Mercworx Knives...

Les Robertson is carrying Mercworx blades on his site. I saw that he posted earlier in this thread; perhaps he could shed some light here.
I am interested in the Shiva model that Merc advertises.
A few weeks ago I even tried to call them several times and received the old " leave a message and we will get right back to you" yea right! Anyway, if I am going to drop 400 bananas on a knife I like to know that someone will answer the phone.

However, who knows, if they tell you the secret, then they have to kill you. That is hard on the customer base. Yea, I think the advertisements are a little hokey also. But, all that aside, they may produce a fine blade, maybe one day someone will show up with one
 
Actually I was being facetious. If you look their website over and the Sudan links, the pictures tell the story. I have a very good idea who's behind them but without being 100%, would not want to chance spreading a rumor.
 
Maybe maker(S) that have kinda dicked up thier reputations in the biz? WHO knows.. If you like the knives, and they are quality products BUY one!
 
Lets say the maker is someone who needs his identity to be unknown to thousands if of web surfers. Lets say he is someone who has worked in the Spec-Ops community, and during that time began making blades for his buddies in the service, got a rep as a good maker, and used that to expand out, but still kept his clientele in that community, because either it was all the market he needed, or it was more important to retain personal anonimity. Lets say now he is "out" of Special Forces, but is still working as a freelance or whatever, and still needs his identity to be personal, but wants an expanded market. He's built up the contacts over the years, and knows the right people, and he knows who to go to - to get manufacturing work done when he needs something prototyped, hence the Germany connection. So, he decides he wants to sell some of his blades to the public, wants to make some money (thats what business is, something to do to make money), but yet remain an unknown.

Okay, lets look at that Sudan page... one of those pictures, the guy with his face blacked out, holding a sniper rifle, standing next to a black guy with an AK... I've seen that pic in SOF (couldnt find the article tonight though, I looked), but looking at it, and the fact that the dude with the covered face is in all (or all I looked at) of the pics on that page, says he is probably the one behind the page, so obviously he is "working" on his own ops, freelance, whatever you want to call it.
Now look at the shirt he's wearing "Mantrack *something*", I cant make out the last part of it.

Now lets think about this... MercWorx uses a design similar to the Strider Ajax, but apparently Strider signed off on its use. The MT and the Ajax are reffered to as the ManTrack and the ManTrack 2 in Japan. We've all heard the scuttle-butt about who is behind MercWorx, I've even contributed to it (I know, bad me). Add it up if you wish.

Whoever it is, if its the idividual known as Mike Ajax, or if its Jimmy Hoffa, perhaps he has a right to his privacy and secrecy? Perhaps if it is important to his life, his survival, yet he wants to be a custom knife maker, he has a right to be private about who he is?

Yes, its fun to speculate in a cloak and dagger sort of manner... its entertaining.
But does it matter? No.
What matters, is that a quality knife is made and provided. Instead of bitching about the chosen marketing policy of M.W., instead of going around and around about who it might be and why we all really need to know who it is, instead of whining and worrying and getting into the "what is custom" debate... why not just enjoy the knives?
If you dont like the designs, dont buy them... find something else, there are more knives than there are fish in the sea.

Oh, BTW, I put my money on the fact that the guy behind MercWorx is a 48 year old plumber with knife-making skills, and KM are his wifes initials, and he is laughing his ass off at all of us right now. :) ;)

Or am I an agent of dis-information planted by M.W. and KM to lead you all off the path to truth? :rolleyes:

I want one of those push daggers... they look wicked. *drool* If I could afford one, I'd buy one right now.
 
All I know about MercWorx is my opinion as a knife buying consumer. And as a consumer, it is odd to have the maker of the blades veiled in secrecy. including that secrecy in the marketing, I think, isn't all that good of a move. Many knife buyers wouldn't care who made their knives, as long as the knives work. But there are others out there who do want to know. Expecially for a custom knife.

