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

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waynorth said:
If we ask GEC to do our BF "club" knife they might be amenable??!!
The 2019 Barehead Sailor's Rope Knife was pretty cool I thought!
What if they would do that nice big knife again, with a different blade, say . . . a wide, highly arched clip, easy to pinch??
Their grinds make good slicers, after you touch them up to your liking!:rolleyes:
A single blade is much more reasonably priced than a double!
The handle could be Jigged, or Ebony, IMO.
Maybe they could retail them through their store, with paid reservations!!
A different marketing procedure, but the margin would go toward keeping GEC healthy! I am willing to bring this up with them!!:cool:
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Yes. That sounds like a perfect idea Charlie. The 2019 Blade Forums knife was epic, as were all of the GEC BF knives. Bill may have some more ideas to add to yours. Whatever he is willing to make will turn out wonderful. We just need the right man to bring up the subject ;).

I’m pretty sure people would love a single clip point 86. We have seen a lot of blade deletes on the existing clip point 86’s.
 
knifeswapper said:
I would love to see a forum knife done this year. But two things. First, my 90 day production times out of Maniago have become 7+ months. I have 4 projects going (2 left over from last year) between 3 companies and am not keen on taking on another one. Finally, my business has fallen off a cliff and I am spending a good bit of my time trying to pay the bills by other means. Between those, leukemia treatments for one kid, and trying to hound the other (junior in high school) to work on respectable ACT scores - I am generally covered up. So if it is at all possible for me to bow out this year without ill feelings - I would appreciate it. If things clear up and I can be of any assistance - I will be the first to jump in.
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It is beyond understandable that you can't shoulder this Herculean task this year, Mike. Heck, it'd be understandable in any year, never mind this one!

I hope your kiddo's treatments are going well and that you have some brighter times on your horizon.
 
JTB_5 said:
That would be awesome! But I think it would be difficult because a) it’s a foreign company which none of our BF dealers have affiliation with, and b) it would be closer to $200 than $100 depending on what we asked for.
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I know Joshua that it is practically impossible, but it would be a magnificent Forum knife.:cool::thumbsup:
 
I think that, like last year, it may behoove us to not get too picky as far as something that's not standard production. As much as I would like something unique, I think we'll be fortunate to find somebody/company willing to do it at all. The economic effects of the pandemic are far from over. I'm interested in any configuration y'all come up with. Something based on the Buck 102 for a fixed blade would be ok with me. Maniago made would fine also.

I would love an Albers, but based on his comments in the Alber's thread, he isn't set up for it at this time.

S&M might be a fine a choice eventually, but they're not in production yet, so I think that's a non-starter.

If its decided to limit it to make it "exclusive" I'm out. I've quit paying any attention to what GEC is doing, or planning to do, because I'm uninterested in lotteries, or lollyscrambles to get one. I'm in this for the fun, not the competition. If it ain't fun, I ain't doing it. I also don't care for cliques. Been out of high school a long time gerg.gif

Fine if y'all want to go that route, its just not for me.

Punch nut! Punch nut! Punch nut! super_happy.gif
 
Yes last years forum knife was a cracker one of the best knives in my collection

8huOrUe.jpg


Lets ask for a GEC #14 in jobollo scales. Maybe as a mini trapper
 
mcc850 said:
How would you decide who gets the 100 knives?
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How is this a problem? In past years we have done everything from cash on the barrelhead to reserves, both of which had repercussions for those involved with the actual manufacture. If you can meet the conditions of the sale at the time they are proposed (by whoever would be willing to take on the financial burden of this venture) than do so. If you cannot, perhaps better planning on your part is indicated. It's not like this has ever just sprung up out of nowhere and surprised everyone.

As for the number, I don't care what it is; although the more we reserve the greater the chance someone's s going to get stuck at the end because a significant number of those who reserve without paying fail to see it through. (Members of the Traditional Forum stepped up last year to make sure all the knives were purchased.) And, as a guy who's manufactured, and had manufactured, items over the past 40 years, I can say I would never enter into a conversation without a pretty solid number of the final items to be delivered. It is impossible to set a price on the product without that.

It is not the number of items that makes the sale. It is the amount of profit to the manufacturer. 100 @ $400 ea. does not equal 200 @ $200 ea. or 400 @ $100 ea. to the guy making them.

Sacto said:
Keep in mind, as far as I know, this is not the Traditional Forum knife. It is a Blade Forums knife that is done in the traditional forum, available to anyone on Blade Forums.
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You would be incorrect. Spark has also had other "Annual" knives available in (at least) two other forums that I know of. The Traditional Forum has the distinction of making their knife a true Traditional Annual for over 15 years strictly due to the members of the Traditional Forum. No other forum on this BBS has managed to demonstrate that cohesiveness among the regular members. No one on this forum has ever suggested we limit the sales strictly to individuals who participate on this forum. But neither have we strayed beyond the accepted definition of a traditional pattern as a representative (although in my opinion last years offering ran pretty close.) This is one of the reasons names being put forth for consideration are not Chris Reeves, Strider, Mora, etc. (although I'd love to see a CRK traditional pattern as a Traditional Forums annual).
 
knifeswapper said:
I would love to see a forum knife done this year. But two things. First, my 90 day production times out of Maniago have become 7+ months. I have 4 projects going (2 left over from last year) between 3 companies and am not keen on taking on another one. Finally, my business has fallen off a cliff and I am spending a good bit of my time trying to pay the bills by other means. Between those, leukemia treatments for one kid, and trying to hound the other (junior in high school) to work on respectable ACT scores - I am generally covered up. So if it is at all possible for me to bow out this year without ill feelings - I would appreciate it. If things clear up and I can be of any assistance - I will be the first to jump in.
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No hard feelings here, Mike. In fact, you have my prayers and support. I wish I could buy your entire inventory, but you’ll at least have my meager business transactions when I can!

