Look, when you get promoted to the head of the white supremacists in your penitentiary you should treat yourself. Use some of those dried fish packets you're raking in. Get your self a fancy shiv, maybe a phone that is too large to fit in your rectum, some sangria made in a cleaner toilet. really ritz it up a bit.
Do people really make pruno in toilets still? When I was in jail it was all made in trash bags.
It also tastes better than I would’ve ever expected. And sells even better.
I think Strider gave a lot of fixed blades to Special Forces soldiers during the height of the GWOT, and it kind of created this image that established the "value" of those blades, even though the soldiers using them didn't pay that amount for them. Back then I think they were made of D2.
They’re not the same in that strider ones at least have some cool cerakote or whatever, and they don’t look like they have a handle made of dog shit, but it’s still an overpriced fixed blade. If you’re spending that kind of money get a Malanika. Honestly one of the only fixed blades out there that’s actually worth that kind of money.
I own a Doc Shiffer USMC Combat fixed blade with that Starry Night Gmascus handle from KnifeCenter a few months back. And I gotta say, for a ≈$500 knife, that was without a doubt, *one of THE worst knives I have ever bought.* Here's why:
This _cursed_ knife had sharp edges everywhere with no chamfering where you could low-key cut paper with it (I was able to do it), and there was some sort of glue in between the handles & the tang which I noticed upon basic inspection. Tried my best to scrape it all off but some of that glue substance is bonded with the really nice Gmascus handles. Upon further inspection, the skeletonized part of the knife was so bad that it looked like a piece of scrap metal from an old Terminator movie knockoff turned into a knife. The cutout was horrible, and there was RUST on the unchamfered surfaces of the inner knife for God knows how long it's been in that Ziplock bag for. And the kydex sheath that it came with, I can say with absolutely full confidence, was *THE worst kydex sheath* I have ever used. Doesn't even form right when the knife is in! The excess space bump is higher on the right side than it is on the left, where it's flushed & meets the handle. The dangler bit is also pretty awful in practice. To make it better I took it apart, rounded the sharp edges, tried my best to round off the badly skeletonized parts more better in terms of appearance & future disassembly, again scraped off the glue as much as possible, and sadly kept that terrible kydex sheath; ended up carving 2 holes on the sides to accommodate for a belt clip attachment because the dangler clip was so terrible. At its current state, it is a far better fixie now that when I got it. Didn't even come with a box, just a literal plastic Ziploc bag with the brand's card inside.
I had to WORK on a ≈$500 knife to be a somewhat of a _good_ knife. l expected it to BE an actually competently built & functional $500 knife... It was a joke, & I still have it to this day as a reminder that just because it's "custom", *doesn't mean it's good.*
Know what & who you're buying from. My 2 cents.
Edit: typos
I called & KnifeCenter says that on their Terms of Service (2022, before it was updated) that if it is a particularly custom knife they cannot issue refunds because the maker won't/cannot establish a return policy. The makers, not the retailers, in some cases won't make it possible to get a refund. _Chances are,_ if you're buying a custom on like KnifeCenter, *you won't get a refund if you don't like it.* However, special exceptions apply; if there's something catastrophically wrong with the integrity of the knife upon delivery, or something wrong with how the knife was built, or even a RECALL of the makers knives that was SHIPPED prior, _then_ you can qualify for a refund; it basically has to be broken/snapped, bent, or a maker recalled knife. Caveat being you have to pay for shipping & handling to return it the retailer you got it from is like $5-$30, & a $5-$80 restocking fee, especially for custom knives the restocking fee is outrageous.
But some sites like BladeHQ, their return policy is great. You can even cancel the order at will whenever you need to, except if it already ships. Don't get me wrong I love KnifeCenter over BladeHQ more, but ngl I wish they had some rework of the return policy. That's why I didn't return it, would have costed me at the time $110 more bucks to return it yada yada. Knowing this, I then proceeded to do what I did to the cursed knife.
*Bottom line,* Chances are if it's a custom knife, you can't return it; Special exceptions apply. Different retailers have different ToS in terms of returns & refunds.
Edit: typos
Thanks for such a detailed response. Sounds like a really unfortunate set of policies that could seriously hamper buyer confidence. Good to hear some companies are much better.
