Magazine reviews

[Keith Montgomery]

Originally posted by Anthony Lombardo
As far as objective reviewing, even Gun-Tests a no-ads gun magazine rarely lives up to my expectations when it reviews something I know a lot about (pistols and revolvers), the fact that its reviews are "objective" are of little help when they do not rise to my level of knowledge.

An excellent point Anthony. When I did still read knife reviews I did find many of them sophomoric. Written by someone that seemed to think they knew a great deal, but when all was said and done they seemed to know very little at all. This, along with the fact that most reviews I was reading seemed to lack objectivity was another reason that I stopped reading reviews.

 

[Bladeandbarrel]

QUOTE]When I did still read knife reviews I did find many of them sophomoric.[/QUOTE]

Keith,
Apparently you still read knife reviews on Bladeforums, right?
You just stopped paying for them at the newstand.

I would rate the quality of most mag reviews as higher and certainly more complete than average Bladeforums level. When I read gunrag content by Ken Hackathorn, Charles Petty, John Taffin, Clint Smith or Walt Rauch,I know I am getting my monies worth.

Same with kniferag content by Ralph Mroz, Mike Janich, Bob Kasper and Kim Breed. As far as outdoor oriented cutlery, there are few people who know as much about "Working Knives" as Steve Dick.
You would know that If you had hunted with him or read more than a few of his articles.

For sheer shock and awe entertainment value however, the internet cannot be beat.

If the only place I could read Jeff Cooper's commentaries were in Guns And Ammo mag I would still subscribe (They are online). I truly miss Ross Seyfrieds writing (maybe I will subscribe again?).

Sometimes reviews are worth paying for. Sometimes pictures are worth paying for. Sometimes scoops are worth paying for.

I have a library with over 100 cutlery books and have had hundreds of magazines. I read these forums every day. I know many manufacturers, designers, and writers in the industry. Some of them are my friends. When the magazines come at the end of the month, I still learn something! How about that.

As a collector, I missed out on a large collection of forged blades because the seller ran an ad in a knife magazine where my subscription had lapsed. I missed a collection of Fisk knives for 33% of the going market rate because I had not subscribed. I woke up that day and realized that a large percentage of "our" hobby is still offline, or trusts paper more than electronic media. I subscribed to the magazine the next day. I figured I lost about $10,000 on that blunder.
Ouch.

 

[Rob Simonich]

I woke up that day and realized that a large percentage of "our" hobby is still offline,

Anthony, I would hazard a guess that the greater part is still offline or dosent know or care about these forums. At any rate you are right!

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Originally posted by Anthony Lombardo
Keith,
Apparently you still read knife reviews on Bladeforums, right?
You just stopped paying for them at the newstand.

Actually neither of these statements is true. I buy lots of magazines, so even though I don't read the reviews, I am still paying for them.

As far as reading reviews on the internet, I don't do much of that either. Occasionally I go over a review on the forums, but for the most part they don't interest me. Most of the users that I gotten over the years I picked from trying them out or from the recommendation of friends. That is also the way I pick my audio, video, auto, camera and whatever other kind of equipment I am interested in. I guess reviews serve a purpose, just not as far as I am concerned.

 

[Melvin-Purvis]

Bookmarked, for commentary at a later date...

Mel

 

[Bladeandbarrel]

Actually neither of these statements is true. I buy lots of magazines, so even though I don't read the reviews, I am still paying for them.

I also buy some knife mags just for the pictures.
The Japanese, French, Italian, and Hungarian (really) knife mags have exquisite photography.

I do read the english mags though. Takes all of about 20 minutes to read Blade or TK cover to cover.

 

[not2sharp]

What are your opinions about the quality of reviews in the knife mags?

The knife magazines reviews are subjective and generally uninformative. The biggest problem is the lack of relevant standards. Most of the articles are filler and background and very little is substantive. We only have the observations of whomever gets to write the review. In short the reviews are done on the cheap and, as with everything else, you get what you pay for.

Instead of paying reviewers for fluff pieces, these magazines should be developing their own internal test methodology. They should be running the major new releases through the process and reporting the results in a simple sumation.

n2s

 

[brownshoe]

My biggest gripe with magazine reviews are the writers who (a) spend little or no time with a knife and (b) use it in ways that don't reflect the blades intended use. For example, someone gets a camp knife to review. The admit that the spent a weekend with it. The chop some 2x4s, prep some food and do the rope cutting test. Next issue, they get an EDC fixed blade and do the same tests. They don't use the EDC to trim nails, open packages, cut fruit, trim wire, etc. Who chops 2x4s with an EDC? They shouldn't review a camp knife unless you use it in camp. For more than one trip. Who chops 2x4s and makes 100 cuts on 1/4 inch rope in camp? They shouldn't review and EDC unless they carry it for at least a month. Many knives that were hot in the first few days, wind up as drawer queens for the long haul.

My second gripe is with the obvious fluff reviews. The reviewer just describes how wonderful the knife is and never uses it. Sometims it's pretty obvious the reviewer worships the custom maker, and in those cases it's just disgusting.

However, basically, anyone with intelligence can see through the BS in both Blade and TK. What they are good for is the pictures, the good stories about individual makers, the information on technology and the ads.

 

[Michael Janich]

Very cool thread. I just wish that the magazine editors and publishers were reading it...

First of all, most of the commercial knife magazines survive on advertising, plain and simple. The unfortunate result of this is that they have tied exposure in the magazine directly to the purchasing of ads. Bigger ads mean more articles. It sucks, I hate it, but that's the way it is.

The only knife mags I have ever written for that have looked at article content alone with no advertising overtones have been Petersen's "Combat Knives" and "KnifeForums." "Combat Knives" was by far the best. They were interested in tactics as well as reviews, they paid well, and they had the horsepower to hit the market hard.

"KnifeForums" is a very honest publication that is also open minded and prints the truth. I hope it succeeds and am doing my part to support it, free of charge.

I also truly enjoyed writing for "Fighting Knives." Although I got into that magazine late in the game, it was truly a groundbreaking publication for tactical knife folks and an important part of tactical knife history.

I don't write for Blade on principle. They spoke out editorially against tactical knife people and folks who train with knives, yet still try to spin the tactical angle whenever possible to make a buck. I gave up on hipocrisy when I quit my government job.

With all that said, I'm proud to write for Tactical Knives. Although it's far from perfect, it's currently the leader in the industry and it gives me the opportunity to highlight the work of some truly good makers.

As for fluff articles and misguided reviews full of twig chopping, I hate them too. That's why I try to do a better job and respect other writers who do the same. In fact, my personal evaluation scale for knife writers is based not only on what they write, but what they've REFUSED to write about and which knives they've sent back without writing a review.

When it's all said and done, I like reading knife magazines because THEY'RE ABOUT KNIVES. I guess it's like skin magazines. Even if you don't think the girls inside are pretty, at least they're still naked...


Stay safe,

 

[Buzzbait]

I guess it's like skin magazines. Even if you don't think the girls inside are pretty, at least they're still naked...

I like the way this guy thinks.

Great post, Michael!!!