Traditional Slip Joints more popular now?

I think they are. I took out my TC and Northfiled Barlows the other day before a meeting at the bank since I like to empty my pockets. Instantly had several saying what are those, I need to get one for my dad for Christmas, where can I buy one.

The thing that helps GEC to me which are the short runs also hurts them in some ways. I live somewhat close to one of the largest Case showroom dealers TKC knives in Spurger and they only have 5 GECs. I asked if they would get more and he said they were hard to get a hold of the patterns and the ones he had just sat there. Think it was the lockback and trapper.

I guess he compared it to Case which has all patters available at all times. For the record I prefer the GEC model.
 
FW JSB said:
I think traditionals have always been there and been popular, but I agree that GEC has helped create a surge, with their high quality products and interesting knives. Purely anecdotal speculation on my part, but my own interest in the knives has definitely been rekindled.
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I think that GEC has caused a bit of an uptick in the forums but we are a very small percentage of actual end purchases of knives. When i look at the traditional knives for sale here it would indicate that 90% of traditional knives sold are made by GEC. Most of us realize that is a long way from the truth. I usually carry at least 2 traditional knives and have about 100 and yet I only own 2 made by GEC. I see traditional knives as a permanent "niche" market with gas station tacticals selling a a large number and wallyworld selling a lot as well. Not many traditionals sold there.
 
Production numbers for traditionals are hard to come by.

I have read that circa 1978, Case made and sold about two million knives a year. That would include the "modern" stainless lockback knives that they had recently started offering at the time.

I have heard (unofficial) that today, Case makes a million knives a year.

But there is a big difference, while Case has always been a "collector" brand since about 1970, in 1978 I would say that a large percentage of their production was to users, not collectors.

Out of the million annual knives that Case makes today, a huge percentage are oriented strictly to the collector market. I have no idea what percentage of Case's current knives get used, but I would estimate maybe a couple percent.

I have also heard that GEC makes maybe 20,000 knives per year.
 
Maybe some of the mall ninjas are growing up or getting smarter, and realize they don't need a "tacticlol" knife, after all?

GEC makes some nice teaditional patterns, but I think giving them the credit for an increased ... awareness ... of traditional knives is being a tad generous. GEC knives are expensive, and not in the budget of a lot of people. Buck, Case, or even Rough Rider, Colt, Marbles, and the new Taylor Schrade are more likely to be in the average person's pocket than a GEC, even if the person in question is a knife knut.
 
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I feel they are definitely growing in popularity, and I have helped that trend! I had exactly two traditional pocket knives 3 years ago (a Swiss army and an old buck) and now have over 25!
I think a big part of the growth is the trend towards the "old fashion" ideas and things. Another example is the current resurgence in the popularity of straight razor shaving as evidenced by the shaving shops in the mall.
 
Dcaggie06 said:
I think it correlates with the tacticool bubble at its peak and the age group that most identifies with those blades. The number of ppl who got into knives at that point because of tacticool blades have aged, matured and find themselves looking more for the traditional style of blades of our fathers and grandfathers
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Exactly my case
 
As several commented on above every time I break one out people ask about them and want to know where to get one for themselves or a gift for someone

Could also be the market I was in Corpus Christi last week and there was some kind of south texas ranchers group having a meeting there

Can say I saw more transitional folders on belts down the lobby in one place then have seen, Case trappers abound !!

There was also more large pick up trucks in the packing garage then have ever seen in one place also

I guess geography had something to do with it maybe :)
 
Peregrin said:
I'll let Frank answer your specific question but I'll add this, the Traditional Forum traffic has definately picked up since Frank and I first started moderating this forum. We read them all and occasionally Frank counts the days posts. I can't count that high so I don't bother. :D
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;):p Thanks for the input, Gary.

- GT
 
afishhunter said:
Maybe some of the mall ninjas are growing up or getting smarter, and realize they don't need a "tacticlol" knife, after all?

