Reviewing Other Manufacturer's Goods

M

munk

Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Messages
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I'm getting tired of logging on to HI forum and finding a review or series of questions seemingly to examine another manufacturer's materials, as if HI forum was engaged in an overview and consumer reports of all peer groups. This is not the case. Jimmy J, take note.

There is a blade review forum- USE IT.

Please stop setting up HI as watchdog of the industry. This is not seemly or even a good neighbor policy.

If someone wants a home forum to criticize other companies, this is not it.

That does not mean we cannot discuss knives. We have never had a problem in this area until now.




munk
 
If the now moved "Valiantco" thread is the issue here, well I apologize if I said something that ruffled any feathers.

I went in to respond to the gentleman that started the thread. He wanted an honest opinion on what we thought about an issue he had with one of that company's products (him sharing some pictures and such with us).
I agree that one thing lead to another, and the conversation ended up growing a bit, but nothing was written to upset anyone ;)

Even though from the get go it seemed like it was in the wrong forum, I felt compelled to respond to the fella, knowing that an appropriate person would eventually move it to wherever it belonged.

Oh well, such is life, and if there was something in there that I said that may have offended anyone, I apologize :)
 
As usual I guess I missed the obvious! Last post I saw was months ago on KH I think. I absolutely agree on the review aspect; not appropriate and just sets us up for attacks from other mfrs. However also want to be able to mention other makers from time to time. That isn't pushing their product or bashing their product or reviewing their product; it's just mentioning their product.

Don't see this as a problem anyway, and many folks have posted pics of their HI knives next to other similar models. (There was one with an HI WWII from someone a few weeks ago.)

Thanks,

Norm
 
Svashtar said:
As usual I guess I missed the obvious! Last post I saw was months ago on KH I think. I absolutely agree on the review aspect, but also want to be able to mention other makers from time to time. That isn't pushing their product or bashing their product or reviewing their product; it's just mentioning their product.

Don't see this as a problem anyway, and many folks have posted pics of their HI knives next to other similar models. (There was one with an HI WWII from someone a few weeks ago.)

Thanks,

Norm
Click to expand...

"There was one with an HI WWII from someone a few weeks ago"


Hmmm, Norm, I think I may remember something like that myself ;)
 
There are simply better forums than the *main* HI site. The Cantina, the Blade Discussion Forum, Knife Reviews & Testing, Whine & Cheese, etc.

It is simply unseemly to have some things in the HI main forum...it smacks of being self-serving and HI is above that sort of thing. When a thread drifts in a particular direction, it is subject to review.

What has this to do with khukuris? Everything...they are to be treated with respect as they have earned their place.

Likewise, Cantinistas have also earned their respect...sarcasm is best served in the Whine & Cheese forum.
 
If I'm understanding what you're saying, munk, it's okay to compare HI knives with others, but doing a wholesale review of a product from another company leads to bad blood.
 
It was Valiant, then 24 hours later Cheners, then Paul Chen. Did not Jimmy Jimenez also do the earlier KH thread? Was there a Tora thread too? When do I start counting them? We did not have this problem in the years I've been here. I'd rather it did not start. Bill Martino had a deep respect for his peer companies. Let's keep it friendly.

There is a knife review forum.

There is nothing wrong with an occasional review, analysis, etc etc. Go back and look at the tone of the some of the posts. If you guys think I'm offbase here, I'll be happy to turn this subject over to Nasty. Just be careful what you wish for.

thanks guys,
munk
 
For the record, Nasty, I believe the thread in question was placed by the author in the incorrect forum (that being the main HI forum). I don't believe it lasted too long there, with an appropriate person moving it to the HI Cantina.

I guess after some deep discussions, it then became even more appropriate for yet another forum :)
 
munk said:
It was Valiant, then 24 hours later Cheners, then Paul Chen. Did not Jimmy Jimenez also do the earlier KH thread? Was there a Tora thread too? When do I start counting them? We did not have this problem in the years I've been here. I'd rather it did not start. Bill Martino had a deep respect for his peer companies. Let's keep it friendly.

There is a knife review forum.

There is nothing wrong with an occasional review, analysis, etc etc. Go back and look at the tone of the some of the posts. If you guys think I'm offbase here, I'll be happy to turn this subject over to Nasty. Just be careful what you wish for.

thanks guys,
munk
Click to expand...


I think it was actually Cheness.
Someone came in and mentioned a mishap, and I came in with some info about their offerings. Nothing major, just some basics.

I guess it may be that JJ can't say anything right :)

Though I'm sure I have discussed all sorts of issues, I do not recall discussing much of Tora (except for my finding out who their source in Nepal was). As for Paul Chen, I don't believe I have discussed in any length him (the president of the Hanwei forge) or it's products, nor have I mentioned much of (if anything at all) about the other "Paul Chen" (the one responsible for the Cheness swords).