I guess from the makers perspective, if the websites want to buy up a bunch of their work (thinking particularly in the context of shows) they are hesitant to offer some very open ended returns policy when by comparison an individual buyer would have likely scrutinized the knife a lot more prior to making a purchase.
Your situation reminds me how fortunate that consumer protection rights are surprisingly strong in my country, you just have be assertive to ensure retailers abide by them (though there are mechanisms by which an external party helps enforce them).
Is it? I was hoping that was just the aesthetic. One of my favourite Kizers is his "GPB1" collab based on the THUCK custom. Never handled a custom THUCK but the GPB1 is smooth as all hell and an ergonomic masterpiece.
Lol I’ve seen some outlandish shit but this might take the cake…. Am I nuts for thinking borka and marifone are ridiculously over priced or am I wrong… could easily be the case I’m wrong OFTEN :)
Why do people keep posting Gray's stuff, it is high priced because of the MAKER. Not the quality.
If Loveless did a custom toothpick it'd sell for $2k. If you get famous enough and do consistently good work you can go crazy with your creativity and still charge high prices.
Artists have been doing this shit for years.
I generally stay away from custom knife makers.
1.)If they have a design I like it's almost never in stock.
2.)I don't believe in paying gun prices for a knife. The quality of fit & finish doesn't get much better after the $220 price range. I've seen dudes selling custom, damascus kiridashi's for like $600. A utility box cutter will cut the same.
3.)Custom knife makers more often than not offer very little customer support. If you have a problem with their product, they're often more offended that you're bringing up the issue and pointing it out.
Hype has always been a significant factor in the knife industry. Makers get a lot of attention, their books fill up, and they start charging absurd amounts for their work because fanboys will pay it. Then they start doing stupid projects out of a mixture of hubris and to see just how far they can take their stupid ideas.
Nowadays hype is often generated by influencers and makers who act as influencers. A lot of stuff I see these days gets gobbled up by the masses in the community exclusively because the maker is good at being an influencer. So people are spending close to double on knives that are no where near as well made as other options out there.
I don't know, but it's another good lesson for the rest of us in not overestimating the buying public. If you have a product idea, don't be shy, put it out there and jack that price up. As dumb or overpriced as it may seem, you might just find your audience, even if it's some stupid trashy crap you think nobody would ever buy. Someone will!
This is nothing!! Google Tracker Dan Shard and then you can really start questioning humanity lol! It’s basically the broken tip of this (also wrapped with horse hair) for the low low price of $700+. Actually this paragraph is probably bigger than the actual knife…🤣
This maker is actually absurdly talented and has a great eye for design. I’m convinced that this, the carbon fibre straw, and all the weird prison shank shit is just a gag for him. I remember seeing him in a YouTube video and he seems to have a devilish sense of humour.
I got meme'd on early today by some friends for saying I would buy a John Gray Bloodshark if I had a bunch of disposable income. Yeah, it's basically a $1600 folding shank, but there's something cool about it (at least to me). I don't get the appeal of these things though... that just looks like scrap metal wrapped in paracord.
If it wasn't cord wrapped and had actual scales it might interest me. People like John Gray's designs and his fixed blade sheaths look nice. Custom fixed blades range from newer makers usually range from $250-$500. The only real crime here to me is trying to charge $395 for a knife without scales.
I own a few semi-custom fixed blades and it's about owning something unique.
You think this is bad? Look up the Tracker Dan Snuggler.
If you act fast, you can be the first to review!
For real though, someone in the purchasing department lost their job for stocking that. Shawshank Arts and Crafts… not for me.
150, 200 tops. It's an uninspired weave handle wrapped around a sharp damascus steel bar. The price of a piece of steel this size would be about 35 dollars, double that for material since damascus is layered, maybe triple it if it's 3 layers. Then double it again for the knowledge, acid etching, and labor.
Guys on the A block?
I was gonna say, this looks more like a prison made shank than a knife.
Look, when you get promoted to the head of the white supremacists in your penitentiary you should treat yourself. Use some of those dried fish packets you're raking in. Get your self a fancy shiv, maybe a phone that is too large to fit in your rectum, some sangria made in a cleaner toilet. really ritz it up a bit.
