Marketing Question - need advice.

Sal Glesser

Sal Glesser

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We are trying to study the female knife market. Not the knife nut female like Michelle or Joyce, but the non knife enthusiast.

This is the question; What could we add to a knife, (or multibladed multi function tool) that would make it desirable so a female would want to carry one with her?

I would also prefer that you ask your female friends rather than guess. I would like to make a tool for the mothers, wives, daughters and girlfriends of the world.

sal
 
Hi Sal,

I have bought several little knives for my wife, and the one she always has on her is the tiny SAK.

She says she only uses the nail file occasionally, but the scissors she uses everyday. More than the blade itself.

She hasn't liked lock blades in the past, she has a hard time closing them, she's scared of cutting herself while doing so.

Just a small case study I know, just thought I'd share with you. Scissors are very handy I must say, they are the most used item on my multi-tool.

our .02
 
Well...according to the girlfriend, she would like something small, in "pretty" colors, and something easier to open and close...

What ever happened to those pretty pink Delicas anyways?

--dan
 
I've queried two of the four female knife carriers in my family, Sal (42 y.o. wife and 14 y.o. daughter). They are both not interested in added doo-dads. They carry a knife for the intrinsic cutting ability of the blade. They are interested in lightness, sizes to fit their hands, and style. They like color and design. Right now they both carry BM Leopards (one blue, one purple). Youngest has been eyeballing my Sentinel and likes the Boker Orion with its crystalline titanium blade. They don't necessarilly want pink and they are not interested in a tiny pair of scissors or an added fingernail file. I'm not sure I've really helped you here, but that is some honest female feedback. Although I can't get her to always wear it, second oldest daughter (college student) carries an Endura in her backpack and always clips it on when jogging. I'm giving a pink Delica to her non-knife loving roommate for Christmas.

Jack
 
I asked my wife and daughter.

My daughter makes and collects knives but her response surprised me. She said she won't buy a knife unless she likes the way it looks. "It must be ascetically pleasing." She said she like mother of pearl, colorful anodized titanium, and precious or semi precious stones.

My wife is a school teacher who tolerates my knives. At my insistence she started carrying a SAK (I think its the Mechanic). Now I can't get it away from her. She said she uses the pliers and screwdrivers more than the blade. She doesn't like the SAK scales because they crack and break too easy. Her list of important knife features are:

Lightweight
Pliers
Screwdrivers
Short blade without serrations (3" or less)

She also said that she really like Spyderco kitchen knives but the handles are ugly and hard to keep clean. "Make nicer handles an option."
 
Non-knife nut women are alot like non knifenut men in that they tend to like small, non-threatening blades. The hole is a natural design `advantage for Spyderco. It is alot easier on the nails. Something like the Pegasus, Navigator, or Co-Pilot in colored zytel with an easy maintenance steel like GIN-1 or ATS-55 would be a good move. Anything small like a SAK Minichamp or Leatherman Micra would be good also.
 
Sal,

I recall 2 different threads that pertain to your query. One was in the general forum during the "early days"
smile.gif
. The other I believe was right here. The consensus was non-threatening, and jewelry-like. The latter didn't mean fancy doodads, but rather multiple carry options a woman would consider (e.g. a broach, pin, etc).

Unfortunately the women at the base don't reflect the right demographics. I have a few knife nuts but predominately practical gals who like functional tools to use.... no jewelry advocates here
smile.gif
!

------------------
-=[Bob Allman]=-

I did NOT escape from the institution! They gave me a day pass!

BFC member since the very beginning
Member: American Knife & Tool Institute
......... Varmint Hunters Association
......... National Rifle Association
......... Praire Thunder Inc.
......... Rapid City Rifle Club
......... Spearfish Rifle & Pistol Club
pending: Buck Collectors Club (prime interest: 532s)
Certified Talonite(r) enthusiast!

