Recommendations for a distributor

NovaSix

NovaSix

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Hi everyone,

I'm looking to bring on a folding knife line for my company and I'm hoping to get some recommendations.

I'm a purchasing manager for an HVAC wholesaler. We used to offer SOG products, but due to a change in our company structure we no longer have access to that product line. To clarify, we could probably become a distributor once again, but I'm exploring other options first.

Folding knives bring me a lot of joy, but most of the brands I engage with lately would not be suitable (or even attainable) for our line of work

Most knife purchases in our stores have been impulse buys at the counter, but it seems that our customer base looks for substantial, hard-use knives. I'm looking for a line that would retail between $40-$100 range that fits this niche. Bonus points if the line also offers multi-tools.

So far, I keep coming back to SOG, but your brains are probably better than mine.

Thanks all,
 
Ruike knives? They make a great knife for $30. Quality 14C28N steel.
https://www.bladehq.com/item--RUIKE-P801-Frame-Lock-Knife--60856
They also offer some SAK (Swiss Army knife) type knives.
https://www.bladehq.com/item--RUIKE-Trekker-LD51-B-Multi-Tool--75904

Ruike knives are part of Fenix flashlights. So maybe add some flashlights to your store/catalog? A quality flashlight has to be high on the priority list for a HVAC person.

Victorinox Swiss Army Tools? Not a huge range of locking blade knives might be a problem.

The older Gerber MTs were decent but no clue on the current stuff. It would be hard for me to recommend a Gerber knife too nowadays. CRKT is similar.
 
gazz98 said:
Ruike knives? They make a great knife for $30. Quality 14C28N steel.
https://www.bladehq.com/item--RUIKE-P801-Frame-Lock-Knife--60856
They also offer some SAK (Swiss Army knife) type knives.
https://www.bladehq.com/item--RUIKE-Trekker-LD51-B-Multi-Tool--75904

Ruike knives are part of Fenix flashlights. So maybe add some flashlights to your store/catalog? A quality flashlight has to be high on the priority list for a HVAC person.

Victorinox Swiss Army Tools? Not a huge range of locking blade knives might be a problem.

The older Gerber MTs were decent but no clue on the current stuff. It would be hard for me to recommend a Gerber knife too nowadays. CRKT is similar.
Click to expand...

I'll give Ruike a look. We are in the market for more flashlight lines, so that's a really good recommendation.

CRKT was another one I thought of, and I have a handful of CRKT's myself because they're usually fun little knives.
 
gazz98 said:
Ruike knives? They make a great knife for $30. Quality 14C28N steel.
https://www.bladehq.com/item--RUIKE-P801-Frame-Lock-Knife--60856
They also offer some SAK (Swiss Army knife) type knives.
https://www.bladehq.com/item--RUIKE-Trekker-LD51-B-Multi-Tool--75904

Ruike knives are part of Fenix flashlights. So maybe add some flashlights to your store/catalog? A quality flashlight has to be high on the priority list for a HVAC person.

Victorinox Swiss Army Tools? Not a huge range of locking blade knives might be a problem.

The older Gerber MTs were decent but no clue on the current stuff. It would be hard for me to recommend a Gerber knife too nowadays. CRKT is similar.
Click to expand...

NovaSix said:
I'll give Ruike a look. We are in the market for more flashlight lines, so that's a really good recommendation.

CRKT was another one I thought of, and I have a handful of CRKT's myself because they're usually fun little knives.
Click to expand...

Modern Gerber isn't any better than CRKT, which is mostly over-priced Chinese-made knives in steels like 7Cr17 and 8Cr13Mov that feel increasingly obsolete with each passing year. Also, avoid assisted actions. Good manual action has gotten a lot more affordable.

The Ruike knives are made in China but use better materials at better prices. As mentioned above, 14C28N is an excellent budget steel. Their "Swiss Army" style knives use 12C27, which is decent relative to the price. I have their little S22 (knife plus scissors) on my key ring. It was cheap and works very well for what it is. Fenix has some cool flashlights too.

The best bang for the buck in the given price range are the Civivi and Sencut knives from WE. Kizer also offers great value in the $50-100 range. (Kizer makes the knives for Olight, another quality flashlight company that decided to get into the knife game.) Neither of those knife companies seem to have much of a brick and mortar presence in the United States. I don't know if they are set up to accommodate your needs but both have a rep here. (See their manufacturer subforums.)
 
Great Eastern Cutlery in Titusville, PA

You wouldn’t even have to put them on the shelves. We’d buy your entire inventory
 
In that price range and for non-knife clientele super de dooper steels with the corresponding price bump are meaningless. At a guess you should probably go down to your local big box home improvement store and stock whatever they are stocking. They have already done the market research for you and my guess is that research will be better than suggestions from a bunch of admittedly biased knife guys on an internet forum. This isn’t about awesome knives this is about awesome profits.
 
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