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They want to know why.

BladeHQ said:
We probably will do another traditional folder video in June-ish. Want to join us on it at Blade? I'm still looking for a taker...

As for stereotyping: marketing is an interesting field when it comes to political correctness and stereotyping. In many ways, everything we do to market a product to an individual is based on a stereotype. Marketing exclusively to men isn't politically correct, but it sells certain products, just like marketing to women sells certain products. Marketing to a male in Tennessee will often take a different form than marketing to a male in California. It's tricky business in e-commerce with a worldwide audience and I know we're never going to please everyone. C'est la vie, I suppose.

As for entertainment: I think of it as "infotainment." Attention spans with video are at an all-time low. Gotta' keep it fresh. Thanks for the questions and feedback! -Ben
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And yet, we have all ages, both sexes, and people from all over the world
Interested in the same style of knife here in traditional, but thank you for assuming bc/ I am from TN I must be marketed to a certain way
 
I was not offended by anything they said. It was two fellows talking who got us talking. They never said "those old fools and their lame pocket knives." Traditionals can be less threatening, more pleasing to the eye, but when buried with the rest of the pocket stuff today harder to retrieve. I carry both styles, like both styles and see merit in both styles. Being almost 56 I remember my father's knife and my first pocket knife all with some nostalgia.

When I was their age I did not have a cellphone taking up another pocket. No fancy key fob to start my car, a small 500 lumen flashlight and 17 pieces of plastic for every store credit or rewards program.

As for percentage of sales though, I started on a manual shift car, still admire them and would love to have a fine standard sports car but try and find one today. The offerings are dwindling. At least with traditional pocket knives we still have a pretty terrific selection. Times change.

The invite to a fellow lounger to participate in a video was nice. Maybe not practical, but I think sincere.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
BladeHQ said:
Hey friends. We appreciate the feedback on our video, and we're glad we started a conversation over here on BF as well. I'm 29 and started carrying knives "modern tactical style," clipped to my pocket. Call me a silly millennial, but I missed the traditional folder years completely and jumped straight to modern locking knives. I see this video as two millennials' attempt at better understanding traditional folders. Is it a perfect representation of the category? Absolutely not! Should we have brought on a "professional" in traditional folders? Perhaps. (Any volunteers in Utah?) Did it introduce a new class of consumer to the traditional pocket knife? I think so. In fact, Austin bought a Gerber 39 after we made this video. Drank his own Kool-aid!

Let me pose this question to the group: how would you help a group of consumers that typically buy one type of product (modern folders) to consider buying a different kind of product (traditional folders)?

Cheers,

Ben
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To bring new blood in or to jump from one niche to another you want to offer some sort of bridge to encourage the jump. So a traditional in modern steel or with scales that are more in sync with newer blades. There's a good section here with a talk about a new knife coming from Lionsteel that's "that" knife that is a bridge between past and present.
 
I don't believe it's one style or the other. We all love knives here and should respect the various edged arts as a whole. I enjoy traditional knives, as well as, modern folders. I don't believe age matters when it comes to enjoying a certain style of knife. There is a lot to learn about each subset.
As for the video, I'd recommend having someone who truly knows traditional knives and modern folders to explain the differences. The public tends to view the big shops, like BHQ, as the experts on the subject matter, so it's imperative to portray that image in all knife categories.
People enjoy knowing the history, how somethings made, the materials used, the purpose of the blade shape, design, origin, quality level, rarity, and simply the why. Many traditional knives were purpose built for specific tasks.
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I wasn't bothered. Some guys don't get traditionals (yet). I had no interest for years. Now, they're almost the only thing I look at seriously. :)

I want a follow up from the same guys in 5 years.
 
With regard to the OP... I guess I'm in the same boat. I carry a traditional, but not exclusively. Overall, I prefer to cut stuff with my GEC 77 clip, I just like the knife very much... and maybe Austin made a good point--it's nostalgia. I'm 43 and my father worked with blades, and both grandfathers carried a pocketknife (fixed blade back in Greece)... and even the grandmas were pretty deft with blades.