GEC makes some nice teaditional patterns, but I think giving them the credit for an increased ... awareness ... of traditional knives is being a tad generous. GEC knives are expensive, and not in the budget of a lot of people. Buck, Case, or even Rough Rider, Colt, Marbles, and the new Taylor Schrade are more likely to be in the average person's pocket than a GEC, even if the person in question is a knife knut.
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They're not that expensive, certainly not enough to italicize the word. $80 for a quality, American-made knife in 2015 is pretty reasonable, especially when you consider the prices fetched for a lot of modern folders. GEC's success may also have the added benefit of upping the ante across the board for traditional knives. Quality competition is likely to improve products from other knife companies as well.
 
5K Qs said:
Frank, are "traffic numbers" and other BF statistics publicly available, and if so, where? I'm always on the lookout for data sets to use in stats classes.

- GT
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Beats me as to whether anyone publishes the stats.

I frequently use the "advanced search" function to check the number of posts in the Traditional Forum posted in the last 24 hours. Mostly out of curiosity.

Set the search to look for "posts" in "traditional forum", "made since yesterday", "display by posts". SEARCH. Then scroll to the bottom of the first page. It will say "first xx of YYY posts". The YYY number is what I'm curious about. The software defines "yesterday" as "the last 24 hours."

I've done this for a couple of years now. My unofficial assessment is that the number of posts has been increasing. We used to average about 250 posts a day. The other day we had over 600.
 
Thomas Carey said:
Is it my imagination or are traditional slip joint folders more popular than they were say 5 years ago? If this is the case why do you think they are now of more interest?
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I think it is the Case ;) but yes, some people grow weary of these modern day knives and I think are a little nostalgic possibly? Myself I've always liked them, but only recently started back in, so it does seem cyclic.
G2
 
As much as I love my one handers on more days than I would like to admit, the traditionals just fit this city boy's lifestyle better.
 
In the last 24 hours there have been 476 posts in Traditional.
 
Thomas Carey said:
Is it my imagination or are traditional slip joint folders more popular than they were say 5 years ago? If this is the case why do you think they are now of more interest?
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Seems like it. I agree that it is probably from people who were first into the more modern knife designs and then realized after a while that their daily needs are pretty well covered by a plain old slipjoint and that they were less likely to alarm other people than when they take out a 4" blade assisted opener to do small tasks.

For me personally, I had just started with an interest in knives (modern styles- Kershaw, Boker, Spyderco) and found Bladeforums. After a period of ignoring the Traditionals sub-forum, thinking it was a place for serious collectors of antique knives, I started reading a few threads and realized that the old style knives were still being made. I ordered a few of the most popular ones at the time just to see what it was about, and was hooked from there. Case Peanut, Small Texas Jack, and Sway Back Jack were those first three.
 
I'm a new traditional convert. I started my boyhood with slip joints, and then moved away from those into locking knives. Anyway, I think GEC has a lot to do with me coming back to traditional. Oh, who am I kidding, Case did too. I have a long list of modern, locking, heavy duty knives....that I will never be able to afford. The traditionals I am shopping for these days are substantially cheaper, better looking, and I'm not afraid to use them.
 
knarfeng said:
Beats me as to whether anyone publishes the stats.

I frequently use the "advanced search" function to check the number of posts in the Traditional Forum posted in the last 24 hours. Mostly out of curiosity.

Set the search to look for "posts" in "traditional forum", "made since yesterday", "display by posts". SEARCH. Then scroll to the bottom of the first page. It will say "first xx of YYY posts". The YYY number is what I'm curious about. The software defines "yesterday" as "the last 24 hours."

I've done this for a couple of years now. My unofficial assessment is that the number of posts has been increasing. We used to average about 250 posts a day. The other day we had over 600.
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Thanks for the detailed instructions, Frank. That gives me something interesting to play around with.

- GT
 
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