Ken Onion Knives Stolen

I am very sorry about the loss. I am curious to know if Mr. Onion was insured for such a loss ( I would imagine anyone who travels with such valuable property to have insurance), even though recouping the value would still leave a tremedous loss of time, effort and artistry, not the mention the buyers who payed for trips and got left in the lurch. I would also like some further discussion on sending valuable knives FedEx insured to a destination (like a hotel) vs. packing them in checked baggage. Perhaps there is a valuable lesson for us to learn from in this tragedy that may help something like this from happening again.
 
I've had things stolen from fed Ex and have heard from other well known makers about knives bieng stolen from UPS . No I don't have insurance .We (Kathy,Lance ,Noel and I as well as many of my friends) are working as hard as we can and leaving no stone unturned in finding the culprits .I will recover and am not defeated.
 
Ken,

Could you comment on the suitcase used and how it was packed?

I'm not trying to suggest anything. It has long been my theory that knives which are packed "toward the inside" of the suitcase are less likely to be stolen. I'd like to check that.

I'm also curious if the bag was locked, if so how, and was the lock defeated?

I sometimes travel with expensive knives myself, so I'm concerned.
 
KenOnion said:
Thanks Kershaw guy and the rest of you with your head on straight .I sincerely appreciate your concern and thanks for staying on point Actually the loss was in excess of $50,000. three months of work there is alot of 24 and 18carat gold in them and two of them are thoroughly engraved ! And yes there are over a dozen agencies looking into this because there are thirteen knives in a secure area in an airport somewhere were someone with nefarious intent could do damage with them. It is a national security issue . If they could steal my knives they could also steal a handgun or rifle and really cause problems with Homeland safety The system needs to be fixed and this incident just happened to shed a big spotlight on a hole in the system ,So mr I've gotta laugh, you don't know shit and should not respond to things you don't know and look like a fool later. Besides I have worked my ass off for everything I have so don't minimize the issue it would be a huge loss for anyone. I feel like I just got a huge kick in the guts with this incident and am not going to tollerate you kicking me too so find something a little less personal to humor yourself with.
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:thumbup: This made my night. Especially after that, lame, overwrought, tail-between-his-legs response he typed up after he saw that you had showed up to comment in this thread.

Like I said earlier, my stomach turned a bit when I initially read all this. I can only imagine how frustrated you are and, I can only hope for some positive resolve here.
 
You know, any time I fly with a custom knife, I am in fear of these things happening. And I am just a user/collector. Knives are not my livelihood. When your livelihood is attacked, that raises the bar as to how serious this crime is. I do not understand how anyone can feel anything but sympathy for Mr. Onion's loss, and I don't think any personality issues have anything to do with the problem. Nor does anyone's opinion of Onion designs--this is NOT the time or place. Start another thread in the Customs forum if you must.

This whole thing leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. first because of the theft. Second, becasue the response on a knife forum should have been one of unqualified support for Mr. Onion-nothing else should have been here. What are people thinking?

As far as flying with the knives in the first place, do a forum search and I am sure you will find many links to threads in which knives that were shipped were lost/stolen while in the hands of the carrier. And you will also see that insuring them to full value with the carrier does not help--there are plenty of people who could not get full financial recompense for their loss. Not least because these guys deal with fraud every day--and most people cannot beleive that a knife can be valued so highly. It sets off a red flag.

The main point for the knife community are that the thieve will never realize the full value of what they have, because the community will keep an eye out at shows, on the forums, and on ebay. Sooner or later, there will be a break in this case-I doubt that the thief is someone who could just sit around looking at such knives (unlike most of us here:D).
 
"This whole thing leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. first because of the theft. Second, becasue the response on a knife forum should have been one of unqualified support for Mr. Onion-nothing else should have been here. What are people thinking?"

I feel the exact same way as Shaldag.
I hope and pray that the knives are found, and undamaged. And that the culprits or culprits are caught and punished. God Bless Mr. Onion.
 
we support Mr.Onion, a couple of jerks that like to cause trouble don't.

I agree with Mr. Onions comment that he has worked for everything he has gotten. This is a huge hit for anyone. Knifemakers even the best of the best like Mr. Onion aren't flopping around on waterbeds swimming in 100 dollar bills. I usually find the people that flippantly make comments about others losses, or have this type of attitude are jealous. I really am mad that a couple of people chose this post to make comments that they were ignored or laughed at during a show. Get over it, who the hell do you think you are...someone doesn't give pay attention to you...wah wah wah
 
Gollnick said:
Ken,

Could you comment on the suitcase used and how it was packed?

