The unofficial, non binding, carries no weight, 2021 forum knife possibility discussion thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
Folks, every year we have way more people saying they will buy a forum knife than actually buy one.

What happens is someone’s kid needs new shoes, or the truck breaks down, or a custom order knife is finally ready to ship.

For the last 3-4 years we have struggled to break the 300 knife mark when money has to be sent in for real, and I expect something similar this year.

All will be well, and only time will tell.
 
eisman said:
This is why, as I said when we started down this path, we need to come up with a number and then take that to the manufacturer. To just agree to an open ended production or the funding of such, is not good business.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what the poll is for.
eisman said:
People who rarely have anything to do with this forum are ruining a good thing. Watch; we'll have 500 people wanting to get a knife they can't get anywhere else, half of whom never even looked in the Traditionals section in the past year, even fewer who have contributed, and a month after they get delivered it will be the same 100 or so people carrying this forum as it always is.
Click to expand...
Agreed. If your first post in the Traditional section is requesting 2 of this knife..... kind of speaks for itself.
 
eisman said:
This is why, as I said when we started down this path, we need to come up with a number and then take that to the manufacturer. To just agree to an open ended production or the funding of such, is not good business.

People who rarely have anything to do with this forum are ruining a good thing. Watch; we'll have 500 people wanting to get a knife they can't get anywhere else, half of whom never even looked in the Traditionals section in the past year, even fewer who have contributed, and a month after they get delivered it will be the same 100 or so people carrying this forum as it always is.
Click to expand...

yeah, and though I agree with how you feel about it, the impractical nature of how one would define what a true blue Porchenburger is still hard to contend with.

as it is there’s a very modest criteria to meet and we still have legitimate fringe cases pop up. It’s easy to identify earnest contributors, and easy to identify folks who don’t contribute. It’s the cases in the middle that’s hard to contend with.

Besides if forum members get these knives, that represents a big population that flippers can’t flip the knife to. So as long as we can get at least one into the hands of the members who meet the moderator criteria, I think we should be content.

im very excited about this forum knife.
 
I have to say I’m baffled by all the negativity around the forum knife, especially around anybody new around these parts requesting one.

If somebody new posts in this section about being new to traditionals, and wondering what’s a good knife to try, they are almost invariably met with a slew of welcomes and many suggestions to try to find a GEC... which is shortly followed by a slew of comments saying good luck finding a GEC, they are unobtainium, etc...

Now along comes a forum knife made by none other than GEC, which is being offered to most anybody around BF, which is being offered at cost, and which is being offered without having to know a dealer or win a lottery drawing or be on a site when they drop... and some regulars around here are upset that new folks will be able to get one...? Of course some people who have never been able to find one before are going to order 2, it’s common sense if they think this may be their only shot.
 
Jack Black said:
Another thing that might be worth considering is that, while they may agree to produce a much larger number of knives than usual, having offered to make us a knife, they might not be entirely happy about it, and this may affect their willingness to work with us in future. It might be worth us simply asking how many knives they are happy producing. If it's 500, then some folks are going to have to alter their expectations :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I usually buy 2 of the forum knife, one to keep new and one to carry for awhile. I have done this since 2010. In 2017 the choice was a TC Barlow and the demand seemed to be very high. Due to that, I only bought one. If the demand is so high this year that it will stress GEC capacity, I am very happy to only order one.
HOWEVER, all of the speculation going on in this thread is just farting in the wind. The truth will be known once Charlie counts up the potential orders and speaks with Bill.
I would also like to say that I am very happy to throw in a few extra bucks to help pay for knives for Charlie and Barry for the work they put in.
I am also very happy that we are going back to our Blade Forums tang stamp again this year.
 
akaMatt said:
I have to say I’m baffled by all the negativity around the forum knife, especially around anybody new around these parts requesting one.

If somebody new posts in this section about being new to traditionals, and wondering what’s a good knife to try, they are almost invariably met with a slew of welcomes and many suggestions to try to find a GEC... which is shortly followed by a slew of comments saying good luck finding a GEC, they are unobtainium, etc...

Now along comes a forum knife made by none other than GEC, which is being offered to most anybody around BF, which is being offered at cost, and which is being offered without having to know a dealer or win a lottery drawing or be on a site when they drop... and some regulars around here are upset that new folks will be able to get one...? Of course some people who have never been able to find one before are going to order 2, it’s common sense if they think this may be their only shot.
Click to expand...
I think there’s a couple things at odds here
1) Some folks think this is a “Traditional Forum Blade Forum Knife” and others think it’s a “Traditional Blade Forum Knife”. I believe the mods have made it clear that this is open to the whole forum, provided you meet the criteria.
2) folks don’t take kindly to people who flip, and there’s a concern that some folks are coming out of the woodwork with bad intentions. One way to possibly gauge flipper status is to check forum activity, but unfortunately that’s not a sure-fire method. Moderators have made it clear that the only method we’re officially using to deter flippers is to catch them in the act of selling previous forum knives at a profit, and add them to a list.
3) no doubt we’re also contending with a little bit of jealousy that people who don’t usually care about traditionals have their hands out, but I don’t see this as a legitimate reason to deny someone the pleasure of a forum knife, and deep down I think we all know that.
 
akaMatt said:
I have to say I’m baffled by all the negativity around the forum knife, especially around anybody new around these parts requesting one.

