Request for knife information

J

jessica_chan

Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
13
[edited to show US $ for question 10](edited to show new question 4)

Hi :D
I am a Master's Degree student, conducting research into the pocketknife industry. To be able to finish my degree, I would like to ask for your help. I would appreciate it greatly if you could spare me a couple of minutes and answer a few questions for me. Responses within this thread or to my email address are both fine, preferably before the 2nd of May to enable me to complete this assignment.

Thankyou very much,

Jessica
huixiang.chen@lycos.co.uk


1. where do you come from?

2. your gender?

3. your age?
15-25/26-35/36-45/46-55

4.:)what is your occupation?

5. what do you purchase a pocketknife for?
present/personal use/display/collection

6. if you use the pocketknife yourself, what do you use it for?

7. when i choose a pocketknife, the most important consideration in my decision is -----
(eg. brand name/function/design/price/quality)

8. if you found the ideal pocketknife online, you would---
definitely buy/probably buy/not sure/probably not buy/definitely not buy

9. how long are you prepared to wait for an online purchase to be delivered?

10. what price are you prepared to pay for a pocketknife (US $)?
10-50/51-100/101-200/201-300/300+

Please add any further information or comments you think may be of use.


Thankyou very much for your cooperation. :)
 
1.- Mexico city, Mexico.

2.- Male

3.- 46-55.

4.- Mainframe computer programming and support.

5.- Personal use.

6.- Lots of everyday chores; cutting string, paper, rope, opening cartons, mail, cutting fruit, slicing bread, opening cans, cleaning fingernails, whittling, carving, stripping wire, general repairs, etc.

7.- Function, quality, price, I´m loyal to some brands that have been good in my experience.

8.- Probably not buy online, I prefer to handle before buying, sometimes I have asked someone going to the U.S. to get a particular knife for me.

9.- Probably a month or so.

10.- My most expensive knives are between 100-200 U.S.

Comments.- I have carryied a pocket knife daily for over 40 years, can´t understand how anybody could get along without one.


Edited to answer quiestion 4.
 
1. where do you come from?
Canada

2. your gender?
Male
3. your age?
15-25/26-35/36-45/46-55
15-25
5. what do you purchase a pocketknife for?
present/personal use/display/collection
personal use
6. if you use the pocketknife yourself, what do you use it for?
cutting tasks, boxes, rope
7. when i choose a pocketknife, the most important consideration in my decision is -----
(eg. brand name/function/design/price/quality)
design
8. if you found the ideal pocketknife online, you would---
definitely buy/probably buy/not sure/probably not buy/definitely not buy
definitely buy
9. how long are you prepared to wait for an online purchase to be delivered?
6 weeks
10. what price are you prepared to pay for a pocketknife?
10-50/51-100/101-200/201-300/300+
101-200
Please add any further information or comments you think may be of use.
 
1. Pennsylvania
2. Male
3. 15-25
4. Yes
5. Personal use/display/collection
6. Work. Cutting shrinkwrap, cardboard, annoying white stringy stuff, corner peices of certain boxes, and this really tough 'I don't know how to explain it' stuff.
7. Brand name/design/quality
8. Definitely buy
9. Depends on what it was
10. 300+ if it's worth it.
 
Where are you studying?
What field is your degree in?
Why did you choose to research the pocketknife indusry?
 
hello everyone,
thanks for the replies, keep them coming! :) :D :cool:
sorry about the missing question 4, i wasn't paying enough attention in that time.

RH,
i'm studying an MA Globalization of business in the UK. the topic is part of a consultancy project for a UK cutlery and knife company that we have been tasked with.

thanks again,

Jessica:)
 
1. where do you come from?
Singapore
2. your gender?
male
3. your age?
15-25
5. what do you purchase a pocketknife for?
personal use
6. if you use the pocketknife yourself, what do you use it for?
anything you can use a knife for... as often as possible :D
7. when i choose a pocketknife, the most important consideration in my decision is -----
function
8. if you found the ideal pocketknife online, you would---
definitely buy
9. how long are you prepared to wait for an online purchase to be delivered?
3 weeks
10. what price are you prepared to pay for a pocketknife?
300+
 