While many "don't get" traditionals, Ben and Austin didn't seem willfully demeaning or dismissive... and said many positive things about the knives they showed. The quick draw was a little silly, but not offensive. I liked the vid and watched a few others. I'm also glad to take my info with a little entertainment... just a fun distraction for a few minutes.

One way or another, I'll be making up my own mind about what to carry... let alone who I am and why. After all, it was just knife banter, not existentialism.
 
As traditional knife lovers, we tend to be more protective of our "children"(traditional knives). Overall, I found the video somewhat informative and entertaining. It probably exposed a more modern knife crowd to some traditional patterns, so that is good thing. And it was knife related in the first place, with a positive knife spin, so that was good. The speed test gave me a chuckle. Maybe modern knife enthusiasts place more value on the speed of deployment, and are horrified by the lack of a lock, who knows. There's a butt for every seat, or so they say. Other than the speed test, I don't think they really "put down" traditional knives. And their point is well made about taking out a traditional knife in public as compared to a modern folder.

I'd like to think that both worlds can co-exist. I carry both, and each have their use, IMO.
 
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I thought the video was a bit silly, naive at worst. Maybe the two guys weren't exactly well versed in what makes traditionals popular, but it was far from offensive. I appreciate BHQs interest in educating themselves though, and I hope they find someone to take them up on their offer.
I definitely fall into the younger category. I'm 27 and have been into slip joint pocketknives(and their fixed blade brethren) for a couple years now. Maybe I fall into the hipster crowd too. :eek: I don't know. (but does saying I might be hipster exclude me from being hipster?:confused: )
But then again I've always just gravitated towards things from the past. Whether it's music, knives, tools, boots, etc. why bother filtering through all the "new and improved" stuff when there are plenty of time tested quality items at my disposal.
Maybe I'm just old at heart. Regardless traditional knives work. Plain and simple. And they look quite nice doing it too!
 
One point they missed in this viddeo is that many people carry a traditional simply because it's enough knife for daily cutting tasks without being too much
Of course this is in addition to to the elegance and simplicity, as I'm sure a Kershaw chive might also fit the bill though there are also not as many modern options as there are traditional.

Traditional folders also age well when taken care of, if you choose a carbon steel blade you've got a blade to patina, bolsters to patina, edged to meld, and bone covers to age. All this comes together after years of use to create something even more beautiful than you started out with.
 
Moving this to Feedback. Good discussion! Let's keep it friendly!
 
While I didn't watch the video(I will when time permits) I think I get the general idea. As far as anyone in Utah, aren't there a small host of traditional fixed if not folding makers who call the state home? Perhaps an interview with one of them would be beneficial. They are fairly easy to find, they are listed, along with makers in every state, in the back of "Blade" magazines annual knife book, the best of the year ones. Maybe the people who actually make some of the products you probably carry could explain some of the differences betwixt modern and traditional. I carry both, along with a fixed every day, so this all seems a bit...well, insert whatever is appropriate for your views, I guess.
Thanks, Neal
PS-I can't afford to go to Bladeshow, but if you'd like to pick up the tab, I'll be glad to help out. Mom always said I was meant for pictures, but I thought she meant wanted posters. ;) :D
 
Frankly I watched the video for a couple minutes and shut it down because these 2 guys were about as irritating to me as anything I've watched on YT. I wouldn't listen to them or what they say any longer than I did.
 
cash71 said:
Frankly I watched the video for a couple minutes and shut it down because these 2 guys were about as irritating to me as anything I've watched on YT. I wouldn't listen to them or what they say any longer than I did.
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Thanks for watching a couple minutes. We'll take it! That said, you've clearly missed out on some of the prime irritating corners of YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWcldHxHFpo Watch that one, then let the suggested videos on YouTube take you down a deep rabbit hole of irritation. ;) We'll seem pretty tame after that.
 
