Cool video John. Your Cowbell belt sheaths are such a fantastic design. So lean and versatile. It is a perfect compliment to the handiness of the Cowbell.
Happy New Year! I look forward to seeing what surprises you have in store for us In 2023.
Phil
Hey Phil, good to hear from you! 2023 is going to bring good things. With the new workspace in our leather room I have an area that be dedicated to building belts, which is going to be awesome. I'm also going to cut the Cowbell dibs down to smaller numbers to get a shorter turnaround for you guys. I tried doing large batches last year but it just didn't work out. Having a dozen knives and sheaths in different stages didn't work well for me, I spent more time organizing pieces and labeling things that it kept me from having any flow amd caused stagnation.
Now for s quick confession. I had an epiphany this fall that has rearranged my thinking. I had built a belt for my nephew while he was here for Thanksgiving in 3 days, and completed 4 Cowbells for a last minute Christmas request in under 3 weeks. It was a request I shouldn't have taken but it was for a friend that I'm indebted to, not in the monetary sense but in the loyalty sense.
To be very honest I was extremely disappointed in myself afterwards (pissed off really) once I realized that under a time constraint with pressure on myself I could put out the same quality product in an absolute fraction of the time. Now there were some long days and late nights but my multitasking and time management improved drastically.
So moving forward I'm going to be taking Dibs in probably 2's or 3's but that will result in a much shorter turnaround for you guys. For me it's not about puttin out more product it's about satisfying the demand and getting knives in your hands. The side effects of that is where I benefit.
We'll see a small price increase in the Cowbell for 2023 but it's one that has been planned since I started these in January of 2020, not a result of inflation although my cost on everything is going up.
I'm pretty excited for what 2023 is going to bring.