"the kraken" u.s. elite what you think of it?

[Quiet]

Gentlemen please,
Jack here from Rustick Knives. My purpose of having customers come to Blade Forums was not to brow beat or defend but to shed some light on the subject. I asked that if they owned a Kraken or any other of my knives to give "Honest" feedback. Not to defend or protect but I wanted then to comment on what they like or dislike about a knife that I designed and make one at a time by hand.
I also see a lot of comments of guys bashing me because of my Military service. Like how dare I design anything because of my background or "I hate anything tactical". That's cool fellas, my favorite knife is a Bob Loveless, nothing more beautiful in my opinion. Your right to say so and I'm the guy the sacrificed my body for that right. But think about this... I carried a knife as a professional Soldier for a good part of 3 decades and still train guys regularly as a Military contractor. I've been in a lot of combat too. 1st Gulf War, Panama, Balkans Air War, Jump into Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq and other scraps that you've never heard of. Knives are tools, 99% of the time used to open MREs, ammo cans or used as a breaching tool. But every now and then they are used to dispatch an enemy combatant when shit hits the fan. Not like in the movies to take out a sentry but in the back seat of a taxi when an intel source changes his mind and pulls a knife with a driver, civilian intel officer and an Operator in the vehicle. Things get bloody real quick when the Operator fights the guy in a little back seat and wins. Or ... while conducting CQB in a house in Fallujah and you turn a corner and run smack into a guy and the fight is on. Can't get you weapon up so you go for your knife to "make space". These scenarios happen more than you might think. In my Unit we studied things like that and then came up with weapons that might give us the edge the next time it happens. I use that knowledge when I design my knives and I have a strong following of Military and Law Enforcement Officers that carry them on their kit. I'm honored by them because they picked my knife to carry out of a million others in this world. They're big, thick, ugly, razor sharp over built tools that these guys stake their lives on. That's how I market my product ... through them.
So with that being said, let me close by saying "Can't we all just get along?" Better yet, come by both #54 at the Blade Show this June in Atlanta. Get to know me and my blades. You just might buy one

Damn, is this Bladeforums or Soldier of Fortune?

Can't say I've seen too many Law Enforcement officers carrying around big fixed blades, so I'm curious as which law enforcement officers carrying your knives you're referring to. Anyone else? In any case, this chest beating diatribe from you was a complete turnoff, and I can tell you that I won't be buying any of your poorly designed blades, no matter what your Teen Girl Squad Facebook fanclub has to say about it. Sorry, best of luck to you, man.

P.S. Several of my friends fought in those same engagements you mention, and odd, none of them can recall a time when grabbing a fixed blade was a superior choice to grabbing their rifle, or sidearm.

 

[Quiet]

Mogadishu Mick and SuperMarine Poland already beat you to this marketing angle and faked it into an approach that now smells like phony baloney when anyone else tries it.

Why not just make a solidly designed and useful knife and sell it at a reasonable price? Not many knife buyers with $300 to throw at a fixed blade are interested in paying extra for a résumé anymore.

This.

 

[jimmyd1982]

Mogadishu Mick and SuperMarine Poland already beat you to this marketing angle and faked it into an approach that now smells like phony baloney when anyone else tries it.

Why not just make a solidly designed and useful knife and sell it at a reasonable price? Not many knife buyers with $300 to throw at a fixed blade are interested in paying extra for a résumé anymore.

Exactly, well said.

There are a ton of vets on this site, myself included. In my experience the majority of Marines think Gerber is the beat all, end all for knives. I'm not questioning your service but unfortunately everything you're saying sounds a lot like the lies strider was spewing for years.

 

[Joe Watson]

I also see a lot of comments of guys bashing me because of my Military service. Like how dare I design anything because of my background

This is specifically why I chose to break my silence here.

Only on the internet can someone be praised for making knives marketed for war, fighting etc. when they have zero experience on the subject... Yet when a genuine, American crusher does it, he's apparently unqualified to design knives and using his (earned in sweat and blood) resume to sell knives....

I don't know about the knife in subject, The Kraken.

I have had hands on a couple of Jack's other pieces, and one of my thoughts were how much of a bargain they were compared to some of the big names in handmade knives. I frankly don't know how he makes money off them..... though that's something only other knifemakers would notice.