I'm not saying that the people behind MercWorks don't have a right to privacy- they obviously do. Also, they have a right to choose what marketing strategies they see fit. But it is confusing to a consumer to be shut out from the maker and the people behind MercWorks.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if mercWorks wants to "go public", I suspect that they could do better by really going public. Trying to be super secret and very public all at the same time confuses consumers and may not be the best policy.

Though I am not in the market for havy duty tac fixed blades, my feelings right now are that I'd rather order an Ajax from Mick Strider than get a MercWorks blade. Both have a great design and great materials, but I know who made the Strider blade, I can e-mail the maker any time I want, I can call up the shop and ask for the maker by name, and the maker's name is stamped right on the knife. For an average Joe consumer like me, that stuff is important.
 
Of course the maker(or production company) that makes them has the right to their privacy. And I have the right not to buy them.

Look, truth be known, there are very few operators hanging around the forums. The overwhelming percentage of knife buyers today are collectors not users. Yes, they use some of their knives but most get put away and kept mint so they can be sold or traded somewhere down the line. My military(was not a spec warrior, merely an MP) days are long gone, and unless my family is attacked, so are my fighting days. I have 4 or 5 customs that I use regularly and the rest are collectibles. So to me, the name is important.

People make a big deal that Randalls and Sebenzas arent custom knives and then want to say this one is custom but you cant know by who and how? Not for this boy.
 
Lifter, with all due respect, no one is "merely" a MP. "Operators", be they NSW, Recon, SOAR, PJ, SF, SWAT or whatever are no better or worse than anyone else, just different as we all are. Without some clerk to buy ammo and some driver to deliver it we would all be screwed. Defending the force is no small task. FYI I am not nor have I ever been an MP.

As for Mercwork, I too am put off by the marketing plan. It has been my experience that those people who are for real are the last to make any implications about their background. A knife will speak for itself. I am far more likely to buy a Strider, among others, because all aspects of their operation is a known quantity, from the quality of the product, the quality of the makers, and the quality of the management. If a company wants to hide these qualities that is certainly their perogative. Mercworx may have a quality product ( I really do not know), but my money is going where I have some idea of those other qualities. Their marketing plan seems oriented to the mall ninjas.

Thanks,

bill
 
Hi Bill,
Thanks. I guess I was referring to the amount of "operators" or "commandos" that exist on the internet:D

Dave
 
The answer to the mystery portion may be found in one of Les's posts elsewhere. According to Les, the guy (or guys) making these knives is/are contractually obligated NOT to sell directly to the public, in order to keep customers from trying to bypass the middleman. I understand his post to mean that MercWerx is the "middleman". So the secrecy may not be hype over the SpecOps background or flavoring these knives carry, but may simply be an effort to keep Mike Irie or whoever else is crafting knives for them from selling the models without the company getting its cut. No pun intended :)
 
Originally posted by jbravo
So the secrecy may not be hype over the SpecOps background or flavoring these knives carry, but may simply be an effort to keep Mike Irie or whoever else is crafting knives for them from selling the models without the company getting its cut. No pun intended :)
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That's so lame! I guess it boils down to money then, which I guess the name "merc" fits well.

~Mitch
 
Originally posted by Crayola
All I know about MercWorx is my opinion as a knife buying consumer. And as a consumer, it is odd to have the maker of the blades veiled in secrecy.
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I don't understand what is "veiled in secrecy". They explain that each knife is hand made by one artisan. This artisan is problbly what you would consider an apprentice knifemaker, learning the skills for the trade.

Many knife buyers wouldn't care who made their knives, as long as the knives work.
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So what's the problem?

But there are others out there who do want to know. Expecially for a custom knife.
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They tell you who makes them......essentially apprentices.

They are NOT custom knives they are production knives. I still have yet to see an ad where MercWorx claims to be making custom knives.


Both have a great design and great materials, but I know who made the Strider blade, I can e-mail the maker any time I want, I can call up the shop and ask for the maker by name, and the maker's name is stamped right on the knife.
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Now I know why some of the custom knifemakers take so long to get their products to market. They are busy all day justifying their product to customers. I do understand why that's important. What I don't understand is why if a company does not follow standard procedure it's suddenly a big conspiracy.