Hi Jessica!
This is pretty interesting search, I’ll try to answer your questions commenting them possibly honestly. OK?
  1. I was born in Latvia (formerly part of Soviet Union, now it is small independent country near Baltic Sea). Recent 12 years I live in Poland, Lodz city.
  2. Male.
  3. This year I’ll celebrate my 50-th anniversary.
  4. Where is your forth question?
  5. I have numerous times more knives than I am able to use even calling the most perverse fantasy. I’m journalist and I use my knives to write about them. Sorry, but this point seems to be some kind of fault in your questionnaire – you’re not asking for person’s occupation. In my opinion this could influence the answers pretty much... Additionally – your mentioned alternative answers are not alternatives at all. I suppose the most of possible respondents (including myself) use their knives for all these purposes. So there is nothing to choose.
  6. In real life I use my knives only for cutting – the task knives are basically intended for. Some people look for some kind super-universal knives able “to take a lot of abuse” or “to hold up on hard use”. Being present on Blade Forums for some time I have noticed that the term “hard use” is pretty frequently messed with knife improper use like prying, pounding, chopping, can opening, digging and so on. Nonsense, the knife able to do all such things inevitably will be poor cutter, I have stated this idea at Blade Forums uncounted amount of times.
  7. No alternative again. In my honest opinion only the harmony and reasonable proportion (in fact this is the same) of all mentioned items makes a good knife choice.
  8. Hmm, among many hundreds of knives I have dealt with so far I didn’t find one what could come to term “ideal” even closely. I can imagine my vision of ideal knife, more – I can describe and draw it. However if someone would make it (I’m extremely poor bladesmith) more than likely I would find tons of drawbacks in my own design what previously seemed ideal for me. Taking philosophically – the ideal is some kind of matter what is better to aim at than to reach...
  9. Differently – here is pretty long way to get overseas made knife...
  10. All depends on what knife it would be and what purposes I would aim ordering this one. The freshest example is SPYDERCO 25-th Anniversary Delica. This knife costs about $350 but it is very special knife what is issued once in limited quantity and will never be issued anymore. So it has collectible value and can’t be evaluated from pure use standpoint because it is not knife for real-life cutting tasks.
I would like to point also some kind of terminological fault. Saying “pocketknives” you are narrowing the search area to small-medium sized folders with multiple blades, mostly unlockable, so-called slip joint folders. This is currently common definition of this group of items. Surely you could find such knives in the pockets of many people including Blade Forum folks. However a lot of currently manufactured and used popular knives do not fall into this category. The great deal of brand-named manufacturers offer folding knives with single lockable blade and they divide to different groups like so-called tactical folders, everyday carry folders, gentleman’s folders and so on. Please don’t be surprised but some persons prefer to carry fixed blade on daily basis even in urban environment. How justified this idea is and how legal in some jurisdictions – this is quite another matter. Also please don’t associate unambiguously “small folder” and “big fixed blade”. There are plenty of folders with 5-plus inched blades, so called mega-folders and not less 2-inched (and even shorter) fixed blades, so called neck knives used to carry on the chain or cord around the neck, somewhat like pendant.

Hope I didn’t mess your Master Grade work completely :rolleyes:

Please, please stay with us somewhat longer than you need to complete your work :)
The guy concentration for square meter here is far over decency limits and the beautiful ladies here are extremely welcome!
 
Hi Sergiusz,

Thanks for your response. I'm finding out that this is a more complicated subject than I first thought!

To reply to your points:
6: I think here I should have made the question more detailed. My thoughts were to find out what type of activities people would be using a knife for, eg. fishing, sailing, camping, etc.
8: Probably shouldn't have said 'ideal' in this question. Main objective was to find out if people are prepared to buy online.

With regards to the terminology, thanks for the help. I'm new to this and haven't got that level of detail before.

The focus of the work is to find out about the customer (profile, wants, needs), and market potential.
If there are any particular questions that you could suggest I ask I would very much appreciate it, as you obviously have a lot of knowledge about the subject.

Thankyou again (and again :) :) )

p.s. I promise to stay as long as everyone continues to help ;) haha
 
1. Dan

2. Male

3. 24 years old
4.
5. personal use/collection

6. All my pocket knives need to be able to perform as an EDC. Basically they have to be able to cut cardboard, wood, tape, string, and whatever else the day might bring and carry comfortably.

7. The most important consideration for me is quality, although I could not imagine simply buying a knife and not considering its function, price, and design.

8. Yes, I would buy the ideal knife on-line, assuming I believed I could trust that site.

9. How long I'm willing to wait for the perfect knife? I guess if it's that good I'll wait as long as I have to. However if it's similar to a spyderco or BM I don't think I'd wait longer than two weeks before looking at another site.

10. For the perfect knife I'd pay about $300. Again though, if it's similar to a spyderco or BM I'd stick to $50-100. I've got many knives in this price range that have handled everything I've ever asked of them. It would have to be one hell of a knife for me to purchase out of this price range. If the knives are more expensive than this I ask myself what this knife can do that the one in pocket can't do. Sometimes I get an answer, but usually not. If the knife is priced lower than this (<$50)I get skeptical about the quality. If this is the case I'll do some searches on this forum for reviews of the product and then make up my mind if it's worth purchasing.
 
1. Houston, Texas
2. Male
3. 15-25
4.
5. Personal Use
6. Every day cutting chores, self defense
7. Function, design, price, quality
8. Definitely buy
9. 3-4 weeks
10. $51-100
 
Hi Jessica,:)

1. Columbus, Ohio

2. Male

3. 36-45

4. ?