If somebody new posts in this section about being new to traditionals, and wondering what’s a good knife to try, they are almost invariably met with a slew of welcomes and many suggestions to try to find a GEC... which is shortly followed by a slew of comments saying good luck finding a GEC, they are unobtainium, etc...

Now along comes a forum knife made by none other than GEC, which is being offered to most anybody around BF, which is being offered at cost, and which is being offered without having to know a dealer or win a lottery drawing or be on a site when they drop... and some regulars around here are upset that new folks will be able to get one...? Of course some people who have never been able to find one before are going to order 2, it’s common sense if they think this may be their only shot.
Click to expand...

EngrSorenson said:
3) no doubt we’re also contending with a little bit of jealousy that people who don’t usually care about traditionals have their hands out, but I don’t see this as a legitimate reason to deny someone the pleasure of a forum knife, and deep down I think we all know that.
Click to expand...
I agree that the Traditionals forum is generally a very welcoming place. I wouldn't want to set some stringent loyalty test for the honor of buying the forum knife. There does have to be some limit, though. GEC isn't going to make 2000 of them, and most of us agree that longtime participating members shouldn't be shut out.


I mean, am I an elitist if I think that the guy who joined on Friday, has made two posts, one of which is "1 BF knife plz" is being disrespectful to the whole endeavor?
 
r8shell said:
I mean, am I an elitist if I think that the guy who joined on Friday, has made two posts, one of which is "1 BF knife plz" is being disrespectful to the whole endeavor?
Click to expand...
I just noticed that. It's unlikely he'll be able to purchase one from this project. At least that's what we're attempting to accomplish. Of course, as Charlie posted, the pinned thread is only intended to gauge what interest there is.
 
r8shell said:
I mean, am I an elitist if I think that the guy who joined on Friday, has made two posts, one of which is "1 BF knife plz" is being disrespectful to the whole endeavor?
Click to expand...

no, definitely not elitist. I think that’s why we have the three month, however many post requirement imposed by the moderators.
 
Peregrin said:
I just noticed that. It's unlikely he'll be able to purchase one from this project. At least that's what we're attempting to accomplish. Of course, as Charlie posted, the pinned thread is only intended to gauge what interest there is.
Click to expand...
I figured as much. I found it kind of amusing to see such an extreme example, just as I'm reading this discussion thread.
EngrSorenson said:
no, definitely not elitist. I think that’s why we have the three month, however many post requirement imposed by the moderators.
Click to expand...
The least he could do is post in a complete sentence. 😾
 
Elgatodeacero said:
Folks, every year we have way more people saying they will buy a forum knife than actually buy one.

What happens is someone’s kid needs new shoes, or the truck breaks down, or a custom order knife is finally ready to ship.

For the last 3-4 years we have struggled to break the 300 knife mark when money has to be sent in for real, and I expect something similar this year.

All will be well, and only time will tell.
Click to expand...


go
 
Last edited:
I’m still excited about this Barlow pattern.

Being able to carry and use a knife that this community collaborates on, along with displaying our forum name, is pretty special.

Barlow knives have been around for a long time, and their early iterations from England were a common person‘s inexpensive pocket tool. I would imagine many, many people of all ages had one.

To have this potential opportunity to have one made by GEC and the quality they offer is pretty cool.
 
sheep herder said:
What about the one today, very first post wanting a knife? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Im sure the mods will talk that one over and if I had to guess, I’d bet he’s not up for consideration.

I will say that I’m impressed he read the rules and acknowledges he doesn’t meet the criteria. ... on the other hand Charlie’s rules also request we don’t post if we don’t meet the criteria... so...

and it’s also clear folks don’t understand what the real purpose of the count thread is. Some people are treating it as if they don’t get in the thread, they won’t have a chance of getting one.

edit: I pretty badly hacked up grammar and they need to got fix.
 
bax229 said:
Care to explain?
Click to expand...
I think ultimately your idea isn’t bad, bax, it’s just not how it’s probably going to work out. Charlie’s gonna give the number to Bill and Bill’s going to say how many he can make. Charlie will probably then take that number and tell us if we can sign up for one or two. Then he’s going to ask for an official count via polling, which will be the likely number GEC produces.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top