Pt-Luso said:
I know Joshua that it is practically impossible, but it would be a magnificent Forum knife.:cool::thumbsup:
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It would indeed! FP make amazing knives!
 
JohnDF said:
How would you even begin to decide who gets one?
An early reserve where you race everybody to get in line?
Perhaps a lottery system where it's luck of the draw?
These already frustrate people with regular runs.
I thought the whole idea was giving all our members a chance to own something truly special?
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Why don’t we allocated them based on popularity? BF members with the most “Likes” get first dibs. :rolleyes:

Sacto said:
I think I’ve said it here before, but some of the most unporch-like conversations I’ve seen are in the forum knife discussions. It can get pretty contentious.
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Yep.

waynorth said:
If we ask GEC to do our BF "club" knife they might be amenable??!!
The 2019 Barehead Sailor's Rope Knife was pretty cool I thought!
What if they would do that nice big knife again, with a different blade, say . . . a wide, highly arched clip, easy to pinch??
Their grinds make good slicers, after you touch them up to your liking!:rolleyes:
A single blade is much more reasonably priced than a double!
The handle could be Jigged, or Ebony, IMO.
Maybe they could retail them through their store, with paid reservations!!
A different marketing procedure, but the margin would go toward keeping GEC healthy! I am willing to bring this up with them!!:cool:
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

knifeswapper said:
I would love to see a forum knife done this year. But two things. First, my 90 day production times out of Maniago have become 7+ months. I have 4 projects going (2 left over from last year) between 3 companies and am not keen on taking on another one. Finally, my business has fallen off a cliff and I am spending a good bit of my time trying to pay the bills by other means. Between those, leukemia treatments for one kid, and trying to hound the other (junior in high school) to work on respectable ACT scores - I am generally covered up. So if it is at all possible for me to bow out this year without ill feelings - I would appreciate it. If things clear up and I can be of any assistance - I will be the first to jump in.
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Totally understandable, Mike. You’ve done more than enough for us already (and thank you again for that). Take care of you and yours! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

JOELSM said:
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:D :D

Here are a few of my favorite BF knives from past years.

0vbu2DM.jpg


JyvOsir.jpg


This one’s probably my favorite of them all.

OIMqVnU.jpg


There were a couple killer BF knives done before my time as well, but 2015 was my first.
 
JohnDF said:
I thought the whole idea was giving all our members a chance to own something truly special?
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Exactly.

Define "members".

Define "chance".

Define "special".

Then come around and argue how it's unfair to set a number for production and specify a cost and timeframe in which to put forward funds. Because once you do that you just set "limits". Either the cost is acceptable to the individual or it is not. Either the product is acceptable to the individual or it is not. Either the timeframe for payment is acceptable or it is not. These are all limits. They are also chances. The chances are the same for all who are interested. The value in setting these "limits" is what makes a thing "special". This is called value.

You cannot expect to make everyone happy. Take this as a given. But it should be noted that last years knife (for example) does not command excessively high prices on the secondary market, and likewise there does not seem to be a major wailing and gnashing of teeth from those who somehow missed the original sale. I would argue this displays two points we would do well to consider; first, last years knife is not especially collectable, and second, the volume and cost seem to have been generally acceptable.

That being said, it's not unreasonable to consider another offering of 300 pieces at a retail price of $150.

Against this I would argue that the events of the past year have made that price-point unreasonable. The devaluation of the USA dollar alone would require at least a 20% increase in price today for the same knives. Manufacturing costs have risen, as have transportation/shipping cost (UPS has increased prices over 15% in the past 12 months and the USPS is going to announce new rates before June). Materials have dried up and logistics chains are being strained. These are not minor considerations.
 
Although we've never had a Case knife, they technically aren't out of the running. The biggest hurdle would be that we need to meet their minimum order amount of 750 knives (or however many the minimum is). I would think Case could bust out a pattern (peanut) for well under the $100 range. If that's the case, perhaps many of the members would be willing to buy 2, 3, or even 4 pieces each, in order to help get the total order quantity higher.
 
Great idea, Charlie, I say approach Bill. The main problem with GEC making the knife is that we would have at least 500 people (including flippers) that would want one, and I can't see them making us more than 500. Some way of distributing them would need to be thought up, and any random drawing or "quick draw" answering emails or such seems very unfair to me. This is our forum's knife, and the people who support this forum with their money and their input should come first.
 
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