What Genre of knives is on its way up.....and what's on its way down ? :)

JParanee said:
I too enjoy seeing fusion pieces.

David Mirabile is an artist that excels at this.

The ancient with the new.
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Along those lines.... David's stand.





Ancient walrus jawbone. Alaskan yellow cedar wrapped with carbon fiber.

I once again apologize for the terrible photos (that still took an hour to get something remotely view-able - at least wanted to be able to show the materials). They don't do justice to David's work. Sure glad Coop was there early on. Mike
 
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betzner said:
For all those younger guys who see stone as unappealing to a younger crowd, young people tend to grow older. And with that aging issue, in time, comes all form of change in flavor, taste, vision, you name it. You'll be there sooner than you think. Age isn't a static state. As every day goes by, someone in one demographic changes to another demographic, and becomes subject to those changes that come with it.

In the meantime, I agree with you that stone IS primarily best when thought of in terms of art knives. One particular maker whose art knives command five and six figure prices used quite bit of stone. And all things being equal, a stone art dagger of his (only the best and rarest stones, semi-precious, etc) would command more than about any other handle material (except for his solid gold pieces).

My own preference in a non-art knife is black micarta.
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I think we're on the same page.
I am a sucker for green Micarta though. :cool:
 
betzner said:
For all those younger guys who see stone as unappealing to a younger crowd, young people tend to grow older. And with that aging issue, in time, comes all form of change in flavor, taste, vision, you name it. You'll be there sooner than you think. Age isn't a static state. As every day goes by, someone in one demographic changes to another demographic, and becomes subject to those changes that come with it.

In the meantime, I agree with you that stone IS primarily best when thought of in terms of art knives. One particular maker whose art knives command five and six figure prices used quite bit of stone. And all things being equal, a stone art dagger of his (only the best and rarest stones, semi-precious, etc) would command more than about any other handle material (except for his solid gold pieces).

My own preference in a non-art knife is black micarta.
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Man I'm loving your comments lately :)
 
I like getting stones.
 
I see some people starting to carry a large tactical folder and a smaller slip joint. The slip joint can often be used in public without causing sheeple to over react to the sight of a knife. Slip joints can be quite classy and used almost anywhere.
 
I haven't read threw all the comments here and I have only been in the custom scene for about 3 years. With that being said I'm on IG and FB a lot so I feel I see a lot of the market.
I'm totally with Ben on some of the materials lately...ugh kirinite looks like a 70's bowling ball...horrible. Some of the mammoths and other stones seem to be a nitche market.
Stuff I see selling fast on the social media sites are g10 and Micarta handled and nice wood. I don't think nice wood will ever go out of style.
I have also seen a lot of flipper guys trying there hand at slip joints which is good to see. I think there is the "look at my beard no shave club" that is into more traditional knives.
I also to have noticed the combo of some more traditional style fixed blades and slip joints that now sport titanium CNC scales on a slippy or carbon fiber, fixed blades and full tangs with g10 guards and carbon fiber pins.
I think just in my short time I have seen the over built tactical flippers slow down.
Also seems like timascus and other multi colored combo metals are popular for scales and pocket clips... Even though I'm not a huge fan.
Just a few thoughts from a newer guy to the market.
 
35 years ago everyone was on the same media page.
Take TV...
Monday morning we talked about Saturday Night Live or the football game.
Friday, the Thursday night shows... Mork and Mindy...
Now there are hundreds of channels and people watch more of what they want.

Hobbies and interests were fueled by magazines and there were a couple for each genre.
All extremely limited in scope compared to the current day.

Youtube trumps them all... alone. Much less the rest of the internet.

On top of all that, every single person can create content instead of only reading or watching what is fed to them.

Segmented, specialized and specific is the new order. And if your niche doesn't exist, you have the wherewithal to build it.
 
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BenR.T. said:
I think we're on the same page.
I am a sucker for green Micarta though. :cool:
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Maroon linen with white liners and mosaic pins for me.

Although most of the Shadetree micartas are WILD, and for some reason I love them all, especially the herringbone and the Tequila Sunrise.
 
Kohai999 said:
You may be one of the only ones out there. It shows age and use almost instantly. Chuck Gedraitis has been doing some interesting things with stacked natural micarta that well mimics stacked leather without any of the very legitimate issues that leather has.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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I was actually thinking about stacked pieces of brown and natural canvas and burlap micarta that would mimic the stacked leather look. Glad to know somebody's doing it. I acknowledge all the actual issues with leather stacking, but it looks so darn good.
 
Kohai999 said:
You may be one of the only ones out there. It shows age and use almost instantly. Chuck Gedraitis has been doing some interesting things with stacked natural micarta that well mimics stacked leather without any of the very legitimate issues that leather has.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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I started using brown micarta spacers in my knives more out of necessity than choice. Cow hide spacers stink, as in they swell and move. The horse hide I have been using for years because it is stiffer and does not move as easy continues to dry up and is getting harder and harder to get. I have done about 50 knives so far with the brown micarta spacers and it has been very well received. It mixes well with the brass, copper, aluminum and stainless spacers and as we know, does not move. By Blade show this year I will be in full use of it, i really like it.
 
mike malosh said:
I started using brown micarta spacers in my knives more out of necessity than choice. Cow hide spacers stink, as in they swell and move. The horse hide I have been using for years because it is stiffer and does not move as easy continues to dry up and is getting harder and harder to get. I have done about 50 knives so far with the brown micarta spacers and it has been very well received. It mixes well with the brass, copper, aluminum and stainless spacers and as we know, does not move. By Blade show this year I will be in full use of it, i really like it.
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Good stuff Mike! I need to get another one of your knives at some point. Thinking smaller than the last one.
 
