Bad Survive! Deserves A Permanent Post In The Hall Of Shame

Boru13 said:
This was posted two days ago, in the comments claims to be friends with HST and that he’s part owner of SK!.
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so weird.

HeavySetTactical409 wrote this:
"dude things are complicated life doesn't work out the way we want it to sometimes it's either we save the business while shipping pre-orders or we go under and nobody gets their knives man. It's very simple. I am here 7 days a week working hard and every single week we ship old pre-orders that people get to have amd finally feel whole I'm not having this discussion with you man I have work to do ask guy if you want more specific answers I just work here and help out trying to get us leveled out. Have a good day."

then, after being asked directly about if he was an owner of S!K, he wrote this:
"I'm not arguing man you guys may have time for this I don't I show knives I like, I don't cure cancer or save babies. So it's not that deep. Secondly, I invested my time my life into 7 days a week for months now simply trying to help everyone get their knives they paid for and deserve you guys want to criticize me for that go ahead. But I though with my.drive and my head we could reorganize and get shit done and I know one thing. Since I've been here HUNDREDS of customers got their blades they waited years for, and that was because of me. So again still here still trying my hardest. Have a great week guys. I have stuff to do."

A few others have asked directly if he is an owner or not. So far, he has not responded.

edit to add: bolding is my formatting. everything else is a direct quote.
 
rmc001 said:
He replied to a follow-up comment. These come from one of his recent shorts.

HST:
"Dude things are complicated life doesn't work out the way we want it to sometimes it's either we save the business while shipping pre-orders or we go under and nobody gets their knives man. It's very simple. I am here 7 days a week working hard and every single week we ship old pre-orders that people get to have and finally feel whole I'm not having this discussion with you man I have work to do ask a guy if you want more specific answers I just work here and help out trying to get us leveled out. Have a good day"
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These are definitely not the words of someone who's now an owning partner with a stake in the company, and I'll leave it at that.
 
Planterz said:
If someone could indulge me, and without too much hyperbole if possible, how did this company even become popular enough to have such rabid apologists and fanboys? Granted, I'm not part of the "bushcrafting" crowd, but I'd never even heard of this company until this thread and others like it started popping up about how they weren't delivering on their prepaid knives. Was it a Kickstarter that became "viral" and quickly exceeded their output capabilities? Some Theranos style investment scheme?

It all just seems so odd to me. If a company came along, made a bunch of promises from the start, then failed, I wouldn't expect them to have any fanboys or apologists. How/why did they get such a following from the start that they haven't been completely abandoned by everybody? The Ponzi style business practices clearly are what's keeping Survive from completely going tits up, so I don't need that explained to me. I just don't get the how/why they got their start in the first place.
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As I've been a huge critic of this company, I will answer, which is just my opinion.

In the early years, more people seemed to get their knives, and at the time (key words here), they represented a good value for what you got. A knife that was sold as a fully custom made knife by a small maker, for around $200 (at the time). It's a compelling recipe, and the knives did come with good edges on 'em. I have owned two of them (moved them on years ago). I had one of the four and a half inch GSOs and used it for awhile on a few camping trips, the other was one of the EDC models. They were decent knives, but very heavy, and I never understood why. I actually bought a CPK Field Knife at BLADE one year, and then got rid of both GSOs. That FK2 had a similar blade/handle ratio but the weight was far less, plus the balance was a lot better. After a lot of us started to understand what was going on behind the scenes at S?K, that's when the drama started up.

Also, I will say that in the years since I'd owned those GSOs, I have owned probably fifty or sixty other fixed blades that have all been great, and could do everything any GSO ever made could do....except those knives weren't made by a scumbag who's running a ponzi scheme on a bunch of people waiting for almost a decade for products they paid in full for back then.
 
Do you guys think perhaps HeavySet came on as an employee and is paid with ownership/interest in the company rather than money? Didn't he say they were only selling seconds to bring in money so the business didn't fail? If the wallet is that thin, I can't imagine Guy can't pay someone a worthwhile wage for 7 days a week worth of work.
 
Planterz said:
If someone could indulge me, and without too much hyperbole if possible, how did this company even become popular enough to have such rabid apologists and fanboys? Granted, I'm not part of the "bushcrafting" crowd, but I'd never even heard of this company until this thread and others like it started popping up about how they weren't delivering on their prepaid knives. Was it a Kickstarter that became "viral" and quickly exceeded their output capabilities? Some Theranos style investment scheme?

