Why is W&SS so in love with customs?

I have been collecting knives since I was 6 years old ,mostly production knives and many of my knives I had customized.I have sold almost all of my production knives and now I only want custom knives.The only production knives I keep are a few busses and I consider buying some BRKT.I DID TEST MY KNIVES IN THE BUSH AND REALIZED THAT CUSTOM KNIVES PERFORMED WAY AHEAD OF PRODUCTION ONES and I really like talking to a custom maker ,you can learn a lot from them .I have a few favorite steels and favorite blade shape ,handle material and thickness.Why buy pay for production knives when you can have a knife made the way you like it.Many better production cost more then customs so...All the custom makers I ever talked to were really nice people and very helpful this is something you don't get from the big companies .SO I SAY CUSTOMS ALL THE WAY FOR ME
 
Elen said:
I agree with that. I also think that another reason why you don't see many broken customs is that a lot of folks baby their custom knives. Custom knives end up as safe queens in the drawer a heck of a lot more often than production knives. Here in Finland, for example, no-one would use a hand-made custom puukko to do the things they would gladly use a 2 $ Mora knife to do. That's not to say that no-one uses their customs. The folks on this forum certainly do, as do I. :thumbup:
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I agree. A lot of knives aren't just used that much. I've put cracks in handles and rolled edges on lots of khukuris. I've chipped knife blades. A while back I posted the pic of the GB mini I had the corner break off on. Also have chipped a few of my customs also. I had a spring on a microtech LUDT break and I've broke 2 springs in one of my Hubies- both after exactly 4 years of use.

Never broke a blade off except on my first Buck 110. I bought it in 1975 and in 93 was cutting rope and it snapped off right at the ricasso. Looking at the break it looked like a good % age had been cracked for a while and then the rest finally gave. I speculate I must have used the blade to pry sideways or dropped it.

I sent it back to Buck telling them that it was my first 110, I'd dressed my first deer with it and how it went thru Forestry in College with me and instead of sending me a new one they replaced the blade:thumbup:
 
I like them both. The Spyderco bushcrafter is going to be a very cool production knife and I need a Mikro Canadian and probably a Hudson Bay Barkie. It is hard for a little gy to do all the testing and have the heat treating equipment and skills of say Busse or Spyderco.
However I still love customs as well. I have a great forged bowie being made and even though I have a couple production bowies like a Busse Steel Heart ergo and a DFLE they don't have anywhere near the feeling of a hand made diff tempered forged bowie.
Also I get to see it made to exactly my specs. I intend to use it hard and will do a comparison between it and the SH-E.
 
Unsub said:
I like them both. The Spyderco bushcrafter is going to be a very cool production knife and I need a Mikro Canadian and probably a Hudson Bay Barkie. It is hard for a little gy to do all the testing and have the heat treating equipment and skills of say Busse or Spyderco.
However I still love customs as well. I have a great forged bowie being made and even though I have a couple production bowies like a Busse Steel Heart ergo and a DFLE they don't have anywhere near the feeling of a hand made diff tempered forged bowie.
Also I get to see it made to exactly my specs. I intend to use it hard and will do a comparison between it and the SH-E.
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Wonder what the Spyderco is going to run?
 
There are so many great custom makers here that combine their knowledge of the outdoors with great designs. They have extremely fair pricing too which makes it possible to get your ultimate field knife made at a price you can afford.
I also like all the member feedback that gets posted here. You get to see the knives in action and get a feel for the designs, steels etc.
 
I have not bought a production fixed blade in 18 months. I just love customs that much. I take pride in using them and caring for them. I've made some great friends in the process, which is most rewarding to me.
 
tknife, your sig picture really makes me want a set like that! It's funny, I was thinking how great it would be to have a chopper sized version of my forum knife, then I saw your picture! (I've been away for a while)

Are there any good pictures of those knives in a thread somewhere???
 
foxyrick said:
tknife, your sig picture really makes me want a set like that! It's funny, I was thinking how great it would be to have a chopper sized version of my forum knife, then I saw your picture! (I've been away for a while)

