Where is this forum Headed??

LostViking said:
Perhaps this is a great opportunity.

In keeping with the Camp & Campfire theme.
Instead of just slapping up a shack, adding boards to it as we need them. Then. covering it with assorted tin we find along the way.

This may allow us time to plan and start with a solid foundation to work off of. Placing our campfire pit where it will best serve the most folks who would like to sit by it.

Ironically, I aiways say you can learn a lot about a man, or a woman, by rhe camp they build. And how they maintain it. So this fits well into my way of thinking.

A quick trip over to Tomar's identifies for me, one of our first potential hurdles. Over at the other camp. Which I will now refer to as Ethan's Camp. We basically have Ethan. The Big E, Uncle Ethan. It is his camp, and he has placed his name on it.

Our Camp to steal a phrase from today's crazy world, is much more diverse. We don't just have one celebrity. We have many.

Steve Johnson from Johnson Adventure,
Jesse Jarosz from Jarosz Knives,
Mike Snody from Snody Knives,
John Benner from TDI Knives,
Bob Dozier from. Dozier Knives
The John Ek knives,

Not to mention the core group of actual KA-BAR knives like the F/U and the Dog's Head. (My apologies, If I forgot someone. I feel like I'm at the Oscars. I wouldn't do well at the Oscars)

Think about the potential we have here, with that list of names above! It offers up so much in the way of designs, ideas and potential camaraderie. Just think Ethan times six!

Yet for every Yin, there is a Yang. With all that diversity, comes division and dilution. Not necessarily in a bad way. But it's there. Folks will like Steve's knives or Jesse's knives, or John's knives. And so on.

Ethan was wise in that regard. He brought Jerry in as a Special Guest Star on the BK-5, and had another visit from another guest star on the 12. (I think it's the 12. I own #3 you'd think I'd know what it is). But the star of the Camp is always Ethan Becker.

I see two challenges.
Both are real world challenges. Let's face it folks. In order for KA-BAR to remain viable, or even survive. They HAVE to sell knives. That is an inescapable fact.

So with that being said. Let's interject KA-BAR as the owner of the Campground. Or the property where we are and hopefully will continue to camp.

Buying knives is the way both Camps pay the fees for the space they will camp on. And some of that money will go towards the special events we will have at both camps.

Here is the next challenge. And this is a big one.
KA-BAR has built and allowed allowed us to have two seperate and distinct Camps. This costs them more money.

A smaller sub-challenge for them as well as us. Is stealing, borrowing, migrating, people between Camps. What ever you want to call it. Really doesn't add to the revenue. If I buy a KA-BAR this month. I probably won't be buying a Becker this month.

I may wander over to Ethan's Camp next year. And see he just released his new BK-213. I may think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and buy two. As I'm conditioned to doing. But I most likely won't be buying a KA-BAR at the same time.

Part of the reason I started this thread. And risked peeing in everybody's Cheerios is this. In the United States of America. There are only two ways for businesses to survive.

#1. Be owned by the Government.

Or the more realistic option,

#2. Continue to grow and to generate more revenue. Revenue, and more importantly Profit. Yes profit, it's not an evil word. Proft must exceed expenses if KA-BAR is to survive.

Where am I going with all this you ask??

Traffic folks. Traffic is where it's at.
Traffic creates excitement. Excitement creates interest. Intrest converts to revenue. Revenus generates profits.

But not just Traffic. That is available on Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook.
(Incidentally, did you guys know? Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook are merging. It will now be known as YouTwitFace. Keep that under your hats for now. It hasn't been announced yet)

If this place is to survive. We need Traffic here. We will never be Facebook. And Thankfully Facebook will never be Blade Forums.

Spark has a dog in this fight too. If Blade Forums loses enough ground. Spark takes up residency in my newley remodeled Outhouse. None of us want that.

Look again at that list of names. If we succeeed, they succeed. And further down the chain, the folks who make those knives these guys put their names on get to feed their families, and enjoy life.

We need our Camp to be active. But we need to drive not just more traffic, but new traffic. Just as much as well as the old well seasoned guys, that grab a beer and strolls that well worn path between the two Camps.

This is running long. And I have stuff to do. So I will pick it up later.

But I am already extremely pleased that we have solid feedback from OKB and Steve Johnson.

Thank you gentlemen!
LV
Click to expand...