I'm not trying to suggest anything. It has long been my theory that knives which are packed "toward the inside" of the suitcase are less likely to be stolen. I'd like to check that.

I'm also curious if the bag was locked, if so how, and was the lock defeated?

I sometimes travel with expensive knives myself, so I'm concerned.
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Very interesting question -- I've traveled with a knife maker, and we checked the show knives from BOI to PDX and back. Of course, the current airport security standard is unlocked baggage to enable checking by TSA. I wonder if TSA has a process by which a firearm or a knife can be examined, then subsequently secured in a locked, checked container (luggage or other) to avoid problems such as the one currently at hand?

Gollnick: btw, when I travel with my sebenza's and mnandi's, I remove the blades and check them, and carry the handles with me. This makes for the luggage not containing a tempting theft target. When I proactively show the handles going through security, they go through with only the security folks examining and admiring them on the way through. Works well with the CRK folders -- obviously wouldn't work with fixed blades or folders that are not disassembleable.
 
Fooj said:
. Of course, the current airport security standard is unlocked baggage to enable checking by TSA. I wonder if TSA has a process by which a firearm or a knife can be examined, then subsequently secured in a locked, checked container (luggage or other) to avoid problems such as the one currently at hand?
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Absolutely. When you check in, you may request to witness the inspection and then lock your bag in any way you like. So, I am curious if Mr. Onion used this option and locked his bag.

BTW, I have several times been told by ticket counter people that this is not possible. Don't take no for an answer. Ask for a supervisor. Sometimes counter people just don't know that this is possible. Other times, they look at the line of people behind you and they don't want to hassle with arranging this for you.

At PDX, it is very simple. Just ask the TSA person when you give them your bag. They will put a red tag on it and ask you to stand in a specific area at the end of he machine. When a red-tagged bag comes off the machine, they hold it up and you claim it. They will allow you to witness any forther inspection and then it can be locked to you satisfaction. The procedure differs from airport to airport since each airport has had to figure out how to implement the TSA luggage screening in its unique space, but every airport has a procedure to allow the bag owner to witness the inspection an lock his bag afterwards. You just have to ask and insist.
 
Shitty deal all around. Ken, I hope you get the knives back. Better yet, I hope you get some justice and the scrotum scum that commited this theft gets some time behind bars. Please keep us updated if you have the time.
 
I started this thread with the words and pictures from the email I got from Mitch asking for help in spreading the word for fellow forum members to keep an eye out for these knives so we might have a chance at catching the thief.

Most of the forum members joined in and said, hell yes, I will keep an eye open for these. That is what friends are for.

Unfortunately, a few keyboard cowboys totally ignored what the thread was actually about and were compelled to post negative comments that had absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of this thread.

I am embarrased for Blade Forums that Ken had to come here and read the Crap comments posted by the forum Trolls. Shameful.

Please. Let's end the crap and stay on topic. We have knives to find.
 
I think it sucks what happened to Ken regardless if you think I'm a troll Hawaii boy. Stuff like that happens to all of us. Hopefully he insured those knives and may have some recourse in that direction. A couple years ago I had most of my collection stolen fron a locked tool box in my garage. Insurance covered the value but I could never replace the knives that were stolen.:p
 
Scott Dog ,first of all I am not ....Boy! so lose the attitude . I also never laughed at anyone ! And as for the insurance comment read my post from yesterday. I'm sorry for your knife loss . I greet everyone with kindness and you sir have no reason reguardless of what you may think happened ,to give me any shit .

Golnick, I'm sorry I cannot answer your question right now, not my choice because I would love to share the details and hope others reading this thread can learn from my experiences .I can say that there are very few means of transporting knives that are safe and UPS and Fed-EX arn't them . Hell for all I know TSA culd have been responsable so whad the hell good would a tsa approved lock do ? They have the friggin key!!! Besides it would be a great challenge tor you guys to test the system and see just how hard it would be to get a tsa key. I'm guessing it wouldn't be much of a challenge .

Thanks for the positive comments and thanks to Hawaiian for getting the word out!!!! Much appreciation brother!!!!
 
I hope you find your knives. I'll keep an eye out in California ... and if I hear of anything, I'll let you know. Good luck to you.

