So whats up with Atwood products?

Kimber Pro Tac

Kimber Pro Tac

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Dec 15, 2011
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I see these tools (I guess) being offered and sold relatively quickly, for a lot of money. I don't get it. Please understand- my intent isn't to bash their products here, because I've never held or touched one, but can someone share with me why they'd spend $300 for a small pry tool, that also can tighten or loosen one size nut? Is it a status thing, do they appreciate in value, is it just purely a collectable thing or what is it that makes these little pieces of titanium (or other metal?) worth what they go for?

I understand people collect all kinds of stuff that doesn't appeal to others, but the desire and prices paid for these puzzle me. Thanks for any enlightening response. And again - no offense intended.
 
Pricing seems to be based upon high demand. They are very high quality little pieces of kit. Just like how certain designer things get real expensive, like a Gucci bag v. a LL Bean bag. Both are good quality but the Gucci is a lot more expensive. Even something like snap on tools, which seem to be really high quality, are almost a status thing. Atwood was also one of the first guys to tap in to that niche market of gear, so his name is well known.

I bought one of the original pry babies years and years ago and I really like it.
 
Its certainly a niche market that the average guy on the street would say it pretty crazy, and he would probably be right. I got caught up in it a good while ago, but will probably divest myself of most of them. Part of the deal is the difficulty that one has in finding them, which stirs up demand. Sorta like Busses, with supply being artificially limited to create buying frenzies. I don't know if this is a marketing strategery with Peter Atwood, but the effect is the same.

Objectively, Atwoods are worth about $35 each. But as a collector and fondling thing, the sky is the limit.

 
Three words: Schrade Pry Tool

Atwoods are very nice, but they are not worth the price or the pain. They are just like high end knives: nice for sure, but overpriced, overhyped, and too hard to get because of a distorted market caused by rabid fans and probably the maker's hand. Believe me, you are not missing out on anything but bragging rights. If you want that, then go for it. If you just want a good, solid Ti tool, get the Schrade.
 
I've got a couple which I was fortunate enough to buy direct from Peter. All of mine are users - and I have to say that his designs are extremely functional and really nice to carry. I won't be buying 20 or 30 of them, but I'm very pleased with the ones I've got. TedP

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Atwood's tools ordinarily cost between $40 to $100. They are made in a one man shop, small batches, premium materials, professionally heat treated. Peter simply can't keep up with the demand for the product anymore. Why? The quality is there and Peter Atwood's reputation is beyond reproach, to suggest otherwise is ignorance.

If you want to learn more about the products and possibly score something directly I'd suggest following his blog and joining his facebook group, start here: http://atwoodknives.blogspot.com/
 
Rhesus Feces said:
The quality is there and Peter Atwood's reputation is beyond reproach, to suggest otherwise is ignorance.
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No one has maintained that the tools suck or that Atwood is a bad guy. But its just a fact that if Atwood tools were readily available on Amazon and everywhere else, they would not be selling for $150. Its the same with CRK and Busse and others - the quality is there, the makers seem to be good people, the CS is good, but there also is a lot of interesting and powerful psychology and marketing going on there that causes people to (in my view) pay 3x what the product is objectively "worth". Of course, fair market value is determined by what a buyer is willing to pay, so in that sense all of these products are "worth" what they sell for.

As you can see above, I own several Atwoods, along with some CRKs and several Busses. But I reached a point where it sorta dawned on me that I let the marketing and the hype and the limited availability of these products overwhelm my reason. All three of these products - and I just use them as examples since this an an Atwood thread - are first rate in their design, manufacturing, utility and customer service. No doubt about that. But I'm still fascinated by that strange, deep psychological attraction - brought about in part by marketing, limited availability and group think - that these products have, and I have willingly fallen prey to it. So I've been slowly selling off my Busses, and will probably do so with the Atwoods, though in both cases its somewhat difficult to determine a reasonable fair market value because they are so scarce in the secondary market. I can see myself maybe owning one Busse, and a couple of Atwoods and CRKs. But when I end up with 8 Busses and 15 Atwoods - which I have - then something isn't right in my head. Just my view of the world.
 