On top of that, I have a hint at what he's done for our nation, good luck finding one of his peers that doesn't have stellar remarks about him. He also continues to help our fellow veterans post-service. I can think of few people more deserving of my money.

I'm pleased to know that despite some of this bashing, the thread will only bring Jack some well-deserved exposure and business.

Jack, please hang around more often, some of us want guys like you here.

 

[Quiet]

This is specifically why I chose to break my silence here.

Only on the internet can someone be praised for making knives marketed for war, fighting etc. when they have zero experience on the subject... Yet when a genuine, American crusher does it, he's apparently unqualified to design knives and using his (earned in sweat and blood) resume to sell knives....

I don't know about the knife in subject, The Kraken.

I have had hands on a couple of Jack's other pieces, and one of my thoughts were how much of a bargain they were compared to some of the big names in handmade knives. I frankly don't know how he makes money off them..... though that's something only other knifemakers would notice.

On top of that, I have a hint at what he's done for our nation, good luck finding one of his peers that doesn't have stellar remarks about him. He also continues to help our fellow veterans post-service. I can think of few people more deserving of my money.

I'm pleased to know that despite some of this bashing, the thread will only bring Jack some well-deserved exposure and business.

Jack, please hang around more often, some of us want guys like you here.

Which, if we're being candid, means this thread should be locked and/or deleted. Jack hasn't paid for a blademaker's account, so why should he be getting to advertise his products for free?

 

[Joe Watson]

P.S. Several of my friends fought in those same engagements you mention, and odd, none of them can recall a time when grabbing a fixed blade was a superior choice to grabbing their rifle, or sidearm.

So?

Did somebody here say they would take a knife over a gun if they had a choice?

The shit is real. People get blindsided in CQB and accessing guns is not an option.... That's why mil units have entire combatives programs built around these scenarios. Maybe you know something they don't and we need to re-write all the formulas?

Tom Kier sums it up faster than I can: "to anyone who says bringing a knife to a gun fight is stupid, hop in the back seat with an m60 and give me a 1 inch blade and lets see who wins"

 

[Joe Watson]

Which, if we're being candid, means this thread should be locked and/or deleted. Jack hasn't paid for a blademaker's account, so why should he be getting to advertise his products for free?

I'm not the jury, but my take is that others are doing the advertising for him, he's explaining his POV.

 

[jimmyd1982]

No one was bashing his military service, just like no one was ”beating his butt”. People were just saying they weren't a fan of the one particular knife asked about in the op last november. Part of any business is being able to handle a little negative feedback. I haven't looked at any of his other knives, they may be fantastic, but at this point I'm not going to make the small effort to look for his offerings because of his reaction to this thread, and the reactions of his fanboys.

I hope he does well for himself and his business is successful, I appreciate the fact that he supports vets, but I'm still not impressed with what I've seen in his knife or his reaction.

 

[Quiet]

So?

Did somebody here say they would take a knife over a gun if they had a choice?

The shit is real. People get blindsided in CQB and accessing guns is not an option.... That's why mil/LE units have entire combatives programs built around these scenarios. Maybe you know something they don't and we need to re-write all the formulas?

Tom Kier sums it up faster than I can: "to anyone who says bringing a knife to a gun fight is stupid, hop in the back seat with an m60 and give me a 1 inch blade and lets see who wins"

Would you like me to head out so you and Jack here can "get to know each other" a little better? You're White Knighting here, and it's getting embarrassing. His post sounded like it was from the Soldier of Fortune latest fiction piece. Even if it's not, people trying to sell their poorly designed knives around "I used to be in the Military, I was a huge bad-ass, buy my sh!t!" don't impress me. If I'm being honest, I find it rather pathetic. It's like those guys who were in, who then expect hero worship once they get out of their first tour. And I don't care how you'd like to argue that, but this:

I carried a knife as a professional Soldier for a good part of 3 decades and still train guys regularly as a Military contractor. I've been in a lot of combat too. 1st Gulf War, Panama, Balkans Air War, Jump into Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq and other scraps that you've never heard of. Knives are tools, 99% of the time used to open MREs, ammo cans or used as a breaching tool. But every now and then they are used to dispatch an enemy combatant when shit hits the fan. Not like in the movies to take out a sentry but in the back seat of a taxi when an intel source changes his mind and pulls a knife with a driver, civilian intel officer and an Operator in the vehicle. Things get bloody real quick when the Operator fights the guy in a little back seat and wins. Or ... while conducting CQB in a house in Fallujah and you turn a corner and run smack into a guy and the fight is on. Can't get you weapon up so you go for your knife to "make space". These scenarios happen more than you might think. In my Unit we studied things like that and then came up with weapons that might give us the edge the next time it happens.

is exactly what that sounds like. "I'm a super experienced combat vet, so that makes my knives better!" I got nothing against this guy, but his knives just aren't that well designed, and definitely aren't worth what he's charging, no matter how you care to defend him, if that knife in the OP is any indication.