They should put cameras up over airport security to make sure they do their job properly, or even dummy cameras. Not only would it prevent thieves, it would actually improve homeland security.
 
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flatgrinder said:
They should put cameras up over airport security to make sure they do their job properly, or even dummy cameras. Not only would it prevent thieves, it would actually improve homeland security.
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They do. But coverage isn't 100%. A criminally-inclined baggage handlers (if the knives were stolen by a baggage handler) would know the blind spots. But, I'm sure that those tapes are being reviewed as we speak to see if anything did get caught.


Ken, I understand that you can't give details right now; I thought that might be the case. Hopefully, when this is all over, you can fill us all in.
 
Well I hesitate to stray off-topic, but I think the ideas about how to minimize the risk of this happening again are useful for all of us (and keep this thread at the top!) I think what Chuck was saying (correct me if I'm wrong), is that you can be present for the inspection and then after apply a lock of your choice. My understanding is that you only need use a TSA lock if you want to leave the bag with them for inspection and walk away. If you are willing to stand by you can use any lock you wish.

I have heard of UPS and FedEx not honoring insurance claims with regular customers, but I have also heard that is because they provide better service to their business customers, and these claims seem to be honored. I don't understand why they would dispute the value, you pay for a certain insured value so from their side the the coverage has been purchased. That's the insurenace business for you though! Last comment I want to make about this is that USPS Registered Mail tends to be more secure than UPS or FedEx. It is an option for those who can wait a week for the knives to be delivered, and from what I hear the most secure way to send anything short of hiring a private courrier traveling by land.
 
Balislinger said:
I think what Chuck was saying (correct me if I'm wrong), is that you can be present for the inspection and then after apply a lock of your choice. My understanding is that you only need use a TSA lock if you want to leave the bag with them for inspection and walk away. If you are willing to stand by you can use any lock you wish.
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Exactly correct.

The TSA lock, by the way, is not entirely without value. First, you need to understand that the purpose of most luggage locks is not theft-prevention (every Samsonite hardside suitcase ever made opens to one of two keys). The purpose of most luggage locks is to keep the bag from popping open in handling or if it gets caught on something. The TSA lock does this just fine.

I literally watched once as two bags came down a slide into a claim area side-by-side on the slide once. One was a big suitcase thing with lots of pockets on the side with zippers and such and the other was duffel bag. The big suitcase hitched up on something. At the same time, the duffel's main zipper had become snagged on one of the zipper pulls on the big bag. As it continued down the slide, the duffel literally unzipped and all of its contents spilled out. In an accident like that, a small thing like a pocket knife can easily get lost. Had the duffel's zipper been locked with a TSA lock, that wouldn't have happened.

It is true that keys for TSA locks are readily available. But, woe to the baggage handler who gets caught on the job with one in his pocket. So, even that has some value.


I have heard of UPS and FedEx not honoring insurance claims with regular customers,
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What I have heard is that FedEx isn't bad. USPS is slooooooow to process a claim, but usually does end up paying. UPS insurance has so many loopholes in the fine print that they never pay.
 
I have seen enough fools in this thread, thankfully they are outnumbered by people who understand.

I have known Ken for a while. Before the collaborations etc.

Every time I have seen him, I get a smile as well as time to talk. No matter what problems he might have there are always funny stories and warmth towards all around him. On many occaions I have seen him in great pain, but his personality always shows through, so I am wondering about the ney-sayers and how they approached him. Probably like a little kid begging for a knife foaming at the mouth or just being rude or unreasonable.

I am very much ashamed at some of the responses here. By the cluelessness and attitude they should be collecting comic books and baseball cards or making cermaics instead of knives.

Do you turkeys (you know who you are) have any idea of the time and effort it takes to make a knife, do you actually stop and think what the knifemaker (I don't care who they are) has put into that knife. Guess what money does not replace it and some of you have no business in the knife world others cherish, support and do what they can to nourish. You who don't understand should take the time to understand so you can understand and also be ashamed of your garbage. Some of the posts in this thread are showing nothing short of a disgusting lack of character.

I and many others would have nothing to do with people who show that lack of undertanding when it comes to this things we cherish. I am not talking knives here, but the people. Somewhere out there there must be a forum for jerks. Best for a few to leave here and join it becuase they have no business in the world of knives other than to stick out like a sore thumb. They don't understand that the attention they get is not a good thing, they just want to stand out. They do just that; stand out as fools.

Gus Kalanzis
 
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