Wasty
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2015
- Messages
- 718
Dear KA-BAR,
I know your company since I was a child. I first came across your knives when I was a Boyscout in the 80s. When one of our leaders had a Mark 2 strapped to his belt, everyone wanted such a amazing knife. We were in awe of that knife and it had the reputation of being the best knife ever.
Growing up I had several of them, before even the Internet was born. Some got lost, some did not survive my adolescent years. Years later, I was drawn to the Becker line and now they are my “go to” knives. I own quite some of them and I am very happy with them. Especially with Ethan Becker, he is such a warm-hearted and caring person, he stands behind his knives and gave the community here really some positiveness, that is reflected by that small sub forum.
There is a difference in having a knife and owning a knife. Everyone of us has knives that he uses daily in the kitchen. These knives are “function only” knives. They get used, then put in the dishwasher… rinse and repeat. We do not “own” these knives, we only have them.
Contrary to having a knife, you own it: It is your trusted steel, that is tried and true and always sharp. My BK14 ( last time I counted I have at least 5 of them) is “that” knife for me. I have several threads singing it’s praise, demanding a “slightly” longer handle and so on…
The value of a knife is built upon of several objective and subjective factors:
Objective:
Steel, quality, service, warranty, price, tests*.
- those are the hard factors, that everyone can check and compare.
Subjective:
Ergonomics, look, “feel”, reputation, tests*, trust.
This is not an exhaustive list, but the point is that the buying impulse of an individual will always be triggered by a mix of the above factors.
KA-BAR has a wonderful history that you actually put on your website and here on BF to add value to your products and reinforce the trust, your customers give you by buying your knives. You have a base of loyal customers and despite being owned by a company that reputation isn’t all perfect, you retain those customers.
Also, the recognition and the derived market value of KA-BAR is most likely unparalleled, due to your legendary fighting knife.
I know that the pandemic was quite a blow to the world and all companies have suffered greatly.
However, the way KABAR is headed with the newest releases will ultimately taint your reputation and the trust you have with your customers will decline.
People need something to cling on to, while anxiety and uncertain times are upon them. Don’t take this away, stay true to your heritage and history. This will make your company stronger and eventually pay off.
I could have said this in way less words, but I refuse to believe that you are only out for quick cash and don’t give a x about your customers.
Thanks for reading.
I know your company since I was a child. I first came across your knives when I was a Boyscout in the 80s. When one of our leaders had a Mark 2 strapped to his belt, everyone wanted such a amazing knife. We were in awe of that knife and it had the reputation of being the best knife ever.
Growing up I had several of them, before even the Internet was born. Some got lost, some did not survive my adolescent years. Years later, I was drawn to the Becker line and now they are my “go to” knives. I own quite some of them and I am very happy with them. Especially with Ethan Becker, he is such a warm-hearted and caring person, he stands behind his knives and gave the community here really some positiveness, that is reflected by that small sub forum.
There is a difference in having a knife and owning a knife. Everyone of us has knives that he uses daily in the kitchen. These knives are “function only” knives. They get used, then put in the dishwasher… rinse and repeat. We do not “own” these knives, we only have them.
Contrary to having a knife, you own it: It is your trusted steel, that is tried and true and always sharp. My BK14 ( last time I counted I have at least 5 of them) is “that” knife for me. I have several threads singing it’s praise, demanding a “slightly” longer handle and so on…
The value of a knife is built upon of several objective and subjective factors:
Objective:
Steel, quality, service, warranty, price, tests*.
- those are the hard factors, that everyone can check and compare.
Subjective:
Ergonomics, look, “feel”, reputation, tests*, trust.
This is not an exhaustive list, but the point is that the buying impulse of an individual will always be triggered by a mix of the above factors.
KA-BAR has a wonderful history that you actually put on your website and here on BF to add value to your products and reinforce the trust, your customers give you by buying your knives. You have a base of loyal customers and despite being owned by a company that reputation isn’t all perfect, you retain those customers.
Also, the recognition and the derived market value of KA-BAR is most likely unparalleled, due to your legendary fighting knife.
I know that the pandemic was quite a blow to the world and all companies have suffered greatly.
However, the way KABAR is headed with the newest releases will ultimately taint your reputation and the trust you have with your customers will decline.
People need something to cling on to, while anxiety and uncertain times are upon them. Don’t take this away, stay true to your heritage and history. This will make your company stronger and eventually pay off.
I could have said this in way less words, but I refuse to believe that you are only out for quick cash and don’t give a x about your customers.
Thanks for reading.