting more fun and challenging.

Wow, that's probably my longest post ever. Hope it didn't put anyone to sleep.

Get out there and convert the heathens! We need more KnifeKnuts!

DD

 

[Elvislives]

The world population is ever-growing. Maybe they will get ahead of the demand for the knife knuts of tomorrow...

 

[Razoredj]

You might as well ask, "Are there too many makes and models of cars in the world?" After all, in the same price range you can find many different vehicles, some manufactured by the same company. They all have roughly the same size wheels and set roughly the same number of people.

Competition is a good thing. If knifemakers are overextending themselves, they'll either scale back or go out of business (which means knives with increased collectibility! ). I enjoy having a diverse array of objects after which to lust.

 

[PhilL]

What I see is a lot of competition for our knife buying dollar. Supply may very well exceed the Demand, I know it does in my case. This leads to more choices and a lowering of price and an increase of quality and features. As a consumer I don't have a problem with that, in fact it's the ideal situation. If I'm the seller, yeah that can be a problem. Then my problem is how do I offer a product that will be in demand? That takes research and devolopement and a strategy to not just follow trends but to set them. The products that can do that will succeed and the ones that can't will fail. Survival of the fittest.

 

[Nathan S]

They've been saying the same thing about doctors and lawyers for years. But there are never enough good doctors and lawyers, never enough good knives.

 

[allenC]

I think there are really too many "tactical" knives out there. So many that I don't even pay them much attention.
But there has been a huge increase in the number of multi-tools on the market, and that is a good thing. I don't think the multi-tool engineers get enough praise. I'm constantly amazed how they can get all of those tools into such a small package that is comfortable and really works, and still keep it affordable to us blue-collar types.
But what I mostly see in the blade magazines are expensive "tacticals".
Traditional pocket-knives are in a stranger situation: I think there is a glut of stockman-style pocket-knives while other patterns fade into history. Try to find a HIGH QUALITY production barlow style knife. I'll bet the choices are very few when compared to the large "tactical" folder choices.

Sorry for the rant-n-rave,
Allen.