Big AMEN, Lost Viking...BIG AMEN. To expound a bit on your traffic comment... I believe that content - fresh, meaningful content - is critical to drive said traffic and generate the interest that is necessary to convert people from "visitors" to "campers" (aka customers). Having the best products in the world just isn't enough in 2107, they have to have informative content to go along with them as today's consumer seems to want to learn about products in a very passive fashion, then make a purchase decision based on their research....without a tremendous amount of personal interaction... That is very different than when I was a kid not all that long ago, I bought what I could get my hands on at Yosten's Coast to Coast down on Main Street. That world is gone. Hell, they are doing a "going out of business liquidation sale" there as I type... The world changed.

So, when it comes to content....what do guys want to see?? Better yet, how do we appeal to folks who haven't yet found blade forums but they want to learn about knives? When I'm not trying to sell beef I am hanging out in my own little patch of the proverbial forest trying to learn how to make knives and figure out the secret to Frank J Richtig's heat treat process... (it's hard for me to see the forest for the trees) My perspective is probably pretty different than a lot of folks... I'd hate to roll in to a forum and sound all Sheldon Cooper and watch guys scratch their heads and roll their proverbial eyes and leave... haha

When I look at the designers there are some pretty big differences. Jesse is phenomenal in his grinding, fit and finish. He knows which materials to put with other materials to make stuff awesome. He also spends a lot of time in the bush camping. Ethan...well, he's Ethan. ;-) I don't really know Mike, but he knows how to make a knife. John Benner has probably forgotten more about personal defense than most will ever know and knows how to get out of the box when it comes to knife & tool design. Bob Dozier is a legend like Ethan. I would love to talk D2 heat treat with Bob and learn as much as I could about D2 in general - I use a bunch in my shop. For me, I like to make & design stuff the average guy will use like and feel like he got one hell of a lot of knife for his money. I spend a lot of time cutting up critters and parts of critters into smaller parts like steaks and jerky. When I'm in knife making side, I have a manufacturing guy perspective and to me there are few things more beautiful than functionality and producibility.

Seems to me there is plenty of opportunity to go in a lot of cool directions with the designers. I mean, designing knives is really the only thing we all have in common. haha

So, what is the most asked question about knives? Everybody uses knives everyday...literally... so how do we get them to think more about how, why and which knife they are using? How do we appeal to the everyday person. They use knives too, every last one of them...

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud. Feel free to reel me in wherever I got off track or out of line. I think there's one whale of a content creation opportunity, and I think content is the Red Bull of the internet. Time for my daily Red Bull. haha
 
I love the Parangatang - once I modded the handle a bit to better fit my paws.
it's good enough at clearing brush, I was using it one afternoon with 2 other people and they stopped to watch me - then asked to borrow it to try it out themselves, because it was doing a MUCH better job then the 2 machetes on site (one was a collins latin pattern)
 
Life, The Camps, Traffic, and Two Way Streets.

Well, so far I have talked a lot. Maybe too much. And done very little.

I like to let things sink in a bit and sleep on stuff for a day or two. At times even pondering life's questions out by a campfire in the company of an adult beverage.

OKB has been here, and Steve Johnson from Johnson Adventure Blades has been on board as well. So it seems we are on the path.

Since we are currently, and I hope will continue using the metaphor of "The Camps" for this and Uncle E's forum. I really like the Camp aspect. It just seems friendly and inviting. Let's discuss how to get more folks to our respective "Camps"

We have discussed traffic. Traffic and Camp can seem juxtaposed. But they don't have to be. And let's be honest here. With the list of names I posted up, if things get too crowded, we can always build more Camps.

Traffic in and of itself is a noun. It describes something tangible. Usually a bunch of cars, or even people traveling. By definition, I think traffic also involves movement. Or it would be parking, or parking lot. To me Traffic equals movement.

Since we are looking to Drive Traffic to our Camp. I see our potential traffic as at least two distinct groups. The folks who are already here. They have made this place a great place to come and camp. And the new Campers who we hope to entice to join our Camp.

As a woods guy. I struggle a little bit with the word traffic. But I'll work through that on my own time.

Because traffic equals movement. Movement equals energy. Energy creates excitement. Excitement creates interest. And interest is what we seek. Interest in Blade, interest in this forum, and ultimately interest in buying and using KA-BAR, Johnson Adventure, and other associated blades.

In short, energy can and will equal revenue!

Oh wait,
I meant to say, Energy has the potential to equal Revenue. Energy with out being harnessed or given direction. More resembles a bolt of lightning off in the distance. Everyone sees the flash of light and hears that loud crack of thunder. Everyone recognizes it was a massive amount of energy. Then they go back about their lives. For all intents and purposes, that energy was lost.

