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

[Centermass]

2026!

Pinky swear?

 

[AbjectTestament]

Pinky swear?

 

[Centermass]

Ummmm…. Is this acknowledgement that you are a troll?

 

[King of the Cheese]

Ummmm…. Is this acknowledgement that you are a troll?

I think he’s calling you one.

 

[Centermass]

Oh. Well, I’m heartbroken. I was just passing through, trying to point out the irony of the apparent strength of this company’s promises, given the content of information contained in this thread. I’ll keep caveating my emptors, since the evidence suggests that’s probably best practice, even if he doesn’t want to caveat his own.

 

[marrenmiller]

Though my instincts tell me not to add any fuel to this thread, I'm going to detail the positives and negatives of my recent experience with Survive! Knives to the growing list here in the hopes that it might help someone who is wondering how Survive has been handling orders recently. I've been on Bladeforums for a while, even though I post mostly on other forums nowadays, and it should be evident by my post history that I'm not paid by them or related to them in any way.

I was aware of the history of Survive but decided to order a knife from them anyway. I wanted a fixed blade in Delta 3V and I loved their designs, so I gave them $280 for a GSO-6 in Delta 3V back in June of 2020. Their website had a disclaimer at the time that my purchase might take "several months" to deliver the knife (hysterical), but I figured at the time that it would probably take about a year or more. Before someone says "why didn't you buy a CPK?", I did look into that. In the end, I didn't see many models by CPK that matched what I wanted. Plus, trying to buy a knife on their sale pages is an intimidating ordeal due to the extreme demand, and I missed out on pre-orders for the one model that CPK makes that I thought was comparable to the GSO-6. I still hope to someday get something from CPK.

Anyway, queue radio silence on my order until this year. In April, I messaged on their website indicating that I moved and would need to change my shipping address. It took them exactly a month to respond and change my shipping address. It is absolutely ridiculous that it takes that long to respond to a message left on their website. Around this time, they started releasing a ton of hype videos about some of their upcoming models and detailing how the GSO-6 models were really close to being done. I received what seems like 50 emails since I ordered my knife. They mentioned several times that the GSO-6 models were going out the door, and I did see some on social media and relisted on the secondary market, so it's clear that a non-zero quantity was shipped, but the progress seemed slow. I spoke with someone who got their GSO-6 before I did and only placed their order several months prior to receiving it; considering that the knives seem to have been made in one batch, this is an odd practice that I don't understand.

In early August, my knife showed as being built, which seemingly matched what they were saying about getting knives out the door. However, mine didn't actually ship until the very end of September, and I received it last week. I think their excuse for this particular delay was that they were missing sheath clips for the orders. Seeing the part on the sheath now, I cannot imagine delaying shipments for two months for such a simple piece of molded Kydex. All in all, it took 468 days to get my knife, which was a bit longer than I had hoped for but was still in line with basic expectations of a bit over a year. I guess I can consider myself lucky that it didn't take longer; checking their updates about the percentages of orders completed so far, I cannot believe how little progress they're making on a monthly basis. Since June of this year, they've completed 2.4% of their total orders from 2019 and 1.2% of their total orders from 2018. In that same time, they've completed only 0.7% of their 2015 orders (side note: WHAT?!). Something needs to change because at this rate, they will never get caught up. It's great that they're being transparent, but honestly I can't help but wonder if it makes them look worse to actually display the data behind their order completion. Unless they stop taking orders, I can only imagine this situation getting worse over time. They made a statement a while back that they are slowing down their orders, but there's no way for us to corroborate their claims.

