"Since several people have commented on their ugliness, I think REKAT should try to work on this a bit."
Hmmm. I would not be so swift to say that. two points:
1. They have indeed achieved beauty with the Sifu and the Carnivour, without even trying.
2. I think REKAT has definately proven that there is a market for knife designs that do not spare a single ounce or millimeter for aesthetics. Usually these are bought by people who have the following traits:
they like aircraft like the B-52, the F-4 Phantom (America's proof to the world that brick will fly if you put a big enough engine on it) and the A-10 Warthog
They would, as a matter of fact, prefer to use a sledgehammer to drive in that thumbtack, thankyouverymuch.
they think soccer and basketball would be much more entertaining if they were full contact, like hockey and football.
They fully subscribe to the twin philosophies of 'when in doubt, empty your magazine' and 'peace through superior firepower.'
They find the Causul to be a perfectly reasonable round for plinking and varmit hunting.
No, they are NOT going to trade in that 1978 Ford pickup, because underneath all that rust is a monster v-8 that still runs, damnit.
They believe in being prepared. if this means carting around 68 lbs of gear, clanking like an earthquake in a cutlery store and setting off metal detectors all over town, so be it.
NOTE: I subscribe to some of these. Perhaps thats why i find REKAT so intriguing. Ugly? Yes. Functional? Utterly. Would I own one? Depends. The Pocket hobbit? No. And I don't think any amount of 'tarting up' would make me buy one. Carnivour? Yes. I'm considering it heavily.
When we talk aesthetics, we are talking image. REKAT already has one. Smashmouth, head on, screw-you-if-you-think-its-ugly functionality. That appeals to a lot of people. If you water that down to try and achieve another kind of image, you could easily end up gaining few converts but losing a lot of defectors.
Mike
