Queen Cutlery Company Closes

Had it not been for online forums I would have never heard of Queen in the first place. I have been using and "collecting" traditionals now for only about 5 years, in that time I have only met about 3-5 people in person who use slipjoint knives, I have to rely on forums for almost all of my info if I'm looking for it.

For Case, Buck, and even Bear and Sons almost anyone anywhere can walk into a hardware/sporting goods store and buy their first one knowing they can just return it tomorrow hassle-free if they find a reason to. There isn't the wait and hassle that would lead you to post a pic online and say "Is this defect a normal thing? Should I continue to bother with this brand?" I think if Queen is ever going to succeed again in the current market they need to capture new customers like myself by showing reliable quality. The forums will reflect and the potential buyers will be more inclined to "add to cart".

Sure, a lot of the mass buyers aren't on the forums. Clearly they weren't providing enough revenue though, or we wouldn't be talking about this... on the forums. How about convince the rest of us to start buying your knives (again) too.

Also, in 5 years I have persuaded more people than I can count to buy a Case, Buck, or at least a Rough Rider or two (gateway knives hehe). I have never convinced anyone to buy a Queen. Had one person thinking about it when my last one was in the mail, until it arrived and he saw it...
 
GermanyChris said:
I'm youngish and own traditional pocket knives as well as modern the problem is it's 2018 I don't want dead trees, dead animal parts, or plastic on my knives. Give me an aluminum/titanium frame and bolsters, CF/Micarta/G10 covers and a stainless blade and I'll buy all day long, but everyone thinks a high end slip joint needs steel and dead stuff. If these companies want to continue they need to appeal to me and the younger and we like different stuff.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA I used a Case Congress at work to open some parts boxes, and someone asked to see it... when they asked what it was made of I said "Zebu cattle bone" and they immediately looked at me like I handed them a handful of fish intestines and promptly handed it back. I did really like Queen's feathered buffalo horn though and find people are less squeamish about horn/antler than internal bones.
 
GermanyChris said:
I'm youngish (41) and own traditional pocket knives as well as modern the problem is it's 2018 I don't want dead trees, dead animal parts, or plastic on my knives. Give me an aluminum/titanium frame and bolsters, CF/Micarta/G10 covers and a stainless blade and I'll buy all day long, but everyone thinks a high end slip joint needs steel and dead stuff. If these companies want to continue they need to appeal to me and the younger and we like different stuff.
Click to expand...
Do you really think that you speak for everyone your age?
 
I'm young (under 30) and much prefer "dead stuff" to something like CF. Wood is a much more complex polymer composite than any of the modern stuff if you're into the materials science, and I certainly think it feels better in the hand while looking better in general. Same with bone. I'm not going to try to speak for people in a group as broad as "people roughly as old as me," but I don't necessarily think the materials are/were the problem.
 
I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but micarta and G10 are both versions of "plastics".

I like my handle and scale material to be "dead"... it'd be dangerous if the thing was alive and trying to move around on its own :D

Edit: keeping on topic...

I hope Queen is able to come back as good as or better than GEC. Competition is better for everyone as it drives prices, creativity, variety and quality: customers, workers, companies can all benefit when it goes well.

And hopefully they can make something for everyone.
 
Last edited:
joeradza said:
Do you really think that you speak for everyone your age?
Click to expand...
I don´t think, he speaks for everyone of his age, but ( sadly) for a lot of them. There are not so many of us old style lovers out there any more.
I can only speak for Europe (to be more exact: my main experience is related to Germany) and the knife market in general seems to be a niche market. And when it comes to traditionals, it´s even a smaller niche. The main sort of sold knives are modern, more tactical ones. And only a few people own more than one or two. So it seems to be clear, that the style he describes is the style of the most sold and so the most wanted knives here. It´s the same as in the watch collectors community: the collectores have several extraordinary wishes concerning material, technique, but the companies make their money with the products, the average consumer buys. So there will be a few companies serving the needs of the collectors, but the main number of them will serve the masses. (like here).
Sad but true :oops:
 
Last edited:
Dirk D said:
So there will be a few companies serving the needs of the collectors, but the main number of them will serve the masses. (like here).
Sad but true
Click to expand...

A good observation. A lot of collectors now start off by being one of the masses and transition to collecting by going up the quality ladder. From the posts here (and I am not one to judge, I certainly support people purchasing what they like with their own money as they go up the ladder) it seems that many stay at the introductory level (often Rough Rider etc.) for a longer time as the mid-level (often American made options) become fewer and fewer.
 
