- Joined
- Jun 9, 2006
- Messages
- 672
A few Koster knives for your consideration....
The first person to post “I'll take it” without contingencies and a follow up e-mail will receive purchasing priority.
Please ask any questions prior to making a purchase commitment. My top priority is a hassle free transaction. I'll be more than happy to provide additional / higher resolution photos and discuss questions via PM, e-mail, or over the phone. I've done my best to accurately describe the condition of the knives I'm offering for sale, but there's always the issue of process variation and manufacturing tolerances inherent to this type of product so please inquire if there are issues of particular importance to you.
I will accept payment via USPS Money Order, or PayPal with a confirmed address per the pricing listed. That being said, please be aware that if you are new to the forum, or have less then 5 positives as a buyer on itrader (or any negatives) I will prefer a US postal money order. Also, I will not use PayPal Gift, please don't ask. I will ship via USPS w/signature confirmation and provide insurance to CONUS only.
I'm not interested in any trades at this time.
I reserve the right to not do business with any individual without explanation. All sales are “as is, where is” and without warranty (except as provided by the manufacturer). All sales are final. By purchasing this item you are stating that you are 18 years of age or older and abiding by all local, state and federal laws concerning the purchase, transportation and possession of this item.
Koster Survivor: These knives are new, as received from the factory. They have not been used, sharpened, or inserted in a sheath. I've listed the specs below, which I took directly from Dan's Pre-Sale thread. Two things of note on these knives: The blade finish work is not what I'd call “Presentation Grade”. There are fine scratches that can be seen with even casual observation in the right light. This is not a criticism, just a fact. There are also a couple of places on each knife with some light spotting as can be seen in the close up photographs (I didn't attempt to remove it). That being said these are, in my opinion, pretty outstanding from a functional point of view. The design is well thought out, the grind is well done and handles are not only well fitted, they feel good in the hand (my opinion again, YMMV). Dan does a great job documenting the design and build process so there is a lot of information available on the Koster forum, several reviews also. Here are the basic specs from Dan's Pre-Order thread:
Blade
9 inches (sharpened), 10 inches to the front of the handle
A2 steel, hardened to 59 Hrc
1/4" thick
2.25" tall at the belly
Flats will be "as-forged" finish
"K" logo will be etched
Handle
6 inches (from front of the handle to the pommel)
5.5 inches of actual handle material
1/4" thick material (0.75" total)
Options would be Natural, Green or Black canvas micarta
2 lanyards/tie downs (front safety lanyard = 1/4", rear handle lanyard = 3/8")
2 Corby pins (mechanical fasteners)
Handle is large enough to fit an extra large hand "just right". The rest of us "non-apes" will have some wiggle room - helpful in chopping.
Misc
Point of Balance will be "in the ring"
Ring is 1 inch diameter and will be chamfered inside/out.
Overall length = 16 inches
Green Canvas Handle: $225 USPS MO / $233 PayPal
Tan Canvas Handle: $225 USPS MO / $233 PayPal
Koster BushMaster Elite: This knife is new as received from the factory. It has not been used, sharpened, or inserted in a sheath. The blade has a nice tumbled / stone washed finish, though there are just a few very fine fairly straight vertical (spine to blade edge) lines that are visible in the right light. There is also a bit of spotting in the milled out areas of the thumb grooves as can be seen in the close up photograph. There is a lot of information on the design and manufacturing of this knife on the Koster forum, but here's just a bit of what Dan had to say about the tapered tang and light weight of this knife in the “BushMaster tapered tang – Pics!” thread:
“These taper very nicely....but they are a PAIN to do....don't expect this ever again on any future runs!
So, why do I taper the tang? even though it's already lighter because of being skeletonized? Here's why:
Blade as-is (standard BushMaster Blank) = Weighs exactly 6.0 ounces.
Blade with a tapered tang = Weighs 4.6 ounces.
That's a 25% weight reduction. What is already a fairly light, easy-to-carry knife now becomes an ultralight knife with a full-size handle and full flat grind from 3/16" oversize CPM3V steel (read: TOUGH).”
The basic specs include:
Arizona Desert Ironwood handle w/ black liners
10” OAL, 5” blade, 5” handle
3/16” CPM3V Steel
6.6 ounces (on my scale)
Another qoute from Dan in the same thread as qouted above to sum it up: “This is the most Blade-For-Buck you can get. It doesn't get any better than this in terms of Maximizing Function. The Ironwood handles will just be icing on the cake.”: $275 USPS MO / $285 PayPal SOLD
The first person to post “I'll take it” without contingencies and a follow up e-mail will receive purchasing priority.
