Modern Traditionals....;)

Mikael W said:
Fällkniven AB has always been upfront with information, when I as an endconsumer has been asking questions.
Let us remember that FK is a small Swedish brand on a worldwide market.
I think it is up to the distributors to inform the dealers and the dealers job is to inform the endconsumers.

Regards
Mikael
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I understand. But that is a lot of reliance in others to keep their reputation. Personally I like maintaining my own reputation instead of outsourcing it. Again, this would not be up for discussion but for a small little laser etch on each blade. I understand that everything is above board and the information is obtainable - but one has to ask why it takes effort to find country of origin in 2018.

I think FK knives are as good as any out there; and love the product line. But it is hard to chastise the brands being underhandedly made in china and marked with a solingen shield and be completely on board with a great brand made in japan and marked with a sweden tang. My point is that an end customer should be able to look at a knife bought second-hand at a flea market with no box and know exactly where it originated. And if a rule is good for one it should be good for all.
 
knifeswapper said:
I understand. But that is a lot of reliance in others to keep their reputation. Personally I like maintaining my own reputation instead of outsourcing it. Again, this would not be up for discussion but for a small little laser etch on each blade. I understand that everything is above board and the information is obtainable - but one has to ask why it takes effort to find country of origin in 2018.

I think FK knives are as good as any out there; and love the product line. But it is hard to chastise the brands being underhandedly made in china and marked with a solingen shield and be completely on board with a great brand made in japan and marked with a sweden tang. My point is that an end customer should be able to look at a knife bought second-hand at a flea market with no box and know exactly where it originated. And if a rule is good for one it should be good for all.
Click to expand...

The people running FK rely mostly on mouth to mouth marketing from consumers and they do very little of their own advertising.
They let their products speak for themselves and obviously it works for them.
Personally I have no objection to blademark country of origin and FK has done exactly that in the past.
Why they stopped is above my horizon.

A sidenote is the fake FK's from China and I'm sure some of those will turn up at the flea markets.
Without box or papers, it will be hard for buyers without knowledge to see the difference.
The best recommendation for consumers, is to buy from a stockist dealer like Yourself.
One thing I am completely sure of is that You will not see a genuine FK ever made in China with the present leaders of the FK company.


Regards
Mikael
 
Fallkniven was proud of their Japanese collaborations in the beginning and up front about it. Particularly due to the exotic steels they had access to through their Japanese manufacturers. However, as the company changed and it's reputation got more widely known, and they had a failed attempt to sell their brand, they wanted to align themselves with EU products and culture and not just be another re-branded Japanese knife. They started emphasizing Swedish design and military connections. However it's still a Japanese-made knife and some of their models appear to have more Japanese than Swedish design elements. For example, do an image search on their knives and they don't really haven any traditional Swedish design elements in most of their patterns. They don't use Swedish steel.

Right now, on their website, advertisements and some knife markings, to me they are not upfront about the country of origin of their knives at all. I think it's a corporate marketing decision to ignore the great Japanese execution of their knives and present them as Swedish. This is in contrast to other firms that are quite proud of their Japanese made knives (e.g. Al Mar, SOG, Spyderco, Cold Steel, etc.)

Per Fallkniven's marketing, they've had ads in Blade and Knife/Knife World in almost every issue, just like Case and Spyderco.
 
caveat emptor
Let the buyer beware. Do your homework, ask questions and deal with known, reputable dealers.
Until the rest of the world decides that truth in marketing is best, something I doubt I'll ever see, we all need to be informed.
 
brownshoe said:
Fallkniven was proud of their Japanese collaborations in the beginning and up front about it. Particularly due to the exotic steels they had access to through their Japanese manufacturers. However, as the company changed and it's reputation got more widely known, and they had a failed attempt to sell their brand, they wanted to align themselves with EU products and culture and not just be another re-branded Japanese knife. They started emphasizing Swedish design and military connections. However it's still a Japanese-made knife and some of their models appear to have more Japanese than Swedish design elements. For example, do an image search on their knives and they don't really haven any traditional Swedish design elements in most of their patterns. They don't use Swedish steel.

