Sell Custom Knives At Everyday Prices

Shooting Industry, June, 2000 by Massad Ayoob

Custom craftsmanship is expensive. You can't sell a Holland & Holland shotgun for the price of a Remington. You can't sell a Les Baer Premium .45 auto for the price of an Auto-Ordnance 1911. But you can sell a custom-designed knife for the price of an ordinary top-quality blade!

Knife aficionados aren't always gun enthusiasts, but it seems gun enthusiasts usually appreciate a good knife. And there's no sense in letting your customers make their knife purchases at the cutlery outlet in the local monster mall.

Yes, it means putting in some additional inventory but knife sales are hot. They've been strong for the last few years and the trend has a healthy growth curve. Still hesitate? You can continue to emphasize your firearms. Think of it this way: add weapons-oriented things wrought in steel -- it's a natural fit, especially when combined with the natural draw of "custom" knives at factory prices.

Many of your customers know a lot about knives. They know the work of famous knife-makers costs hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. This is often for a custom folder. Some of these makers, in alphabetical order, are Frank Centofante, Blackie Collins, Allen Elishewitz, Ernest Emerson, Wayne Goddard, Jess Horn, Bob Lum, Ken Onion, Bob Terzuola, and Howard Viele -- to name just a few. An edged instrument from one of these makers is a cherished possession that's often listed in last wills and testaments. Unfortunately, most people couldn't afford a knife designed by one of these famous makers.

Until now.

Big Name, Small Price

Sal Glesser, the CEO of Spyderco, may have been the first to figure out the brilliant custom/factory formula: Hire a master knife designer, pay him a decent amount of money and a good royalty and have him design a knife expressly for your mass production facility. The result is a custom-designed knife that can be affordably marketed and sold on the high end of the mass-production blade price list.

Glesser' s Spyderco models designed by Centofante, Goddard, Horn, Lum, Terzuola and Viele are among the finest knives anywhere. Terzuola's "Starmate" is the tactical folder I most often carry when teaching deadly force classes. It's ideal for demonstrating how quickly a blade can be brought into action.

One of Spyderco's top-selling knives is the folding hunter designed by Tim Wegner. Yes, it's among the company's most heavily advertised knives, but that's because it's one of the best. I'm told Alaska's statewide instructors in hunter safety and hostile-environment survival have adopted it. I carry mine frequently as a "backup blade."

Kershaw Knives was wise enough to buy into the design work of Ken Onion. I've visited Ken at his home shop, found him to be brilliantly knowledgeable in the design and use of a blade. I can testify that the Kershaw version of his super-quick "thumb-opening folder" works as well as his much more expensive personally crafted knives.

Benchmade had a sales winner as soon as they contracted with Ernest Emerson to make his CQC-7 knife. It became one of the most popular tactical folders. Of course, Benchmade's collaboration with Mel Pardue is legendary also.

Benchmade has received the Knife of the Year Award from the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence for the past two years. In 1998, they received the award for the Model 910 Stryker, designed by Elishewitz, and in 1999 they were recognized for the Model 710 with axis lock, designed by McHenry & Williams. This year they received the award for the Mel Pardue Model 720.

Blackie Collins is a living legend in the knife world. Meyerco of Dallas was smart enough to hire him to design their top-of-the line, one-hand-opening folders. A genius was at work. On his tactical model, Collins placed the pocket clip higher, allowing the knife to be placed deeper into the pocket for better concealment. On his popular Rascal design, he placed small, blunt ratchets, which he calls "ribs," at the pivot point of the knife, allowing it to be opened with the tip of the index finger instead of the usual thumb-flick.

This style is useful if many of your customers experience arthritis and rheumatism, or don't have enough range of movement in their thumb to flick open the usual tactical knife. However, they can still draw their index finger back as if they were rolling a small wheel with their fingertip. For them, you want to stock Rascal knives and easy-opening Onion designs. They'll appreciate it.

The Right Gift

Knives also make great gifts. Your customers can even give a gift just like this to someone who's anti-gun or perhaps "non-gun." How about suggesting a nice pocketknife or a multi-purpose pocket tool? Now, that's a great gift. Or, would the recipient prefer receiving monogrammed handkerchiefs or a necktie? Yeah, that's what I thought.

SOG and Spyderco, Buck and just about everyone else, make multi-purpose tools. When you sell one of these, you're selling a product from a company that supports the Second Amendment, gun ownership and your means of making a living. That's why those companies advertise in the gun magazines. Besides, your pro-gun customers will enjoy buying gifts for their anti-gun friends at gun shops.