5. personal use, and collection

6. All cutting tasks and self defense.

7. Function and design.

8. Definitely buy

9. Unlimited wait time. Sometimes if you buy a customized knife there can be a long waiting period.

10. Price is not an object when it comes to knives :D

My philosophy for knives is "Better to have and not need, then to need and not have"
 
hi again,
sorry to be a pain, can people help me get 20 respones:) :D :cool: :) :) :)

I'd really appreciate that it would help me a greal deal.

thanks,

Jessica
 
1. Oklahoma
2. Male
3. 45
4.
5. I have given many knives as gifts, have 250+ personal knives, so I guess you could say I collect, I don't buy anything that I would be afraid to carry.
6. I carry knives everyday for use in cutting envelopes, string, rope,opening packages, and in medical environments.
7. I consider all factors in a purchase. Design, materials, construction and Company integrity are all important.
8. I buy new and used knives online all of the time.
9. Since my online purchases are production items, I expect to see them shortly after payment, no more than 14 days.
10. Depends on the knife, but generally my limit is around $200 US
Comments: I have been carrying a pocket knife since I was about 10 years old. I don't know how a person can get through the day without one.
 
1. Born and Raised in Dallas, Tx.

2. Male

3. 33

4. I will add that I am a LAN Admin. Level II

5. I purchase knives for gifts and personal use.

6. If I use them they are for every day mundane tasks as cutting open boxes, tape, wire ties, cables, thread, and so on. I have very few knives that are not used.

7. The knives I purchase have to have a good reputation in the community and put out decent product with good steels that hold a good edge. I have or have owned lnives from just about all factory makers that advertise here on the forums.

8. If the ideal knife was ever built, I would definately buy it.

9. If the amount of time is stated up front, it is not an issue, so that question depends on a great many circumstances. If the knife is in stock and I pay for three day shipping, I expect to get it in three days. If it arrives in 5 days, I want some money back.

10. The most I have ever paid for a pocket knife is 150.00. That may be my threshold. I have however paid 450.00 for my most expensive fixed blades. I know that there are great makers that have exceptional knives that cost more, but in my feeble mind more than 150.00 for a pocket knife that is going to be used i shard for me to justify. More than that puts me more into the collecting arena and my salery doesny allow me to do that at this point in my life.

I hope that this helps.....I hope that more Gold members see this and respond. They would show you a whole other dynamic to this.


Cerberus:D
 
1. where do you come from?
France

2. your gender?
Male

3. your age?
26-35

4. I'm happy today

5. what do you purchase a pocketknife for?
personnal use

6. if you use the pocketknife yourself, what do you use it for?
in the field, in the kitchen but mostly to open letters, packing and boxes, to cut threads... every day chores

7. when i choose a pocketknife, the most important consideration in my decision is -----
1 quality 2 function 3 design 4 price

8. if you found the ideal pocketknife online, you would---
definitely buy

9. how long are you prepared to wait for an online purchase to be delivered?
if I order an high valuable US knife form France, a few month...

10. what price are you prepared to pay for a pocketknife (US $)?
300/300+

Have a nice day !
 
Jessica what kind of Masters degree are you referring to?

Serg makes a critical point there, which you haven't answered. What do you mean by a "pocketknife"? That definition will impact significantly on most of your questions and any responses you obtain here in consequence, obviously.

Also, if you are inclined to define a pocketknife as something like a Swiss Army Knife say, then I think there's a serious difficulty with your concept of a "pocketknife industry". A SAK could be said to compete with quite a wide variety of 'knives', including say a single bladed folder or a MultiTool - can you appreciate then that that prospect might effect other assumptions? Think about substitutability of demand and supply, for example.

Unless your survey is of the 'really about something else' variety, or whatever, I think you'd be well advised to make your definitions clear, if you are concerned to obtain a meaningful result. There's a bit of an impression you are in something of a hurry with this.
 
Hi Jessica

1. where do you come from?
Great Britain


2. your gender?
Male


3. your age?
15-25

4.:)what is your occupation?

Senior networking consultant

5. what do you purchase a pocketknife for?
present/personal use/display/collection

personal use and collection (the knife laws here mean that the larger models i buy can only be used as collection pieces)

6. if you use the pocketknife yourself, what do you use it for?

I use a multitool, the blade performs everyday cutting tasks and the tools are very useful in my profession

7. when i choose a pocketknife, the most important consideration in my decision is -----
(eg. brand name/function/design/price/quality)

design and quality are equal first


8. if you found the ideal pocketknife online, you would---
definitely buy/probably buy/not sure/probably not buy/definitely not buy

probably buy

9. how long are you prepared to wait for an online purchase to be delivered?

1 week max

10. what price are you prepared to pay for a pocketknife (US $)?
10-50/51-100/101-200/201-300/300+

201-300


I would suggest that your choice of age ranges is flawed, i am 21 and in a reasonably well paid job so i can afford to spend $250 on a knife if i really like it but when I was 15-20 there was no way i had that kind of money spare

then again maybe im an excepetion to the age ranges?
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