Keep it Alive in 2025

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Further excerpts from the lost log of MV Porchantic.
These final few pages are heavily damaged. Apparently, they have lain undisturbed soaked in tea and festering with mouldy crumpet crumbs for many years.
I have managed to transcribe parts and for clarity I have filled in the blanks. The following text bears no resemblance to any persons living or dead...except by accident.

Captain Schlossberg of the Porchenberg Admiralty strode manfully into the wheelhouse. A quick assessment of the panicking mob desperately squabbling over the last crumpet reminded him of Seagulls.
Brandishing his clay pipe in one hand and a tot of Rum in the other he gestured towards the mountainous berg looming menacingly closer with every second.
Helmsman ! he bawled,
I need some ice F'Me Rum......The room fell grimly silent...The faces of the crewmen froze in terror with the realisation that there was no way of steering the ship to avoid the monster.... or the iceberg.
All Ahead Full! came the command.
The boiler room went into overdrive shoveling coal. The engines pounded out with heart ripping rhythm. Schlossberg donned his oilskin sou'wester and with his pipe and beaker in hand booted open the hatch and went to the Badminton court towards the bow.
The ship smashed through the waves at an unheard-of speed.... She struck the Icy leviathan with the madness of a kamikaze. Schlossberg raised his beaker in salutation , pointed the claypipe at the iceberg as it was pulverised into millions of tiny chunks by the MV Porchantics triple reinforced prow. The two giant rotating Slurpee blades protruding from the hull began to spin, mashing the iceberg into slush as the ship glud unhindered on its course without missing a beat. The captain swirled the beaker of rum as a perfect little iceblock plopped into from the sky with a dainty splash and with a quick puff on the clay pipe which always made him look somehow wiser went back inside.
 
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Ed Modoc ED Modoc ED

Opinel only requires a minimum of 24 knives for a special order. They can be engraved on the handle or on the blade. abbydaddy abbydaddy posted a link to their special order catalog a few posts ago.

I volunteer to order 24 knives at my own expense. I am willing to receive them and forward them on to Forum buyers. In other words, I am willing to take on the risk and labor involved in getting 24 Opinel Forum Knives. I doubt there would be more than 150 to 200 members who would want to buy an Opinel as a Forum Knife. Doing the math, we would only need ten volunteers, or nine in addition to me, to have a run of 240. Of course, we could cut off the number anywhere we liked if we did not have enough volunteers. This would only require Spark’s approval. He would not have to expend any capital or do any work, neither would the moderators. Of course the moderators would probably have more moderating to do as we hash out the process.

I ran all of this past Frank and Gary. Peregrin Peregrin knarfeng knarfeng . I will allow them to speak on their own, but, in a nutshell, they do not believe this is a good idea or one that Spark Spark would be inclined to agree to.

meako meako , I believe the Porchantic is going down for certain this year.

I know many dislike the Forum Knife and the rough and rowdy process we often went through. And I agree that an Opinel is not an exciting choice. But their low cost make them the only viable option. I just hate to see the tradition come to an end.

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Leslie Tomville said:
Ed Modoc ED Modoc ED

Opinel only requires a minimum of 24 knives for a special order. They can be engraved on the handle or on the blade. abbydaddy abbydaddy posted a link to their special order catalog a few posts ago.

I volunteer to order 24 knives at my own expense. I am willing to receive them and forward them on to Forum buyers. In other words, I am willing to take on the risk and labor involved in getting 24 Opinel Forum Knives. I doubt there would be more than 150 to 200 members who would want to buy an Opinel as a Forum Knife. Doing the math, we would only need ten volunteers, or nine in addition to me, to have a run of 240. Of course, we could cut off the number anywhere we liked if we did not have enough volunteers. This would only require Spark’s approval. He would not have to expend any capital or do any work, neither would the moderators. Of course the moderators would probably have more moderating to do as we hash out the process.

I ran all of this past Frank and Gary. Peregrin Peregrin knarfeng knarfeng . I will allow them to speak on their own, but, in a nutshell, they do not believe this is a good idea or one that Spark Spark would be inclined to agree to.

meako meako , I believe the Porchantic is going down for certain this year.

I know many dislike the Forum Knife and the rough and rowdy process we often went through. And I agree that an Opinel is not an exciting choice. But their low cost make them the only viable option. I just hate to see the tradition come to an end.

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Well Greg Leslie Tomville Leslie Tomville , you've certainly put a lot of time and effort into a remedy for a 2025 Forum Knife. I had no idea. Thank you for your effort. I think you have a good idea but not a workable idea - missed deadlines, payment problems, address changes/errors, etc.. I'm afraid your illustrative picture might well be the fate of the 2025 BF Knife.
 
Yes Ed, Modoc ED Modoc ED , this looks like the end of the cruise.

Every year, the biggest issue is always the same; that being the financial risk and hard work falling on just one person. I tried to think of a way we could divide up that risk and the work. Opinels’s 24 knife minimum makes this possible, and dealing with knives in the $30 to $50 dollar range substantially reduces the financial risk. I realize that out of 24 knives a volunteer might get stuck with a couple, but, to me, losing a hundred bucks or so is a small price to pay to keep the ship afloat for another year.

The only long term solution is to find an active dealer willing to take this on. Goodness knows how much money each of us spends with dealers of GEC, Case, Northwoods, Bark River, Buck, etc. They benefit tremendously from this Forum, and you would think there would be a couple willing to step up. They would be returning the favor, not doing us a favor. This is not a shot at anyone who has performed this role is the past. The vast majority of the dealers I am referring to do not have a visible presence on the Forum.

