My first real-deal-made-to-my-specifications custom...Ban-Tang style! And more too..

hookahhabib

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Feb 24, 2011
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Sorry guys this is long, but I wanted to share the full story. Here are the cliff notes to my post: I got a sweet knife from Ban - scroll to the bottom for pics ;)
For everyone else who wants the details, read on....

For the past couple of months I've been reconnecting to friends- I lost touch with a lot of people after unexpectedly moving to Mexico for a couple years. After finally getting settled into life in LA, it was time to get in touch with my old friends. One such friend was Ban...

A few weeks ago I found Ban's number in an old email and decided to reach out to him. I was traveling to the SF Bay area at the time and figured it would be a lot easier to reconnect with him while I was local, and not 300 miles away in Santa Monica (where I currently live), so I called and left a message...He called back a couple days later and after chatting and some light phone catch-up Ban then asked me, "What's up with that knife you ordered? Do you still want it? It's been ground, heat treated, and stamped, just sitting in a drawer..."

:eek: what?!?! This came as quite a surprise to me. I had pretty much forgotten about my order, and assumed Ban had as well. Here's quick back story:

I'm pretty sure it was early 2012 when I placed an order with Ban for a Drop Point EDC in CPM-M4: Life moved me to Mexico in summer of that year, and however sick and crazy I might have been at that point in my life, I wouldn't have ordered a custom anything if I knew I'd be moving out of country. So yea, it must have been early 2012 and after figuring out some details and making the order official Ban started...

You guys know how custom work goes - things can very easily and naturally take a longer than expected. I don't remember all the details anymore, but by the time the knife was ground and heat treated I must have been out of, or about to move out of country. Let me be perfectly clear - this was not Ban's fault at all: we had a few communications about handle materials and I must say, I remember being a pain-in-the-ass for Ban about handle materials...being super Busse obsessed at that time, I remember really wanting one of Ban's home-brewed micartas that had multiple colors (to look like Busse's snakeskin or tiger hide micarta). When he didn't have what I wanted I still didn't want to go with a more normal micarta. Like I said, at this point, the delays were on my end...

By the time I moved to Mexico, my life had taken a huge shift: Living in a small jungle town with terrible internet service in the region, as well as no internet connection at my house, while also experiencing life, health, and self-love for the first time possibly ever, I drifted away from the computer and forums.

I did email Ban once or twice to try to arrange finishing the knife and picking it up while I visited home for the first time, but it never worked out and we eventually lost touch. At this point Ban's work was shifting towards more of his bad-ass self-defense knives and then the Shivworks deal happened, and I assumed that his work load got too big to deal with an order coming from a friend who was being super picky about handle materials. Even though I met Ban through his work (and buying a Busse), after hanging out a few times, I felt connected to him as a friend way more than as a guy to buy knives from, so when I came to the conclusion that my order had been abandoned, the only thing I felt bad about was hassling my friend about some material object. I really hoped that I hadn't pissed him off through this whole process.

Fast forward a couple years and many knives later, and I had all but forgotten I had even placed this order. So when Ban asked me "What's up with that EDC you ordered" during our first phone conversation in over 2 years it took me by surprise.

A very pleasant surprise! I told him I'd forgotten about my EDC order and that I thought he had as well but by the end of our conversation, we decided we would meet up for lunch on my next trip to the Bay area a few weeks later and I could decide on the handle materials then. We ended up speaking again a few days later and I asked if he had enough time to finish my knife by the time we met - he said he did, so I made my decision and that was that.

One more fast forward another couple of weeks and here we are:




I am proud to present to you guys my Ban Tang Drop Point EDC w/ full convex ground blade of CPM-M4 on black canvas micarta with toxic green liners :D :cool: I've owned and enjoyed custom knives before, but this one is the first that I ordered to my desired specifications.

It was TOTALLY worth the wait!! And instantly is one of the few knives I've owned that I know I will NEVER let go of :)



But really guys, as much as I love this knife, the best part of this whole experience has been reconnecting with Ban. I know a lot of you guys here know him personally so you already know this, but for those of you who don't, Ban really is a great guy and a stand-up gentleman in every sense of the word. I am proud to call him a friend and I look forward to seeing him every time I pass through the San Jose area...he's that kind of a guy.

And on top of that he is a master when it comes to making knives, so for those of you who haven't yet tried out a Ban Tang knife, go out and do it! You'll be glad you did :)

Thanks again Ban!
 
But the story doesn't end there!

This past weekend I swung by Ban shop to say a quick hello and also pick up this beauty that I had dropped off with Ban the week before:







-no worries on the kydex scratches, as this has and will continue to be a user-

Previously Ban'd Busse SHBA given a fresh Ban Tang Regrind treatment and satin finish, as well as re-attached scales :)

OMG, two EPIC knives two weekends in a row?!

What can I say, other than Ban is the MAN! ;)



OK, that's all for now :)
 
Wow. Not only how I like the edc, but the transformation of that busse is amazing! I often travel to SJ, I would love to visit his shop one day.
 
Great story, especially for people who might not have known how good Ban is at what he does. :thumbup:
 
Great story, especially for people who might not have known how good Ban is at what he does. :thumbup:
Thanks Esav :)

I know I can get a little long winded in my posts and sometimes worry it's too much, but I am glad to know some people appreciate the extra details.

And yea, I do like to support and promote friends and brands (or both) and Ban most definitely is deserving of that support!

Thanks for reading :)
 
Nice score! In the world of blades, I've come to realize that whatever Ban does, embodies the spirit of sharp.
 
What a great read! Ban does awesome work! I recently orderd a Tigress in M4 from Ban.
Indeed, sometimes it take longer than expected. This post makes me appreciate a lot more the anticipation.
Congrats on your EDC! It is wicked
 
Awesome story and great blades. I have two of his pieces and they are awesome.
 
Agreed! Beautiful knives by the way! [emoji106]
Thanks :)

Here's a quick shot of the drop point EDC as it is today...it continues to be a pleasure to use and carry

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I was lucky enough to pick up a BT6 when Ban was at Blade last (2011 maybe?). It is one of my absolute favorite blades. He is indeed the man.
 
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