REKAT Sifu discontinued

well i agree customer attitude certainly affects customer service BUT i also dont think bob did himself(or REKAT) any favors by his actions in relation to the issue w/the 8 sifus, by the end, he basically told the guy to stick 'em were the sun dont shine

you bet i jump in on REKAT, they are the one who advertises the strongest lock in the world, etc, and i know they will fail, and not always due to modification/abuse - mine failed and cut the heck outta me, while i was jakkin w/it sharpening it, i was pushing on the back of the blade (dont ask why) and it folded up on me - after band aids , etc i examined it and a VERY lite push on the back of the blade folded it up - so, regardless, i, in my heart, know mine failed w/no good reason, and i have never trusted it since

i have a few knives, and other than a CRKT KFF, have neverhad lock probs on any of them - emerson/BM/spydie/MT/MOD/buck strider/emerson not a prob

so, maybe mine was one of the 2 that according to bob ever failed w/out mods/abuse

imho, bob shoulda tried to calm the guy down, had him send the knives in, and fixed them - with this approach he woulda gotten lotsa free pub ( i think this guy was a fan, ya know 8 at one time!?!?!) and a customer for life - yes sometimes to succeeed in retail ya gotta suck it up and deal w/people w/attitudes successfully for you to succeed - but it doesnt really matter i guess

good luck to 'em

sifu
 
i am not sorry to see that REKAT is in trouble and that they are not making the SIFU any more.
Rekat had an atitude problem especialy regarding customer service and inconsistant quality problem on an high end knives.
few of the desighns were taken from other places with no homage to the real desighners the HOBBIT was one[al mar worrior]and even that was pre dated to a guy who served in vietnam and had passed away in the "80s. the carnivore was very similar to an early desighn by kelly wardan,and the sifu i have seen a prototype that pre dates the sifu a couple of years at least,but i will not say where to avoid a flaming war here.
all credits to REKAT for the rolling lock which was innovative and had a potential if it would be produced properly.
after all said and done i belive there is some poetic justice in the fact that REKAT went under. i do hope that some of the desighns [especially]the sifu will be produced by better companies.
scorpio.
 
The longer this thread goes on, the greater the urge to find an available one and order it.:D
 
I always laugh out loud when I read claims about "customer service" and "attitude problems" in regards to REKAT.

REKAT's standing philosophy with their products was that "if there is a problem, send it back." Period.

SIFU1A - If you had a problem, and didn't send it back for repair, then the fault lies (mostly) with <B>you</b> - how can you expect them to fix it if you don't send it back to the to be looked at? Why are you endlessly complaining if you didn't give them the chance to fix it?

There was a hell of a lot more to the issue with the 8 sifu's than Bob just telling the customer to shove off, so please don't oversimplify the issue to that extreme. Bob repeatedly asked for the knives back before things ever got to that point, and when all was said and done, IIRC, that didn't happen. Things aren't as simple as they often appear.

Second - any lock will fail under the right circumstances. It's a given: there is <b>no perfect lock on a folding knife</b>. Comparing liner locks to axis locks to rolling locks is comparing Yugo's to F150's to Range Rover's. The locking liner is one of the simplest locking mechanisms out there - when it fails, it fails differently from the others. I've seen tons of LL knives fail the whack test as well, including knives from Microtech. With the Rolling lock when you screw up that stop pin / lock / blade interface, it's permanently damaged. It doesn't heal itself bud. Make of that what you will.

Mr Scorpio - you illustrate my point exactly, would you classify yourself as part of the solution or part of the problem? You make vague allegations without having all of the information at hand, and I'll bet I know where some of your "sources" come from. The Sifu is merely a hybrid of the Carnivore (with an extended blade) and the Pocket Hobbit (IIRC) - I remember talking to Bob when they were designing it and how they came up with it.

Finally, I wouldn't say that REKAT's in trouble - last time I talked to Bob he was pretty happy. I'm sure we'll see some news about the company soon.

Kevin
 
Is Rekat out of the knife business? Are they changing their business model?
 
dear spark,
even if i do not have all the information [never claimed i did]
and put a side all the argument between my"source"and your freind, i must tell you that on a personal encounter with mr.REKAT long before the "war" started when they were still freinds..he was rude and offensive and that's when i came to his booth to buy his knives
and left without them.
maybe i cought him on a bad day, but that first impression was not a pleasant one.
i'm not trying to be a solution nor a problem just stating my mind if that is OK with you.
hope you feel better
scorpio.
 
I tend to agree with Kevin that the "issues" on Rekat's customer service and attitude may be overblown. Although I haven't been a long-time follower of the brand, I did start following Rekat's forum during the development of the "forum" D2SE Sifu. During that stretch of time I was not aware of any undue rudeness or reneging of warranty service from Bob or Christina in their posts.

The only Rekat I own is the D2SE Sifu so I speak from limited exposure to their products. However, although I haven't performed the spine-whack test, I have found my knife to be well-made and its lock to be reliable.

I may be wrong but I think the person who purchased the last 8 Sifu's was a dealer/investor who intended to resell the limited edition knives as their value went up. It seemed that he was complaining about the knives online before working out his differences with Rekat and allowing the factory to make things right.

