Reate Knives

Victorian Squid said:
That's the Valkyrie II. You'd swear it was assisted, it fires like nothing else I've got. These are really rare, and were made exclusively for Fort Henry Custom Knives. The "I" was all titanium, the "II" CF on display side. They all sold on pre-order. As far as I know this was one of the very first Reates made and sold here. Oh, also M390!

http://forthenrycustomknives.com/product/reate-knives-valkyrie-pre-order-2/

I was seeing them go for around $425 (fair) but have recently seen some horrible gouging. I guess whatever the market (and your conscience) will bear.
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Thanks.
 
vanadium said:
Alright, I talked to Liong Mah and got an extremely nice response. I won't publish it here, cause I don't want to encourage any dumb behavior, but his 'real' policy is respect for respect. Now I have to seriously consider buying that Endevour again.
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I'm glad you contacted him, you'll hear the same story from a lot of these guys.
 
austonh said:
Incredible knives. I currently own 15 knives produced by Reate, but I've owned probably 30+ different models. I have not had a single issue that required warranty work to date. They honestly have to turn away knife makers and designers because they cannot handle all the requests for work.
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Probably a good thing. IMHO WE has stretched themselves a bit thin lately.
 
austonh said:
Not sure if that's entirely true. From what I've been told, Reate only has about 20 employees, while We Knives has closer to 100 employees.
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Oh, I have no doubt that WE's facilities are monstrous next to Reate, that's not my point. WE does what, Boos, Berg, HEA, VDK, Begg and Massdrop off the top of my head?

I think that WE may have bitten off more than they can chew, and their quality has taken a bit of a dive. Especially with the first runs of Massdrop knives. For instance, my Falcon came with shavings in the bearing track. That's something I'd expect from TwoSun or CH (as well as coming packed in oil). Then, it appears the Ti on the knife is failing - it's been to 2 YT reviewers, and both have had the lockbar outright fail for a total loss of detent (you know Zel). So, back to Massdrop it goes. I've already talked w/Jonas about the bearing issue and they as well as WE has been awesome by the way.

My VDK WA had the detent ball just drop out (somehow I found it!). Granted, that might not be WE. I don't see how removal for Anodizing by FE could cause that issue. My Balaenoptera is just funky weird - don't know if I can blame bad QC or design on that one. But it's just a lousy knife. My new 702 actually won't deploy - it's like I'm pressing hard on the lockbar. It just outright freezes. All this in the past few weeks when any WE I've had previously (like 600 series) were flawless. As are my Glimpse and Smoke BTW.

So at the very least, that's 2 functional issues I can certainly blame on WE vs. zero Reate. I've heard completely different opinions on Falcon detent, from gravity flip to almost impossibly stiff. All this seems to have cleared up by #1k. Were they adjusting on the fly trying to meet their massive deadline? And there's really no excuse for my 702. It would be an integral, so nothing I can attempt to fix myself. You're much more connected to the industry than I am, and now that you're hooking up with BHQ, I'm sure you'll start to hear the retailer feelings on some of these companies which would be juicy. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at WE's facilities, I'm sure they're responsible for a lot more than I certainly am aware of.
 
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Victorian Squid said:
Oh, I have no doubt that WE's facilities are monstrous next to Reate, that's not my point. WE does what, Boos, Berg, HEA, VDK, Begg and Massdrop off the top of my head?

I think that WE may have bitten off more than they can chew, and their quality has taken a bit of a dive. Especially with the first runs of Massdrop knives. For instance, my Falcon came with shavings in the bearing track. That's something I'd expect from TwoSun or CH (as well as coming packed in oil). Then, it appears the Ti on the knife is failing - it's been to 2 YT reviewers, and both have had the lockbar outright fail for a total loss of detent (you know Zel). So, back to Massdrop it goes. I've already talked w/Jonas about the bearing issue and they as well as WE has been awesome by the way.

My VDK WA had the detent ball just drop out (somehow I found it!). Granted, that might not be WE. I don't see how removal for Anodizing by FE could cause that issue. My Balaenoptera is just funky weird - don't know if I can blame bad QC or design on that one. But it's just a lousy knife. My new 702 actually won't deploy - it's like I'm pressing hard on the lockbar. It just outright freezes. All this in the past few weeks when any WE I've had previously (like 600 series) were flawless. As are my Glimpse and Smoke BTW.

So at the very least, that's 2 functional issues I can certainly blame on WE vs. zero Reate. I've heard completely different opinions on Falcon detent, from gravity flip to almost impossibly stiff. All this seems to have cleared up by #1k. Were they adjusting on the fly trying to meet their massive deadline? And there's really no excuse for my 702. It would be an integral, so nothing I can attempt to fix myself. You're much more connected to the industry than I am, and now that you're hooking up with BHQ, I'm sure you'll start to hear the retailer feelings on some of these companies which would be juicy. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at WE's facilities, I'm sure they're responsible for a lot more than I certainly am aware of.
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Fair points, likely growing pains with all of the new ventures, or specific to just the MassDrop projects that are affecting other projects. MassDrop has a history of pushing manufacturers to the bitter edge of what's possible because of the buying power/marketing they bring. As to BHQ, its somewhat uprising but I am actually privy to more 'insider' information than they are. Most of their meetings and transactions are stricly business, my conversations are a mix of info and gossip.
 
I was blown away when I got my first Reate and I've since been a big fan. That said, high dollar means high expectations and even Reate can disappoint on occasion.
Before Reate I had tried Kizer but became disillusioned by their inconsistent quality; specifically lockup issues. I've since given them another chance and I've been pleased with their recent efforts.
I also picked up a few WE knives and I was impressed with the first two. The third had a weak detent and lock rock.
The issue of poor resale value seems to plague all of these Chinese makers. I think the main reason is because they're overpriced. My guess is that the dealer markup is relatively high (compared to say Spyderco).
Reate remains one of my favorite knife manufacturers.
 
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My Arcform Slimfoot is fantastic as far as fit/finish go. I am extremely pleased with my first Reate made knife.
 
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