Who are the hottest custom makers today?

There is no easy answer to this question. You have gotten, and will get, people’s opinion as to who the “hottest” maker is, but they are exactly that. Opinions.
 
SVTFreak said:
There is no easy answer to this question. You have gotten, and will get, people’s opinion as to who the “hottest” maker is, but they are exactly that. Opinions.
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I agree.

but I'm not looking for opinions on who is the BEST maker. I'm trying to find out who's knives sell out fastest at shows/in highest demand. There should be some non-opinionated data on this.....
 
Ron Sabbagh said:
I agree.

but I'm not looking for opinions on who is the BEST maker. I'm trying to find out who's knives sell out fastest at shows/in highest demand. There should be some non-opinionated data on this.....
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Thats a little easier to quantify. But still not reliable. Many makers don’t even go to shows. When it comes to traditionals, I can tell you who didn’t have knives for sale on their tables at 2pm Friday when I walked into blade. Bose, Ploppert, Swenson and Ruple. Some has knives to look at but where sold. Some had packed up and gone home. Bose had knives for lottery. You can’t buy his even if you get to the table first.
 
I’ll second Rad Knives. His auctions go above 10kUSD and his books are always closed. But he’s not only one of the “hottest” makers, he makes incredible stuff, all made by him (he even forges steel, titanium alloy frames and all the hardware he uses).
 
SVTFreak said:
Thats a little easier to quantify. But still not reliable. Many makers don’t even go to shows. When it comes to traditionals, I can tell you who didn’t have knives for sale on their tables at 2pm Friday when I walked into blade. Bose, Ploppert, Swenson and Ruple. Some has knives to look at but where sold. Some had packed up and gone home. Bose had knives for lottery. You can’t buy his even if you get to the table first.
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yeah Tony Bose was crazy even 20 years ago. Reese is now near impossible as well. Agree with Ploppert. He doesn't make a high volume and his work is outstanding. Luke Swenson is a relative newcomer. Glad to hear he's in demand.

I remember paying extra money to get into the N.Y. custom knife show years ago just to get a Bose knife. For $25 you can get in an hour earlier than general admission. So I get there..first in line...and as soon as the doors open...run to his table. Nothing. Not even a toothpick. I shook my head...he said "dealers get first crack at 'em."
 
Just running off some names here. I know there are plenty more. Some are fairly new, some are very well established. All are what I'd consider "Hot Makers". Almost all these guys sell via lottery and open bid at shows. Anything FCFS goes shortly after the doors open. Also their knives can go for silly stupid prices on the secondary market. Most are modern folder makers.

Pete Carey, Todd Rexford, Brad Southard, Frank Fischer, Jared Oeser, Rob Carter, Tom Mayo, Enrique Pena, Lee Williams, Charles Marlowe, Jason Stout, Michael Raymond, Scott Cook, Kevin Foster, Gus Cecchini, Jared Price, Jon Graham, Ian Picarski, Michael Burch, Tom Krein, Lee Lerman, Peter Rassenti, David Mosier, Ray Laconico, Walter Randolph, Jeremy Marsh.
 
Ron Sabbagh said:
yeah Tony Bose was crazy even 20 years ago. Reese is now near impossible as well. Agree with Ploppert. He doesn't make a high volume and his work is outstanding. Luke Swenson is a relative newcomer. Glad to hear he's in demand.

I remember paying extra money to get into the N.Y. custom knife show years ago just to get a Bose knife. For $25 you can get in an hour earlier than general admission. So I get there..first in line...and as soon as the doors open...run to his table. Nothing. Not even a toothpick. I shook my head...he said "dealers get first crack at 'em."
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I’ve met tony twice. Once at blade and once at a crawfish boil in south Louisiana. He was visiting a very good friend of his who I work with. The man is as humble and nice as can be. Showed another old man, even older than him, great respect and admiration for his home made sawblade knives. The man give his patterns out and gives free advise to new makers. The same goes for Luke Swenson. Bubba crouch, Tom Ploppert (met him at the same boil) same way. Meeting those guys and seeing them interact with my buddy (a new maker) makes me not mind spending money with them. The only reason I don’t have a bose is I cannot get one straight from him. I don’t like paying purveyors markups. I’ll try again to win the lottery at blade next year though. Unless I get lucky and get an overflow from my work friend. That’s unlikely though.

Some of those makers sell out the Thursday night before at private meetings with very select people. Bose and Ploppert for sure.
 
No doubt. And I didn't mean to insinuate Tony was not a gracious man. In fact, the opposite. He was upset that he had nothing to sell to the customers like us.

but no doubt that there are those that have special access ....dealer or private collector....

I don't blame him. He can't make enough for all of us
 
Yes...
M. Raymond, Richard Rogers, Trevor Burger, Grimsmos, Peter Rassenti and of course, the Holts.
 
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I had this made via Andy Golts of Apeiron Bladeworks. He has some unique designs and a style for sure. A few of his designs have been picked up by Euro knife company, I forget which.

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Lots of Russian makers too. Shirogorov, Cheburkov and CultroTech, among others, make one-offs that regularly sell to collectors in the thousands.
 
Bull Ruple’s work is fantastic. He only had one knife left for sale at the SoCal knife show last week and the only reason that it was still for sale was the price. He still had quite a bit of traffic at his table. Mitch Jenkins also makes a fine knife. I bought one of the last ones that he had for sale at the show two years ago. It was a Loveless style gut hook with beautiful stag grips and superb blade. Both are very pleasant people.
 
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