It seems hard to order a Carothers knife

David45

David45

Joined
Oct 27, 2017
Messages
330
I’ve been poking around this part of the forum and it would appear the only way to get a Carothers knife is to get lucky and find an open preorder.

I see there is an aftermarket but it looks like owners are VERY reluctant to part with their Carothers blade and it’s hard to find the one I would want.

Did I miss something?
 
David45 said:
I’ve been poking around this part of the forum and it would appear the only way to get a Carothers knife is to get lucky and find an open preorder.

I see there is an aftermarket but it looks like owners are VERY reluctant to part with their Carothers blade and it’s hard to find the one I would want.

Did I miss something?
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As someone in the same boat as you, the short answer is: nope!

ETA: the slightly longer answer is that they occasionally show up on the secondary market, usually at a pretty good premium and are gone quickly.
There are also the Friday sales (not regular) of smaller batches to watch for.
My understanding is that CPKs are probably the best bang for your buck if you’re looking for a serious cutting tool - so the premium in the aftermarket might still be worth it.

Good luck!
 
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David45 said:
I’ve been poking around this part of the forum and it would appear the only way to get a Carothers knife is to get lucky and find an open preorder.

I see there is an aftermarket but it looks like owners are VERY reluctant to part with their Carothers blade and it’s hard to find the one I would want.

Did I miss something?
Click to expand...

They are in extremely high demand which always stump their availability. This (now defunct) thread which I had made a while ago may be of some further help to you:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...s-purchasing-ethos-methods-protocols.1528687/
 
No, Survive! knives are hard to order and receive....I have a new model brand new 5.1 I would gladly trade for a CPK HDFK in 3V... but that will never happen because the Carothers are practically impossible to get your hands on unless money is no object. (Money is an object for me....!)
 
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the-next-sale.1405869/

The first post in the linked thread will announce the next sale. They are typically at 3:00pm EST on Friday. Not every Friday, just when announced. The sale will not occur in the linked thread. On Friday the sales thread will be posted but locked until 3:00. That way you can find it ahead of time, read it, and decide if you want to buy at 3:00. You have to be quick on the draw with a high refresh rate. 20 knives will be gone in under a minute.
Or wait for the next preorder. You may also want to watch the Carothers Buy, Sell and Trade thread, as well as the exchange.
 
They are hard to get. i just found one of the threads linked above and have been watching it. This man's knives go quick for sure but that must be for a reason. Hopefully I'll get lucky one of these days and land one. until then I'll just keep looking at all the great pictures and videos posted.
 
Check this Forum often and stay updated on upcoming Pre-Orders! CPK knives when ordered from Nathan are very INEXPENSIVE IMO, and represent this best Performance to Price ratio available today! The secondary market is where you see the Big Increase in prices (Supply and Demand) The Friday sales are very Competitive, and 20 knives can be sold in under 1 minute:eek: Take Advantage of all Pre-orders offered and good luck!
 
TommyGun56 said:
Check this Forum often and stay updated on upcoming Pre-Orders! CPK knives when ordered from Nathan are very INEXPENSIVE IMO, and represent this best Performance to Price ratio available today! The secondary market is where you see the Big Increase in prices (Supply and Demand) The Friday sales are very Competitive, and 20 knives can be sold in under 1 minute:eek: Take Advantage of all Pre-orders offered and good luck!
Click to expand...

Regarding the bolded text in RED: this is because Nathan / Jo are not from the school of economics teaching "let's see what are the max prices that the market can tolerate!". The market can definitely tolerate and bear their further price increases outside of the speculative supply / demand on the secondary market, but a steady protracted growth is preferred over the testing of the tensile strength of their valuation market (pun intended ;) )
 
It's just timing. I've just turned up. I'd love to have got in on the earlier models but i wasn't here. I snagged an edc2 last friday sale which was great. More friday sales and pre-sales to look forward to this year.
 
David45 said:
It must be hard to resist the temptation to cut corners as so many do for the quick buck. I would say these men have a character to match their exceptional products. Rare!
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Just FYI, Jo Carothers is Mrs. Carothers ;) But yes, both Nathan & Mark go to the mens bathroom :)

Jest aside, don't make too much hay about the CPK secondary market prices. It didn't used to be as inflated but the hoard of interested parties who have heard about the legend of CPKs have been constantly raising the roof on the secondary. That also includes the less veteran collectors who had not been around this make 3-4 years ago when they were relatively easier to get. Some folks pay the speculative prices and then may determine that it was not worth the fuss, sell and then move on but by and large, if you stick around and contribute to the forum by making your interests and presence known, someone may step up to proxy for you in one of the Fridays sales which means that you will get a CPK to try at CPK listed prices. Establishing some social capital on the subform plus acquiring a membership on the site (not necessary but will be taken more seriously) will always make you more immediately recognizable and trusted. Good luck D45 :)
 
Welcome to the Sub new guys.

Watch for the pre-orders, they are generally open for a few days. Strange as it sounds - while production is low but growing - there aren`t dozens of chances to get a given knife. CPK has grown in popularity to the point where I enter all the pre-orders now, and a while back I could get a knife in any given Friday sale.
 
A bunch of 'em get sold/traded behind the scenes without ever hitting the exchange, so the ability to private message is worth its weight in gold membership (I think you can message with Basic level, too, for like ten bucks). Once folks get to know you and what you're looking for, I'm guessing there might be more availability than there seems at first glance. Welcome to the forum!
 
Oops, my apologies to Jo - who must be a fantastic woman.

I didn’t know Mr. Carothers was so lucky!
 
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