GermanyChris said:
I'm youngish (41) and own traditional pocket knives as well as modern the problem is it's 2018 I don't want dead trees, dead animal parts, or plastic on my knives. Give me an aluminum/titanium frame and bolsters, CF/Micarta/G10 covers and a stainless blade and I'll buy all day long, but everyone thinks a high end slip joint needs steel and dead stuff. If these companies want to continue they need to appeal to me and the younger and we like different stuff.
Click to expand...
They really kill the stags, do they? Not sure I'd wish a tofu handled knife... :rolleyes::p
 
Last edited:
My favourite Small Stockman, Queen's No.26. GEC have so far never been able to make a convincing Small Stockman, still less one with non carbon blades...;)

Great snap, W&T, no blade play or rub, low riding Sheepfoot, sharp thin D2 blades. Only thing that could be improved? Lose the brass liners....:rolleyes:

The scales are dead animal bits, cleaned up and jigged & dyed by somebody (living or dead) who had particular skill. You know what? It gets better with age, few things you can say that about, wine excepted:D

msCcwRx.jpg
 
GermanyChris said:
I'm youngish (41) and own traditional pocket knives as well as modern the problem is it's 2018 I don't want dead trees, dead animal parts, or plastic on my knives. Give me an aluminum/titanium frame and bolsters, CF/Micarta/G10 covers and a stainless blade and I'll buy all day long, but everyone thinks a high end slip joint needs steel and dead stuff. If these companies want to continue they need to appeal to me and the younger and we like different stuff.
Click to expand...

This "dead stuff" complaint is a new one on me. Do you live in a titanium house? As for the cattle bone used on folder handles, it's a byproduct of the meat industry. No cows die just for knife handles. I no more problem with it than I do with leather belts and shoes.
 
Dirk D said:
I don´t think, he speaks for everyone of his age, but ( sadly) for a lot of them. There are not so many of us old style lovers out there any more.
I can only speak for Europe (to be more exact: my main experience is related to Germany) and the knife market in general seems to be a niche market. And when it comes to traditionals, it´s even a smaller niche. The main sort of selled knives are modern, more tactical ones. And only a few people own more than one or two. So it seems to be clear, that the style he describes is the style of the most selled and so the most wanted knives here. It´s the same as in the watch collectors community: the collectores have several extraordinary wishes concerning material, technique, but the companies make their money with the products, the average consumer buys. So there will be a few companies serving the needs of the collectors, but the main number of them will serve the masses. (like here).
Sad but true :oops:
Click to expand...
That makes sense. In other words a few users but collectors tend towards older style?
 
Carboniferous said:
I'm young (under 30) and much prefer "dead stuff" to something like CF. Wood is a much more complex polymer composite than any of the modern stuff if you're into the materials science, and I certainly think it feels better in the hand while looking better in general. Same with bone. I'm not going to try to speak for people in a group as broad as "people roughly as old as me," but I don't necessarily think the materials are/were the problem.
Click to expand...
Sorry for jumping at you. I misinterpreted your meaning.
 
On the topic of dead stuff, I’m 23 years old and feel a connection only to the natural knife materials, stag, bone, wood, horn.... etc.

Part of the desire to accumulate knives is for me is their use, I can admire a knife for its looks and build, but if I can’t use it chances are I don’t want it.

My connection to knives is the history they have for fellow outdoorsmen and the like, those who take to the fields to procure a meal and a memory all in one. Seeing the well worn knives of yesteryear has given me a desire to go the traditional route, knives that have lasted a century adorned with stag and a simple carbon blade that still has a bit of material left to push another century worth of use out. The knives that have helped shape this country into what it is, it’s taken a ton of them to get where we are and yet the dwindling number of knife users is shocking in retrospect.

This is why the thought of Queen closing is so disappointing, knowing that a man my age nearly a century ago may have skinned a squirrel with his new Queen stockman, how many people were given Queen knives as their first, how much joy they’ve brought on Christmas Day when they were slipped out of their box and thrown into a pocket.

Hoping they turn this all around.
 
GermanyChris said:
I'm youngish (41) and own traditional pocket knives as well as modern the problem is it's 2018 I don't want dead trees, dead animal parts, or plastic on my knives. Give me an aluminum/titanium frame and bolsters, CF/Micarta/G10 covers and a stainless blade and I'll buy all day long, but everyone thinks a high end slip joint needs steel and dead stuff. If these companies want to continue they need to appeal to me and the younger and we like different stuff.
Click to expand...
I am 22, and maybe it's just from a different view point, but i think the mass appeal of traditional knives IS the dead stuff. A piece of natural material- be it would or bone, or even acrylics to some extent- has natural character in its flaws and design. Each piece is unique.
That is why I love traditional knives, and to be honest I used to be into the "tactical" and ultra modern knives, but I can't imagine spending the amount of money most new knives cost on a knife that is the exact same as two million other ones out there. I can absolutely appreciate a nice titanium framelock, it feels crisp and "high tech", but it also just feels like a group of materials put together on a conveyor line.
 
Oh wow, lots of the same ideas just posted! I think it's kind of one of those things, some people value the natural materials more, some people place more value on modern capabilities
 
I’m 36 and like traditional materials as well as the modern stuff. A well made carbon fiber or micarta looks and feels as pleasant as a well made jigged bone or wood, so long as it is well made, as far as I’m concerned. But I don’t despise Delrin on a user anymore than g10.

I don’t care for the competitive spirit about what knife material is better; unless someone is trying to redefine what a thing is—if we’re just making or enjoying useful and beautiful tools, then the more variety the merrier.

If Queen folks can pull it together and make useful and beautiful knives, then Godspeed to them. If not, I pray they find work in which they can excel.
 
There's room for all of GOD's creatures.....

.....on the plate right beside the taters and gravy.

And you even get to cut it with a KNIFE, even a Queen table knife if you so choose. What could be better than that?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top