chiral.grolim
Universal Kydex Sheath Extension
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
- Messages
- 6,422
Two things:
1) Fiddleback Production Kephart is, spec-wise, on-par with the GSO-3.5 ... but costs $225 vs the GSO-3.5 first $184 (nevermind a cheaper 2nd or ugly betty). The GSO is the "budget" knife there. It's possible that the cost of the leather sheath is part of the Fiddleback's increase. *shrug*
2) When S!K previously released the SK-4.1 in S7 steel, the cost savings were on par with the comparison of the CruV 4.7 to the 3V 4.7, ~$20 savings? The materials still generally cost the same even if you limit the various options and the price difference between sheets of 3V vs Steel X. Maybe 1095 or 420HC would cut way down on that, but CruV did not and S7 did not. The smoothness of the finish on even the CruV bevels is beyond that of what Becker sells, so maybe they could save some on grinding by having the manufacturer skip a final step, but then they couldn't "peen" finish the bevels, which I don't think would be acceptable to them unless they gave it a coating like the Beckers or Tops/ESEE but that would again be outsourced. The HANDLES are evidently a BIG cost per knife, perhaps the biggest judging by comparisons of similar offerings from different companies....
The wording on the SK line
GSOs are all "production knives" to some extent right now, and S!Ks trouble is getting them all finished and shipped after receiving the HT'd blanks and scales and sheaths into the shop. The knives must be built to customer specifications, handles may need some final machining, knives need to be sharpened, and Survive! simply does not have the man-power to get it done quick enough to satisfy consumer demand. So when I read the above wording, I imagine a contractor doing more of the work. Again, remember that Tops and ESEE do not make knives at all, they work the design and production end but are not manufacturers in any way. Fiddleback Forge has skilled craftsmen producing handmade awesomeness, but that is NOT the "production line" - those knives are made by Larrin Mfg and the scales by Nathan and the sheaths by JRE Industries. In order for S!K to put out knives in greater numbers at lower cost they need to either A) skimp on materials like handle scales, B) skimp a LOT on finishing, and/or C) hand over production to another company with more man-power and sufficiently low overhead to be able to offer the knife at a cheaper price point.
Again, the Fiddleback line is MORE expensive than S!K, Benchmades are nearly in the same range, Rowen stuff is cheaper presumably due to both steel and finishing (which includes how they just barely make the handle scales), and Becker and Buck just skip the nice handles altogether. ALL of the above mentioned companies have more man-power than S!K. If the SK line is really just going to be almost everything the same as the GSOs except they are being sharpened by an army of S!K employees right there in the S!K shop, then Guy and Ellie have a LOT of hiring to do
Yes, that could be it, I have no special knowledge of it being otherwise, but it would simply be different from how most other companies are doing it. Bark River knives are production-manufactured, production HT'd, and then are convexed down by BRKT employees in-house and given handle scales - the handle scales are the primary role for BRKT. Their prices? Usually on par or higher than S!K. *shrug*