The cover of the April Knives Illustrated says it all...."MercWorx knives go mainstream."

To make a product for the masses you simply CANNOT speak personally to every single customer. If you can deal with that, buy their stuff. If you can't it does not mean they're out to decieve you, or hide the truth from you. Please take off the hat.........
 
The problem for me was the ridiculous hype, perpetuated by Max as well as the disrespect he showed.

It was the biggest pile of garbage I have ever seen on a knife. And of course we were supposed to take his word for it.
Sorry, he did not do Mercworx any favors in my book. This "best of the best" stuff does not wash with most around here. There are good ways to promote and bad ways to promote, his choice was the worst I have seen in the knife industry.


If you would like to see that drivel which I moved to the Moderators area email gusk@bellsouth.net and I will send it to you. :rolleyes:
 
The neat, white dress shirt I am wearing right now was hand-made.

Oh, no, not by some Seville Row tailor... no, this shirt was hand-made alright, but probably by a day laborer in a sweatshop in China.

You see, there are no robotic machines that can make a man's dress shirt entirely. While sewing machines do the stitching (in a Chinese sweatshop or in a Seville Row Haberdashery), it takes human eyes and hands to guide the fabric in that machine to make a shirt.

Hand-made just means that a person did or at least guided the work. It doesn't mean that it's quality work. And it does not mean that the hands involved belong to a skilled craftsman.

When Mercworx asserts that their knives are hand-made but won't give any details, I have to wonder: is it Seville Row tailoring, or Chinese sweatshop labor?

Ultimately, the knives will speak for themselves. I can't wait for Cliff Stamp to try one out.

But, when I reviewed Mercworx's website, I had a hard time not laughing. I was especially ammused to come to the logo apparel section of their website after they go and do this big buildup about how their products are used by all of these "operator types." You know, secret agents and covert operatives really like logo tee shirts. Yeah, right.

I'd really encourage them to re-think their marketing approach.
 
Hey BVM - Les only carries custom knives, and all we've seen leads one to the belief that these are customs. If they are production knives, then you're absolutely correct - nobody gives a hoot about the bona fides of the guys grinding them. The entire point of the voiced concerns here is that question: are they custom made knives or production pieces. If Merkwerx simply stated the answer to that (which they seem to have by Les' representation) the discussion would move along to other, more pointed issues.

Hey Gus - what is the stuff to which you refer? Please send via email if possible - thanks.
 
Well I've got the Sniper and the Shiva on order. I guess I'll know if I made a mistake shortly after the big brown truck arrives.

I'm through discussing the custom vs. not custom, who made them, who did'nt make them attributes. Truth be told I really dont care if they're made entirely by machine in a Bangladesh sweat shop by a robot with no name at all.

I like the way they look. If they perform the tasks I have for them I'm gonna be as pleased as a pig in his own poop.

Thanks for the insight for future purchases.
 
I really do not have anything against the knives at all. In all honesty I like the way they look. The problem I have was that the exact same hype was posted in this forum, the custom forum and the traditional knives forum (of all places :)). I took legitimate action and moved the posts in the moderator's forum. The action was not taken with malice towards anyone or any company it was taken against some overexcited claims.

Max came back a little while later and all was forgotten.

On the way jbravo -:). (in a minute or two).
 
reading through all this mumbo jumbo, nobody has chimed in saying they own one...Does anyone friggin have one?:confused:
 
Originally posted by bvmjethead
I'm through discussing the custom vs. not custom, who made them, who did'nt make them attributes.
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Good, perhaps this will then give you an opportunity to answer the question I've asked very politely, for the third time now.
 
I don't know about others, but these spirited argument threads are absolutely riveting. Especially when the word "Sabenza" is absent. ;)

Edited to add: Allright, it's only mentioned once.
 
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