My New Gen 1 XM

Congrats see you finally found one. :)

@Need2know: I'd say they were always considered customs just like the the Flame, Firetac or Inferno.
 
Need2Know said:
Question for the sake of understanding only:

Were early Hinderer XMs ever referred to as "customs" before the productions existed? To be clear--we're they just Hinderer knives that happened to be hand-ground by Rick or were they actually and factually referred to as "custom Hinderers"?
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They were called XM-18s. Production grinds where not even imagined yet.
 
Congrats Phil!
Next lottery we will dress Ethan up like a leprechaun so he can be our Lucky Charm!
 
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mag1 said:
Congrats Phil!
Next lottery we will dress Ethan up like a leprechaun so he can be our Lucky Charm!
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Thanks Joe! I could really use a little luck! I hope you were able to reward his patience with a trip to Chucky's!!!!
 
WOW! well, that's more special than anything in the lotto IMO. Although the Aggressor custom on Saturday was pretty sweet. ;) Enjoy it in good health brother!
 
Congrats Maprik!

Regardless of "what you paid" or who was "eyeing it", it's yours bro! Really nice!
 
All of Rick's knives were "customs" (up until the Gen 3 XM-18 with the production blade in 2008) but you never referred to them that way as it was obvious they were all customs and you didn't have to distinguish as there were no production blades.

As Rick put it back in May of 2008 to address the question of production versus custom when he first had some of the Gen 3 XM-18 3.5" blades CNC machined:

Guys! The XM-18 is still made in my shop by my hands! Just like before..The ONLY thing different is that I send the blade out to have it ground. I still mill it to shape and all just like before. All the hardware is still made by me in my shop.
I decided to send the blades out for grinding because there was no possible way for me to grind all the blades I needed to grind to keep up with the demand from those that wanted to use the XM-18 including a large bunch of military and law enforcement guys and gals.
I designed the XM-18 as a USING knife. Its great that people want to collect them but first and foremost to me is that it is to be used, and having a large bunch of our soldiers wanting my knife to help guarantee my freedom is what pushes me!
I have not forgotten about the collectors though! I will be grinding blades in my shop for a very limited number of XM-18's but only when I have the time to. And these will most likely be for the shows.
Thanks for all your interest in my XM-18!​

And here is more info he posted in 2010:

what is the difference between my "production" and my "custom" XM-18?

The ONLY difference between the two is that the "custom" one is handground by me on my 2-72 belt grinder and the "production" one is ground on a cnc blade grinder at another facility...that is the ONLY difference.......everything else including the handles, hardware,screws,ect is made by us here in the shop, on the "production" XM's..How we build these knives by our hands is the same...and I say "our" hands meaning both Rob's that work for Rick Hinderer Knives also help build knives under my close (and I mean close) watchful eyes! However each and every knife including the "production" XM-18's go through my hands...if Rob puts it together I still closely inspect it and of course I sharpen each knife...

Now why did I pick the term "Production" for my Gen III XM-18 instead of "Mid-Tech"...because I dont like the term Mid-tech....since the time Ken Onion coined the term for his mid-tech Boa model this term has been twisted around so much that it no longer means what Ken intended it to mean...so I decided to call the Gen III a "production" build to seperate it from the handground XM-18's that are my "Custom"....That is it....even though the "production" XM-18 is more in the sence a "semi-custom" we still call it a "production" build...only because I wont attach the term "mid-tech" to it. But make no mistake these knives are built right here in my shop the same way I build my Custom XM-18's. Maybe the term "production" is not a good term describing the Gen III XM-18 but I thought it was the best term at the time...​

There you go, the maker refers to them as "customs" and "productions" to distinguish them, that works for me.
 
We're all saying the same thing. When Rick was strictly a custom knife maker, his knives were custom knives.

Then once a production model of any knife existed, a distinction had to be made.

So, once there were "productions" from that point on--any knife that comes from the shop now falls into two main categories ("production" and "custom") plus a bonus "show variants" (productions with special color anodizing, unique finishes, Ti parts and so on...).
 
Need2Know said:
We're all saying the same thing. When Rick was strictly a custom knife maker, his knives were custom knives.
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Well, all of us but one it appears. I just wanted to provide the words of the maker, everyone here can kick it around until the cows can come home but I am good with what Rick stated. Moving on.
 
Is there some way I could find out approximately when this knife was made?
 
Maprik said:
Is there some way I could find out approximately when this knife was made?
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There sure is...one of us trying to actually assist posts an approximate and often correct answer. Then another forum member who assumes they know it all, comes along and makes statements that add little to understanding and may even be a bit off topic.

How about mid-2000s? If you look at RDAs post above the productions began about '08. So, Gen 2 and the 1 came earlier.
 
Need2Know said:
There sure is...one of us trying to actually assist posts an approximate and often correct answer. Then another forum member who assumes they know it all, comes along and makes statements that add little to understanding and may even be a bit off topic.

How about mid-2000s? If you look at RDAs post above the productions began about '08. So, Gen 2 and the 1 came earlier.
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First mention of them as "XM-18" appears to be early 2006 (February but possibly earlier) and then I can see the Gen 2 popping up around October/November of 2006. So, I would say it is relatively safe to say that that a Gen 1 XM-18 3.5" is approximately 2006.
 
Good to know! And great to have the institutional knowledge of this group!

Kinda cool to know that this Gen 1 has been on some adventures before it came to me and that I am just part of it's story... I know it's just a knife/tool but for me these knives seem to take on a life of their own.
 
Good looking Gen 1, Maprik. I like to think I assisted in your purchase by purchasing your 3" slicer :D
 
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