Production quality vs quantity

Yo Mama

Yo Mama

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Sep 25, 2011
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Seems a few manufacturers think 40 new models a year is necessary. I remember when a few new models was a good year and I wanted every one of them. Now, there really are none that catch my eye.

So are production companies like Kershaw, Benchmade, Spyderco, Buck, ect coming out with to many models? Seems the quality of designs is losing to the sheer quantity of new model blitzing. I'd rather companies slow down and think more on these designs. You don't need disposable designs, I'd like to return to the time that fewer models meant more.

Protech imo is the example of the opposite, and they are doing very well. Look at the Malibu, just one model, so well thought out, can't keep them in stock. It's not always about the numbers.
 
Yo Mama said:
You don't need disposable designs, I'd like to return to the time that fewer models meant more.
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I totally agree.

I think some manufacturers simply like playing with their CNC machines to see what monstrosities they can create next. Kind of like "hold my beer, and watch this....." with no regard to market studies or supply vs. demand. It's a shotgun approach to selling. Flood the market with dozens of different styles and see what hits. The problem with this approach is that you and I are also paying for the failures and non-sellers every time we buy a product from a company with this business model.

I am all for diversity and innovation. But I am more for tried-and-true and IN STOCK.
 
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Wildly, wildly different business models and business sizes is the short answer.

I think that, as enthusiasts that are largely online, have a very distorted view of knife companies. Kershaw has 430 employees, per their Wikipedia page, the info I could find on Protech suggests they have fewer than 25. Add in the fact that Kershaw uses a ton of OEM and, as far as I know, Protect doesn't use any and you have two vastly different entities.

And the answer is going to be slightly different for each company! Kershaw, IMO, is looking heavily at the lowest common denominator. They put out a lot of models, hoping that they'll hit some aesthetics that look cool to folks looking to buy an inexpensive, sturdy pocket knife. They can take chances by putting out a lot because they're large and will probably make up profit with the popular ones what they lose on the unpopular. Buck does some of that, though with more focus on the Made in the US crowd (nothing at all against that, and glad to see it), but they also put out lots of variants of existing models because they have a lot of collectors, some of which will only focus on, say, the 112.

Spyderco, on the other hand, is also popular with collectors, but they do more sprint runs, dealer exclusives and collaborations for those folks. Innovation is a big part of what they're known for, so there's pressure to release a lot of models (it probably helps that Sal and Eric Glesser are both fantastic designers, and probably do some for personal gratification).

You get to Protech and they likely don't have the resources to pump out a ton of new models, but they also can't afford a giant whiff, so they have to make something appealing and solid.
 
Great responses and I agree. Have noticed some have upgraded existing models with higher end steels and metal liners to handles. Sounds like a good move for high selling models to me.
 
mauser9 said:
Great responses and I agree. Have noticed some have upgraded existing models with higher end steels and metal liners to handles. Sounds like a good move for high selling models to me.
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Yup. When Kershaw knows they have a hit, you'll often see a lot of iterations of it. The Bareknuckle, Link, Leek, Cryo and Skyline all speak to that.
 
Civivi seems to come out with a new model every time I use the john. My collection is at the point I have no more space, so I really haven't been looking at anything new lately.
 
CRK sells 4 base models (Sebenza, Inkosi, Umnumzaan, and Mnandi) with some variation of each. Rarely make large changes. Aren't interested in the super steel of the week. And are still considered a must-have, classic design, grail for most serious knife enthusiasts. I'll stick with that.
 
WedgeAntilles said:
CRK sells 4 base models (Sebenza, Inkosi, Umnumzaan, and Mnandi) with some variation of each. Rarely make large changes. Aren't interested in the super steel of the week. And are still considered a must-have, classic design, grail for most serious knife enthusiasts. I'll stick with that.
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Perfect example!
 
Zero Tolerance did a splashy release last year at the same time as their subsidiary, Kershaw. They didn't do that this year, so we might still have something big to look forward to from them. If ZT releases 2-3 knives it's going to cause a lot more excitement in these parts than 10-12 Kershaw knives.

A lot of us here are jaded and already own a ton of knives, so we're looking for something a bit more. Everyone is at their own stage as a knife collector and doing their own thing. As a teenager, getting a Ken Onion Blur (if one had been available) would have been a major addition to my knife collection.
 
The Grendels said:
Zero Tolerance did a splashy release last year at the same time as their subsidiary, Kershaw. They didn't do that this year, so we might still have something big to look forward to from them. If ZT releases 2-3 knives it's going to cause a lot more excitement in these parts than 10-12 Kershaw knives.

A lot of us here are jaded and already own a ton of knives, so we're looking for something a bit more. Everyone is at their own stage as a knife collector and doing their own thing. As a teenager, getting a Ken Onion Blur (if one had been available) would have been a major addition to my knife collection.
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The other part of this is that we're a niche audience even for most big knife manufacturers. Smaller makers like Protech make models that appeal to us because we're a big hunk of their audience, but I doubt knife enthusiasts even make up 10% of Kershaw's purchases.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
The other part of this is that we're a niche audience even for most big knife manufacturers. Smaller makers like Protech make models that appeal to us because we're a big hunk of their audience, but I doubt knife enthusiasts even make up 10% of Kershaw's purchases.
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Indeed. There are makers who stick to making a few models and make those models very well (like CRK, as noted). There are others who seek to fill Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, etc; with knives for a more general audience. Different market strategy and target demographic; I know what I prefer and purchase, but one isn't particularly right or wrong. The first camp is full of what I consider to be knives with "soul," you can feel and see the passion of the maker in them; whereas the latter are just knives, generic, useful, practical but to me somewhat disposable - not intended nor will they leave a lasting mark in the annuls of knifemaking.
 
BTTLBRN said:
Indeed. There are makers who stick to making a few models and make those models very well (like CRK, as noted). There are others who seek to fill Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, etc; with knives for a more general audience. Different market strategy and target demographic; I know what I prefer and purchase, but one isn't particularly right or wrong. The first camp is full of what I consider to be knives with "soul," you can feel and see the passion of the maker in them; whereas the latter are just knives, generic, useful, practical but to me somewhat disposable - not intended nor will they leave a lasting mark in the annuls of knifemaking.
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I very much agree. I also think it's easy for us, as enthusiasts looking for that soul, to lose track of the fact that most people could use a well made $30 knife for the rest of their life and not miss anything.
 
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