Trident Knives:

L

LVSteel

Joined
Jul 6, 2005
Messages
32
I have recently become familiar with a custom knifemaker by the name of Maciej Szczerbiak who makes knives under the name of Trident Knives. Here is a link to his website: http://www.tridentknives.com/

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these knives, good, bad or otherwise. I am especially interested in anyone who has used one of these knives and can comment on their performance. Maciej advertises his knives as "hard use" and I want to know if anyone can confirm that for me. Thanks.
 
I ordered two knives they were delivered about a month later. I noticed that the grind did not meet at the edge (very thick). I sent an email to as follows:

David Bartlett <EMAIL@ADDRESSREMOVED.COM> wrote:
"Maciej,
I have had a chance to inspect the knives and noticed that the blade is somewhat thick towards the edge. I still like the knives but I'd like to know if I can exchange them for two examples in which the grind is thinner towards the edge? The knives have not been used yet so they are re-sellable. If you would be willing to exchange them I can express mail them to you as soon as tomorrow.
Dave"

Trident Knives <EMAIL@ADDRESSREMOVED.COM> wrote:
"David,
No problem. I will make them thinner.
Maciej"


I returned the knives via express mail USPS (tracking number EV686734118US). I have not received any replies to my email since nor have I received the replacement knives... Now I am out over 600.00 with nothing to show for it.
I am telling you this just so you can make an informed decision. Take it for what it is... one person's experience (an expensive and bad one at that)!
 
Thanks Dave that is the kind of information I was looking for. It's too bad there area people like that out there. I guess that's why this forum can be so valuable. THANKS

p.s. I live about one and a half hour drive from St George, UT and drive through there once every month or so. If I can find his shop, I may stop by and ask him about your situation next time I go through there. Only if you would like me to though. Let me know.
 
Dave's situation is unfortunate, but it is the first like it that I have heard of. There have been a lot of posts in the past about Trident and their quality and customer service. I myself have three Trident knives and have nothing but excellent experiences with Trident.
General Threads:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=393133&highlight=trident

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=390256&highlight=trident

Usage Review:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392739&highlight=trident

Hope the links are helpful.

-Joe
 
I think Dave would agree that his story, as of now, doesn't mean he was ripped off. It may turn out that way, but Dave was just telling you his experience, not saying Trident will rip you off. Maciej Szczerbiak might be busy with his personal life and not keeping up on business. This is not uncommon for knifemakers who are not full-time, have other jobs, or other hobbies.

With a full-time well-known knifemaker like Tom Mayo or Darrel Ralph, I would not expect to send in a knife and not have my emails responded to for a long time. However, with a knifemaker who only does it in his/her spare time and doesn't make enough money doing it that it is his/her main source of income, I would be more patient.
 
DFW Dave,

You left out a key piece of information: dates.

How long has it been since he acknowledged he'd fix it, how soon after did you send them, and how long has it been since you sent them with no response?

If you are talking only a week, well, give him some breathing room. We can't determnine this from your notes. He's only part time?

Coop
 
I appreciate all of the responses reference Trident Knives. I especially appreciate the comments about the performance of the knives under real use. The reason I asked is because I had the opportunity to handle a prototype of his new folder. He has already made a special edition of his TCFM02 for my police department and is doing the same with the new folder. I was very impressed with the folder and was hoping to get some feedback about the real world performance of his blades before purchasing one of the folders. The folder was very impressive. It appears to be made for serious, hard use. Every componenet seemed overbuilt. The prototype had G-10 scales with a titanium inner liner on the liner lock side, but Majiec said the production model will have titanium scales on both sides, textured in the same fashion as his G-10s and then coated. I think I will be purchasing one when they become available and will let you know what they are like. I would be more than happy to post some pictures (if I can) and some impressions about it's performance if anyone is interested. I definately won't come anywhere near the review that Cliff would give but I will do my best.
 
LV Steel, are you with Metro, NLV, or Henderson? I'm from Vegas also.

What did he do to the custom TCFM for the Dept.?
 
I'm with LVMPD. Strider was doing a folder through Unertl for LVMPD and Unertl has a LVMP .45 caliber 1911 style pistol http://www.unertl45.com/lvmpd.htm. Trident was contacted to do the fixed blade and also a folder. Who are you with? He etched the blade with LVMPD, the badge and badge/p # all coated in Metro green. Pretty sweet.
 
To Maciej's credit, he did get back with me (after I finally got fed-up and asked for a refund), but this whole ordeal has been dragging on for 3 month's. He contacted me via email and said that he is sending the replacement knives out.

I did like the original knives, just too thick towards the edge. I feel it is unfortunate that I've had a crappy buying experience. I appreciate that he is from a country that I am quite fond of and I am a believer in supporting custom knife artisans with my business, it's just unfortunate that after 3 month's I'm still out my $600+ dollars and do not have anything to show for it yet (granted they are on the way now).

Like I said in my earlier response; Take my experience for what it is, just one person. It's your money, so you can make up your own mind. Good luck!

