Swamp Rat store stock?

H

Hank

Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
1,020
this is not meant as a jibe or complaint, but are the knives ever on the company store site? i know the production protocol is unorthodox, et al., but is there ever a stock of knives placed on the site, or are the orders literally that far backed out?

again, not a jibe or complaint, just an honest question. thanks, guys!
 
Hank
The Swamp Rat Store stock is highly variable, mainly due to the fact that my stuff is only worked on in down times at the shop. Lately they haven't had many opportunities for down time and because of that not much stuff in the store. June and July were good months, a couple of models a month, however, since then it has been a little more random. I'll post on both forums when I have a firm timeframe as when I expect something and what I expect, until then we all just have to wait.

The other factor is the recent shows that have taken place, finishing the knives for these shows has drawn time away from Store projects.

I hope this helps.

:D:D
 
Hank - the Company Store is used for small runs of knives that are not available on the regular Swamp Rat site. Regular production knives are at the Swamp Rat link above. For knives from the Company Store, stay tuned for heads-up messages from Eric. He'll alert everyone when something is coming up.

Fair warning - when they show up on the Company store website, be ready. They generally go quickly. :eek:

Hey, Eric - when's a good example gonna be there? :D

Greg

OK, so I type S...L...O...W. :p :D
 
Eric Isaacson said:
Hank
The Swamp Rat Store stock is highly variable, mainly due to the fact that my stuff is only worked on in down times at the shop. Lately they haven't had many opportunities for down time and because of that not much stuff in the store. June and July were good months, a couple of models a month, however, since then it has been a little more random. I'll post on both forums when I have a firm timeframe as when I expect something and what I expect, until then we all just have to wait.

The other factor is the recent shows that have taken place, finishing the knives for these shows has drawn time away from Store projects.

I hope this helps.

:D:D
Click to expand...

it does, thank you much, sir! i am aware of the production protocol, i just didn't know it was backed that far up. thanks again, eric! :D

and i am with you greg, when can we expect an example? ;)
 
I retired from a very large multi-national company and we learned something a long time ago. The great majority of customers who are not happy rarely complain, they just go away. I am sure that SRKW has no idea as to how many potential customers they have lost due to frustration.

There is a store, but there is never anything for sale and when there is an offer, they are sold out before the average guy has a chance. Why bother?

Delivery time on standard knives is very long. The knives may be worth the wait, but be honest about delivery times. You can read the frustration on the forums.

It is true that the die-hard fans will keep the company going and I suppose that's good enough if SRKW is happy with that.

Again, that's just my 2 cents and we all know what thats worth.;)
 
UffDa said:
I retired from a very large multi-national company and we learned something a long time ago. The great majority of customers who are not happy rarely complain, they just go away. I am sure that SRKW has no idea as to how many potential customers they have lost due to frustration.

There is a store, but there is never anything for sale and when there is an offer, they are sold out before the average guy has a chance. Why bother?

Delivery time on standard knives is very long. The knives may be worth the wait, but be honest about delivery times. You can read the frustration on the forums.

It is true that the die-hard fans will keep the company going and I suppose that's good enough if SRKW is happy with that.

Again, that's just my 2 cents and we all know what thats worth.;)
Click to expand...

Very good post Uffda. If there were still chicklets, youd get one from me, here. ;)

I think that everything that you've stated is 100% true. People can get frustrated with the current system in place, and most never say anything...they just leave.

From a business perspective, when a business gains popularity the owner has a choice to make. Do they expand production - larger shop, more employees, more equipment, no wait times, constant inventory - essentially flooding the market with their product, or do they keep their business as it is with high demand and quality control? If the business owner feels that they are making the living that they want with an excellent reputation for quality, they may consider the risk of expanding too high for a market that may fluctuate.

In this thread Eric says "We are making changes to improve the line, increase production,..." Maybe they've found a comprimise. ?

:D -360
 
Delivery time on standard knives is very long.
Click to expand...

Eric has finally qualified the delivery times on the website, which cleared up the only complaint that I had about the company. He has basically stated that it WILL take as long as it takes.

Anyone doing any research here or at the Swamp HAS to see that the delivery time may be a long wait compared with many other knife companies.

I have been buying Rats for only about 6 months now, and have amassed quite a collection in that short period of time. I have NOT purchased all of my knives on the company store.

The knives are out there, you just have to get off your arse and dig them out. I hate to be rude, but the constant bickering about availability from people that want everything right now when all they have to do is look around and talk with people is akin to the person in my company that did not forward an e-mail to me the other day b/c she could not find my new addy even though she had both my middle and last name, which is what my addy is made up of. :rolleyes:

Yes, there is a wait. Yes, there are changes.These two items are offset by the fact that the Busse family has been, and will continue to be successful in the knife industry, which means you are not buying junk. And yes, they take care of their customers.

BTW, I am as human as anyone. When I first started looking at the knives that now work for me, I was pissed about the wait, lack of sheaths, and prices. Eric calmly and patiently explained their stance on everything, and I have since matured. :D

Buy one, if you don't like it, I will give you your money back. If I were to be broke, someone else here would give you your money back. A perfect example is the BR that just sold in a little over an hour, at an approximate 75% mark up. :rolleyes:
 
I wasn’t necessarily criticizing Swamp Rat alone. This seems to be a standard practice in the knife and firearm industry. I’m sure that SRKW would like to supply its products faster and still maintain its quality standards At least I hope so.

I have had this same discussion with a few custom knife makers. One very well known
blade smith has a backlog of 7 years, but still makes knives to sell at knife shows. Personally, I don’t think this is right. He has customers waiting for years, but sells knives to the first guy who walks up to his table with cash in hand. To make matters worse, many of them end up with an empty table 20 minutes after the show opens. So, what’s the purpose of going to a show when you end up with nothing to show?

By the way, I have been to a few gun shows where Busse had a table. To their credit, they did not sell the knives on display. They were taking orders, but the knives were for
display only. This was at a time when they had a really large backlog.

I have several SRKW knives. They were all bought on forums. Very good knives. Not fancy, but well made at a fair price.
 
Terry Newton said:
Buy one, if you don't like it, I will give you your money back. If I were to be broke, someone else here would give you your money back. A perfect example is the BR that just sold in a little over an hour, at an approximate 75% mark up. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That was no ordinary BR. That was a flat ground satin Battle Rat. Not many of those exist. Not too much of a markup there, IMO.
 
I snagged that BR and it does indeed look sweet. I've got a number of Busse knives, but that's the first rat I've bought. I just couldn't resist that satin blade.
 
That was a Satin Battle Rat with a Black handle (most had tan handles) My prototype has black handles, and I know of about 3-5 others that had the black handles. That one is especially rare. Great snag.

:D:D
 
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