The Elusive Skookum

he should feel fie about raising the price if his demand is that high. i think at this point he could go into production to meet demand.
 
Sounds to me like the guy needs to do two things:
1) Hire some office help.
2) Improve his manufacturing methods to speed production, which could be easily accomplished with no loss of quality.
 
I have been buying custom knives since the seventies. Multi-year waits and postponments are common. Poor communication, however, is a big no-no, regardless of any excuse given. A customer must keep the frequency of contact reasonable. As a general rule, I do not contact them more than once a month, and thats only when the knife is nearing its due date. Prior to that, I touch base once every four to six months.
 
It looks like I may have found a decent alternative! The Nordic Bear II either that or the BCNW-01 I like them both. Anyone try either of these knives?
 
x39 said:
Sounds to me like the guy needs to do two things:
1) Hire some office help.
2) Improve his manufacturing methods to speed production, which could be easily accomplished with no loss of quality.
Click to expand...

If he has the kind of backorder that is shown on this thread, then he needs to do neither IMO. The SBT has been very popular for a long time, shows little sign of slowing down, and keeps his business and its value going. He keeps it an in shop organization and it is working for him. We might think that he NEEDS to do things but as long as it works I don't see why he should do anything.

BTW I don't care for it after holding Hiwa's, but that does not mean that it needs changing.
 
x39 said:
Sounds to me like the guy needs to do two things:
1) Hire some office help.
2) Improve his manufacturing methods to speed production, which could be easily accomplished with no loss of quality.
Click to expand...

I often laugh at that turn of phrase: "he needs to do something".
No, doesn't need to do anything. You need him to.

Mike Snody wrote about this, not taking orders. That way, no one is emailing about their knife that they know won't even be started for over a year (so why clog up his email inbox?)

A maker who doesn't take orders makes the knives he wants to make. His creativity stays fresh. Every knife is a custom, not a copy of the last one he made.

And he charges what he needs for the knife he's making now, in today's market, with today's cost of living and working. A maker with a list has a year's worth of work ahead of him, or more, like he's a damned serf, and he won't see a raise in pay till he's finished them all, either.

If he hires a secretary, he cuts his profits. Is it worth even working if he can't pay himself a decent wage? If he contracts out the model, he'll hear all the quality control complaints about the production version.

No, Rod doesn't need to change a thing. He knows how to make this highly sought-after knife well, he needs space to work, not email conversations about next year's build.
 
Making customers angry? If you haven't bought a knife from him, you're not a customer. And any time he spends shmoozing with you, is another knife incomplete a little longer.

If you need knife in a hurry, buy a production: lots of good stuff out there. If you need a SBT, ... have patience, and don't badmouth the maker.
 
I'm looking for wilderness skills here and I don't see any. I'm going to move this to Custom & Handmade, where the topic has been discussed before, by people in the business.
 
Whatever, regardless that is a long ass wait. Thanks for everyone's opinion, move the thread where you will.
 
Dutch253 said:
It looks like I may have found a decent alternative! The Nordic Bear II either that or the BCNW-01 I like them both. Anyone try either of these knives?
Click to expand...

I have a BCNW. Tough as hell and easy to sharpen. You might not like the handle, it is bamboo and gets dry. I soaked it multiple times in a butcher block solution and it helped a lot.
 
x39 said:
Making customers angry and losing orders isn't a business model that works, no matter how good your product is.
Click to expand...

Are you speaking from your own experience with Rod or are you speaking on behalf of someone else who had an order lost? Humans do make mistakes at times.

Like Esav stated, don't badmouth the maker if your not a customer.

Some of today's posts seem to borderline on very inappropriate and slightly "trollish".

Rod Garcia is a honest man providing a sought after proven product that's very affordable. How he chooses to make knives is his business and his alone.

Plenty of alternatives if your in a hurry.

Try the Fallkniven H1. Similar design.
 
Holy crap! 12 year wait list? Hey if I get on that now it will be ready in time for my son's 18th birthday!
 
Wow, just checked out the website for that knife and even the "slightly less custom" version is very hard to get (9 knives a month I heard) and goes first come, first served. I would love to just hold one of those knives so I could see what exactly warrants a 12 year waiting list.
 
I did check out the F1 and the Nordic Bear II just looks better to me, I just found an added bonus of going with the Nordic Bear II, the maker lives about 20 mins away from me!
 
Dutch253 said:
Wow, just checked out the website for that knife and even the "slightly less custom" version is very hard to get (9 knives a month I heard) and goes first come, first served. I would love to just hold one of those knives so I could see what exactly warrants a 12 year waiting list.
Click to expand...

AdventureSworn, a knifemaker here will make you a nice Woodlore-like blade. I've had both and Cody's is much better out of the box. :thumbup:
 
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