I don't want our efforts here to be that distant thunder.

So let's back up for a second to that traffic. Traffic should have a destination right. Traffic needs somewhere to go.

So, if we want traffic to come here. Let's give them our address. We certainly want to be that extremely cool and friendly Camp out in the woods. We all agree about that. All of us regulars know where the Camp is. We even have the path between the two camps so beaten down we can find it in the dark.

But what about the new folks? How will they find us??

This morning, I clicked on over to Steve's Johnson Adventure Blades website.
Steve I must say I was impressed. You have done a spectacular job on your site. I'd be lying if I said I read everything there. I didn't. But I thought it was a very well executed piece of cyber real estate. Better than most in fact. I will definitely be returning to read what I missed.

Yet, to be honest. I went there looking for one specific thing. And I came up empty handed.
We and by we, I mean you, myself, Official KA-BAR, the other names listed above, and the rest of the Camp members. If we are going to "Drive" more traffic here.

Let's give them our address.

I did not see a link to this forum anywhere. I did see a big link to facebook though. To be fair. It may be there and I might have missed it. But I looked pretty good,

Then I proceeded over to the KA-BAR website. I searched there as well. Pretty much the same thing. There is no link to our forum here on Blade that I could find. And yet again there was that blaring, well lit, link to facebook.

***Disclaimer***
Steve and OKB,
These links may in fact be there. But I couldn't find them. And I was looking.

I just see it as a cheap, simple, and effective, way to drive traffic to both our Camps. Let's just tell folks where the Camps are.

***It is my sincere hope. That my involvement here is taken as a proactive endorsement of the entire KA-BAR line. And displays a willingness to try and support both Camps.

Sometimes a fresh set of eyes sees things that folks who are involved every day can overlook.

Traffic should be able to flow in both directions. Hence the two way street metaphor.

What do you guys think?

P.S.
If anyone else spots these links, that I very well may have missed. Please point them out to me and post them up.
 
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I agree with the above.....


There are only two sub forums I'm currently subscribed to Kabar and Becker I think a lot of people are like me they love Kabar but head over to beckers because of the in activity on our members here...


I would also agree that it would help if links to the Kabar sub foforum was more widely dispersed....
 
LostViking said:
Perhaps this is a great opportunity.
...
Ethan was wise in that regard. He brought Jerry in as a Special Guest Star on the BK-5, and had another visit from another guest star on the 12. (I think it's the 12. I own #3 you'd think I'd know what it is). But the star of the Camp is always Ethan Becker.
Click to expand...

well, BK12 is Doug Ritter - you know him as the mouthpiece, with his lovely wife Sue, as Knife Rights - go sign up and defend freedom (and maybe win something)

the Reinhardt Kukri - That's Hank Reinhardt. he's owned and ran Atlanta Cutlery and Museum Replicas and I was buying his stuff before I heard of Ethan ...

the BK14 has the ESSE hall of fame to share with too. Becker Necker + Izula Handle. i love it! Jeff Randal and crew! woot.

then there's the BK8 ;) we got a character to thank for that, and he's well know, aren't your Mr Phil Gibbs? :>

also behind the scenes are the infamous KaBar guys, Joe, and John, and everyone... past and present.

probably more i can't even recall.


Both are real world challenges. Let's face it folks. In order for KA-BAR to remain viable, or even survive. They HAVE to sell knives. That is an inescapable fact.
...
KA-BAR has built and allowed allowed us to have two seperate and distinct Camps. This costs them more money.

A smaller sub-challenge for them as well as us. Is stealing, borrowing, migrating, people between Camps. What ever you want to call it. Really doesn't add to the revenue. If I buy a KA-BAR this month. I probably won't be buying a Becker this month.
Click to expand...

one note: KaBar had nothing really to do with the forum's software change. or anyone else. Spark's decision to upgrade and move on to arguably better and more stable software. even if it's painful for us as users and mods. the loss of TapATalk is painful to some, but that company imho was evil. You can google why.

Ethan's camp, as you call it, is wholly his, in Spark's kingdom of knives. afaik. imho. i helped to create it and maintain it for him. Becker came first. KaBar came later. Forum wise that is. Each have long histories :D

Don't want to step on toes there, but as far as I know, KaBar's forum here is a separate entity, wholly owned by themselves.

I (we mods) like and do work for KaBar, but also (at least me, originally for) Ethan, and who knows, others :D It's not exclusive afterall. If they ever get a divorce, it will be friendly, and I'll likely continue a similar role. Ethan can't get rid of me easily ;) ;) ;) I am here at the whim and invitation of KaBar though.