Are there any good pictures of those knives in a thread somewhere???
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Hey Rick, check this thread from a few months back when I first got it. It's seen a lot of use since then aqnd doesn't look quite as pretty anymore ;) It's an awesome knife, chops well and carries nicely.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=543595&highlight=nwa
 
tknife said:
Hey Rick, check this thread from a few months back when I first got it. It's seen a lot of use since then aqnd doesn't look quite as pretty anymore ;) It's an awesome knife, chops well and carries nicely.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=543595&highlight=nwa
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Thats the thread I just posted about in the grail thread! Ever since I saw your camp knife T, I wanted it. I think I emailed Nick that day, and now its finally coming. Another few weeks he said :D
 
You will love it :thumbup: The thing I like best is that it chops like a larger knife, but is not too heavy. And is balanced and shaped nicely so that you won't go crazy trying to use it for smaller stuff too.
 
tknife said:
Hey Rick, check this thread from a few months back when I first got it. It's seen a lot of use since then aqnd doesn't look quite as pretty anymore ;) It's an awesome knife, chops well and carries nicely.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=543595&highlight=nwa
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tonym said:
Thats the thread I just posted about in the grail thread! Ever since I saw your camp knife T, I wanted it. I think I emailed Nick that day, and now its finally coming. Another few weeks he said :D
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Tony, that's the same thread I saw. I ordered mine the very next day.:)
Tknife, I borrowed your very first pic for my desktop wallpaper at work, hope you don't mind.
Needed something to drool over while waiting for mine to come :D
 
I grew up in a blade shop. I never bought a sheath knife for myself (outside of a bayonet for my deployment) until a few months ago, when I bought a Schrade Little Finger, which was a knife I'd admired as a kid.

My mentor insisted that I could make any knife I wanted, and make it better than the factory knives, so why waste money? In most ways, he was right, of course. But I was still as excited as could be when I got that little Schrade.

I don't really care if it's custom or not, if the knife fits the parameters for my uses, I'll use it. I do prefer to use a custom over most factory knives, if they are otherwise equal. I like to support craftsmen.
 
I tend to find that the production companies make a knife that tries to please everyone. Broadest fan base for maximum sales. This leads to niggling things that I dislike about it;
"It's great. If only....... the handle was beefier/they had it in a different steel/it didn't have the clip point/it came in micarta etc".
The custom route allows me to get exactly (Or as near to exactly as is possible) what I want.
Also I tend to see you guys showing off:D your customs, and I tend to want one too.
Plus, I just think they look better than production.
 
There does seem to be a bit of truth about the need for BF-'maturity' before we get exposed to customs. Despite great tools like Google, my predominate exposure to custom makers has been through BF and WS&S. General searching of the internet seems to provide too many hits or unfiltered hits.

When you are introduced to a new maker here on the forums it usually comes with a detail review and/or testamonial about the maker and even sometimes participation in the thread by the maker. Kind of like Oprah interviewing the author in her book of the month club. Once you've identified the maker(s) that you are interested in, you can find their websites that much easier.

Another thing I find is that a lot of makers tend to define a relatively narrow niche. For example, outdoors/bushcrafty knives tend to dominate a maker's designs. This isn't to say they don't have the odd kitchen knife or fighting blade thrown in, but specialization does seem implicit in the craft. Going through a maker's web-page is always an interesting experience for me. I tend to like it when they have gallery's of their past work along with what is currently available. It is really interesting when you can start to i.d. a maker's particular style - especially when they start showing up on the forum threads.
 
stephanfowler said:
I know I personally allow any buyer of one of my knives a full week to return with absolutely no questions asked. You don't like the color, no problem. You want the handle thicker/thinner, no problem. Your dog farted and made it smell funny, no problem.

I use the same type of Rockwell tester that any knife production company would use.

I beat the CRAP out of my knives in my wood pile. (chopping, battoning, whittling, whatever)

I shave MDF until my arm hurts (MUCH more abrasive than wood)

and I intentionally break 1 out of 10 blades to check grain size, flexibility, etc

show me a production company that intentionally destroys 10% of their product.........
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Man! :eek: That is impressive!!! Keep up the good work... you'll be a mastersmith before you know it. :thumbup:
 
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