knife companies lack of originality

[superc]

Here are some examples of 50 or more year old toys (one is 90, but still works like new) which I suspect will still be just as functional in another 50 years, barring confiscation or abuse of course. No need to buy something new if you have these..

 

[aj1985]

Is it my imagination or have the big knife companies like Gerber, Sog, Al MAr and a couple of others from the 80's and 90's that had a huge selection of fixed blades with no serrations or gimmicks on their sheaths dropped the ball with originality?
It seems every time I open up one of their catalogs I see the same thing, dissapointment.
Gerber who used to have alot of great fixed blades now doesn't even produce any of them. Like the Bmf, original Lmf, Mk2, Mk1 etc. Those are the models that so to say made them real famous back then. Now it seems like they don't want to make blades longer than 6 inches.
Al Mar who definately had some of the finest fixed blades around now doesn't have the guts to produce blades over 5 inches. Again their original line up is no longer made.
Sog, who's catalog I have gotten today, I feel has fallen down like the others. Even though they still produce fixed blades you can't get most of them without the latest greatest serrations that just has to plague almost every fixed blade these days.
So my question is to you and to these companies what happen to originality? Like these companies producing their original line up just the way they used to be produced. Without any gimmicks or serrations or any of the latest tacticool crap.
Sorry for the rant, but I am sick of these companies not having the testicular(spell) fortitude to not only keep their original line up but keep them the way they used to be made, and to quit falling for B.S. ideas from some supposed spec ops person who happens to be careless with a knife. Example the dummy that came up with the Groove cut-out in the kydex sheaths on Sog's sheaths. The idea was to cut paracord with your knife still in the sheath by using this groove. Think about it! What are you going to do, move that entire piece of string that might be tied around an object around to the side of your body and around your gear just to use that stupid groove that reveals part of your edge to the elements just to cut that string? Or are you just going to pull your knife or folder out and cut the d#$% line.
Again, sorry for the rant.

Mods, if this is in the wrong section please move. Thank you.

Didn't SOG just win an award for the best collaboration with a knifemaker in Atlanta.

Please don't say knife companies, because that involves SPYDERCO as well.

Come check out the new designs by Spyderco. New Steels, more collaborations, Form and function like no other, and the only production company that truly listen to their clients. (SAL has said no to me plenty of times, but hey he still listens and makes many things happen for his customers)


take care & please don't generalize

aj

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Al Mar Knives has developed a number of new designs since Al Mar himself died. Not all were blazingly original: they were fiunctional, though, based on the company's signature style. As are many of the new SOG's, another company that looks to the Vietnam era for its designs.

For that matter, Mike Stewart is able to innovate constantly because his knives are largely handmade. He isn't stamping them out, with the consequent dependence on getting his investment back on a particular model. He is also able to stand out because so many others do not innovate the way he does, so he has that share of the market. And as far as innovation goes, he is a master at making current versions of old standby designs, proven workers.

Some companies are doing well financially by selling to that share of the market that only wants and needs a simple working knife. Why would they chance competing heavily in a part of the market someone else is covering already?

I recently got a couple of very comparable fixed blades -- a Dan Koster bushcraft knife and a Bark River Gameskeeper. They really do cover the same needs, but with enough differences for me to enjoy owning both.