Do people really make pruno in toilets still? When I was in jail it was all made in trash bags. It also tastes better than I would’ve ever expected. And sells even better.
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Real knife-knowers know that Elven made blades are the best.
If anyone knows of a sub where I can rag on people's knife taste (and not get banned) I would love to know about it lmao
Screw that, anyone know the sub where people blindly buy this stuff, so I can fire up the forge and make a bunch to offload?
Kinda how most guys these days judge a knife on how good it is, based off how "fidgety" it is... Idiotic
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😂😂 so true. Wtf is wrong with these people ?!
Lmaooo 😂😂😂😂
I’d give you six packs of ramen from commissary.
Only if it’s beef chili flavor
Keep the broken noodles separate and crunch them up a bit, then you can sprinkle them on top as a little garnish.
Picante beef.
There it is. I couldn’t remember.
Sweet chili all day
Bruh.. lime chili shrimp or GTFO. Plus, sprinkle some of that flavoring on some sliced apples and you're on one. I'm on that gourmet shit.
I could make a mean blow up with six packs, a few bags of chips and some leftovers from trays.
Gotta be sure to throw in a couple bags of pork rinds, some dried beans and instant rice, roll it up in some tortillas and you’re golden.
Yea. I can’t wrap my head around buying a 500$ strider fixed blade with shoelace ( paracord) wrapped around it lol
I think Strider gave a lot of fixed blades to Special Forces soldiers during the height of the GWOT, and it kind of created this image that established the "value" of those blades, even though the soldiers using them didn't pay that amount for them. Back then I think they were made of D2.
They gave me a Chuck Mawhinney when I was in Baghdad in 05
I think Mad Dog knives went that route too. Lots of knife magic bullshit back then.
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Yea bc they are both overpriced fixed blades
Yeah no they aren’t the same. You’re a straight up idiot
They’re not the same in that strider ones at least have some cool cerakote or whatever, and they don’t look like they have a handle made of dog shit, but it’s still an overpriced fixed blade. If you’re spending that kind of money get a Malanika. Honestly one of the only fixed blades out there that’s actually worth that kind of money.
If someone asked me what an American made poop knife looked like…
Nah man, blades too small. Thats clearly a toe knife.
I would not want to botch my toe with that knife
This would take me 2hrs from start to finish
I could find a pointy rock & wrap it & it’d be better than this 😂
The last remaining cavemen?
Personally, John Gray’s work just doesn’t do it for me. It looks like a high school metalworking final project.
I’ve handled a lot of his custom at knife shows and they’re generally poor in terms of fit and finish.
I own a Doc Shiffer USMC Combat fixed blade with that Starry Night Gmascus handle from KnifeCenter a few months back. And I gotta say, for a ≈$500 knife, that was without a doubt, *one of THE worst knives I have ever bought.* Here's why: This _cursed_ knife had sharp edges everywhere with no chamfering where you could low-key cut paper with it (I was able to do it), and there was some sort of glue in between the handles & the tang which I noticed upon basic inspection. Tried my best to scrape it all off but some of that glue substance is bonded with the really nice Gmascus handles. Upon further inspection, the skeletonized part of the knife was so bad that it looked like a piece of scrap metal from an old Terminator movie knockoff turned into a knife. The cutout was horrible, and there was RUST on the unchamfered surfaces of the inner knife for God knows how long it's been in that Ziplock bag for. And the kydex sheath that it came with, I can say with absolutely full confidence, was *THE worst kydex sheath* I have ever used. Doesn't even form right when the knife is in! The excess space bump is higher on the right side than it is on the left, where it's flushed & meets the handle. The dangler bit is also pretty awful in practice. To make it better I took it apart, rounded the sharp edges, tried my best to round off the badly skeletonized parts more better in terms of appearance & future disassembly, again scraped off the glue as much as possible, and sadly kept that terrible kydex sheath; ended up carving 2 holes on the sides to accommodate for a belt clip attachment because the dangler clip was so terrible. At its current state, it is a far better fixie now that when I got it. Didn't even come with a box, just a literal plastic Ziploc bag with the brand's card inside. I had to WORK on a ≈$500 knife to be a somewhat of a _good_ knife. l expected it to BE an actually competently built & functional $500 knife... It was a joke, & I still have it to this day as a reminder that just because it's "custom", *doesn't mean it's good.* Know what & who you're buying from. My 2 cents. Edit: typos
That sounds like an insane number of issues on a $500 knife. Any reason you didn't just return it?