I've never quite understood the craze either. It seems like a very artificial fad for high dollar items just because they are rare. The Atwood stuff does not even seem that effective when you look at the design. Pry tools that are so short, they can't have hardly any leverage. Overly thick screw drivers. So far, I haven't seen an Atwood tool that drives screws or opens cans better than an old fashioned .99 cent Sear's keychain screw driver, or deals with a can as well as the old P-38 GI can opener. And the P-38 deals with flat and Phillips screws very well in addition to opening cans.

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I would love to own one of his titanium keychain tools but there's no way in hell I'd pay those outrageous prices.
 
It's the same reason that some people like Starlingear beads. They cost a lot for something so...devoid of function shall we say?

In the end, people like what they like. People attribute worth to an item for a number of reasons, which at the end of the day might mean nothing to you or me, but means everything to them.

I mean come on, we're on a knife forum. The average Joe or Jane on the street couldn't tell the difference between a Wally-world blister pack knife and some high dollar knife. To them, they'd think we're just as crazy buying expensive knives as the guys thinking Atwood fans are crazy for buying tiny bits of titanium.
 
This whole Atwood thing is an outgrowth of what Colonel Nutnfancy characterizes as the "2nd kind of cool". Atwoods, etc., don't function (the "first kind of cool") better than the cheap stuff. But people buy them for other reasons - they are blingy, they may make you feel good, everyone else wants what you have, they are darn hard to get, etc. Thats a plenty good reason to buy them if you are into it. If you aren't, then you think its pretty dumb to pay $150 for a keychain prybar. I'm sorta caught in the middle. I get the cool factor thing, and its real, but sometimes feel stupid for allowing myself to get caught up in it. Same with the other spendy toys (CRK, Busse, etc.).
 
I'm not into those types of tools to begin with personally, because I don't like a baseball sized wad of things on my keys.
 
I bought a generation 1 PryBaby and Keyton. I wanted to like them and carried each for over a year. In the end, I just didn't pry that much, and they were both thick for driving screws, so I gave them to my brother who still carries them.

I like them, they're really well made and much better thought out that other keychain tools. They have a certain style about them. I'd give a Wrunt a try--it looks like something I might use and looks kind of cool--but his products sell out in minutes. There's a whole network of people on the web alerting one another when a sale goes up. I'd have to be hitting "refresh" on my browser like a rheses monkey hitting the cocaine lever in a lab experiment to have a chance of owning one. I'm not willing to do that, and I'm not willing to pay aftermarket prices.
 
I was into Atwoods for a month. I ended up getting a gold anodized titanium G2 Keyton and a brass bead. I should try to sell or trade them for one of this month's fascinations like a small Seb or something...
I found Atwoods while looking for a high quality keychain beer opener after destroying a few aluminium $1 gas station jobs. The irony is I all but quit drinking soon after I got the Atwood so it's pretty much useless for me. Give me knives!
 
RobbW said:
I'd have to be hitting "refresh" on my browser like a rheses monkey hitting the cocaine lever in a lab experiment to have a chance of owning one. I'm not willing to do that, and I'm not willing to pay aftermarket prices.
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:D funny
 
Anyone remember the time (about 10 years ago) when you could just write him an email with special requests and he would hook you up within a few days? Shortened (rare), normal length, and extra-long (rare) Area 51 Keytons, Mini Keytons, Prybabies in two sizes and different variations etc. Got even better when he started to work with Ti. Fun times.

The fun -at least for me - stopped around 2007 or so when the urbanized fanboys with too much disposable income sucked up every tool Peter could make by hitting "refresh" every thirty seconds. Incidentially, the tools from then on compromised function to increase supply. Witness the Brewdriver, Landslide etc.

Maybe I should get rid of the collection as the prices may well be at their all-time-high. Will keep two Gen3 Prybabies though: For my needs in a keychain tool, the Gen 3 is perfect and hasn’t been bettered in the last 10 years or so.
 
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