The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Considering (based on his sudden silence and removal of all posts regarding this) that he is likely now aware that he faces possible civil liability if any of those 28 dealers that they were misled and have lost sales as a result, he would be well to shut his mouth and lay low for a while lest he say something more incriminating than what he’s already admitted to.
We both know the knife community is smaller than it appears. Word travels. He really screwed up by blaming the dealers. I mean, he screwed up by not labeling his knives as made in China and failing to notify the dealers that USA made did not apply to the Chinese knives as well, but making bad blood with 28 dealers is a terrible decision if you want to keep selling knives.
Actually, he's probably had his phone blowing up since like 6AM from dealers enquiring about when they can expect their funds returned after he's received the shipments of his Chinese knives back, or in some cases, all of the knives he's sent them, back. Turns out that wrapping yourself in the Good Book isn't going to shield you from the ire of people who don't like how you misled them, and made bank off of it. Totally odd, that.
Hell, if even if none of the dealers say anything, think about how far and wide that "origin chart" has spread by now, and all the people who are mad because they thought they'd paid out for an American made knife, only to discover it's a Guangdong Special. I've seen at least ten different people who are fuming mad that their Sumos are Chinese made.
Agreed. No one will convince me this was all a big misunderstanding. To many things add up to the exact opposite.
Yup, and for whatever reason (doesn't matter), "Made in the USA" really matters to a lot of people in the knife community.
I'm curious, when he signed up with all these dealers, even if we disregard his video update from 3 months ago where he says he got that horizontal machine, and go with he's had 2 machines this entire time, it's impossible to make enough knives to stock 28 dealers. He'd had to have had Chinese production coming in, and all those knives, not one.... not a single knife was labeled made in China? All the dealers who stocked these knives never saw a made in China label while opening boxes, stocking them, putting them on shelves, opening a knife up to display or check out?
)signed up when he was making everything in the US. If they did when he was USA only, I think it would’ve been a big issue for them to question the COO of a new product. Imagine a dealer telling a previously trusted US maker, “these look Chinese made.” I don’t think that would go over well and would cause trust issues. Certain Chinese companies do make amazing knives so I guess it could be flattering.His website did say that every knife was QC'd and shipped from their shop in Idaho. Maybe part of Hoback's style of QC is removing "Made in China" stickers.I'm curious, when he signed up with all these dealers, even if we disregard his video update from 3 months ago where he says he got that horizontal machine, and go with he's had 2 machines this entire time, it's impossible to make enough knives to stock 28 dealers. He'd had to have had Chinese production coming in, and all those knives, not one.... not a single knife was labeled made in China? All the dealers who stocked these knives never saw a made in China label while opening boxes, stocking them, putting them on shelves, opening a knife up to display or check out?
If in order to clear customs they had to have the labels when they got here, where did they go by the time they reached the dealers? And customs and border patrol kept missing that these knives were not labeled, for years?
I think there is only 2 people who believe that.
Obviously we are just speculating here, but if he was removing the made in China stickers, I'd think he'd pay EXTRA attention to make sure he didn't miss one. Knowing full well as he admitted that "blowback" would be fierce.
That qc’ing line is what turned me off of his knives and made me suspicious months ago.
I’d imagine the original boxes had the “made in China” stickers adhered. Hence the reason for the custom wood boxes, made by the blind or Amish. I’d say he tacks on $200 for the boxes alone.
