Where are Custom Handmade knives headed in 2016...? 2017

[Doug C]

since I believe that "fighting bowies" are just as much fantasy blades.

Even on this forum there are knifemakers who give service personnel discounted rates and accelerated delivery times.
So I disagree with your statement.

Doug

 

[islandblacksmith]

@Lycosa...yes, i do have a lovely traditional red pigment for urushi, rolf... (^__^)

 

[Lycosa]

Be still my heart. ^
Thank you for the post, my good man.
rolf

 

[lemongrenadier]

I love small fixed blades! Strong, portable, and useful. There is something about them that feel natural and historical, like you are a viking carrying around a utility seax. Have small fixed blades been out of style before?

 

[stezann]

I am not sure about what kind of knife i dig over the others. But i can recognize the talent and the craftmanship when i encounter it, and i appreciate it.
The main quality i search for in a knife is its usefulness as a tool, not whatever a tool, a knife
The same way i don't like clunky black tactical paperweights, i don't like ABS bowies when they exibit rolled edges that seem like axe edges...but i appreciate a well designed linerlock and drool over a nice bowie and the slipjoint in my pocket.

A maker should explore the forms and the functions over any other things.
And it has to be a personal research...if everybody think that stomping over a lock or hacking 2x4 is THE WAY to test a blade there will be not much room for improvement in terms of edge tools developement.

 

[DevinT]

I think that there will be advances in the broad spectrum from machine work to hand work and from the simple to the complex. More nostalgic pieces including razors will be made. Kitchen knives will continue to improve in design, function and beauty. And lots of new knife makers will come, all ages, all styles. I'm looking forward to it.

Hoss

 

[the possum]

I don't know how much crossover there is between guys who like knives and guns, but I'll bet there's a significant correlation. The vast majority of my "fun money" has been spent on guns these last several years, and depending on how the 2016 presidential elections go, I submit there will be another substantial uptick in gun sales, meaning there will be less disposable income available for nice knives. I don't know how much that impacts our corner of the world, but it may make it harder to draw in new collectors from related fields.

I've been on an axe & hatchet kick lately. Don't know if anyone else has seen anything developing there... or if maybe someone should start a new trend. There are still custom makers doing tactical tomahawks and traditional pipe and throwing 'hawks, but very few who make a really nice traditional hatchet/hand axe like those between about 1890 to WWII.

 

[Lorien]

I don't know how much crossover there is between guys who like knives and guns, but I'll bet there's a significant correlation. The vast majority of my "fun money" has been spent on guns these last several years, and depending on how the 2016 presidential elections go, I submit there will be another substantial uptick in gun sales, meaning there will be less disposable income available for nice knives. I don't know how much that impacts our corner of the world, but it may make it harder to draw in new collectors from related fields.

I've been on an axe & hatchet kick lately. Don't know if anyone else has seen anything developing there... or if maybe someone should start a new trend. There are still custom makers doing tactical tomahawks and traditional pipe and throwing 'hawks, but very few who make a really nice traditional hatchet/hand axe like those between about 1890 to WWII.

That's an interesting post! Politics absolutely shapes and/or expresses attitudinal trends in a civilization.

Being a person who has absolutely no interest in guns, but a burning passion for custom cutlery, I tend to notice others who occupy a similar 'category' and I've noticed, (perhaps and increasing number of) birds of a feather. I think that a decoupling of guns and knives in the minds of the general population wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

[JParanee]

I carry a gun and a knife every day

I think they go together like peas and carrots

 

[sheathmaker]

I do carry both gun and knife when I go armed, but I really prefer the knife when I want to cut something.

Paul