The current 'Tactical Custom Folder' market = HOTTEST ever?

AVigil said:
All this talk about "Tactical" I guess I am old enough to remember when the Bowie Knife and Randall Model 1 would have been the "Tactical Knives" back in the day.
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Randall is legendary with the military, always has been.

Tactical is hard to define these days.

Does tactical mean black with futuristic zombie features or it a tool that has been designed for and in use with professionals in the tactical line of work.... who knows.

Not many folk would think an m1 garand is tactical, but look at the work it has done.
 
I think we need more humungous folders, like with a 7" blade...



:D:D:D
 
Scurvy092 said:
My comment has nothing to do with formal education. I just meant people don't know what to look for. As in they haven't been educated about various differences in fit and finish.

Also, I would expect half to all of those makers you listed to be on point because they all play in the same price pool.

I'm talking about someone who looks at a 120 knife and can't tell the differences between it and a sebenza.

You even acknowledge yourself that your knives aren't built to the same tolerances as the sebenza so I don't understand the hate.

A sebenza is not a perfect knife, I don't even own one. But I can sit down with someone's and someone's spyderco paramilitary 2 and explain why they are not equal in fit and finish.

Sebenza is just a stand in for any expensive knife that people talk about a lot.
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I didn't allude to formal education either, but you seem to have a condescending attitude towards those who don't see what you see, or don't hold important the same things you do, when it comes to knives. I can remove all the screws from my Spyderco Gayle Bradley and the knife still has to be pulled apart in the right way because the parts all fit so closely. How much more precise does fit and finish have to be, and will all that make the knife perform better? Not bad for a $120 knife. Again, I agree that my Seb probably has the best tolerances over most of the knives I have, regardless of price. That however, doesn't make automatically make it better. There is no hate, but there certainly isn't the same degree of love towards "tolerances". They don't make it cut any better or even as well as, many lesser-priced knives that I have.

Sorry for the derailment.

From an aesthetics and craftsmanship standpoint, sure, fit and finish is everything. I've seen knives built with such precision, it makes even my head spin. In this thread, there's a link to a WIP post for Stan Wilson's Advisor3, as an example. In contrast to the flavor-of-the-month custom tactical knife, it is light years ahead without using computer-aided machinery. I doubt that the knife was meant to be used hard, but it is an example of superlative craftsmanship for something that is simple in its purpose. Now I don't find anything wrong with CNC-produced knife parts where the "knifemaker" just has to screw things together, a few hits on the grinder and buffer, and voila! I just don't see the $2k-$3k prices having any substance to back it up. They're put together well with the aid of modern equipment that ensures topnotch F&F, and that's great. However, a well put-together piece of crap is still a piece of crap. So many excellent knifemakers are out there, but very few that can pull off a great design. This is even more of a challenge to the fixed-blade knifemakers where the blade profiles and knife designs all start to look alike, but there are some here whose works are instantly recognizable when you lay out 5 similar-looking knives on the table.
 
gooeytek said:
I didn't allude to formal education either, but you seem to have a condescending attitude towards those who don't see what you see, or don't hold important the same things you do, when it comes to knives. I can remove all the screws from my Spyderco Gayle Bradley and the knife still has to be pulled apart in the right way because the parts all fit so closely. How much more precise does fit and finish have to be, and will all that make the knife perform better? Not bad for a $120 knife. Again, I agree that my Seb probably has the best tolerances over most of the knives I have, regardless of price. That however, doesn't make automatically make it better. There is no hate, but there certainly isn't the same degree of love towards "tolerances". They don't make it cut any better or even as well as, many lesser-priced knives that I have.
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I agree with everything you said. I wasn't trying to say the Sebenza is a better knife. Even you agree that the knife has probably the best tolerances but there are people out there who view much cheaper knives as being 100% equivalent to it in terms of fit/finish/tolerances.

I am also sorry for the derailment.
 
Damnit, you mean this comes down to personal opinion? But my folder is waaaaay better because of the cool lanyard :)

Yes, Williams and his large folders.. are fun... The BBK intimidator I own, is awesome.. great all around knife that can CHOP.. and fit in my pocket...

I love big. So go with that and enjoy the fun.
 
Much love and respect for Snody, thanks for posting that Ultrareef!

Defining "tactical" might be tough Joe because the interpretation is all visual and I think it also, to a certain extent, has to be "current". The M1, Randall...Perfect examples, tactical for their day, now they're in a different spectrum!
 
