Where is Martin Swinkles?

I would love to hear back fom Martin!! I ordered back in Jan 2011, and paid the $50 deposit via paypal. after payment i NEVER heard back from Martin.
I emailed him several time with no answer! can someone shed some light on my situation???
 
I also spoke with Martin sometime back and if I remember right , he gets OVER WHELMED with emails as well.
To the point it shuts it down or something.
correct me if I am wrong.
I had wanted some sheaths from him but well did not want to wait.
shame he does do great work. REAL NICE
 
I too placed an order with Martin back in January of this year after exchanging 7 or 8 emails over quite a short period of time about my requirements for a custom sheath.

After this period however communication naturally ceased as I waited to hear back about the progress. I waited a few months before sending an email enquiring about progress and time-scale but received no reply, and after some time of sending emails with no reply I grew a little worried - especially considering I had already parted with cash. I was relieved to receive a very apologetic email on 31/05/11 explaining the issues he had been having and assuring me he had not dropped off the planet, and I’ll definitely receive my order. I have since heard nothing back, but the posts on his blog and the information posted here tie in with his explanation, and now that I have read that others are in the same boat, I have a complete trust of Martin’s integrity.

I don’t really care how much longer I have to wait, I hold Martin’s craftsmanship in such high esteem that I will wait as long as it takes. He was enormously helpful when assisting me in designing the perfect sheath for my Falkie NL5, and that level of customisation and bespoke artisanship is what brought me to his door in the first place. That being said however, I have got anxious once or twice about the lack of communication, which brought me to google the question 'Where is Martin Swinkels'. After a bit of sifting I stumbled on this thread, which is a bit stupid of me as I should have thought to check on this forum in the first place - I have been a member for some time and I think it was actually here that I first heard about Martin.

I am encouraged to hear both that other people are experiencing the same issue, and that others are receiving their orders. I found it hard to believe that someone of Martin’s standing in the online community and amongst his peers (and someone with such obvious reverence of his craft) could be a fly-by-night, but naturally one can get paranoid about this notion. Now that I’m reassured I shall be as patient as is needed and am immensely looking forward to owning and using one of Martin’s sheaths. Thanks all for your help.
 
I had placed an order for two sheaths with Martin Back in the Fall of 2010. Initially, contact was frequent and good. My last response from him was 2/11/11. I know he was going through some troubling times. But after repeated attempts, I have had no response. I hope that he is well. Some contact to know that he is ok would be much appreciated. My order can wait as long as it has too. Any updates from anyone would be great to hear.
 
Wow magnusphere, and I thought I'd had a long wait! Have you tried what philwar suggested (pg.2) and sent multiple emails over a short space of time so that he notices the urgency?

I want to try this but then if his problem is with getting too many emails it would seem to me counter-productive to add to the torrent. Also I think it would seem quite rude to hound him like that. It has worked for icybluesmile though, and I am tempted.

icybluesmile: I'm curious what sort of frequency you sent the emails, was it 20 emails in one day, or over a week, or what? Just want to know in case I give it a go....

magnushphere I agree; any updates from people on here if they've made contact with Martin or received their orders would be handy, if only just to reassure the rest of us.
 
Jifry said:
Unlike you, he has apparently finished my commission (see the sheath and firesteel pouch for a TOPS Alaskan Harpoon in his gallery). I've not received it yet, mostly because I've asked him to delay shipping until I'm back home.

Jifry, I can't find any pictures of this sheath on the blog, could you link me to them so I can check 'em out?

Also, I'm intrigued, what are some of his other interesting customers?

Cheers
Click to expand...
 
Just to add and hopefully reassure people; I ordered a sheath for a Fallkniven TK2 and TOPS Vector back in September, had to ship both items to him in Holland, absolutely no problems what so ever. Really excellent work. Hope everything works out for you. John
 
christoophar,

Sorry I only just saw your post today, I don't visit Bladeforums often. To your questions:

The sheath and firesteel pouch for a TOPS Alaskan Harpoon is here:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/marrrtin/TopsAlaskanHarpoonSheathPouch03.jpg

This seems to be the only snap of this project Martin has posted.

We collaborated on the design, the challenge I posed to him was to create a sheath for this knife which was modular but not technical. You can't see from this snap but the sheath accommodates almost every possible carry option with the pouch attached. MOLLE compatible but not jump safe as presented in the photo; I ordered it with a screw on drop loop that makes it so.

The first of its kind for this knife that I know of, I'm proud of Martin's finished work but have been horribly lazy about submitting a long-promised post about the project. Maybe I should get to that?

I also have a black leather/Kydex prototype without the pouch from Martin that I'd be happy to sell to another TOPS Alaskan Harpoon owner someday.

As for Martin's other 'interesting' customers, I'd imagine anyone with a professional interest in sharp objects fits that bill. Don't you?

:-)
 
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I'm unfortunately another person adding to the "was happy on the first transaction, now incredibly dissatisfied on the second".

My first MS sheath was for my Busse HR, and I could not have been more satisfied with it:

BusseHellRazorPancakeTechnical2011a.jpg


I was so happy that in January 2012 I placed another order, this time for a Swamp Rat HRLM & a custom designed (self sketched) Leatherman Wave sheath.

I knew the Leatherman one would be a LOT of work, and I had need additional parts sent to him so I it would take a while for him to get started on that. I asked for an update in April 2011. After many new attempts to get through to him I discovered through some internet detective work that he was an active moderator on www.europeanblades.com, specifically in their sheaths section.

After a PM or two he finally responded in September assuring me that all was well, progress was slow because of the production orders he had which needed to be fulfilled etc. Then a week or so later he sends me this picture:

SwampratHowlerTechnicalSheathallleatherstraps.jpg


Another stunner, no doubt. Then a few PM's, emails etc and the trail goes cold. I also asked him to drop the Leatherman project because I got the feeling it was slowing him down, at this point I just wanted the Howler...but the trail was well and truly cold.

Multiple emails, PM's etc and it's still quiet. Right now I'm sending a snail mail to see if he'll respond that way...I'm not hopeful! Then tonight I log onto www.europeanblades.com and find that Martin Swinkels "Last visited" January 14th, 2013, 3:59 pm - That's today

What started off as a fantastic experience has turned into a PITA. I have asked so politely for an update, and have given him every opportunity to abandon the second custom sheath but there is simply no response.
 
I ordered a sheath from Martin in Jan '11. We had regular correspondence over a couple of months. I paid him in full as cheaper than making two payments. After persistent attempts to contact him I got one message a year later, then nothing. Not fussed about the cash at all - I just really wanted that sheath for my Idun NL5! SO gutted. What the hell happened? I suppose we're all wondering the same thing.
 
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