It all just seems so odd to me. If a company came along, made a bunch of promises from the start, then failed, I wouldn't expect them to have any fanboys or apologists. How/why did they get such a following from the start that they haven't been completely abandoned by everybody? The Ponzi style business practices clearly are what's keeping Survive from completely going tits up, so I don't need that explained to me. I just don't get the how/why they got their start in the first place.
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Here's some kinda article. Based on other things I've seen, it's a little bit fluffy.

looks like the company was started "on a dare", and built on preorders.
The knives are fine quality, when they're actually made- I've held one. It was fine.
Let me stress fine. as in "okay"... as in, if you've held a Carothers, it's a better knife.
I think for some people that level of build quality is the end-all, be-all.
If S!K was a reputable company, S!K products would belong among the litany of other fixed blades.
I wouldn't own one personally, because I think they're kind of oafish-looking- I half expect the wielder to grunt excitedly at the sight of wild game.
 
found in comments from HeavySetTactical409 YT video "Survive Knives - An In Depth Discussion" posted 3/16/24:

HeavySetTactical409 2 weeks ago:
"I have a friendship with guy and have spent 2 months and money trying my hardest to help turn things around here and be of help that's the relationship buddy thanks"

also

HeavySetTactical409 2 weeks ago:
"I have been honest every step of the way man jacob peterson just dropped a video and I told him the truth is I was offered a percentage to come on and help revamp things here. And I have worked my ass off attempting to help there's no fraud here there's no secret money there's no stuff for you to find and throw at me I'm a simple guy who's trying to help these guys get level and get knives out to the poor people who paid already for them. That's that simple. Have a good day."

=====

If i am doing the math correctly, Jon HeavySetTactical409 says has been working at S!K since 3/2024. He "was offered a percentage" of ownership to "help revamp things" at S!K. He is being awful cagy about his status in more recent posts.
 
ncrockclimb said:
found in comments from HeavySetTactical409 YT video "Survive Knives - An In Depth Discussion" posted 3/16/24:

HeavySetTactical409 2 weeks ago:
"I have a friendship with guy and have spent 2 months and money trying my hardest to help turn things around here and be of help that's the relationship buddy thanks"

also

HeavySetTactical409 2 weeks ago:
"I have been honest every step of the way man jacob peterson just dropped a video and I told him the truth is I was offered a percentage to come on and help revamp things here. And I have worked my ass off attempting to help there's no fraud here there's no secret money there's no stuff for you to find and throw at me I'm a simple guy who's trying to help these guys get level and get knives out to the poor people who paid already for them. That's that simple. Have a good day."

=====

If i am doing the math correctly, Jon HeavySetTactical409 says has been working at S!K since 3/2024. He "was offered a percentage" of ownership to "help revamp things" at S!K. He is being awful cagy about his status in more recent posts.
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Those are familiar. Those replies are directed at my question of whether he was going to disclose his business relationship with Survive. The truth is I don’t care how people spend their money, but I do care if I ordered a knife 4 years ago and still have yet to receive it while they continue to sell “seconds”. Maybe he’ll finally turn the ship around, and I’ll get my knife. But it seems like he’s in over his head and using his YouTube channel to promote a brand while being deceptive about his investment in the company. And trying to drive sales on current inventory to keep the ship afloat just a little bit longer.
 
"Since I've been here HUNDREDS of customers got their blades they waited years for, and that was because of me."

I'd be curious to know what steel those blades were made out of, what those customers ordered years ago or a substitute.

Kind of funny that HST is taking all the credit, throwing your business partner under the bus makes for a healthy relationship.
 
Boru13 said:
"Since I've been here HUNDREDS of customers got their blades they waited years for, and that was because of me."

I'd be curious to know what steel those blades were made out of, what those customers ordered years ago or a substitute.

Kind of funny that HST is taking all the credit, throwing your business partner under the bus makes for a healthy relationship.
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At this point it could be any decent steel and it's better than nothing - even if they were conned they have something of value. It still would suck...
 
Boru13 said:
"Since I've been here HUNDREDS of customers got their blades they waited years for, and that was because of me."
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I'm still unclear what he is taking credit for? Is he actually grinding knives, yelling at people to get to work or just helping out by replacing the mopping guy?
 
Guy did't hire a consultant with experience in small batch assembly and manufacturing. He did not hire manager with experience running a small business. He did not hire an experienced knife maker or machinist. He found a YouTuber and dangled "ownership" in front of him in exchange for helping "revamp things' at S!K. Why does this not really surprise me...

At this point, based on his posts and videos, I actually feel bad for Jon. I think he was naive enough to think he could get S!K on track by just working really hard. Based on the tone and content of his posts and videos, i think he might be realizing that hard work alone cannot fix S!K / Guy... time will tell, but I am willing to bet he never actually gets any ownership in S!K and is not part of S!K a year from now.
 
If this HST fellow is sincere, then I am deeply concerned for him. I fear that he might not know how bad the situation is that he’s gotten himself into - the result of years and years of pretty bad business decisions, all under the guise of someone/everyone else’s misdeeds. I hope he doesn’t get burned for his time or his money, as Guy has a demonstrable track record of destroying relationships.
 
The only thing I know for sure is that Heavy Set Tactical is master of the tactical run-on sentence.
 
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