Please ask any questions prior to making a purchase commitment. My top priority is a hassle free transaction. I'll be more than happy to provide additional / higher resolution photos and discuss questions via PM, e-mail, or over the phone. I've done my best to accurately describe the condition of the knives I'm offering for sale, but there's always the issue of process variation and manufacturing tolerances inherent to this type of product so please inquire if there are issues of particular importance to you.
I will accept payment via USPS Money Order, or PayPal with a confirmed address per the pricing listed. That being said, please be aware that if you are new to the forum, or have less then 5 positives as a buyer on itrader (or any negatives) I will prefer a US postal money order. Also, I will not use PayPal Gift, please don't ask. I will ship via USPS w/signature confirmation and provide insurance to CONUS only.
I'm not interested in any trades at this time.
I reserve the right to not do business with any individual without explanation. All sales are “as is, where is” and without warranty (except as provided by the manufacturer). All sales are final. By purchasing this item you are stating that you are 18 years of age or older and abiding by all local, state and federal laws concerning the purchase, transportation and possession of this item.
Koster Survivor: These knives are new, as received from the factory. They have not been used, sharpened, or inserted in a sheath. I've listed the specs below, which I took directly from Dan's Pre-Sale thread. Two things of note on these knives: The blade finish work is not what I'd call “Presentation Grade”. There are fine scratches that can be seen with even casual observation in the right light. This is not a criticism, just a fact. There are also a couple of places on each knife with some light spotting as can be seen in the close up photographs (I didn't attempt to remove it). That being said these are, in my opinion, pretty outstanding from a functional point of view. The design is well thought out, the grind is well done and handles are not only well fitted, they feel good in the hand (my opinion again, YMMV). Dan does a great job documenting the design and build process so there is a lot of information available on the Koster forum, several reviews also. Here are the basic specs from Dan's Pre-Order thread:
Blade
9 inches (sharpened), 10 inches to the front of the handle
A2 steel, hardened to 59 Hrc
1/4" thick
2.25" tall at the belly
Flats will be "as-forged" finish
"K" logo will be etched
Handle
6 inches (from front of the handle to the pommel)
5.5 inches of actual handle material
1/4" thick material (0.75" total)
Options would be Natural, Green or Black canvas micarta
2 lanyards/tie downs (front safety lanyard = 1/4", rear handle lanyard = 3/8")
2 Corby pins (mechanical fasteners)
Handle is large enough to fit an extra large hand "just right". The rest of us "non-apes" will have some wiggle room - helpful in chopping.
Misc
Point of Balance will be "in the ring"
Ring is 1 inch diameter and will be chamfered inside/out.
Overall length = 16 inches
Green Canvas Handle: $225 USPS MO / $233 PayPal
Tan Canvas Handle: $225 USPS MO / $233 PayPal
Koster BushMaster Elite: This knife is new as received from the factory. It has not been used, sharpened, or inserted in a sheath. The blade has a nice tumbled / stone washed finish, though there are just a few very fine fairly straight vertical (spine to blade edge) lines that are visible in the right light. There is also a bit of spotting in the milled out areas of the thumb grooves as can be seen in the close up photograph. There is a lot of information on the design and manufacturing of this knife on the Koster forum, but here's just a bit of what Dan had to say about the tapered tang and light weight of this knife in the “BushMaster tapered tang – Pics!” thread:
“These taper very nicely....but they are a PAIN to do....don't expect this ever again on any future runs!
So, why do I taper the tang? even though it's already lighter because of being skeletonized? Here's why:
Blade as-is (standard BushMaster Blank) = Weighs exactly 6.0 ounces.
Blade with a tapered tang = Weighs 4.6 ounces.
That's a 25% weight reduction. What is already a fairly light, easy-to-carry knife now becomes an ultralight knife with a full-size handle and full flat grind from 3/16" oversize CPM3V steel (read: TOUGH).”
The basic specs include:
Arizona Desert Ironwood handle w/ black liners
10” OAL, 5” blade, 5” handle
3/16” CPM3V Steel
6.6 ounces (on my scale)
Another qoute from Dan in the same thread as qouted above to sum it up: “This is the most Blade-For-Buck you can get. It doesn't get any better than this in terms of Maximizing Function. The Ironwood handles will just be icing on the cake.”: $275 USPS MO / $285 PayPal SOLD
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