Skookum Bush Tool Wait List

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Bushcraft Forever said:
I certainly understand what you're saying, but don't let it stop you from grabbing it when he tells you it's finished. You can always sell it for twice what you pay for it, and fast. I owned a couple in the past, but always wanted one direct from Rob so I waited. I've also had several clones, but none had that true Skookum feel. It may be in my head, but none felt like the real deal.

I do wish Rod would be better at communicating with his customers for sure.
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Well, if we're being honest, it goes far past communication. I already posted about this succinctly in another couple of SBT threads that came about a few months ago. The fact of the matter is that if I was told "It'll be four years" and we're coming up on it being 7 (!!) years ago, that's an issue. This means one of two things happened:

1. He has zero idea of how long it actually takes to make and release his product. At the time of my initial email, I was told that the backlog was 45 months. Was this just a guesstimate?
2. He somehow added roughly ten thousand other customers to his list that all somehow jumped me in line.

Neither of these are indicative of behavior that I care to reward with my money. Also, going back to the communication, he had no issue responding to emails before that 4 year mark. It was only AFTER that 4 year mark came and went where suddenly, multiple emails from me went unanswered. And then I simply never heard anything else from him ever again. As I said in the other thread, any real emotional attachment I had to this situation has long come and gone. I had placed that order for two knives (matching) because I had wanted to gift my father something special that he and I could use on our woods-walking adventures as part of us both working in the BSA (Boy Scouts). Given Rod's initial communication to me, it would have arrived near my father's birthday (a milestone year) and it would have been really neat. That time has long since past. As far as I'm concerned, SBT is virtually vaporware, and Rod Garcia is one of those makers who might be able to make a knife, but he's a terrible businessman, and I'll never give him a dime of my money. It really is irrelevant whether or not a deposit was placed, and I wish people would stop giving these makers a pass. "Well, you didn't put a deposit down, so you're not out anything." If you had wanted the knife, then technically you are out something.

As is, I always make it a point to recommend that others avoid him as well. Of course, since the guy can't seem to turn out a knife in anything even remotely approaching a reasonable timeframe, there's little worry there anyway. Also, I should state: I've held Skookum Bush Tools before. They are the simplest knife, and it absolutely blows my mind that Rod is unable to churn them out in a timely fashion.

Anyway, enjoy your knife. I'm glad you like it. I won't be supporting Rod with my money, because I don't appreciate being lied to.
 
The statement, "Well, you didn't put a deposit down, so you're not out anything." is dead wrong. As Quiet pointed out, a prospective buyer certainly IS out something. How about the time and energy that went in to getting the knife in the first place? How about all the time that has gone by since the order was made in which the buyer could have had/used/gifted the knife, but instead they had to constantly go with "Plan B", whatever Plan B was at the time? No, it's a shame Rod Garcia cannot get his act together and there really is no excuse for it. Folks say don't put down a deposit with a custom maker on a knife that hasn't been made. So we don't put down a deposit on a knife that hasn't been made and now the maker gets a pass on the timeline of knife delivery that he stated? Nobody held a gun to Rod's head and made him provide an unrealistic timeline. Sorry, but he won't get a "pass" from me either.
 
Time is more valuable than money, time is money.
Once you've meandered around for years waiting for a maker to complete something for you that you need to have the funds ready to claim, you have lost time.
You can't get time back once it's gone, and any opportunities that arose during that period are also gone. You can't get them back.
You can always make more money. Near doubling an already exuberantly long lead time isn't acceptable.
 
Well, it is unfortunate that Rods communication is very lacking, and his delivery times outrageous. The thing is, I knew that going in, so it didn't bother me at all. After I placed my original order I emailed Rod once two years later to change blade steel. He didn't acknowledge that email for approximately six months, but he finally did. I didn't hear from Rod again till last week telling me my knife was finished. To me it was a nice surprise, as I really forgot all about it.

To me time means nothing, but getting my dream knife does, and I did. I'm really sorry that you guys are that unhappy.
 
Quite frankly, I do not know why some makers allow their books/lists to extend past one year tops. A lot can happen in any given duration of time but anything past a year (maybe two if I am being real generous) is akin to rolling the dice.

I contacted a maker not too long ago and was told that he'd be happy to put my name on a list but that it was going to be a 10 year wait. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. People can straight up die of old age in that period of time. I declined and shortly after (to his credit), he closed his books.

Like Quiet Quiet has conveyed - tastes, needs, etc. change/evolve over time and when it comes time to pay the piper (so to speak), one might likely not be into said product anymore. I've thought on more than one occasion that it might be cool to get in on a custom Randall. That's a 5 year wait and I've never been certain that I would still be interested in such things when the time comes, especially at the prices they command.

I've read enough about Skookum that I will likely never bother. I have a lot of knives, ones that are tangible and serve me well. I also can guarantee that I will come into numerous others that will serve me equally as well, if not better, in the time that it takes to get any knife that requires a lengthy waiting period. But, as with anything here, to each his/her own.
 
I just saw an April 2020 YouTube by some guy from Burning River Bushcraft (or something like that) who said he waited a little over 2 years to get the 01 and 3V SBTs he ordered. Perhaps Rod has worked his backlog down a bit.

He says a thousand days i this
but in his unboxing vid (which I cant find now) he states 1,300 and some days.. close enough and better than the 6+ years some have said they waited...
I just got one on the secondary market, so I cheated... and sure have more than the $225 or so they cost when ordered directly from Rob.
 
Mine has been on order maybe 3 years now. I figured it would be a crazy long time and simply went about my life. If I get a notification great, if it never happens no loss. I really don't know if he even does this full time. I think at the time he started all this he was a stay at home dad and this was a sideline. No it is not how I would do business but I fully understood the uncertainty going into it.
 