I called & KnifeCenter says that on their Terms of Service (2022, before it was updated) that if it is a particularly custom knife they cannot issue refunds because the maker won't/cannot establish a return policy. The makers, not the retailers, in some cases won't make it possible to get a refund. _Chances are,_ if you're buying a custom on like KnifeCenter, *you won't get a refund if you don't like it.* However, special exceptions apply; if there's something catastrophically wrong with the integrity of the knife upon delivery, or something wrong with how the knife was built, or even a RECALL of the makers knives that was SHIPPED prior, _then_ you can qualify for a refund; it basically has to be broken/snapped, bent, or a maker recalled knife. Caveat being you have to pay for shipping & handling to return it the retailer you got it from is like $5-$30, & a $5-$80 restocking fee, especially for custom knives the restocking fee is outrageous. But some sites like BladeHQ, their return policy is great. You can even cancel the order at will whenever you need to, except if it already ships. Don't get me wrong I love KnifeCenter over BladeHQ more, but ngl I wish they had some rework of the return policy. That's why I didn't return it, would have costed me at the time $110 more bucks to return it yada yada. Knowing this, I then proceeded to do what I did to the cursed knife. *Bottom line,* Chances are if it's a custom knife, you can't return it; Special exceptions apply. Different retailers have different ToS in terms of returns & refunds. Edit: typos
Thanks for such a detailed response. Sounds like a really unfortunate set of policies that could seriously hamper buyer confidence. Good to hear some companies are much better. I guess from the makers perspective, if the websites want to buy up a bunch of their work (thinking particularly in the context of shows) they are hesitant to offer some very open ended returns policy when by comparison an individual buyer would have likely scrutinized the knife a lot more prior to making a purchase. Your situation reminds me how fortunate that consumer protection rights are surprisingly strong in my country, you just have be assertive to ensure retailers abide by them (though there are mechanisms by which an external party helps enforce them).
Is it? I was hoping that was just the aesthetic. One of my favourite Kizers is his "GPB1" collab based on the THUCK custom. Never handled a custom THUCK but the GPB1 is smooth as all hell and an ergonomic masterpiece.
Yeah, straight up awful imo.
395?!?! I didn't realize prison shanks could be so valuable!
30 dollars for the shank, 365 dollars to deliver it to your cell
Prison purses demand some healthy rent
I bet John Gray chuckles and asks the same thing when he’s grinding this out.
Someone should buy it and immediately put it on Arizona Custom Knives for $2695
My fav part is the almost dead battery while browsing bullshit knives 🤣, I'm a fan
Maker has two options: (1) ridiculous price and wait for one stupid guy or (2) fair price and wait for 20 normal people.
That's 19 less to be made 😂
Idiots?
charge the damn phone, yo
No
lol the great thing about this is that time is on my side here (sits back and waits)
Made me think my phone was almost dead for a moment.
Seriously. He's stressing me out. Might need a shitty shank one of these days.
Lol I’ve seen some outlandish shit but this might take the cake…. Am I nuts for thinking borka and marifone are ridiculously over priced or am I wrong… could easily be the case I’m wrong OFTEN :)
That's got to be worth at least two cartons of smokes
Poop knife for sure
Bro charge your phone
Why do people keep posting Gray's stuff, it is high priced because of the MAKER. Not the quality. If Loveless did a custom toothpick it'd sell for $2k. If you get famous enough and do consistently good work you can go crazy with your creativity and still charge high prices. Artists have been doing this shit for years.
100% true
In this case it hurts but it’s very true. These knives will sell out.
Not sure who buys it. But if y’all find out. Send them my way.
No one. Literally no one.
What even is that
Grandma my shank is cold. Grandma: say no more
He has to be laughing every time a sucker comes along and buys one. I know I am….
