BHQ Excl. Lum Tanto?

Seneca18 said:
I agree, never had any issues with my Delicas, Enduras, etc. but the G10 models have been a bit off as of late.
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To follow up on this post I made earlier and my original post about my Lum Tanto (which came pretty centered, no blade play or anything) I will say, i've had roughly 500 Spyderco's throughout my knife addiction and I would say i've only had maybe 5 or 6 that had minor issues (i've never had one bad enough to send back), they did all happen to be Seki made G-10 models. Without even comparing this ratio to other brands (cough! Benchmade) I consider this to be incredible QC on Spyderco's part. I think that there was a good amount of hype surrounding this knife because of the rarity of its predecessor, so that added to the vocalness of anyone who got one that wasn't quite up to the standard we almost always see from Spyderco. I would never let the disappointment of one knife alone drive me away from a brand, and especially Spyderco, maybe i'm biased, growing up 20 minutes away from Golden CO USA Earth but it is very rare to see a company like Spyderco that is so friendly and inviting towards its customers and has a founder/President/CEO (don't know the job titles Spyderco uses) that directly interacts with his customers, I know in my job I would not want to come home from work and then go on a forum and talk about work even more. Sometimes our expectation are just not met, the search for the perfect knife is endless, and that's part of the fun of this hobby. Spyderco is still my favorite knife company, by a large margin at that.
 
7805C155-1C2B-4610-B2FD-D165C46CC55E.jpeg In my posts, I consciously and deliberately did not criticize the blade’s off-centeredness. I simply described the conditition. I have a plenty of knives from different companies that resist centering. I use them and have never returned a knife because its’ blade was off-centered. All I wanted was to see if anything could be done. Period. When Sal mentioned that there were talks about the Lum, in another Forum, I figured I would go over to the Spyderco Forum simply to read what was said. The last thing I expected to see was Sal quoting my post, here, and then to see some of the other posters trash talking about me. The good news is that I forget my log in credentials, and couldn’t get in to respond.

I don’t think this is fair or right to leave me open to ridicule and criticism without notifying me. In GBU, there is always an attempt to notify the person if there is any controversy. I’m very disappointed.
 
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Iamthejellyfish said:
I can understand Sal’s frustration. I would’ve reacted the same way. This whole thread started as 13 pages of “bitching” about the price, but the price was not outrageous at all, pm2s are almost the same price and come out more often. Threads like this are why Busse Combat has a sticky post about contacting the shop before complaining online and why other manufacturers have gone completely to USN. It’s a slap in the face to Sal considering it’s an homage to Bob Lum and Spyderco heritage. I’m surprised people are surprised at his reaction after the endless criticism for things that overall aren’t uncommon for a $220 knife, these aren’t $500 all titanium framelocks.
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Were you happy with the condition of your Lum tanto?
 
Rusty_shackelford said:
Were you happy with the condition of your Lum tanto?
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Yes, bought two and love both. I can flick it as easily as my pm2s after a day of getting used to it. They are both centered great and the hamon lines are even on both sides. I did have the grinding noise some people mentioned and when I cleaned it up with a cloth and some computer duster it went away and was great. I was thinking about selling the second one if I wasn’t a fan and I now will keep both because I couldn’t stand not having them, hah!
 
This is one folder pattern which I had to give more time to get familiar with so that it would either grow on me or just be delegated to the dreaded bottom drawer so to not see daylight for the sake of humanity! I have already stated that I had played around around with it enough to make sure that it will not be returned back to the retailer ;)

Having read through all the complaints and also the very few praises, it is my assessment that perhaps I was one of the luckier ones who received a decent or better than decent unit. Tweaking the pivot screw and oiling the pivot improved the action by leaps and bounds plus fidget playing with this Lum has made it seem to operate much smoother now. There's still some dreaded lock stick but I've had worse lock stick with my Spydiechef which is now purring like a kitten. I'm aware that these two are different but still worth a mention that with more break-in, the Lum-Tanto will also hopefully improve on that front.