Dawkind said:
My interest in collecting is ALL across the board, so to speak.......my wife tells me I'm a high dollar hoarder. ;)

I look at aesthetics/lines/craftsmanship first and foremost....that's why many of these so-called 'tactical folders/knives' don't do much for me, especially the compound/chisel grinds, the so-called 'carving/texture' done with a carbide burr or whatever. I think that, like my friend and respected collector Mr. Betzner, some of these guys come out of the woodwork and want, what I feel, are ridiculous amounts of $$$$'s for a piece with the main parts manufactured by someone else like Halpren and what looks like a totally CNC'd/milled blade....not for me. I am a big fan of balisongs, D/A's and flippers but enjoy thumbers, slip-joints, classic autos, etc.,.......just about anything with a sharpened edge except the aforementioned. :barf:

It's like my love for cars, firearms, etc.,....it's changed so dramatically in recent years that the ones I love so much interest these kids not in the least and, I feel just like the traditional knives and especially the forged Masterpieces, when folks like me/us cease to exist that the old hotrods, classics, traditions, etc., will be gone. There will be no interest and the way things are going there won't be any resources to buy/maintain these things.

Just my $.02....
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Well said , we indeed still think alike after all these years.

I will add , that a friend returned from a few shows with new purchases. Most were nicely built , but they sure didn't feel too good in the hand.
Crafted well , some were "full of foo-foo window dressing" , all were big $$$.

When it isn't comfortable to use , the target of it being used as a knife , as a tool , has been missed.

He did have a few that blew me away , like ones he got from Steven Kelly and Les George. They were nice , solid and felt comfortable in the hand.

Sometimes all that window dressing does it add hot spots, edges, etc.

I see a trend towards it being pocket jewelry and less of a using tool.

Make it feel good , make it work as a tool....then run it thru the bedazzler , seems the trend lately is the other way around. ;)
 
Great post John!

The great thing is that this industry is diverse enough and large enough that there is something for everyone, I love that ! I feel that my style and preferences has changed over the years and as a result , so has my knives. I kinda feel like that is the natural evolution of this craft. The key for makers is to be careful to not fall into chasing trends but rather to study there craft past and present, learn all they can and build what they feel is the best product they can,and evolve with there craft. There customer base will grow with there growth, experience and evolution.
This internet thing is still a pretty new experiment in marketing and there are pitfalls along the way as we learn more about it.
We makers especially need to be very careful about painting ourselves into a corner. An opinion we post early on in our careers can come back to haunt us as we educate ourselves further. A while back I wanted to slam the whole Scandi thing, more so because i didn't understand it and it looked funny to me at the time, I wanted to but i didn't , instead I asked those in the know to educate me, I learned a lot from that thread. I especially learned to not judge to quickly and ask a lot of questions.
 
great thread,

the market is definably hot
up to a point i can't see this value anymore
the US market is the far most competitive market in the world,
and it looks like every Ex. GI or crafty kid with a cnc mill is or making folders or naming theme, and where a starting knife maker use to market his stuff at the low end,
they now ask what a the established order used to ask ( witch have earned there merits ) and the seated makers step up, and will push out more custom "tactical" stuff.
as the market is there, and more profitable
now i'm a collector of fixed blades and user off folders, and tactical fits my needs, but the price bubble is scaring me to use my knifes..
recently needed to sell one.. still feel bad about it, i used this knife, not heavy as the blade was absolutely not suited for my daily work, so not mint any more.. where the knife still mint i would have doubled my investment, i still made a healthy profit,
but it has come so far that i would never pay that amount for this knife as i received for it, as it lost the reasoning in my opinion.

as long as there are people paying, the bubble will last

hyping, we all do this, as every action as a reaction , every body is pushing his little babies for the world to show,
now this is not bad, as long as there is room for honest criticism.

Br, m
 
Bumping this back because I think it's an interesting discussion!

A friend and I made a list of just flipper makers and in 9 minutes, we had 51. Instagram is playing a huge role, the readily available materials and tools...The "Skelton effect" etc!

Of those 51 too, I don't think they're taking orders...
 
I just started making flippers. Introduced them @ the Seattle show. The most looked at knives on my table. There is a huge interest in the younger generation. However both were sold to older gentlemen in the first 2 hrs. I will be pursuing this further.

Bing
 
Jim Skelton is a YouTube proponent and reviewer.

I'm more interested in the Instagram marketing. I admit I don't know enough. Educate me on how this works?

Coop
 
bbingenheimer said:
I just started making flippers. Introduced them @ the Seattle show. The most looked at knives on my table. There is a huge interest in the younger generation. However both were sold to older gentlemen in the first 2 hrs. I will be pursuing this further.

Bing
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Bing, just noticed you got my old table at Blade. That's a lucky table bro! :cool:
 
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