 
Hey Sal,

I have carried knives for years and have collected Spydies for a long time too.My friends consider me a knifenut. I am the only one who always have a knife on him.I too have asked women usually friends and my mom and my sisters about knives. Now in general most women don't like to carry knives. I got my mother a knife and she always leaves it home and I got one for my sister and she gave it to her boyfriend.I asked some of my female friends and they think only psychos carry knives. The thing is that most women don't see the need for a knife to be carried everyday.I live in NYC, so knife laws too are a problem. Some of the women I've talked to like knives, especially the look of some knives but they won't carry one. And if I ever bring up the subject of using a knife to defend oneself from an attacker, they say they would use their key or nails. In the city most women are thought not to use a weapon against an attacker incase the attacker uses it against her. All these things causes women not to carry knives. In their mind they don't see the need of one.

Liong
 
Sal...
Go for pretty colors and add something females might see as a usable tool. A nail file comes to mind. They seem to use them all the time.
Bill
 
Sal, I've been thinking about getting my girl Swan a plain Dragonfly or Cricket or perhaps a small FB neck knife.

Quite frankly she likes my Endura for it's sharpness and grip. She's not into defensive knife capabilities, handle color is not an issue, and has no real interest in carrying an Endura size blade.

For her it's about size and WEIGHT. Ex. The Photon II microlight and the Maglight Solitaire. Swan has both but carries the Photons as the Solitaire is cumbersome in weight and length to her.

The plain edge Endura II was too heavy and grip was not as satisfactory as the old Endura. A Delica II was 'okay', a JSP Credit Card blade was lackluster, a Moran was unimpressive as were my Timberlite and Beretta 3" folders.

To sum it up. Small plain blades with lightweight handles that don't look pointy/threatening.


 
Hi Sal!

A little over an year ago a bought a Victorinox for my wife. She wanted pretty much the smallest (slimmer than my Champ
smile.gif
) one with scissors. Not one of the tiny ones (like Classic), but larger (length 91mm). She picked the Climber. I think that she prefers to use the smaller blade for opening boxes and such (we have just moved and we have opened a couple of boxes...). I don't think serrations would have been good. The tweezers have seen some use also. The other tools like cap lifter, corkscrew, screwdrivers have not seen that much use as we usually have better tools for those jobs at hand. And about the colors... pink really isn't the ticket... but neither is black - but if those are the choices I think it would be black
wink.gif


Hugo.

I must add here that my wife definitely is not a knife person. ( - but for some reason she seems to know a lot about knives
wink.gif
)

[This message has been edited by Hugo (edited 02 November 1999).]
 
Ergonomics:
This is the most important issue to me. I want a knife (or any other tool, for that matter, to fit my hands well. I have larger-than-average hands for a woman, and most tools that are made with molded handgrips fit my hands badly. Make the thing using a pattern derived from the average woman's hand, not Gonzo the Ape-Guy.

General Design:
My current collection of Spydercos consists of one knife, a plain-edged Zytel Dragonfly. It is the knife that I would pick for a friend who wanted (or who _I_ wanted) to have a quality pocket knife for everyday use. The plain edge and the blade geometry make it useful for most tasks, and it has a fairly unintimidating appearance.

Do not make it pastel pink. Believe it or not, some women do not like pastel pink. In fact, I rather detest pastel pink, and given an option, I will not buy a thing that is pink.
 
A female friend really liked the dragonfly I gave her (actually, she took -- "ain't this cute!") When she lost it, I suggested the delica which she is now more in love with. She carries two things with her: a Delica in the pocket/waistband and SAK in her bag. Once in a while, a Native with the Sastre neck sheath.

I not sure she is the "typical" female ELU anymore. SHe also has a fondness for small neck knives now! The evolution happened over a year.

sing

AKTI #A000356.
 
Interesting thread. One thing I notice is that the guys are buying the knives for the girls in alot of cases. The female market may a difficult one to reach directly.

I can remember my wife buying one knife for herself, a small lightweight Gerber folder. I was present and probably suggested it. When she lost it she missed it. I eventually bought her another. She doesn't carry it, rather she leaves it at work where she finds the occassional job for it. I think she likes the relatively small size and lightness. Her brother gave her a tiny Swiss army type knife with a pen blade, file, scissors, toothpick and tweezers. She has made positive comments about the scissors and the tweezers. Last weekend I gave her a blue handled Ladybug. She said it was cute and put it on her keychain. No big deal.