Anyway, I'll let this drop. I imagine the mods will be here to broom this nonpaying advertiser soon enough.

 

[Quiet]

P.S. Anyone thinking I'm being a real jerk here, I'll just say this. All of combat vets I know, don't talk about it. Those guys went over there, did what they had to do, and they came home. They damn sure aren't on the Internet attempting to paint a portrait of themselves as being a super spec-ops bad-ass who knows real knife design because of some nebulous "I carried a knife for three decades as a professional soldier!".

 

[cricketdave]

Well after seeing the comments on his FB page and him egging them on apparently we are all mall ninja, armchair commandos, blah blah blah whatever. The knives themselves look ok and are made from decent steel, the angle of the handle and ergo's look ok, I'd prefer a different texture on the scales but it wouldn't bother my "gurly hands or manicure". I'd pass on buying one just from the obnoxious attitudes honestly. A good knife maker really has no need to encourage that kind of behavior and good work will stand on its own. No need to be toads.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

No one was bashing his military service, just like no one was ”beating his butt”. People were just saying they weren't a fan of the one particular knife asked about in the op last november. Part of any business is being able to handle a little negative feedback. I haven't looked at any of his other knives, they may be fantastic, but at this point I'm not going to make the small effort to look for his offerings because of his reaction to this thread, and the reactions of his fanboys.

I hope he does well for himself and his business is successful, I appreciate the fact that he supports vets, but I'm still not impressed with what I've seen in his knife or his reaction.

This is the whole thread summed up in one post.

If anyone wonders why Bladeforums members come off as negative and cynical, think about this. We've been around, too, been playing with knives and other toys for a while, and don't need to be preached to by strangers dropping in with a sales pitch.

Thousands of Bladeforums members, and hundreds of regular participants. A lot of what goes on here is repetitious. We hear the same stories again and again. Even if the latest story is "true" it may not apply to many of us.

 

[truth-seeker]

All this back and forth means little. I don't care if the baddest meanest operator or the most mellow Hippy in the county designed a knife the only concerns I have are
1 The knife is tough well made and will provide what I need in a blade
2 the price is at least reasonable. Unless its a collectible for that I may pay a little more to get.

 

[Scotty27]

Mogadishu Mick and SuperMarine Poland already beat you to this marketing angle and faked it into an approach that now smells like phony baloney when anyone else tries it.

Why not just make a solidly designed and useful knife and sell it at a reasonable price? Not many knife buyers with $300 to throw at a fixed blade are interested in paying extra for a résumé anymore.

Bold statement comparing a guy that blew his body up and helps wounded vets to a felonious, fake that continues to sell his bs after it had been proven he is a liar and his cohort.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

You don't get it, Scotty27. We aren't slamming your knifemaker, we're slamming the tired shtick, the tough veteran who knows all about knives in action, and the even more tired spamming and shilling.

This is your first time around. We've been watching the act for years.

 

[cricketdave]

Honestly at this point its the hostile attitude and sending people to defend him rather than simply answering questions about the knife, its intended purpose, philosophy of design, how he came to prefer a certain steel. Thats getting the bad press. Most of us are interested in new knife makers and companies, lots of us are vets. Many of us work to help other vets. We may all be a bunch of dweebs and keyboard commando's to you and the knife maker but we are part of the biggest knife forum on the web, lots of folks read and don't post. The attitude though is a big turn off to any who might have been interested.

 

[jonnyt16]

I'm pleased to know that despite some of this bashing, the thread will only bring Jack some well-deserved exposure and business.

Jack, please hang around more often, some of us want guys like you here.

Myself included. And thank you sir for your military service and sacrifices.

 

[Boats]

Bold statement comparing a guy that blew his body up and helps wounded vets to a felonious, fake that continues to sell his bs after it had been proven he is a liar and his cohort.

