No Gerber or Kershaw listed in Manufacturer's Forums?

J

jack60

Joined
Jul 10, 2013
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11
Why are there no Gerber or Kershaw listed in Manufacturer's Forums?
I own several of both, mostly from pre 70's before they started having them made in China.
 
They need to request a subforum, and provide a moderator. Kershaw has come and gone a couple times...not sure Gerber has ever had one.
 
jlauffer said:
They need to request a subforum, and provide a moderator. Kershaw has come and gone a couple times...not sure Gerber has ever had one.
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Wow, that's too bad because out in the NW Gerber and Kershaw are popular. I've been in both manufactures years ago.
I do have other knives too, such as Puma, Buck, Western, Cold Steel... all from the pre-70's-80's. I won't buy any that are made in China and most are made in China now, even Puma.
 
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I never understood the manufactures that don’t want to participate here.

it makes me appreciate those that do. KA-BAR Becker and Buck all have great forums here and are lots of fun. Honestly it’s a big factor in my purchases.
 
Pilsner said:
Puma, Buck, Western, Cold Steel... all from the pre-70's-80's

... is what he wrote. I was just nitpicking, no need to intervene, I think? ;)
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No need for your petty nitpicking, either, I think ;). ZERO need for it - unless you just want to provoke an argument.

NOW back on topic . . . I imagine there might be a cost associated with hosting a subforum, including the time someone has to spend to respond to argumentative and/or disparaging posts that some folks always seem hellbent on making on these forums, etc. I'm not sure how a company can quantify the number of "extra sales" they might make by having a subforum here and compare that to the costs of maintaining that subforum, in order to determine the profitability (or not). Companies make these kinds of decisions all the time when it comes to advertising in general, and from everything I can see it is a lot more of an art than a science.
 
The Amazing Virginian said:
No need for your petty nitpicking, either, I think ;). ZERO need for it - unless you just want to provoke an argument.

NOW back on topic . . . I imagine there might be a cost associated with hosting a subforum, including the time someone has to spend to respond to argumentative and/or disparaging posts that some folks always seem hellbent on making on these forums, etc. I'm not sure how a company can quantify the number of "extra sales" they might make by having a subforum here and compare that to the costs of maintaining that subforum, in order to determine the profitability (or not). Companies make these kinds of decisions all the time when it comes to advertising in general, and from everything I can see it is a lot more of an art than a science.
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Well, matey, we can agree to differ on that. Dates do matter to me, as does the historical record. I added a comedy emoji to my initial comment, in order to soften what may otherwise have been seen, and was by you, as provocative. I am quite chilled, to be honest.

In terms of early Gerber? I can’t comment, other than that I’m well familiar with the ups and downs of the company’s reputation over the decades. It seems that occasionally they do put out some knives that please this community, but there is still some dross out there. :thumbsup:
 
Not all Puma made in China; like Buck, only some models. Both have separate "lines" made in China. Best Puma still from Germany. Buck from US.
Rich
 
Seems like we're gonna no longer have the Cold Steel subforum , either . :(

I hope that fan based brand forums will soon be allowed for those brands that have no manufacture representation here . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Lot of companies just don't want the hassle or like the negative feedback . Lots of abuse of the forums as a personal customer service hotline . :mad:
 
Back when the KAI subforum was open it was a really good time, but on occasion things got kinda ugly there. From my perspective it seemed like KAI representatives went into a bit of a frenzy anytime there was some criticism. I don't think I ever heard exactly why they closed the forum, but they are quite active on other social media platforms.

While they are a good quality knife and I will likely continue to buy them, it feels to me like KAI is increasingly losing touch with the enthusiast market in favor of flashy opening mechanisms and overly busy designs that appeal to the masses. I'm not sure we're their focus anymore and it's starting to show.
 
The hosted forums are voluntary, as the manufacturers weren't paying someone to Mod them. I think it'd be a rather thankless job for an employee to volunteer & dedicate time to hear complaints and have people crap on you because you didn't get back to them within an hour.
 
The Amazing Virginian said:
I imagine there might be a cost associated with hosting a subforum, including the time someone has to spend to respond to argumentative and/or disparaging posts that some folks always seem hellbent on making on these forums, etc. I'm not sure how a company can quantify the number of "extra sales" they might make by having a subforum here and compare that to the costs of maintaining that subforum
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Im not active much on BF anymore, but for a long time I was very active on the Emerson subforum. These were the lawless days of trolls and constant bashing of the brand. Once a dedicated mod was put in place by EKI the forum turned around and there was actual fun discussion happening. The subforum was also an avenue for getting answers to questions direct from the manufacturer about hardware, product availability, and new models.

It’s also a basically no cost way to do some market research. Almost every company these days has a social media representative, and it wouldn’t be hard to have them check in on BF a couple times a week. They can float ideas to a “focus group” and test reception to new products with almost no cost. Granted, it isn’t a perfect system but it’s not a bad tool for them to use.
 
What baffles me on this forum, is why there needs to be a company representative at all in order to have a dedicated place for knife fans to discuss their products. I don't know of any other online forums that operate this way. Am I incorrect here? It is always nice if companies are represented and can respond, but we should not require their permission in order to talk about them.
 
There is a general forum for that.

The manufacturer forums are for manufactures that want to be here. Simple as that.

Its pretty generous that the forum is free to them. IMO. Not participating is foolish, and it shows a lack of passion for the brand.

It’s like they are saying. “We make great knives you should buy them. We don’t want to talk about them anymore than we have too”.

The “manufacturer forums” are basically a free digital blade show. A chance to interact with the consumers.

Having a Kershaw forum without their participation would be like setting up a table for them at blade show because they didn’t want to.
 
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jeffsenpai said:
What baffles me on this forum, is why there needs to be a company representative at all in order to have a dedicated place for knife fans to discuss their products. I don't know of any other online forums that operate this way. Am I incorrect here? It is always nice if companies are represented and can respond, but we should not require their permission in order to talk about them.
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Erm, take a look at the Spyderco forum as an exemplar, and the Benchmade forum as an average. On Spyderco, Sal Glesser talks to BF, takes questions, complaints, and generally underlines what many love about that company - responsiveness, willingness to go the extra yard, and class.

Other forums, such as Benchmade, have a rep who moderates and sometimes answers questions but always briefs new releases. Ahem.

Either way, it is a valuable part of this community. Nobody has to look if they are not interested.
 
MarkN86 said:
... it feels to me like KAI is increasingly losing touch with the enthusiast market in favor of flashy opening mechanisms and overly busy designs that appeal to the masses...
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That is how I feel about most manufacturers and most of the products offered today.
 
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