The knife itself is amazing, but this isn't a review of the knife so I'm not going to expound on that. Suffice it to say that I'm happy with what I got and was fine with the wait and the price, all things considered. Not many people have accused Survive of making bad knives when there are so many other things about them to criticize. Speaking of which:

I'm not at all happy about the poor communication from the company. They took a month to respond to a fairly important message about me changing my address and gave zero updates on the status of my order until the instant it shipped. I've waited a long time for pre-orders before but I was always given updates on their status, and that's a basic expectation for such orders. I also think they need to figure out how to generate realistic deadlines and stick to them. I was fine with waiting a long time because I knew from historical data that regardless of what they told me up front, it would actually take over a year to get my knife; people unfamiliar with Survive may not know to expect this. Lastly, while my knife is clearly marked as being Delta 3V, I think their decision to ditch the Delta heat treat protocol moving forward is unfortunate to put it mildly; this was one of the primary reasons I bought a knife from them, and reading between the lines it appears to be a convenience/cost-cutting change on their part (seems to me like it allows them to use PVD coatings and to generate more heat during grinding and sharpening without damaging the knives). Without a specialized heat treatment protocol, I don't think they stand out in the market in any particularly significant way, especially at their price point and with their long wait times.

Overall, I can't recommend picking up something from Survive. If you read what I wrote above and are still dead-set on ordering a knife from them, more power to you. They do make good stuff and I don't believe they're intentionally scamming people, and I believe they are trying to move somewhat in the right direction with regards to clearing out their backlog, but I wouldn't order from them again without seeing a lot changes to how they operate. At a minimum, they need to clear their old orders out ASAP and be delivering knives on their stated timelines before I'd feel comfortable looking into them again. I do hope they get to that point.

Edit for clarity on final comment.

 

[AbjectTestament]

Though my instincts tell me not to add any fuel to this thread, I'm going to detail the positives and negatives of my recent experience with Survive! Knives to the growing list here in the hopes that it might help someone who is wondering how Survive has been handling orders recently. I've been on Bladeforums for a while, even though I post mostly on other forums nowadays, and it should be evident by my post history that I'm not paid by them or related to them in any way.

Brave man. There's some 1950s McCarthy-level paranoia going on but I think you might be safe.

I had really good comms with them from May to October. It never took longer than a couple of days to get back to me (they seem faster on social media, that's usually in under a day).

I did notice some other people said it took weeks or a month to hear from them. There didn't seem to be a standard response time. I can empathize with the temptation to ignore email and social media and hammer down on getting orders out, especially with a small staff. I think that's the wrong approach though. In this day and age communication is priceless when you're running a business. I've learned the customer isn't always right but one pissed-off customer is worse for business than 100 happy ones. Where time is money, a customer pissed off over $20 will spend hours making fake accounts and leaving you shitty reviews and causing shit. People will even harass other people who left positive reviews, it's crazy.


My order was 206 days from order to shipping. I mentioned earlier I put my order in when then GSO 6's were apparently closing down for orders, everything I've seen leads me to think that was legit. My knife remained as awaiting fulfillment until it was actually shipped, it never showed up as being built. I'm not sure if they actively update knife status or just sometimes.

The more I read here about heat treatment and the Delta 3V the more I'm becoming hesitant about ordering new knives, it seems like a pretty big deal.

 

[craytab]

Brave man. There's some 1950s McCarthy-level paranoia going on but I think you might be safe.

Dude, give it a rest with your snark. No one needs it and no one believes you. You want to shit post and snark it up with us? Go to W&C where that sort of thing is the name of the game.

Most of us here know marrenmiller from years of contribution to this community. I trust his info and consider his opinion valid.

Yours? Not at all. QFP.

And with that, I'm done responding to you, shill. If you haven't figured out what you need to know by now, you never will or never wanted to. Bye.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Brave man. There's some 1950s McCarthy-level paranoia going on but I think you might be safe.

I had really good comms with them from May to October. It never took longer than a couple of days to get back to me (they seem faster on social media, that's usually in under a day).

I did notice some other people said it took weeks or a month to hear from them. There didn't seem to be a standard response time. I can empathize with the temptation to ignore email and social media and hammer down on getting orders out, especially with a small staff. I think that's the wrong approach though. In this day and age communication is priceless when you're running a business. I've learned the customer isn't always right but one pissed-off customer is worse for business than 100 happy ones. Where time is money, a customer pissed off over $20 will spend hours making fake accounts and leaving you shitty reviews and causing shit. People will even harass other people who left positive reviews, it's crazy.