Lo/Rez said:
I see some people starting to carry a large tactical folder and a smaller slip joint. The slip joint can often be used in public without causing sheeple to over react to the sight of a knife. Slip joints can be quite classy and used almost anywhere.
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This is me 100%, always carry a 3.75-4" bladed tactical and a 3.5" ish closed slippy or lockback.

I've been into knives for about 5 years at this point, I'm 27 years old. Slowly my tastes have changed, but not so much aesthetically.

While I used to be all about looks with little regard for much else, I'm now putting the "maker" part of custom knife maker at the top. With so many flavor of the week, over hyped knives dominating certain social media avenues, proper build quality and design seems to have taken a back seat in favor of "cool" or flashy designs, expensive materials etc. Ergonomics have largely become an afterthought and if it's not on bearings, nobody wants to hear about it. Rough finish, lock stick, and the inability to actually CUT have seemingly become acceptable.

And for a spell, I was guilty of this myself. Now older, maybe not so much wiser, but I've listened to those who know way more than I do and I've started to pay closer attention.

How well is the design executed, is there enough blade stuffed into the handle? Are the bolster transitions clean? Handles nicely contoured with the edges knocked down? Was time and attention to detail used on the finishing stages or is it lazily wrapped up? These are all just examples and will obviously vary depending on the style of knife, but you get my point.

Of course there are many exceptions to this and plenty of makers putting out a top shelf product. But I feel there are far too many others who are unfathomably excused, or even praised for delivering a sub-standard product for the money.

And hey, it takes all kinds. If someone likes a certain piece and they're happy, go for it. But there's a right way and a wrong way to make a knife, and unfortunately the "hastily thrown together but it has timascus on it" Instagram market is boomin'
 
mike malosh said:
I started using brown micarta spacers in my knives more out of necessity than choice. Cow hide spacers stink, as in they swell and move. The horse hide I have been using for years because it is stiffer and does not move as easy continues to dry up and is getting harder and harder to get. I have done about 50 knives so far with the brown micarta spacers and it has been very well received. It mixes well with the brass, copper, aluminum and stainless spacers and as we know, does not move. By Blade show this year I will be in full use of it, i really like it.
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Got any pictures? Would love to see what this looks like.
 
mike malosh said:
Let's talk at Blade Don. I've been lookin at your slip joints lately and they look like they would shuck a squirrel pretty good. :)
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Mike, since forged blades and traditional knives are on the way down, we should get together ASAP and work out a trade. ;)

See ya soon & looking forward to it.
 
evanPGH said:
I've been into knives for about 5 years at this point, I'm 27 years old. Slowly my tastes have changed, but not so much aesthetically.

While I used to be all about looks with little regard for much else, I'm now putting the "maker" part of custom knife maker at the top. With so many flavor of the week, over hyped knives dominating certain social media avenues, proper build quality and design seems to have taken a back seat in favor of "cool" or flashy designs, expensive materials etc. Ergonomics have largely become an afterthought and if it's not on bearings, nobody wants to hear about it. Rough finish, lock stick, and the inability to actually CUT have seemingly become acceptable.

And for a spell, I was guilty of this myself. Now older, maybe not so much wiser, but I've listened to those who know way more than I do and I've started to pay closer attention.

How well is the design executed, is there enough blade stuffed into the handle? Are the bolster transitions clean? Handles nicely contoured with the edges knocked down? Was time and attention to detail used on the finishing stages or is it lazily wrapped up? These are all just examples and will obviously vary depending on the style of knife, but you get my point.

Of course there are many exceptions to this and plenty of makers putting out a top shelf product. But I feel there are far too many others who are unfathomably excused, or even praised for delivering a sub-standard product for the money.

.........But there's a right way and a wrong way to make a knife, and unfortunately the "hastily thrown together but it has timascus on it" Instagram market is boomin'
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You have summed up my frustrations with your age group quite succinctly and I'm tickled pink that you have made it to the NEXT LEVEL!!!!! Congratulations, truly!!!

(Now, just remember at the very least if you are going to sell something to mention the steel used and blade length, oal and handle material and all will by right by you, lol!)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I'm really enjoying this discussion. Some diverse perspectives and well thought-out opinions have been presented. I'm watching and listening closely!

mike malosh said:
I cant post pictures here.
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Mike, though I certainly can't speak for bladeforums Inc., I don't see how contributing non-commercial content - especially member-solicited content - should in any way be discouraged by the savvy businessmen who own this website. They know full well that content contributed by valuable members such as yourself is precisely what drives traffic to this website. No content = no traffic = no money.

So by all means, contribute content! Let's see that stacked micarta! :D
 
Here's some of Mike's stacked micarta.

IMG_8634.jpg
 
Mike post pics of handles please

If you can't physically send them to me and I will post
 
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