IMHO my Lum-Tanto not a collector grade folder because despite having reasonably even edge grinds, the San Mai lamination is noticeably off when compared from one side to the other. Nevertheless, the knife is beautiful, sharp as heck and quite stout so it will make a great pocket companion as a part of my folder rotation.
 
I went to my favorite restaurant last night, Mastro’s Steakhouse. I’ve been there about 100 times through the years. They’re generally consistent with their food and service so I keep going back. I usually order filet mignon or ribeye. Last night I tried the sea bass, a $40 plate, for the first time. It came out to me and was raw in the middle. I mentioned this to the manager and was informed that sea bass is not easy to cook and I shouldn’t complain as their cooking methods are from a famous chef, widely known for his technique. I just said “Oh, ok, thanks. I’ll just eat my au gratin and asparagus sides and leave the sea bass to be tossed out.”

I can appreciate Sal and Spyderco taking pride in their work, as most of us here do in our own professions. I run a small business myself and know that screw-ups are part of life and part of doing business. What I won’t do is blame my customers for what they perceive as a screw up on our part. Maybe my work experience if too different from manufacturing to understand why this kind of reaction from a company is acceptable to so many.
/rant off
 
Iamthejellyfish said:
for things that overall aren’t uncommon for a $220 knife
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Seriously? I've bought several Taichung made Spydercos at half that price..the Sage series among others and every one of them were basically perfect except for one, a K2 that came with the centering off and I fixed it back to dead center with a slight tweak to the pivot pin..took all of three seconds to fix.

Just like people are allowed to come here and heap praise..like you did for the two you "love"..they are also allowed to come here and air their grievances.
 
ScooterG said:
I went to my favorite restaurant last night, Mastro’s Steakhouse. I’ve been there about 100 times through the years. They’re generally consistent with their food and service so I keep going back. I usually order filet mignon or ribeye. Last night I tried the sea bass, a $40 plate, for the first time. It came out to me and was raw in the middle. I mentioned this to the manager and was informed that sea bass is not easy to cook and I shouldn’t complain as their cooking methods are from a famous chef, widely known for his technique. I just said “Oh, ok, thanks. I’ll just eat my au gratin and asparagus sides and leave the sea bass to be tossed out.”

I can appreciate Sal and Spyderco taking pride in their work, as most of us here do in our own professions. I run a small business myself and know that screw-ups are part of life and part of doing business. What I won’t do is blame my customers for what they perceive as a screw up on our part. Maybe my work experience if too different from manufacturing to understand why this kind of reaction from a company is acceptable to so many.
/rant off
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Buying and cooking your own steaks saves many dollars. Usually more consistent/tasty as well.
 
I think Sypderco is great and Sal is no doubt one of the good guys. What I don’t get is people complaining about some criticism. If this thread is harsh and there is a lot of bitching, I must live a brutal existence. My best days aren’t this easy. Ha ha

I will most likely return the knife. (I have not heard back from the Hq yet) This model has a few issues and that can’t be denied. A warped blade as slight as it may be is not acceptable at this price point. However, I do appreciate Sal chiming in and stating that we could send it in. Critism aside, people truly love this knife company and i will continue to buy Spyderco with confidence.
 
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cigarrodog said:
View attachment 860728 In my posts, I consciously and deliberately did not criticize the blade’s off-centeredness. I simply described the conditition. I have a plenty of knives from different companies that resist centering. I use them and have never returned a knife because its’ blade was off-centered. All I wanted was to see if anything could be done. Period. When Sal mentioned that there were talks about the Lum, in another Forum, I figured I would go over to the Spyderco Forum simply to read what was said. The last thing I expected to see was Sal quoting my post, here, and then to see some of the other posters trash talking about me. The good news is that I forget my log in credentials, and couldn’t get in to respond.