My order was 206 days from order to shipping. I mentioned earlier I put my order in when then GSO 6's were apparently closing down for orders, everything I've seen leads me to think that was legit. My knife remained as awaiting fulfillment until it was actually shipped, it never showed up as being built. I'm not sure if they actively update knife status or just sometimes.

The more I read here about heat treatment and the Delta 3V the more I'm becoming hesitant about ordering new knives, it seems like a pretty big deal.

It must be deeply comforting to dismiss people accurately diagnosing your stupidity as paranoia.

 

[craytab]

Thanks for posting your experience marrenmiller. Good info.

They make good stuff and I don't believe they're intentionally scamming people, and they do appear to be moving somewhat in the right direction with regards to clearing out their backlog

I only take issue with the above. If it is not an intentional scam then why continue it for almost a decade? Same exact pattern, year after year. All the while telling customers what is really happening actually isn't.

And you yourself say how ridiculously poor they are moving through their backlog. How is that moving in the right direction? And remember, they have been doing this for years now. No change.

The scam only works if it is done exactly as survive is doing it.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Thanks for posting your experience marrenmiller. Good info.


I only take issue with the above. If it is not an intentional scam then why continue it for almost a decade? Same exact pattern, year after year. All the while telling customers what is really happening actually isn't.

And you yourself say how ridiculously poor they are moving through their backlog. How is that moving in the right direction? And remember, they have been doing this for years now. No change.

The scam only works if it is done exactly as survive is doing it.

Well said. I'll also add, I believe their intent doesn't matter at all at this point. Whether they're intentionally scamming people or not, the end effect is the same. They are, at minimum, using their customers to get a lengthy, interest free loan rather than selling them product. Their intent is irrelevant because that's what they're doing. marrenmiller not trying to make you unhappy or cast aspersions, but the bottom line is that they had your money without interest for 468 days and then delivered a product inferior to the one originally advertised due to the lack of Delta heat treat. I'm just not clear on how that can be regarded as an honest transaction in any way, shape or form.

 

[danbot]

Well said. I'll also add, I believe their intent doesn't matter at all at this point. Whether they're intentionally scamming people or not, the end effect is the same. They are, at minimum, using their customers to get a lengthy, interest free loan rather than selling them product. Their intent is irrelevant because that's what they're doing. marrenmiller not trying to make you unhappy or cast aspersions, but the bottom line is that they had your money without interest for 468 days and then delivered a product inferior to the one originally advertised due to the lack of Delta heat treat. I'm just not clear on how that can be regarded as an honest transaction in any way, shape or form.

marrenmiller said he did get the Delta 3V HT. When did they stop doing that HT?

 

[Quiet]

In early August, my knife showed as being built, which seemingly matched what they were saying about getting knives out the door. However, mine didn't actually ship until the very end of September, and I received it last week. I think their excuse for this particular delay was that they were missing sheath clips for the orders. Seeing the part on the sheath now, I cannot imagine delaying shipments for two months for such a simple piece of molded Kydex. All in all, it took 468 days to get my knife, which was a bit longer than I had hoped for but was still in line with basic expectations of a bit over a year. I guess I can consider myself lucky that it didn't take longer; checking their updates about the percentages of orders completed so far, I cannot believe how little progress they're making on a monthly basis. Since June of this year, they've completed 2.4% of their total orders from 2019 and 1.2% of their total orders from 2018. In that same time, they've completed only 0.7% of their 2015 orders (side note: WHAT?!). Something needs to change because at this rate, they will never get caught up. It's great that they're being transparent, but honestly I can't help but wonder if it makes them look worse to actually display the data behind their order completion. Unless they stop taking orders, I can only imagine this situation getting worse over time. They made a statement a while back that they are slowing down their orders, but there's no way for us to corroborate their claims.

I appreciate you sharing your experience. However, I would say that if anything your experience merely serves as an additional warning to others NOT to do business with them. I have snipped your post down to the relevant section.

