Should we Pull the Plug?

David Bloch

David Bloch

Joined
Feb 22, 1999
Messages
465
To All Outdoor Edge Forum Fans:

Every since we made the decision to cease development of new folding knives I've seen interest and posts on this forum drop to almost 0 :(. Once we made this announcement the posts we received made it seem like Outdoor Edge had contracted cancer and we were dying a slow painful death. This is not the case.

One thing I would like to clear up is that our business is stronger than ever with sales up 25% this year :D. We also have introduced several new models which have received an excellent responce although none of these are in the folding knife category. Since we have focused our energy from folding knives back to the hunting and outdoor categories business has really picked up. Yes Outdoor Edge is alive and well and will be around for many years to come. I know we earned some great fans for our folders and we thank you for your support. We also will continue to warranty and service all of our dicontinued folding knife models. Unfortunately since we have no plans to develop any new folders I do feel future interest in this forum will be minimal at best. I regards to this I think it is time we pull the plug on the Outdoor Edge Forum. If you agree or disagree I welcome your comments and again thank you for all your support and posts over the years.
 
Traffic at Bladeforums has been thinning out a lot in recent weeks in general. Most traffic goes to the general interest forum and a lot less to the others. I think that the recent disabling of the search functions for non-premium members has reduce visibility into secondary forums. If someone comes to Bladeforums looking for information on your game prep products they can't just do a topical search. The list of Manufacturers' forums has gotten so long that your name gets pushed off the bottom of my screen.

I hope that Spark will find a way to restore the search function for newbies. Another thing that might help is if he reorganized the forums more like Knifeforums which highlights current threads independant of which forum they are on. In that case you could do more self promotion by placing news items on your own forum.

In the mean time you could place articles about your newer products on the manufacturers' What's New forum to direct some traffic to your own forum. Anyway, I don't think it is simply a lack of folders that has reduced traffic. Traffic is down and congested in general.
 
I'm excited to hear OE is doing well and that my limited observation was flawed. I'd like the forum to stay open. You might post a sticky notice at the top saying that due to traffic, OE reps only check in on a 1 or 2 week basis, or whatever basis you feel is appropriate.

It's still a good place for owners, users and prospective types to query around. They should just know about the slow traffic beforehand so they don't get antsy and doubt OE. I guess there is a potential image liability to consider though.

Heck, I'm not in the knife business. I'm a knife user, a talker and a learner. Do what's best for the business, but we'll miss you.

Phil
 
It's because of this forum that moments ago I ordered a Magna (thanks for posting your comments, shootist16 and tightwad). Though it seems that few post (or lurk) here anymore, I'll give my impressions after the guy in brown delivers it.

BTW... I got what seems to be a great deal on mine -- plain edge, aluminum scales -- at $49.95 plus shipping.
 
I think maybe you should let it die of natural causes. When the forum is dormant for some time, with no new posts, then maybe you can pull the plug. But I have yet to experience one of your knives, So when I buy one in the near future, it would be nice if this place was here to express my opinions :)
 
David, I think you and this forum have been a great assest to BFC, but the bottom line is it has to be worth your time. I'm glad your business is doing well and I wish you continued success. I have to admit that two of the knives I was most looking forward to from your company never happened, and I know how hard you tried to get them off the ground. I thank you for trying. They were very exciting knives in concept and may have taken your company off in another direction.

Whatever you decide, thanks for the time and the products you've given us.
 
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