Branding On Blades

[ebidis]

I've been watching a lot of knife reviews on Youtube lately, and branding or "billboarding" on blades seems to be a recurring complaint.

Is it really that big a deal? It has never bothered me. I really don't think it's even an issue.

What do y'all think?

 

[TC]

I want the name of the maker on the knife somewhere, perhaps the steel and model, but I don't need or want a wall of text and graffiti.

 

[norcalAF]

Cough "Freeman" cough

 

[Jsega51]

In a historical or traditional sense it’s a cool look because companies a hundred+ years ago used their products as a marketing tool as well.

 

[hhmoore]

I've not purchased knives due to such billboarding, including the semi-recent trend of shop labeling on SFOs. I've also chosen to not purchase because I dislike a makers mark or it's placement.
The clearcoated BK39 was a great idea ruined by the billboard
View attachment 2518856

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I've not purchased knives due to such billboarding, including the semi-recent trend of shop labeling on SFOs. I've also chosen to not purchase because I dislike a makers mark or it's placement.
The clearcoated BK39 was a great idea ruined by the billboard
View attachment 2518856

I completely agree. I've not bought some because of names, pictures, cutouts, and branding..... Which is funny, because I know some people don't like Mine. :/

 

[hhmoore]

Even this Limited Edition marking is a deterrent for me
View attachment 2518876
There are less obtrusive options that I would find more appealing. I could buy this one - if I was going to leave it in its box for 10 years then sell it. As a user - nope - it would bug me

 

[karnaknives]

I have definitely NOT purchased knives because of branding, or other unnecessary wording, on the blade.
It's a trend that I wish would just stop.

 

[DocJD]

 

[Weiss]

I don't care. If I want the knife, I'll buy it. Once the practical or impractical considerations are considered, I'll trade money for the new toy. After all, once I had the knives below, my real knife needs for things I actually use knives for were pretty much taken care of. Everything else is gravy.



In fact, here's some of that gravy now, and with perhaps the most billboarding of any of my knives, which I don't mind at all.

 

[Ikhnaton]

I don't own knives with any branding on the blades, and I probably wouldn't buy one, it's just silly cosmetics and that's what I don't like about it, is it is unnecessary.

 

[dannyp]

Not a fan of unnecessary text or logos on knives. There should at least be some type of makers mark and the model number, steel type, or origin is ok. Generally, less is more when it comes to aesthetics but sterile is too far in the other direction.

 

[Choctaw Dan]

With me, I guess it's more of a matter of "why" such as commemoratives and etc. Otherwise, no. You see, I tend to cut outward-facing logo patches off of my gear and clothing, or obscure them with black leather dye.

 

[Knives&Lint]

I'm not a fan of heavy handed branding myself, and I often de-badge many of my possessions even beyond knives. I removed all of the badging on our kitchen appliances, and the first thing I do when anyone in my family gets a new vehicle is remove any of the stupid dealership emblems that many people just ignore. I just prefer a clean design aesthetic, and sometimes heavy branding really bugs my eyes. I also keep a thread puller handy for removing patches from things.

Some knife companies pull it off just fine (like the Microtech example above), but I do sometimes find it off-putting (some Cold Steel, Benchmade "first production", etc.). Some of them just look tacky to me.

On my 4Max Scout the billboard branding actually played a part in my decision to brush the flats and stonewash

And on more than one occasion, like with this GEC "Little Rattler", I have removed it from the blade of a traditional knife (however I typically put a satin finish on my traditional blades anyway)

 

[eveled]

Most of the examples would clean up fine. My users tend to get smoother as I use them and refine them anyway. Any markings go away fairly quickly.

What I cannot stand are cut outs. Buck has a lot of them. Definitely a deal breaker for me.

I understand and appreciate the art knife concept, but if the embellishment makes it a poor knife, I would not buy it.

 

[not so dull]

Less is more! I don't want any short stories typed on my blade. I don't need any inscriptions, whether it's "Lynn C. Thompson" or "Made in China".

 

[Delta-v]

It's not a complete deal breaker but I prefer for it to be fairly subtle. The old school Microtech billboarding is annoying. And some of the large white lettering on Cold Steels where the name of the knife is displayed like the Recon 1 is a bit much. But I can't say it would stop me from buying a knife I liked otherwise.

 

[not so dull]

That's the maximum I wanna see on my blade:

Even that is a little too much, I would prefer the model name in a smaller, less conspicuous font:

 

[scdub]

Pass on billboards for me as a rule.

There are even a few custom makers that etch the name/model of the knife on the blade. No thanks.

 

[DocJD]

"Lynn C. Thompson"

Yah ! More for me .

I'm sure that's one of the reasons the LCT Signature knives can sometimes be found so cheap .

I just like the knives , mainly . But the "in your face " , crass labeling is a definite bonus !