This right here shows that they aren't interested in making ALL their customers whole. A reputable business would have either made these people (who've been waiting for years) their knives, or else reached out with an automatic (and full, none of this "restocking fee" nonsense) full refund. A company who was actually interested in taking care of its customers would have done this years ago.

Also, you mention having to wait for a small part. It's the same excuse they've made for years and years. This is because they don't make anything, so I continue to be amazed when people talk about how great the knives S?K makes are, because they don't make anything. They put together parts made by others. It's why you've never seen a "Work in progress" pic of them actually cutting blanks, or doing a heat-treat, or shaping a sheathe. It's just a bunch of "Open boxes from our supplier, lay out pieces, bolt them together, put an edge on the knife, put in the pre-made sheath, put it in the box, and then wait for a year to ship it."

So again. I appreciate your perspective, but hopefully people will read this as the warning it is, and not do business with these people who just bolt parts together and sharpen it.

 

[PirateSeulb]

marrenmiller let me say I haven't finished reading your post but in what I have read and from recollection of past remarks I think if Survive is trying to do anything right it is beginning to look like they have one huge flaw that is a simple fix. It to me really appears that their order processing is functioning in a LIFO, Last In First Out incase anyone doesn't know the acronym, type system as frequently we see "It only took me a couple months to get mine not years" but it seems orders are collected in batches with the last in the batch getting the first knife and the first in a batch getting the last. They are clearly applying such a system to their production of models producing more of their newer models than old as that lines up with the fact the much more progress is made on newer years than older years.

 

[danbot]

marrenmiller let me say I haven't finished reading your post but in what I have read and from recollection of past remarks I think if Survive is trying to do anything right it is beginning to look like they have one huge flaw that is a simple fix. It to me really appears that their order processing is functioning in a LIFO, Last In First Out incase anyone doesn't know the acronym, type system as frequently we see "It only took me a couple months to get mine not years" but it seems orders are collected in batches with the last in the batch getting the first knife and the first in a batch getting the last. They are clearly applying such a system to their production of models producing more of their newer models than old as that lines up with the fact the much more progress is made on newer years than older years.

That could be, but it is incredibly stupid. They took a huge dump on the very people who put up the money (interest free) to get them started.

 

[PirateSeulb]

That could be, but it is incredibly stupid. They took a huge dump on the very people who put up the money (interest free) to get them started.

I don't disagree with that sentiment at all I just look at this situation like a puzzle as I am merely an observer I have no stake in their success or failure but since the failure side is well covered I like to work on the puzzle of what are they doing wrong due to ignorance or lack of foresight.

I like the optimistic view that maybe they are just poorly run and if they see these remarks and find these mistakes then maybe they will correct them and finally prove they aren't as bad as they have made themselves look.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

2026!

if you're on the payroll

 

[danbot]

I don't disagree with that sentiment at all I just look at this situation like a puzzle as I am merely an observer I have no stake in their success or failure but since the failure side is well covered I like to work on the puzzle of what are they doing wrong due to ignorance or lack of foresight.

I like the optimistic view that maybe they are just poorly run and if they see these remarks and find these mistakes then maybe they will correct them and finally prove they aren't as bad as they have made themselves look.

That is very optimistic indeed! I was giving them the benefit of the doubt years ago, but as the whole shitshow continued to play out, I could no longer do that.
It's hard to find your mistakes when all of them are always someone else's fault.

 

[PirateSeulb]

They have played the blame game a lot and I take each of those with a large grain of salt as I suspect what ever happened was blown out of proportion and probably due to poor communication which I put mostly on Survive as there is very clear indication that they really suck at it.

 

[AbjectTestament]

Bye.

Thanks for your info, it's been a pleasure. Cheers.

It must be deeply comforting to dismiss people accurately diagnosing your stupidity as paranoia.

Disappointing is a more accurate word. When you start to look at some people's post history you see patterns and trends of constantly calling out people as plants and spies and shills. You guys must have had a hell of an experience with this in the past to leave everyone so on edge with a hair-trigger.

marrenmiller said he did get the Delta 3V HT. When did they stop doing that HT?

My order placed March 2021 apparently had Delta 3V.