what was the single most significant development in the knife industry in '99?

shootist16

shootist16

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What do you think was the single most significant development in the knife industry for 1999?

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Dennis Bible
Knoxville, Tennessee


 
Without to much hubris, I think it is the voluminous increase in the flow of information due to the rapid expansion of the various knife related Forums and Websites.

Never at any time in the history of the field has such rapid development been able to take place, due to the interaction between knife makers and knife users. With feedback to the makers being shortened from weeks and even months to mere minutes in some cases, the custom makers and production companies that take a part in these forums are able to stay leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

Anyone wanting to keep pace with the industry and not be relegated to some niche of the knife making world had better consider the Internet an integral part of their future. Most companies in other fields are discovering this as well, so it would be wise to follow suit.

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James Segura
San Francisco, CA


 
Different kind of folderslocks

Rolling Locka, Axis Lock and the ever popular and wide spread intergral/mono locks that you can see everywhere.

 
BladeForums.com

Hah! a One word post. Bet you didn't think I could do it! (thinking some more, I guess I can't
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Most significant knife developments of 1999:

1-yes, there is a notch

2-there is another forum with 4000+ members that started a magazine for $29.95(but we cant be told where it is)
 
I myself would probably say the influx of new lock designs that raise the bar for folders. Bladeforums was the most significant development in 1998.

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Dennis Bible
Knoxville, Tennessee


 
Yeah, I know you're right Dennis. BFC started in 1998. But I didn't start posting here until 1999. So there!
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I think James had it right. No single technological development overshadows what the internet is doing to educate folks and increase the interest of More and More people in fine knives. The increase in numbers of knife users, makers, and manufacturers participating in two way information exchanges Is revolutionizing the knife world (and the world outside of knives too). And we ALL benefit from that. I talked to a number of makers at a show last weekend who said they didn't have Time to participate in this forum or put up a web site. I told them they didn't have any time to waste NOT doing it.

Paracelsus

I guess the ethernet is getting to me again
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I agree with StJames 100%. The faster the knife makers/company's figure out we want, the quicker those knives will be produced & for sale. Look at all the new designs & models that have come out this year, {Can't buy them all, I guess I'll just have to suffer!!}.
 
I agree with Stjames of course.

But you want names eh?

Concealex
Axis/Rolling Locks
INFI
 
The expanding use of the internet has definitely changed the industry, by exponentially multiplying the sources and quantity of information, and dramatically shortening the time in which that information is transmitted?

But is this uniformly a "good thing"? For users/consumers, probably mostly yes. For bigger manufacturers who have the humanpower (staff) to devote to the net and still attend to production, probably mostly yes.

But is it uniformly a good thing for all independent makers? It has certainly brought their skills to the attention of a far broader public than ever before, and increased appreciation for the craft. Lesser-known or up-and-coming knifemakers have certainly benefitted: we've seen some earn their reputations right here on BF much more quickly than they might have, otherwise.

But I also bet that some makers now have waitlists that they never would have imagined two years ago, and that they are finding increasingly difficult to meet. The information which circulates is also as uneven as it is rapid. And I can't help but suspect that the unfortunate recent demise of Central Fla. Knife & Tool was partly predicated on the "new regime of consumption" and sheer avalanche of orders fostered by the internet.

So the internet has changed things -- for better AND for worse?

Wondering --
Glen
 
It's difficult to choose between the internet and the proliferation of various folder locks as the most significant development. Neither one began in this year; rather, both are advances or trends that have accelerated markedly this year. I don't think there's much doubt that the net has a greater potential for influence and importance that transcends knives, but the trend to modified liner locks is possibly more concrete, if less significant in the grand scheme of things. Weighing all the factors carefully, assessing every development from every possible perspective and speaking from a cosmological and ontological frame of reference, there's no question that the increasing popularity of this Forum is the biggest thing to happen to knives this year. So far.
 
Well, I'm with you guys. As far as a substantive change, the new folder locks are the most significant change.

The arguments about the internet are also important, and they *might* easily overshadow something like folder locks. The only problem is, as much as we find these forums fascinating, I have no reliable read on how much our arguments really affect manufacturers and custom makers. I've heard from several makers that it's important to read what's said on the forums -- but not place *too* much importance on it, because the forums represent a specific niche. On the other hand, for all we know, our ranting and raving about liner locks is what caused the new locks to start being produced in the first place.

Anyway, for me, I just don't have a good enough read from makers/manufacturers to say exactly how important the internet is. To me, personally, it's been an incredible resource. To the industry in general? Dunno yet!

Joe
 
I'd think that it's the "coming of age" of the semi-production/semi-custom market. Names like SpeedTech, William Henry, and CRK are producing exceptional knives using small-shop methods, while makers like Darrel Ralph are producing limited runs of "model" knives, making their products more accessible to the general market.

Either way, it comes out to more rapid production of ultra-high quality knives.
 
I would have to say that the increased interaction has helped a lot in the knife makers know what we need and what we use. So they can make knives that suit the people more.
 
Well, I'd have to say it's a toss-up between the invention of steel (as opposed to iron) and mass-production. True, Henry Ford BEGAN work on production lines in '98, but he didn't perfect it until '99. My iron knives were just oxidizing too fast!

Yea, I've lost it!

Seriously though, I think that while the new locks have not necessarily had an influence on knives this year, they will affect next year's market BIG-TIME. For knife-knuts, the internet advancement probably has been it, but for those who are a little bit closer to normal (which excludes everyone here), it will probably be the locks.

Howie
 
Nobody has mentioned the advent of a knife with an integral whistle
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Seriously though,stjames is right on the nail head.It is exciting to be a part of an industrial revolution.That is what is ocuring right in front of our eyes in the knife industry, because of the forums.
David
AKTI#150

[This message has been edited by davidb415 (edited 21 December 1999).]

[This message has been edited by davidb415 (edited 21 December 1999).]
 
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