Why is BF so Special

I have always been interested in knives.
One of the earliest memories I have is going to lots of gun shows really young, and my parents always buying me a knife just because I wanted one (thank ya Mom and Dad!)

Back in the day (when I didn't know about BF) I was catching up on my interest in knives. I started visiting some brick & mortar places and completely fell in love with the Emerson CQC-7. That started it all. I totally fell in love with the Commander, but couldn't afford it. I thought, "man, there HAS to be a cheaper place to buy knives... maybe out there on the internet"...

Well, then I started searching the internet looking for a good place to buy knives. Of course I wound up finding a lot of internet shops (1sks, knifeworks, eknifeworks, knifeoutlet, discountknives.com, etc....) but also every single time I made a search for knives, bladeforums.com would come up. At the time, I remember thinking "how feminine is that?! A bunch of guys sitting around talking about knives instead of using them... oh boy, what a bunch of weinies!" Then some kind of miracle happened... I actually researched one of the search results that came up for BF.com. I thought "holy crap! this isn't a bunch of guys sharing their "feelings" like a bunch of dorks... this is honest discussion about something I care about - knives!

By GOD, I had finally found a place where people can come and talk about knives. It was not the gathering of touchy-feely-never use a knife-weenies I had imagined!

Really! I had condemned BF.com before I even gave it a chance. That just goes to show you how stupid that is... I had to actually check it out to find out it was something good.

That is why BF is so special to me.
 
At the time, I remember thinking "how feminine is that?! A bunch of guys sitting around talking about knives instead of using them... oh boy, what a bunch of weinies!"
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Yeah, I would say you were a little far off the mark. Glad to see you found out the truth though! We certainly are a 'special' group; and not all in that I-ride-the-short-bus kind of special either ;) :p .
 
I just enjoy Bladefroums because I hear more intelligent discussion of knives here thatn any place else, also, as other have mentioned, this forum sustains the best discussion traffic. It's sad to go to other forums and see that no one has posted for three days at a time.
 
Several of you guys have mentioned the traffic issue which is the primary reason I come here, but why is there so much more traffic? Is Spark better at advertising this place? Knifeforums has been around longer than BF, and there were others before that. So to rephrase my question why is BF so big and popular when it basically offers the same stuff as the other forums? I love BF, and I think in part it is because there are plenty of posters, on some of the other forums one or two people seem to reply to every thread and that is it. Some of these people end up getting annoying. Here at BF when I post a thread I usually don't even recognize some of the people who respond. So my basic question is what factors have made Bladeforums the powerhouse that it is in terms of knife discussion on the net. I have been here since december of 98, and have watched BF grow while ohter forums have not kept up. What is causing this?
Kyle Fuglesten
 
Others have already mentiond what i love 'bout it here.

ANother thing I like, bladeforums is a very active place, unlike others.
 
Initially I think the searches that I did for a few knives that I was interested in buying yeilded far better results. That's what got me coming back here. I also think Spark has recruited good moderators. For me Ken Cox and the like help maintain the high calibre of discussion that makes for threads worth reading.

I've also got to like the cast of characters here, Golok, VG, Buzz, Gollnick and others I can't think of right now. It's also nice to have a place where 'locals' can hang out - the asian and aussie forums.
 
I like BF because the forum is easy to read, has lots of good posts, easy to search, and because there aren't too many categories. I think having too many categories just means that they all won't get updated often enough for me to check them very often.

--Matt
 
BFC was the first forum I found when I wanted to learn more about collecting knives. Every knife that I've bought or received since logging onto BFC is because of BFC either directly or indirectly. I can say the same thing about the people that I know in the knife community. When I go to Blade show in Atlanta it's like going on a family gathering, that's because of BFC.

It's my home, you're my family, we don't have to like the same things or agree all of the time, but this is where I hang my hat.

MIkeT, thanks for staring this place.
Spark, I really do appreciate all that you've put into this place to keep it going and making it what it is today.
For all of you with Basic Member under your name, I hope you'll realize that BFC needs your help to keep going.
 
I got here after buying a BM a few yrs. ago, then somehow going from BM.com to here, the rest is history.