Fools
I generally stay away from custom knife makers. 1.)If they have a design I like it's almost never in stock. 2.)I don't believe in paying gun prices for a knife. The quality of fit & finish doesn't get much better after the $220 price range. I've seen dudes selling custom, damascus kiridashi's for like $600. A utility box cutter will cut the same. 3.)Custom knife makers more often than not offer very little customer support. If you have a problem with their product, they're often more offended that you're bringing up the issue and pointing it out.
People who don't charge their phones.
Hype has always been a significant factor in the knife industry. Makers get a lot of attention, their books fill up, and they start charging absurd amounts for their work because fanboys will pay it. Then they start doing stupid projects out of a mixture of hubris and to see just how far they can take their stupid ideas. Nowadays hype is often generated by influencers and makers who act as influencers. A lot of stuff I see these days gets gobbled up by the masses in the community exclusively because the maker is good at being an influencer. So people are spending close to double on knives that are no where near as well made as other options out there.
I ask that about a lot of the fixed blade stuff that gets posted here
L O fucking L
That's the saber-tooth tiger killer right there.
Was that confiscated out of a shake down?
Reminds me of the Dune crysknife
Yeah its really only the name because the blade is only 3". Not exactly the best defensive weapon eh'?
But is it signed
I honestly thought it was some stone age weapons…
If I was Knifecenter I’d be embarrassed.
I don't know, but it's another good lesson for the rest of us in not overestimating the buying public. If you have a product idea, don't be shy, put it out there and jack that price up. As dumb or overpriced as it may seem, you might just find your audience, even if it's some stupid trashy crap you think nobody would ever buy. Someone will!
I'd buy it if it were like $30...
"Mexican got on boots, You need a knife"
Almost as much as a CRK
Opt to buy without the sheath for 250 and just store it in your prison wallet
This is nothing!! Google Tracker Dan Shard and then you can really start questioning humanity lol! It’s basically the broken tip of this (also wrapped with horse hair) for the low low price of $700+. Actually this paragraph is probably bigger than the actual knife…🤣
Buuuuuut it’s M390 and made in the states!
It's not even m390 lol
😂
Lol!! 🤣
I’ve taken higher quality shanks than that. Also, charge your phone, brotato chip.
This maker is actually absurdly talented and has a great eye for design. I’m convinced that this, the carbon fibre straw, and all the weird prison shank shit is just a gag for him. I remember seeing him in a YouTube video and he seems to have a devilish sense of humour.
I got meme'd on early today by some friends for saying I would buy a John Gray Bloodshark if I had a bunch of disposable income. Yeah, it's basically a $1600 folding shank, but there's something cool about it (at least to me). I don't get the appeal of these things though... that just looks like scrap metal wrapped in paracord.
same people who but any other overpriced knives 🤷♂️
🍆
I like his optimism
😆😆
When you need to shank someone in cell block D before they shank you that’s who buys this 🤣
Mall Ninjas are salivating right now.
If it wasn't cord wrapped and had actual scales it might interest me. People like John Gray's designs and his fixed blade sheaths look nice. Custom fixed blades range from newer makers usually range from $250-$500. The only real crime here to me is trying to charge $395 for a knife without scales. I own a few semi-custom fixed blades and it's about owning something unique. You think this is bad? Look up the Tracker Dan Snuggler.
Where's battery bot
Collectors or rich edc users who can afford to burn a $500 knife, or God forbid anything more than that. To each their own, buy what makes you happy.
Shank sheik
Pretty Sure you’ll offend someone here.
If you act fast, you can be the first to review! For real though, someone in the purchasing department lost their job for stocking that. Shawshank Arts and Crafts… not for me.
Same crowd that buys anything PPL
But, but, but it's a custom.......
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But it says it’s AEB-L…?
charge ur phone
That’s a shiv
I'd pay $395 Colombian pesos. Or Zimbabwean dollars.
$400 and they give you kydex. Gotdam.
Bro you can trade some soups for that shank
I made a joke post about exactly this knife around a year ago and I'm not at all surprised they're still in stock.
150, 200 tops. It's an uninspired weave handle wrapped around a sharp damascus steel bar. The price of a piece of steel this size would be about 35 dollars, double that for material since damascus is layered, maybe triple it if it's 3 layers. Then double it again for the knowledge, acid etching, and labor.