Right now, on their website, advertisements and some knife markings, to me they are not upfront about the country of origin of their knives at all. I think it's a corporate marketing decision to ignore the great Japanese execution of their knives and present them as Swedish. This is in contrast to other firms that are quite proud of their Japanese made knives (e.g. Al Mar, SOG, Spyderco, Cold Steel, etc.)

Per Fallkniven's marketing, they've had ads in Blade and Knife/Knife World in almost every issue, just like Case and Spyderco.
Click to expand...

Brownshoe, Your EU theory is not correct at all.
However You are right about the advertising in Blade and Knifeworld.
They also advertise in a German and a Finnish magazine + some local Swedish hunting & snowmobile magazines.


Regards
Mikael
 
slip-stoppin.jpg

Ruike L11
A.G. Russell Rancher
 
Bought a little Boker SFO from an obscure Non-BF seller who does not specialize in knives.
Slip joint
2" drop point hollow ground blade made from 12C27 blade steel hardened to 58-60 HRC.
ORANGE G10 covers held together with Torx screws.

I chose to put this post in this particular thread because this is not really a traditional pattern and because of the orange G10 and torx screws. If you look at the overall outline of the knife in the first picture below, it "looks" like a modern one-hand opening knife design.

Why did I buy? You folks know me. It was the blade steel that caught my interest.
12C27 is reasonable close to 440A in composition and performance (yeah yeah, the chromium content is different. They still perform similarly.) Either one hardened to almost 60 Rockwell is good stuff in my book. Also, Boker makes both purely traditional and modern patterns. So I was interested to see their interpretation of a "modern traditional".

I'm pleased with the knife.

The fit and finish is good. Force required to open is about a 5. Blade is perfectly centered when closed. Came sharp. Nice thin blade. Slices like a little orange demon. But it does "feel" modern and somewhat industrial. I don't have a problem with that. I'm a user, not a collector. But, this is not for everyone.

I put a lanyard on it to help me fish it out of my pocket. I wear industrial cargo pants at work. I can put this in one of the cargo pockets and easily find it when I need it.

M7XGBZB.jpg


cZQDIwA.jpg


dg0v8rz.jpg
 
Glad you are liking the little orange Boker. I bought one too, but I got the one with the cap lifter. It is a very well made little knife. It lives in the center console of my truck. My plan is to carry it in my fly fishing vest when trout season starts again. It should be the perfect little knife for that.

 
JohnDF said:
Glad you are liking the little orange Boker. I bought one too, but I got the one with the cap lifter. It is a very well made little knife. It lives in the center console of my truck. My plan is to carry it in my fly fishing vest when trout season starts again. It should be the perfect little knife for that.
Click to expand...

I bought one too. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it seems well made. The Ruike S21 appears to be the same knife with black or green textured scales.

boker.jpg
 
PaulS. said:
I bought one too. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it seems well made. The Ruike S21 appears to be the same knife with black or green textured scales.
Click to expand...
The Ruike S21 does appear to be the same knife. Interesting.
I checked the Boker web site.
Boker has several lines.
♦ Boker - Made and manufactured by Boker
♦ Boker Plus - Designed by Boker. Manufactured by others.
♦ Boker Magnum - Designed and manufactured by others. Distributed by Boker.

This knife appears to be a modification of a design in their Boker Plus line. So, designed by Boker. Made by someone else. Migrations of design ownership have been known to occur under such circumstances. But these things are hard to know for certain.
 
Elgatodeacero said:
here is a William Henry B7 in ATS34 and carbon fiber.

Incredibly light, and super smooth action.
Click to expand...

Thumb stud takes it out of contention for "traditional", even in this thread.
 
I have a question for knarfeng.
This Manly Wasp originally had a pocket clip, when you order from the U.S. distributor you can ask for a extra plate to cover the clip hole. I didn't know that at the time so I made a plate. In all other respects it is a modern slip joint.
My question is does it qualify as a modern traditional now?
GKRjE53.jpg
 
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