When my wife has a use for a knife she appreciates having one but she has no passionate interest in knives. Are most women this way? I hesitate to generalize. I just don't see my wife rushing out to buy a Spyderco or any other knife that has been especially designed with women in mind. I see ME rushing out to buy it for her.

Design features aside, maybe the real market is husbands and boyfriends. That's what occurs to me anyway.

ptn

 
All 3 ladies in my family carry a small SAK. The scissors are the most used feature. They all wanted something that was useful.
 
My wife said the features she would want are small, light weight, and easy to open & close. FWIW, over the years, I've bought her a few that had these characteristics & she never winds up carrying any of them. ??? She did, however, appropriate one of my SAKs that she keeps in the drawer at work & uses all the time around her office.

Appearances do it for my 19 y/o daughter. She's had her eyes on my BF Native for a while. She likes the color & the fact that she doesn't find it's looks threatening.

Good luck with the marketing project, Sal.

------------------
Cheers,

--+Brian+--

I may be goin' to hell in a bucket, Babe, but at least I'm enjoyin' the ride.


 
My wife likes the Ladybug. It's small enough that she doesn't notice the size or weight in her pocket and the hole makes it easier to open with medium length nails. She carries the knife to work at a warehouse store. When she asked me for a knife, I offered her a Dragonfly or a Delica. She thought those two were too big.
She doesn't know or care about blade steels since she has a wonderful husband that sharpens the knife for her.

------------------
Frank
jqsurf@worldnet.att.net

 
There are three women in my house. Wife and two teen daughters. None chose or choose to knife shop, and I let them pick from my very extensive litter of Spydercos and other breeds.

All the gals were unanimous in wanting the Dragonfly (liked the way it felt in their hands, and it seemed non-threatening). All were also unanimous in admiration over Damascus steel and exotic scales (fossil bone, mother-of-pearl, gemstone).

Wife now has a SAK classic (her first knife), a Kershaw 2415 liner-lock (my first knife) and a Micra (she likes the bigger scissors over the SAK). She likes the Kershaw for its sharp edge and easily grippable kraton inserts, and easy opening action.

Daughter #1 got the Dragonfly.

Daughter #2 got a Baby Goddard.

Only my wife uses her knife with any regularity (probably cuz it's always in her purse) ... and she uses it for all the utility things humans have long discovered it useful for.

The girls have no special desire to pack a knife on non-school outings, and hence rarely have their knives on them ... the consequence of school policies against knife carry which makes it more prudent to forget and leave their knives at home, versus forget and accidentally bring their knives to school.
 
Small, light and some color(s) other than black. I' ve given a grey ladybug to my sister and she uses it all the time in the office for light chores. (The thumb hole is quite useless though but i.d.s it as a Spydie) I' ve also given her a Dragonfly that she really loved but she lost it.
frown.gif


My mother who has been using a Santoku kitchen knife for quite some time also feels that the grooves of the handles are a pain to clean. Perhaps a pebbled grain texture would be ideal. On the other side, she has had no problem with the ancient OTF Nato Military I had given her many moons ago. She and her friends at work just love that sound of the blade shooting out!!

And finally, I' ve sold a tiny neck/ keychain knife to one of our club members. It is an AG Russell hunters scalpel in ATS 34 that utilizes the Blackie Collins thumb snap sheath. Again, small, light and perhaps a few different colors would be nice. No complaints from her though as she wears it 100% of the time.

L8r,
Nakano

 
I have only recently begun carrying a Spyderco Herbst with titanium handles with dark blue decoration. I think it is a little large for most women. I agree that pink or other bright colors are out. I also like wooden handled knives. Practically, women do not tend to load up their pockets like men, partially because they don't like unsightly bulges (sometimes it looks like my husband has giant tumors on his thighs). The real barrier is the "Oh, ick!" factor and I don't know what to do about that.

- Toni Mattis
 
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