Almost overlooked Sharpbycoop's comments. The dates were: Purchased May 8th, received and sent back as soon as I received a response around June 29th (I included the tracking number for anyone that would like to check).

I do not believe in slamming someone just for the heck of it, but I'm not going to sugar coat it to make it more palatable either...
 
LVSteel said:
I'm with LVMPD. Strider was doing a folder through Unertl for LVMPD and Unertl has a LVMP .45 caliber 1911 style pistol http://www.unertl45.com/lvmpd.htm. Trident was contacted to do the fixed blade and also a folder. Who are you with? He etched the blade with LVMPD, the badge and badge/p # all coated in Metro green. Pretty sweet.
Click to expand...

I'll actually graduate from UNLV in May, will start law school shortly thereafter, and am thinking about FBI. I've got plenty of time to decide though. ;)
 
Hey Joe. Best of luck with your plans for the future. I have had quite a few fed colleagues over the years. Thanks again for your input with regard to the performance of your Trident Knife. I think I will order up one of his new folders. If anyone is interested I will post some pictures and my impressions/review of it once I get it.
 
OK, the first pair of knives was like sharpened knife shaped blocks of steel. I had originally sent them back with his approval. He had agreed that he'd send replacement blades. After waiting for I had been almost two months I had gotten to where I no longer wanted the knives, I just wanted my money back and to forget about this experience. After all these are expensive knives and even more so on E-4 pay!

Since his website states he has a five day inspection period, I sent a PayPal request for a refund. I explained that this deal was not working out and I asked for my money back rather than the replacement blades. So instead of refunding my money he finally sends the replacement knives.

I have received the replacement knives and the grind on this pair is so uneven a cross section view of either knife is almost crescent shaped. I have sent two emails asking for authorization to send them back for a refund and no response. This is very unfortunate and not what I expected for $300.00+ per knife!

Again, this is just my experience, but I wish I had known better!
 
If I were you, I'd call and talk to Maciej's wife. I'm sure she'd have no problem straightening this out for you.

That sucks that you're having a bad experience.
 
I think I will have to call, but I do not think it will do any good. It seems that he does a good portion of business online so surely he checks his email. If he had any intention of honoring his stated policey he would have dealt with this by now...

At this point I would say 'Buyer Beware!'
 
Dave, I mean no offense, but it seems to me that if you really wanted the issue resolved quickly and cleanly, then you would have called by now. I know that when I have a problem with a product, service, or anything else, the first thing I do is call and deal with a live person. I own a business and can tell you first hand that trying to deal with people's problems via E-Mail or letter is mind numbing. Just call and talk to someone, and let us know what happens. Good Luck.

Oh, I'd also like to see the bad knives he sent you if you could post a pic. Thanks.
 
JerkeeJoe said:
Dave, I mean no offense, but it seems to me that if you really wanted the issue resolved quickly and cleanly, then you would have called by now. I know that when I have a problem with a product, service, or anything else, the first thing I do is call and deal with a live person. I own a business and can tell you first hand that trying to deal with people's problems via E-Mail or letter is mind numbing. Just call and talk to someone, and let us know what happens. Good Luck.

Oh, I'd also like to see the bad knives he sent you if you could post a pic. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I will despite following the instructions listed on his website to the letter:

"Trident Knives Return Policy

All Trident knives ordered from this site come with a 5 day return/inspection privilege. If you are not completely satisfied, you may return the product in its original condition and receive a full refund.

Shipping charges are not refundable.

Please call or e-mail us before sending a product back for return instructions."

Further he responded the same day when I wanted to purchase them, but to resolve this issue it's impossible to get a response. I do not have access to a digital camera, but if I can get someone to help I'd be more than happy to post pictures.
 
Oh, and no offense taken... Military life makes one a little thick skinned. I will call, even though it is inconvenient for me to do so...
 
So yes, I called and spoke with Kathy. She seemed very nice and helpful. She said that they would be glad to give a refund once they received the knives back and inspected them.

Well I express mailed the second set back at my expense as I asked just to have my money refunded but the replacement knives were sent instead. The tracking number on this set was: EQ430716909US (USPS) I received email confirmation that they had received the knives in perfect condition. She said that they would send a refund check… that was almost two weeks ago…

Great way to treat someone serving in the military (or anyone for that matter), but especially since they take the advertising angle of offering knives for the troops!

Buyer Beware!

The following is a copy of the email she sent:

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 10:09:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Trident Knives" <EMAIL@ADDRESSREMOVED.COM> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoo.com. Learn more
Subject: Re: Knife delivery
To: "David Bartlett" <EMAIL@ADDRESSREMOVED.COM>
Dear Dave,

Thank you for returning the knives so quickly. I also would like to thank you for keeping them in good condition.
We will be fulfilling your refund request in the amount of $275 each knife totaling $550. Due to the cost of processing fees with Pay Pal, as well as the packaging and shipping expenses, we are unable to refund any shipping and handling fees.
This will be sent in the form of a check via US Postal service to avoid any further deductions from the total refund.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me between 9am and 6pm mountain time.

Sincerely,
Kathy
 
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