And where exactly did I compare them?

All I said is that the stolen valor types have pissed all over that "I'm a battle tested vet knife designer" marketing angle, basically ruining it for all followers until well proven otherwise.

Presuming people care about military background, with so many unhinged frauds using that hook, is not very dynamic marketing these days.

I'd rather know what someone's knife making/designing creds are rather than what their pitch is.

Saying, "I designed this knife because I carried several during my three decades in the Army and I know what I am looking for in a blade." is conclusory and non-informative.

Saying "I designed the knife with this steel and grind because of X, Y, and Z reasons, ones I encountered in the service when I used knives to do This, That, and The Other AND THOSE OTHER KNIVES WERE FOUND WANTING." Would actually be something worth checking out.

 

[155440]

At that price range, I would just have a custom maker (Loads of great ones on this forum) make a fixed blade to my specifications. (I'm cheap and a control freak so that's just me).

Oh, and don't hate on the guy for trying to sell his product, regardless of how dry and overused his shtick is. It wouldn't hurt his business to upgrade his account and maybe start a pass around.

 

[straitr]

Check it out guys.

I'm the guy the made the knife. Little about myself, I'm not a "Special Forces" guy and have never claimed to be. Every thread has said "Special Ops" Big difference. There are other units in the Special Operations community that most of the public have no idea what they do or their mission set. I did serve 26 years as a Marine, Army Paratrooper and Special Operations Soldier with 12 combat tours and am a disabled combat Vet. I've used knives in the field since I was a little boy hunting, Boy Scouts and as a professional Soldier and Marine. Spending half my life in a field environment has given me a great appreciation of what a knife should be. Along with being a "Gun geek" I always been fascinated with edged weapons and now it is my full time job. I make knives by stock removal methods and by hand forging. I use a variety of tool and stainless steels to include 1084, 1095, L6, 15n20, 01, D2, 154CM, CMPS35VN and one of my favorites 80CRV2. Every step in the knife making process is done by me in my shop to include heat treating. I even make my own pattern welded billets (Damascus). My customer list includes but is not limited to All of Fort Bragg (SF, Paratroopers, Cops, etc) SEALs, Dallas SWAT, Nashville PD K9, Rangers, NC DNR, Country Music Artists and little old ladies.

While in the Army I made custom traditional archery equipment for 17 years, Longbows, recurves and take-downs I also made a lot of primitive stuff like selfbows, arrows and points. I messed around with knives over the years but mostly concentrated on wood. After I retired I fought with depression, PTSD, wounds and having lost one of my best friends in a gunfight on the Syrian border along with a dozen other brothers over the years. I didn't go in my shop a year and a half, kinda like writer's block. I have a friend that makes knives and grinders for a living that I served with in the Unit and started hanging out in his shop. Chris Williams of "Wilmont Grinders/Knives" really turned me around. He got me focused back on what is important in life but most importantly got my hands back to work. One thing that I noticed was when I was behind a grinder that my head was clear .. the demons where held at bay. I made a few knives and Chris told me "Jack your a natural, you need to be a knife maker". So that was it. I quit corporate America, gutted my shop and retooled it to make knives. I decided this was the profession that I desired and like with everything else in my life I dedicated 100% to it.

I aspired to become the best knife maker that I could be so I read everything that I could find, hung out with other knife makers, sponsored "Grind ins" with Chris. Along the way I met and became friends with awesome guys like Bill Harsey, Chris Reeves, Ryan M. Johnson and Mark and Curtis from Spartan Blades just to name a few, (Curtis and I served in the Marines together). To give back what Chris gave to me I started a charity called "Warrior Hands". What we do is we train disabled combat Veterans in a skill of their choice and try to outfit them with a complete shop free of charge so they may start a small business to provide for themselves and their families. Most Vets don't want a hand out, they need a hand up. So no matter what their disability we try to match them up with what they are good at and what they can physically do. This is all accomplished by donations and masters of their profession freely donating their time and energy to train a guy. I myself make knifes and auction them off on my FaceBook page regularly to raise money.

The cost of the Kraken has come down now that I am no longer partnered with US Elite. Tactical Knives Magazine made it their cover story in the July 2014 issue. Check it out and by all means leave feed back.

Jack Stottlemire
Rustick Knives, LLC.

Thank you for your service.