I don’t think this is fair or right to leave me open to ridicule and criticism without notifying me. In GBU, there is always an attempt to notify the person if there is any controversy. I’m very disappointed.
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i went over and read. i think youre looking at it too closely and different than what it really is. the way i saw it was Sal sharing what he said here over there. nothing more. he did a couple of his posts.

i see the same stuff there as i do here. group thinks anyone talking negative are bad people and a group saying the opposite. i didnt really see anyone picking on you in particular. i may have missed if they did, but not really the point im trying to make....more so just groups and discussion and differing opinions. some are far more eloquent in their posts and others more harsh. so be it. i wouldnt let it disturb you as i didnt even read it/see it the way you did. ultimately youll see as ya want to which is fair.....just wanted to share i didnt see it the way you did.
 
I didn't get this knife but I can certainly understand why some people are disappointed. I can also understand Sal's perspective.
Considering how great the demand was, if I was disappointed I think I would first try to sell the knife on the forum before making a return. Probably wouldn't cost you much more if anything. You get the cash immediately and BHQ is saved from a flood of returns.
 
Iamthejellyfish said:
Yes, bought two and love both. I can flick it as easily as my pm2s after a day of getting used to it. They are both centered great and the hamon lines are even on both sides. I did have the grinding noise some people mentioned and when I cleaned it up with a cloth and some computer duster it went away and was great. I was thinking about selling the second one if I wasn’t a fan and I now will keep both because I couldn’t stand not having them, hah!
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That's great. I'm sure there's lots of guys that scored good ones.
There seems to be a larger than usual number of guys that scored sub par examples. It's important for these guys to be able to openly speak their mind. There was not 16 pages of guys bitching about price. The fist knife wasn't in a posters hand until pg9, I believe. Price was never an issue. They wouldnt have sold out in 20 minutes if it was. Price was only brought up when low quality examples started to be unboxed.
Maybe $220 isn't much to you, and good on you if it isn't, but it is to lots of guys. Plus we all know spyderco can kill it on knives at any price.
I think any company should want honest feedback. Even if both parties are pissed off, as long as both sides stay focused on the issue, good things usually come of it.

Look at the back and forth between the new poster "pstone" ( i think his name was) and Sal.

He came it hot. Sal was a bit hot.
They hashed it out. Spoke their minds openly. Boom. Good things happened.

If he had of just shut his mouth about it, he maybe wouldn't have ever bought another spyderco. Both sides lose in that scenario.
 
trevitrace said:
Buying and cooking your own steaks saves many dollars. Usually more consistent/tasty as well.
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Yeah unfortunately we can’t as easily get our own steels, handle materials, hardware, etc. as easy as we can get a steak, potatoes, and some seasoning at the market.
 
The hinge point in this discussion is that if you get a blade you don't like you can return it. Full stop.

If you get a blade you don't like and you take it apart and soak it in oil and then bend the lock to tweak the centering, file off some of the G10 to improve the feel, and maybe for good measure strip one or two screws then that knife is yours. I didn't do a scratch poll but it seems like a lot of people were going to try some fixing and then balk; and then expect BHQ to just resell it someone as new.

When the guy who got the raw fish stopped eating and said no go. The folks at the lunch counter there dropped the ball by countering with how tough it is too cook fish. I don't know I don't how true that is; I cook it at home and I"m pretty good at it. Maybe having a million dollar kitchen makes it harder to do right somehow. Anyway he did the right thing and the cook screwed up; maybe next time if it happens ask for two slices of bread and then put them over his ears. If however the diner ate the whole meal and then said that wasn't cooked right that's on them, or if the dinner said please cook my fish rare and then didn't like the rare fish steak then that's on the person who asked for the change.

Do or do not; there is no try.
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And I take no responsibility for any fallout after the sandwich game.
 
To all;

My apologies for letting off some steam. You did not deserve that. If you have problems with the knife and your not happy, please return it to BHQ and ask them to return the knives to Spyderco. We'll decide what to do with them. I will also discus the quality issues with my management staff and the maker. Maybe we can chill a bit?

sal
 
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I used to think of Sal as being the antithesis of Thomas from ZT, But after reading this thread...:(
 
Danke42 said:
Well at least this uncertainty is confounding the flippers!
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Best to take the high road on that contentious issue but correct, speculative behavior has both upside and downward risk possibilities ;)
 
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