KaBar sells a lot of knives afaik. I can't speak for them, and I'm sure they'd like to sell more, right? I just know that their business model is more hands on, in person, like at Blade Show, SHOT, and so on. Lots of time spent on the road, a lean operation, and a modern future. They don't do a lot of print and other adverts, like some, either. Though, online does mean maybe hiring a publicist? :D Joe has a lot of jobs.

If you buy a Becker this month, you are buying a KaBar. good for KaBar and Becker.

If you buy a KaBar this month, you aren't necessarily helping Becker, but good for KaBar.

If you buy a couple BK12s this month, you are helping Doug Ritter, and his foundation, and knife rights, and ... also, support Knife Rights directly, it's worth it.

Same for Steve Johnson. Please to buy his stuff too :D Lots.
 
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KA-BAR will always live. Always, I hope. No matter what knives I get into still love them. I think just some people's Internet time is lacking these days, which is good, cause living on a screen ain't good. Imo 2 cents. Never had a bad thing to say about KA-BAR. So many GREAT knives pouring out of there, always.
 
For the record folks.

The BK-12 is a very nice knife. Probably my favorite Becker.
IMG_1399.jpg



I grabbed mine a while ago.
IMG_1400.jpg
 
i have first gen #4 :D as is fitting :D BK4 --> Machax --> the emperor of blades
 
Bladite said:
well, BK12 is Doug Ritter - you know him as the mouthpiece, with his lovely wife Sue, as Knife Rights - go sign up and defend freedom (and maybe win something)

the Reinhardt Kukri - That's Hank Reinhardt. he's owned and ran Atlanta Cutlery and Museum Replicas and I was buying his stuff before I heard of Ethan ...

the BK14 has the ESSE hall of fame to share with too. Becker Necker + Izula Handle. i love it! Jeff Randal and crew! woot.

then there's the BK8 ;) we got a character to thank for that, and he's well know, aren't your Mr Phil Gibbs? :>

also behind the scenes are the infamous KaBar guys, Joe, and John, and everyone... past and present.

probably more i can't even recall.




one note: KaBar had nothing really to do with the forum's software change. or anyone else. Spark's decision to upgrade and move on to arguably better and more stable software. even if it's painful for us as users and mods. the loss of TapATalk is painful to some, but that company imho was evil. You can google why.

Ethan's camp, as you call it, is wholly his, in Spark's kingdom of knives. afaik. imho. i helped to create it and maintain it for him. Becker came first. KaBar came later. Forum wise that is. Each have long histories :D

Don't want to step on toes there, but as far as I know, KaBar's forum here is a separate entity, wholly owned by themselves.

I (we mods) like and do work for KaBar, but also (at least me, originally for) Ethan, and who knows, others :D It's not exclusive afterall. If they ever get a divorce, it will be friendly, and I'll likely continue a similar role. Ethan can't get rid of me easily ;) ;) ;) I am here at the whim and invitation of KaBar though.

KaBar sells a lot of knives afaik. I can't speak for them, and I'm sure they'd like to sell more, right? I just know that their business model is more hands on, in person, like at Blade Show, SHOT, and so on. Lots of time spent on the road, a lean operation, and a modern future. They don't do a lot of print and other adverts, like some, either. Though, online does mean maybe hiring a publicist? :D Joe has a lot of jobs.

If you buy a Becker this month, you are buying a KaBar. good for KaBar and Becker.

If you buy a KaBar this month, you aren't necessarily helping Becker, but good for KaBar.

If you buy a couple BK12s this month, you are helping Doug Ritter, and his foundation, and knife rights, and ... also, support Knife Rights directly, it's worth it.

Same for Steve Johnson. Please to buy his stuff too :D Lots.
Click to expand...

Bladite's summary is excellent, accurate, and for many here, illuminating. It is important to keep in mind this isn't our sandbox - we are guests of very gracious hosts and the members of this community. It is similar on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms. Our website is the only online location we exert full control over and that is a positive. We shouldn't be dictating anywhere outside of our website, but should be part of the conversation. BF is a platform where folks can speak freely and have a fair amount of control over the content. Outside of nasty language or threats there isn't really any censoring. To add to Bladite's post one of the main reasons we are here is because Ethan encouraged us to do so. He has been a member here for almost 20 years. The KA-BAR forum started in 2011. This is a great repository of information and conversation and we are glad Ethan encouraged us to join up and thank you all for being here.
 
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