QUOTE="Hivoltage, post: 19701096, member: 504228"]Can someone please direct me to some quality info as to why people are waiting 5 YEARS for such a simple knife. I’m just totally curious and mean no disrespect.[/QUOTE]

The wait is a part of the hype. So good you just can't get one. ? Why do people wait and pay so much for a Woodlore-I have a $75 knife I believe is just as good, but you have to have what you have to have. Common sense does not play much of a part.
It is a nice knife and at bench price not overly priced IMO, but the wait and secondary prices aren't realistic IMO.
 
I’m sure these knives are top notch! No denying just when I read this threat and saw the wait times I was shocked. I’ve been into the knife world along time and totally understand the wait, supply vs demand issues.
 
Instead of following up on other Skookum threads I've posted on in the past, I'll post here. A week or so ago, an email from Rod came out of the blue. It was a laugh, to be sure. The email was (paraphrasing) "Your knives are ready, but if you don't want to pay due to Coronavirus or whatever, let me know and I'll move along to next in line." On top of that, he increased the price far past what we'd agreed on all those years ago. How so? Well, his website (which I guess he probably doesn't know how to update) lists his knives at $200. When I emailed him back in 2013, he responded saying that there was a price increase of $20. So, that's $220.

Odd then, when his email to me recently quoted the knives as being $560 for the both of them, or it would be $285 if I just purchased the one (I should have responded asking where he gets off charging me an additional $60 per knife). I laughed and closed the email. Get bent, Rod. I'd say that I hope he reads this, but I doubt he even knows how to use the internet. As far as I'm concerned, Rod is as big a scumbag as Guy at Survive?!.
 
Wait
Quiet said:
Instead of following up on other Skookum threads I've posted on in the past, I'll post here. A week or so ago, an email from Rod came out of the blue. It was a laugh, to be sure. The email was (paraphrasing) "Your knives are ready, but if you don't want to pay due to Coronavirus or whatever, let me know and I'll move along to next in line." On top of that, he increased the price far past what we'd agreed on all those years ago. How so? Well, his website (which I guess he probably doesn't know how to update) lists his knives at $200. When I emailed him back in 2013, he responded saying that there was a price increase of $20. So, that's $220.

Odd then, when his email to me recently quoted the knives as being $560 for the both of them, or it would be $285 if I just purchased the one (I should have responded asking where he gets off charging me an additional $60 per knife). I laughed and closed the email. Get bent, Rod. I'd say that I hope he reads this, but I doubt he even knows how to use the internet. As far as I'm concerned, Rod is as big a scumbag as Guy at Survive?!.
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Sheesh, being harsh on the guy, no sense getting butt hurt when you fully know what deal is before you sign up.

Don't like the service, don't sign up.

Hell people have killed to get a new set of Nike's, folks line up for days in the cold to get a new iPhone...... none of it is NECESSARY.

Consumers gonna consume.

Get a Mora that does essentially the same thing if you don't want to be in this.

Nobody here needs 99.9999% of the knives they buy. If you don't want to wait then don't, go buy a knife from any of the other infinity knife makers out there.
 
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I just received my skookum in 3v after a long wait. Ordered Feb 2014. While I was a little surprised by the price increase I don't think it was too unreasonable. The prices on his site were last updated in 2009... $200 for the knife in 01 or A2 or add $20 for 3v, shipping is $10. At the time of my order he told me that prices had gone up $20 since. Now we're at $250. So $35 more than six years ago. I'm not going to get bent out of shape over that.

I do agree that his communication is terrible. Dismal even. And for what some see as such a basic knife six years is a absurd amount of time. But the knife came sharp with even bevels and tidy fitment.

Also didn't ask for any money upfront so in my mind no way analogous to guy/survive? knives.

I think it's a great little knife and I'm happy to have finally received it.
 
So just to be clear .... There is a six year waiting list with basically no communications. While on the wait list, prices continue to increase? All this for far less of a knife than can be picked up on the exchange any given day?

I mean on the plus side it would appear that the maker is not a crook, just severely back logged and he does deliver what he says he will.

I don't get it. Why? Looking at the knife it appears to be average at best....
 
Triton said:
So just to be clear .... There is a six year waiting list with basically no communications. While on the wait list, prices continue to increase? All this for far less of a knife than can be picked up on the exchange any given day?

I mean on the plus side it would appear that the maker is not a crook, just severely back logged and he does deliver what he says he will.

I don't get it. Why? Looking at the knife it appears to be average at best....
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If you could figure out what people wanted & why you'd bee a billionaire or better.
 
Danke42 said:
If you could figure out what people wanted & why you'd bee a billionaire or better.
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Yep, you are absolutely right. It must be terribly frustrating for some of the talented makers on the forum, to be struggling to sell a far more refined piece of work for a roughly equivalent price and wonder what this guy has that they do not.
 
Triton said:
Yep, you are absolutely right. It must be terribly frustrating for some of the talented makers on the forum, to be struggling to sell a far more refined piece of work for a roughly equivalent price and wonder what this guy has that they do not.
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That is an excellent observation and it really goes to the core of business. Does a maker want to crank out thousands of blades so they can pay the bills and stay on a production treadmill or or are they happier remaining a starving artist?

Do I want to buy a knife that's completely serviceable but the equivalent of a big mac? Or do I want a piece of art that's ultimately compromised?

It really comes down to finding that balance. Just like steel finding the level between sharpness and strength and edge retention and retention with a side order of ease of sharpening.
 
I conversed with Rod awhile back, and he seemed like a pretty nice guy
But:
I don't think he should take orders out as far as he does. It just leads to problems & frustration, which are compounded with poor communication.
and I don't think he should change the price, unless he makes it clear initially that the price is subject to change
all IMO
 
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