Im 27 and i stopped caring as soon as the dude started throwing money around. We arent the target demographic for this video obviously.

That said, there is literally no reason to carry a modern pocjet brick around with you on a daily basis unless you simply like the knife.

I work an incredibly phyically demanding job and ive never NEEDED a modern folder.

Part of my love for traditionals is nostolgia, another part the utilitarianism, having a knife that i physically cant exert forces on it that a knife shouldnt be used for, the non weapon factor is a big deal to me too, as well as the fact that traditionals tend to have thinner blade stock and therefore cut better.
 
I wasn't offended at all.

Some folks like "modern" knives whereas others prefer "traditional" knives. Some, like me, like and appreciate both.

Life is too short to take offense to something like a random youtube video. Take it for what it is and move on. No big deal.
 
Kudos to the guys at BladeHQ for their good-natured response to feedback :thumbup: And for supporting the Blaeforums community :thumbup:

I didn't have time to watch the full 18 minutes and I suppose many don't. I did forward through it a bit. Narrowing the focus and making the video (or multiple videos) much shorter... maybe around 5 minutes... might make it easier for people to find time to watch the full video.

The production value was good. And the commentary seemed good-natured and down to earth. The information on traditionals might have been better if researched beforehand but you didn't claim any expertise.

You guys should keep a few reference books on hand in the store. Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values (now Blade's Guide to Knives and Their Values) has a lot of good info about tradtional knives. You might talk to WR Case Cutlery and Tony Bose at shows.

The skit with one dollar bills was cute. I thought it was funny that they were all ones and that you enjoyed the fresh from the box smell :D
 
supratentorial said:
Kudos to the guys at BladeHQ for their good-natured response to feedback :thumbup: And for supporting the Blaeforums community :thumbup:
You guys should keep a few reference books on hand in the store. Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values (now Blade's Guide to Knives and Their Values) has a lot of good info about tradtional knives. You might talk to WR Case Cutlery and Tony Bose at shows.
:D
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Thanks for the kind words. I just bought the recommended book and a couple others that I think will be useful to have around. Thanks for the recommendation! -Ben
 
I get that some people just "don't get" traditional knives. Because I'm one of those that just "doesn't get" modern/tactical knives. To me, it seems everyone is just trying to see how fast they can flip it open with one hand, and close it again. And then take it apart and put it back together.

I've never carried anything but a traditional from the time I was 10 years old, and I don't see myself changing any time soon.
 
BladeHQ said:
Thanks for the kind words. I just bought the recommended book and a couple others that I think will be useful to have around. Thanks for the recommendation! -Ben
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Great !

Some modern knives are heavily adapted from folding hunters and folding daggers. You can still buy folding hunters from most traditional manufacturers and they are very popular. Other patterns also have different uses and merits and I would argue some are better suited for every day use than a folding hunter. Some traditional knives are made for very specific tasks. Some are for more general use. Some are expensive and some are inexpensive.

There are locking knives that are over 100 years old and many of those mechanisms are still used today. Some of the new mechanisms are based on those old mechanisms. There are also new locking mechanisms like WMcH's axis lock. The take apart design of some modern knives is nice for cleaning and adjusting. But not all modern knives can be taken apart and in some cases taking a knife apart can void the warranty... iirc that's the case with Spyderco. Things like clips and one hand opening are also some nice benefits. But I think too much attention is paid to size and speed.

Some folks need a huge knife that could take down a tank but most folks just need to cut stuff like wood, rope, boxes, electrical shielding, insulation, foam, and an occasional apple.... etc. Knife buying and collecting isn't always about need. Sometimes it's mostly about want. Needs vary but a majority of every day tasks can just as easily be accomplished with a traditional pocket knife or fixed blade.

Small modern (gentleman's) knives and single blade traditional knives seem to be gaining popularity. And hybrids of the two seem to be gaining interest recently. These seem to be growing markets.
 
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