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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Online source for Swamp Rat Knives?
- Thread starter MW740
- Start date
OK, I am a n00b and did not want to ask this question but since the subject has been broached
What is the difference between Swamp Rat and Busse? Looks like they are made by the same people and the Swamp Rats look just as nice for less $$$$? (Plus I like the name and the forum is pretty cool too
) 
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2002
- Messages
- 1,801
Swamp Rat offers Busse durability at a more pocket book friendly price.
This is from their FAQ explaining all the above questions.
Q: Why Don't We Sell To Dealers?
A: While we would like to sell to dealers, our top priority is keeping the prices for these knives as low as possible. We simply do not have any room to include standard dealer markup. To better understand, you must look at standard dealer pricing. We are operating on standard manufacturer mark-up. Based on current standards in the cutlery industry for production knives, you will be saving approximately 45-60% over regular retail prices. For example, if we had followed the standard mark-ups from our industry, the "Battle Rat" would have a retail price of $372.00. . . That makes the dealer price (-50%) = $186.00 and the distributor price (minus an additional 20%) = $148.95. Probable selling price would be 20-40% off of retail, or an average of approx. $260.00. We charge $148.95. You save $223.00 off of the retail price by purchasing direct. Here's the breakdown again...
MSRP $372.00
Dealer cost (MSRP - 50%) $186.00
Probable Selling Price (MSRP - 30%) $260.00
Distributor (Dealer cost - 20%) $148.95
Your Savings ( 55% off of retail) $223.00
You Pay $148.95
Q: What do you give up?
A: You may not be able to purchase a Swamp Rat through your favorite dealer. However, we promise we will take care of you, and you can still buy other knives and support your chosen dealer.
Q: When is Swamp Rat not the right knife for you?
A: If you're someone who likes to pay more for something than you should. . . then you're going to want to buy a different knife. If you like to shop around for the best price. . . you're going to have some trouble, because we are the only ones who sell these blades.
Q: Why are we doing this?
A: Our parent company, Busse Knife Co. was founded on manufacturing the highest performance knives on the planet. As technology developed and increased, so did the costs and in turn, the prices. Now, the Busse Combat line has become too expensive for many of the very customers who they were originally designed for: Military, Law Enforcement, and Rescue personnel.
Here is their guarantee:
We regret to inform you that due to our low prices and high cost of manufacturing that we are unable to offer you a conventional guarantee like so many others found in the cutlery industry today. To be quite honest... we simply cannot afford it. Legalese, doublespeak, and smoke and mirror loopholes cost way too much nowadays. It is for these reasons that individual warranty issues are to be handled solely by you. That's right... YOU decide whether or not your knife should be covered by warranty. Do you want to give yourself a five year warranty... a ten year warranty... a lifetime warranty? Do you want to guarantee your knife against normal use... or do you want to guarantee your knife against insanely stupid over-the-top extreme abuse? Don't ask us... it's your decision. We will honor any guarantee that you give your knife against major damage. Makes sense doesn't it? It is your knife. We're telling you to trust your life with our knife. Shouldn't we trust you with being the warranty claims specialist?
TRANSLATION: LIFETIME WARRANTY... NO QUESTIONS ASKED!
Mike
This is from their FAQ explaining all the above questions.
Q: Why Don't We Sell To Dealers?
A: While we would like to sell to dealers, our top priority is keeping the prices for these knives as low as possible. We simply do not have any room to include standard dealer markup. To better understand, you must look at standard dealer pricing. We are operating on standard manufacturer mark-up. Based on current standards in the cutlery industry for production knives, you will be saving approximately 45-60% over regular retail prices. For example, if we had followed the standard mark-ups from our industry, the "Battle Rat" would have a retail price of $372.00. . . That makes the dealer price (-50%) = $186.00 and the distributor price (minus an additional 20%) = $148.95. Probable selling price would be 20-40% off of retail, or an average of approx. $260.00. We charge $148.95. You save $223.00 off of the retail price by purchasing direct. Here's the breakdown again...
MSRP $372.00
Dealer cost (MSRP - 50%) $186.00
Probable Selling Price (MSRP - 30%) $260.00
Distributor (Dealer cost - 20%) $148.95
Your Savings ( 55% off of retail) $223.00
You Pay $148.95
Q: What do you give up?
A: You may not be able to purchase a Swamp Rat through your favorite dealer. However, we promise we will take care of you, and you can still buy other knives and support your chosen dealer.
Q: When is Swamp Rat not the right knife for you?
A: If you're someone who likes to pay more for something than you should. . . then you're going to want to buy a different knife. If you like to shop around for the best price. . . you're going to have some trouble, because we are the only ones who sell these blades.
Q: Why are we doing this?
A: Our parent company, Busse Knife Co. was founded on manufacturing the highest performance knives on the planet. As technology developed and increased, so did the costs and in turn, the prices. Now, the Busse Combat line has become too expensive for many of the very customers who they were originally designed for: Military, Law Enforcement, and Rescue personnel.
Here is their guarantee:
We regret to inform you that due to our low prices and high cost of manufacturing that we are unable to offer you a conventional guarantee like so many others found in the cutlery industry today. To be quite honest... we simply cannot afford it. Legalese, doublespeak, and smoke and mirror loopholes cost way too much nowadays. It is for these reasons that individual warranty issues are to be handled solely by you. That's right... YOU decide whether or not your knife should be covered by warranty. Do you want to give yourself a five year warranty... a ten year warranty... a lifetime warranty? Do you want to guarantee your knife against normal use... or do you want to guarantee your knife against insanely stupid over-the-top extreme abuse? Don't ask us... it's your decision. We will honor any guarantee that you give your knife against major damage. Makes sense doesn't it? It is your knife. We're telling you to trust your life with our knife. Shouldn't we trust you with being the warranty claims specialist?
TRANSLATION: LIFETIME WARRANTY... NO QUESTIONS ASKED!
Mike