All things considered, it is amazing that the tradition lasted as long as it did. It is a credit to the members, dealers, and moderators here in the Forum that took on the task. I certainly don’t blame the moderators for having had their fill. It’s quite a job.
 
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I must say I agree with your assessment of the situation Greg Leslie Tomville Leslie Tomville . I might even go along with a possible loss but highly doubt that 25 or so others/volunteers here are willing to take a chance. Nothing negative intended to any others here.

A tip of my hat to all who have made the Forum knife possible in the past.
 
Didn’t we pre-pay for the bulk of the knives? Unless I’m confused, we shouldered the bulk of the upfront costs.
That said, Spark did all the work and I feel he should have been compensated for that time and effort. The large Stockman was too much of a risk in my opinion and I think a single blade would have worked better. If he does do a forum knife again, he should work in his just compensation into the price. I’m guessing a single blade, plus his compensation would have come in under the $250 of the large stockman.
 
Leslie Tomville said:
Yes Ed, Modoc ED Modoc ED , this looks like the end of the cruise.

The only long term solution is to find an active dealer willing to take this on. Goodness knows how much money each of us spends with dealers of GEC, Case, Northwoods, Bark River, Buck, etc. They benefit tremendously from this Forum, and you would think there would be a couple willing to step up. They would be returning the favor, not doing us a favor. This is not a shot at anyone who has performed this role is the past. The vast majority of the dealers I am referring to do not have a visible presence on the Forum...
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Dealers who have a visible presence on the Forum know that selling a Forum knife comes with a lot of baggage. Half, maybe a bit more, will buy a knife and everything will be fine. There will be a few legitimate problems. But, there will be those who consider themselves to be Discerning Buyers. They cannot tolerate less than perfect centering, natural materials that aren't identical down to the angstrom, polishing compound in the blade wells. Then there are the people issues. People who can't read and follow instructions, the gatekeepers carping about who is or isn't eligible, endless headaches from mailing addresses. Now, top that off with the fact that a dealer can't make a profit on a Forum knife, up to this point anyway.

Who would want the headache?
 
Leslie Tomville said:
Yes Ed, Modoc ED Modoc ED , this looks like the end of the cruise.

Every year, the biggest issue is always the same; that being the financial risk and hard work falling on just one person. I tried to think of a way we could divide up that risk and the work. Opinels’s 24 knife minimum makes this possible, and dealing with knives in the $30 to $50 dollar range substantially reduces the financial risk. I realize that out of 24 knives a volunteer might get stuck with a couple, but, to me, losing a hundred bucks or so is a small price to pay to keep the ship afloat for another year.

The only long term solution is to find an active dealer willing to take this on. Goodness knows how much money each of us spends with dealers of GEC, Case, Northwoods, Bark River, Buck, etc. They benefit tremendously from this Forum, and you would think there would be a couple willing to step up. They would be returning the favor, not doing us a favor. This is not a shot at anyone who has performed this role is the past. The vast majority of the dealers I am referring to do not have a visible presence on the Forum.

All things considered, it is amazing that the tradition lasted as long as it did. It is a credit to the members, dealers, and moderators here in the Forum that took on the task. I certainly don’t blame the moderators for having had their fill. It’s quite a job.
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You can go on the Opinel USA website and any individual can buy a #8 Carbon with engraved handle and both sides of the blade for $45.50 including shipping, plus tax. the basic knife is like $24 shipped.

So Opinel is used to shipping single knives to unique retail buyers. That should solve all problems except for Spark's licensing, and Opinel's flexibility.

For the sake of argument I wonder if Opinel would be willing to add a special model to their website. Lets say a #8 Carbon with unique Bladeforums engraved blade or handle. Maybe we could vote on that?
Opinel would build in a royalty to Spark for the logo/name and we could all go to their website and order them for a price. If I were Opinell I would leave it open to further engraving, add a sheath etc.. just like one of their other offerings and that way anyone could buy one and Spark gets his cut without lifting a finger, and Opinel, who is already in the business of selling single knives and shipping them, probably sells a few hundred knives and who knows how many upgrades and accessories they otherwise wouldn't.

Just my .02 and probably worth about the same.
 
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Wow, you are correct FLymon FLymon , I was unaware of this option to personalize a knife, and for only around 40 bucks all in!

We could each order our own knife. There would be no financial risk or work for anyone Modoc ED Modoc ED . All we would need is Spark’s approval. And if he does not approve, we could etch the blade with “ MV PORCHANTIC” in honor of the greatest champion of the Forum Knife, our own USER=177095] meako meako [/USER] ! Better yet, we could ask. USER=177095] meako meako [/USER] to compose the etch. Unfortunately, he would be limited to 30 characters, but I bet he would embrace the challenge and come up with something interesting! If the Porchantic is actually going down this year for good, shouldn’t we at least commemorate it’s illustrious career?!

Now the question becomes, how many of us would want such a knife. What say ye? You could like this post to express your interest or give us your thoughts in a separate post.

I have to say that the steak knife at the top of my post, and in the photo below, looks pretty darn nice and unique, especially in Padouk wood right abbydaddy abbydaddy ?

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Hey Charlie waynorth waynorth . They offer several sizes of the Effile;

No. Blade Length. Overall Length
8. -— 3.5 in. — 7.10 in.
10. — 4 in. -— 9.05 in.
12. — 4.9 in. — 11 in.
15. — 5.9 in. — 13 in.

They are offered in Beech, Padouk, Olive, and Ebony. The number 10 seems to be out of Padouk, and the Ebony is way more expensive and only available in the number 10 size.

I just realized that another great feature of this plan is that everyone could order whichever size and wood choice they prefer. The Effile pattern would be the common denominator. It is only offered in stainless steel which I believe is preferable for what many of us would use as a steak knife.
 
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