I am sad to see another knife manufacturer pull back one of its "flagship" models rather than updating it to meet the changing needs of its followers as new technology and/or materials are developed. This also deprives future generations of knife enthusiasts the excitement that many of us experienced when we opened that white cardboard mailing tube and held in our hands one hell of a knife.
 
I agree that the issue of "rudeness" was blown way out of porportion, from what I remember reading on the forums. I think the company went along ways to correct whatever was the issue. I think many people were fustrated at a company that had almost non-existant imput on the forums, a company that still has no web page and to my knowledge no catalog.

Think about all the other companies that participate on this and similar forums, they let you know when new models are comming, or discontinued and ask for impute and advise.

Most of the people here are not "Joe Pocket Knife" who goes to the mall every five years to get a new cheap utility blade. These people buy quality($$$$) pocket knives or defense knives and more important they buy large amounts. This is a very large marketing group. It would be wise to keep forum land happy.

I'll personally stand up for the knife and the brand, I think it is a great product, and one that stands out. I have gotten several friends to purchase the knife and all have been very satisfied I truly hope the reconsider and continue to produce this model for it is (was) the first real quality mega folder mass produced.
 
From what I remember about that whole situation with the eight Sifus, the owner refused to send the knives back to REKAT without first getting a guaranty that they would be replaced or fixed for free with no qualifications. Even if it was determined that the damage was caused by abuse. I am not sure that he would actually qualify as a big Sifu fan as he stated that he bought the knives hoping to make some money re-selling them. He also stated that he had no intention of sending the knives back to REKAT without that guaranty and instead was going to sell the knives as they were. He said that he would tell people that they failed the spine wack test before selling them the knives. This seems like a pretty stupid thing to do as the knives may have failed the test because of damage to the lock. Selling a knife that may be damaged to someone is negligent in my opinion.

I think Bob gave him every opportunity to get the problem solved and he was just to pig headed to do things the proper way.

I have owned only one REKAT knfe and it was a Carnivor. It never gave me a day of trouble.
 
Anyone know a good dealer that still has a few D2 Sifu's to sell? All the ones I usually buy from have none listed on the sites.I found one site I was not familer with and sent an email but have not recieved a response.
Any help would be appreciated.
 
Good to see you pop in here once in awhile Jim! In case you don't know, Jim March was one of the biggest reasons the Sifu was originally made. He pushed and pushed for manufacturers to make a true "mega folder" and with his input, the Sifu became a reality. Keep up the good work in your gun and knife freedoms work my man!

That brings up a big "salute" to Bob and REKAT who had the guts to bring the Sifu into fruition. Manufacturers ran away from big folders like scared mice when the Sifu was created. Yeah, Bob may not be the most "glib" person around but he's a nice guy, having met him at the OKCA show a few years ago. I still want to thank him again for a great product that in my mind was long overdue.

I've owned two Sifu's. The BF red G-10, black-bladed special and a regular. I sold the BF special, (don't like coated blades), and still have the regular, (with the finger grooves that I LOVE!), which is a favorite of mine. Both examples locked up rock solid and blades were centered.

I will honestly say I've heard of some quality control problems but what manufacturer can lay claim to problem free production? If the Sifu is gone, It's too bad. It truly is a benchmark in modern production knives.

P.S. Kevin, I loved your idea of aluminum, titanium, or hell, even stainless scales on this brute!
 
welllllllll- i did send it back, and bob fixed it, although i had to eat the shipping both ways (about $25 or so on top of $150 plus s&h on a 2 week old knife)

my prob w/them is that they claim no problem w/the sifu lock, over and over again - then bob gets on BF(for the first time in months) and claims 'only 2 (two) sifus have EVER came back for sevice that were not abused/modified '(do a search...)- i know for a FACT that MY knife FAILED and was not ABUSED/MODIFIED in any way - and i talked to several people who had the same probs as me - imho they have had/continued to have/have always had lock probs on the sifu, ya never hear of a carnie,etc failing - just a sifu - i carry a knife for a last ditch weapon when my 2 guns, all else, has failed, and, imho a knife which the designer himself says a hard whack to the back of the blade is abuse and will/could cause failure, aint what i need - sorry

point being, IF there were no probs w/the lock on sifus, WHY discontinue it?? i would imagine its there best seller outta a line w/out many real popular models, so if no probs, WHY discontinue such a popular model??

i think because it had a lock problem all along......

well, thats my last speach on REKAT, why beat a dead horse?? yes i have posted my experiences w/them, an incident i'm not likely to forget as every time i look at my right index finger knuckle and see a scar from the only time a knife has failed and i have cut myself w/it, all other times having been my fault lol

imho there are a heck of a lot of knives in the same price range which are certainly as good, if not better, and ya wont have a 'funky' lock - but by all means get one, the collector value will rise i'm sure

sorry if i have offended, but i speak only what i know/my experience w/the product

sifu (nah i never really liked 'em, just use sifu for handle, lol)
 
Is this for real?

I have checked with 4 other retailers who know nothing about this.

Dan
 
Most of the cites that I usually order from don't have the Sifu listed or it's listed as not in stock. The places I have seen them listed have the ATS-34 version I haven't seen anyplace with the D-2 Steel knives in stock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top