I like BF more than KF because, IMHO, BF is easier to navigate, more forums, and for my computer, the pages load way faster. Sometimes KF just gets very little input from peeps, but BF is always got something going on.
I also enjoy W & C, something the other two don't have.
As for USN, it's ok for knives, although some forums also run slow, or not at all. Ihave had several tech problems with that site, also. Mostly related to my IE.
All in all, the peeps here at BF are much more engaging, too.
 
Originally posted by crosman177
Others have already mentiond what i love 'bout it here.

ANother thing I like, bladeforums is a very active place, unlike others.
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Same here, most traffic out of all the others, and I have a boatload of friends here too :)
 
I was looking for an excuse to buy a big knife. By accident I stumbled onto BladeForums and found there was a review page for knives! I rapidly found that a Cold Steel Trailmaster would fit the bill, so I advertised for one. While I waited, I read. And read. And read. I learned about knives whose existence I could never have dreamt of. Materials that sounded like the stuff of science fiction! Talonite! Wootz steel!

A forumite answered my ad seeking a CS TM. It was Gadi Blilious. We negotiated by email and fixed a price. I then realised that I had no convenient way of sending the money to Gadi. I had to spend a month joining Paypal. If I had been Gadi, dealing with max the new bug, I would have told me to take a long walk off a short pier. Gadi waited. He sent me a picture of the TM to help me make up my mind. Remember that I'm a veteran LEO. The thought of sending a (to me) considerable sum of money to a far-off land in the hope of eventually receiving something I'd never seen weighed heavily on my mind. Eventually I screwed my courage to the sticking place & mailed the money. Days passed. I was still reading, still learning. Busse? Strider? Chris Reeve? Benchmade? Spyderco?

Then it arrived. Wow. I learned that - unlike at work - knife people can be trusted. When I received the shock news of Gadi's untimely death, I felt a pang for a man I'd never known. I remember his words to me as I tested his patience: "A deal is a deal." That TM is now called "Gadi." I will never part with it. It's 6' from me as I type, oiled, sharpened and ready to go.

Still I inhaled information. Convex? Sabre? Tanto?

I began to remark on characters in the threads. Who the hell is Vampire Gerbil? Wow! Ashes is gorgeous! Gollnick sounds as though he knows what he's talking about...... On it went. Learning, learning.

I made more deals and learned to trust forumites unconditionally. I began to pick up positive feedback. I realised that the good opinion of other knuts meant more to me than praise at work (and that means a lot, because bobbying is more kicks than ha'pence, I can tell you).

And here I am. I have over 18,000 new mates. I can post questions about anything, no matter how asinine; I can post outrageous opinions; share crappy jokes and make a pratt of myself, because that's what you can do in a family.

maximus otter
 
Originally posted by maximus otter
Remember that I'm a veteran LEO. The thought of sending a (to me) considerable sum of money to a far-off land in the hope of eventually receiving something I'd never seen weighed heavily on my mind.
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Nice post, Max. I'm in the U.S. but have friends in the U.K. who tell me horror stories about the Draconian laws over there. What's the feeling among LEO's about enforcing that stuff?
 
Bellamy17,

Regrettably, most of the bobbies still out on the cobbles are fresh from training school. They've been imbued with the nanny state attitude that "everything not compulsory is forbidden." Also, being new in service, they are keen to make numbers and get noticed.

Older officers tend to be more pragmatic. The have little left to prove. A civil explanation for the knife may well work, coming from someone who is obviously no threat. The tragic thing is that the laws were made in the first place....

A thubnail of the law here is: If the blade is fixed or locks open, it's illegal for EDC. Any length. The only legal EDC is a 3" or less slip joint folder. Think SAK.

Despite this, the carrying of knives by criminals seems to increase :eek:

Read and weep:

http://www.hrcr.org/safrica/arrested_rights/Harris_DirPubPros.htm

The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Acts 1959:

The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Acts 1959 makes it an offence for any person to manufacture, sell, hire, offer for sale or hire, or to expose or to have in his possession for the purpose of sale or hire, or to lend or give to another person a flick knife or gravity knife.

http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/1997021.htm

http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/1996026.htm#2

maximus otter
 
For me BFC is easy to navigate (unlike KFC) and more friendly (unlike other forums)... Also the search function works OK now...

David
 
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