You may be confusing some of my postings with others.
 
munk said:
It was Valiant, then 24 hours later Cheners, then Paul Chen. Did not Jimmy Jimenez also do the earlier KH thread? Was there a Tora thread too? When do I start counting them? We did not have this problem in the years I've been here. I'd rather it did not start. Bill Martino had a deep respect for his peer companies. Let's keep it friendly.

There is a knife review forum.

There is nothing wrong with an occasional review, analysis, etc etc. Go back and look at the tone of the some of the posts. If you guys think I'm offbase here, I'll be happy to turn this subject over to Nasty. Just be careful what you wish for.

thanks guys,
munk
Click to expand...

Nope, for what little it's worth, I am in complete agreement with the thrust of this, with the accepted caveat "There is nothing wrong with the occasional review, analysis, etc..," although I wouldn't even say reviews were that great of an idea. I just want to be able to say "I like the Foxes Folly, and by the way Tora's Highland model is a somewhat similar design but lighter overall weight", without being told that since this is an HI forum that we only discuss HI, which has happened once or twice.

Doing so only makes us look protectionist, however taking the easy route and pointing out _perceived_ flaws in competing products could come back and bite us really hard really easily. Munk is right, and Uncle Bill never would have condoned anything critical being said about anyone else in business, even if their product line was completely different from HI's.

Thanks,

Norm
 
Spam is not welcome on this forum.
-Cougar Allen :{)
http://www.mailmsg.com/sounds/spam-song.wav
attachment.php
 
I may be totally wrong, but I had gained something out of that Valiantco thread, and I can imagine that others learned some things as well.

It may have been inappropriate for the gentleman to have posted it here, but I thought it was great when it was allowed to continue in the HI Cantina.

It not only covered that particular company product, but it ventured into a serious discussion that was probably very interesting to many forum members (like what should be considered a serious "visual" defect).
It had little to do with HI, but it surely was an interesting discussion :)
 
Now we are talking...

Thanks Gents.


BTW...I took it to Cougar since munk couldn't connect and I don't yet have that particular power. I think I need to practice my mod katas some more and pass a test of some sort before I get it.

Until I get them, a word to a fellow mod or the ball peen hammer will have to suffice.
 
JimmyJimenez said:
I guess it may be that JJ can't say anything right :)
Click to expand...

Hey JJ, I would just like you and wicca to know that I had no objection whatsoever to anything either of you posted about Valiant. The point raised by wicca deserved a response and you did a good job of playing devil's advocate throughout. As for wicca's posts, I would have been pissed if I had been left in his position with a cracked blade.

As strange as it may sound (even to me, in retrospect at least), advertising was not on my mind when I began posting on the same thread. My posts may have had the effect of advertising, but my purpose was to provide additional relevant data to the discussion. Note that I never questioned the appropriateness of wicca's complaints about the blade he received and about Valiant's response; quite the contrary, I assured him that his objections were justified. I merely attempted to present additional data that showed there were other customers who had had quite different experiences.

Finally, I fully appreciate the moderator discomfort that led to the thread being moved and certain material being deleted. I only hope we will not view the incident as some sort of devious scheme on my part to gain inappropriate access to free advertising. After all, I did not initiate the thread, and there certainly was no collusion between wicca and I. I don't think the motives of anyone who participated in the thread should be questioned. Let's just say that a reasonable thread was initiated and somewhere along the way it drifted into inappropriate territory through the fault of no one in particular. Mistakes happen. No hard feelings here. Let's just move on with enjoying what has been the best forum I have ever had the honor to participate in.:)
 
Thanks Bill...that's all the point was.

Hollow, that was inexcusable. Should I expect the same sort of behavior at KF? Should I expect the same behavior the next time you visit my home? Frankly, I expect better of you than to use this as an excuse to troll for hits at another forum.
 
bwray wrote: "my purpose was to provide additional relevant data to the discussion"

Those were my only intentions as well, buddy, and surely don't want any of it to be considered as personal against any of you here. Seriously, to me it was all just intended as casual talk, though very interesting casual talk :)
 
""If someone wants a home forum to criticize other companies, this is not it.""

Worth repeating.

I asked Bill Martino permission before I reviewed a competitors blade here. Norm is right; we talked about other knives, but our tone was never dismissive, or overly critical with the exception of the occasional grotesque occurence, and even then we were carefull.

HI has always maintained excellent relations with other knife makers and manufacturers. Even when another khuk supplier was here in BF, the relations were mostly cordial with a lot of good natured teasing.

If we have to make hard and fast rules about knife reviews here, we've lost something. I'd like to think of this thread as a head's up.


munk
 
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