Survive! Knives - My journey so far

[SURVIVE! Ellie]

I'm just curious to know what the business looks like behind the scenes / on paper.
We know the knives fly off the shelves. We know it's a small operation with a good deal of time going into the production of each unit, but this talk of almost going out of business is disconcerting....

How can a company whose products so rapidly sell out be anywhere close to failing??
Obviously production is an issue... Is this mostly do to the low number of employees, or the fact that a lot of it depends on 3rd parties...?
Hopefully the new shop in ID gives you guys plenty of room to grow, expand and maybe bring some of those 3rd party duties in-house, which I assume would result in a shorter turn-around.

For our first big year (2013) we had some big mistakes. As Guy has mentioned in the past, he made a bad choice in a business management partner. Instead of reinvesting in the production of knives, money went toward ineffective employees and unnecessary marketing ploys. For example: we hired a company to do frivolous social media posts (they once used a graphic about knives and didn't even bother to change the picture to one of our knives). By the end of 2013 the partner was gone but we were still recovering when we starting getting hit with some Factory 2nds. Worst case was 3/4s of a production run. We weren't seeing the blades early enough in the production process to be able to make the fix/scrap decision. Even if we did, we didn't have the equipment to do any of the fixing ourselves. Some people will say we are too particular, but a lot of the things we look out for are things that have been pointed out to us by unsatisfied customers. This would also be where some of the stubbornness comes in. Guy would rather go down in a noble flame than sell something that is less than perfect. I had a difficult time convincing him to sell Factory 2nds.

We have learned. We have cut back as much as we can. We have plans in place for getting some much needed equipment. We have a pretty good idea of how to keep production as efficient as possible. We are recovering and looking forward to an exciting future.

 

[md02geist]

For our first big year (2013) we had some big mistakes. As Guy has mentioned in the past, he made a bad choice in a business management partner. Instead of reinvesting in the production of knives, money went toward ineffective employees and unnecessary marketing ploys. For example: we hired a company to do frivolous social media posts (they once used a graphic about knives and didn't even bother to change the picture to one of our knives). By the end of 2013 the partner was gone but we were still recovering when we starting getting hit with some Factory 2nds. Worst case was 3/4s of a production run. We weren't seeing the blades early enough in the production process to be able to make the fix/scrap decision. Even if we did, we didn't have the equipment to do any of the fixing ourselves. Some people will say we are too particular, but a lot of the things we look out for are things that have been pointed out to us by unsatisfied customers. This would also be where some of the stubbornness comes in. Guy would rather go down in a noble flame than sell something that is less than perfect. I had a difficult time convincing him to sell Factory 2nds.

We have learned. We have cut back as much as we can. We have plans in place for getting some much needed equipment. We have a pretty good idea of how to keep production as efficient as possible. We are recovering and looking forward to an exciting future.

These factory seconds you talk about, are amazing knives. They are damn near as good as the non-factory seconds and function just perfectly. I have *no* issues with them at all, my go-to 4.1 is a factory 2nd in 20CV that I just love.

 

[edge13]

These factory seconds you talk about, are amazing knives. They are damn near as good as the non-factory seconds and function just perfectly. I have *no* issues with them at all, my go-to 4.1 is a factory 2nd in 20CV that I just love.

I completely agree. My favorite user is my 4.1 factory second, the thing takes a beating and still comes back sharp. I dont know how mine is a factory second i cant find a damn thing wrong with it. Survive Knives have my vote any day.

 

[Silver Needle]

I completely agree. My favorite user is my 4.1 factory second, the thing takes a beating and still comes back sharp. I dont know how mine is a factory second i cant find a damn thing wrong with it. Survive Knives have my vote any day.

Guy definitely has high standards. Another favorite knife brand of mine (and I'm sure many others) have no problems charging full price for unsymetrical and uneven grinds among other blemishes.

 

[Badey]

Well, I'm willing to wait.

I like the company, I like the product, I want to see them succeed. If that means waiting a few months for the knife I want, that's cool with me.

 

[Riz!]

I agree that the reason Survive! is still in afloat is because the knives are awesome. They hit every point I look for in a blade. You guys make a banging product. As long as I know you are making them, I will keep
buying them.

 

[Hard Knocks]

There are so many things that have to be done as the owner of a business, they could be listed ad nauseam. If you don't do it yourself, or have VERY good people, it likely isn't getting done, or at least done right as S!K has (painfully and expensively) found out.

I hate seeing that kind of thing happen to good people, and will happily wait for these new runs to be completed so that I can offer some small measure of support by purchasing a few more models of their excellent blades.

 

[Mark in Oz]

Thanks for all your responses in this thread Elle. Knowing what I now do makes the waiting abit easier.

 

[willythekid]

I was one of Survive!'s biggest fans early but have since moved on... lots of non-truths told(I won't call them lies) and missed deadline after missed deadline turned me off. I still have my 6 which I love but my 5,4.1,10 and necker have long since been sold. I don't see myself ordering from them again unless they figure out whats up with their production. I don't see that happening anywhere in the near future. In my opinion Guy got greedy and tried to grow too fast and it came back to bite the company in the butt. I wish SK nothing but the best in the future but it will be a future without me. Lots of other fish in the sea as they say...

 

[SURVIVE!]

I was one of Survive!'s biggest fans early but have since moved on... lots of non-truths told(I won't call them lies) and missed deadline after missed deadline turned me off. I still have my 6 which I love but my 5,4.1,10 and necker have long since been sold. I don't see myself ordering from them again unless they figure out whats up with their production. I don't see that happening anywhere in the near future. In my opinion Guy got greedy and tried to grow too fast and it came back to bite the company in the butt. I wish SK nothing but the best in the future but it will be a future without me. Lots of other fish in the sea as they say...

You are not wrong there, we did try to grow a bit too quickly in the past but if you have read either my own or Ellie's previous posts you would know that wasn't really my doing except for the fact that I trusted the wrong person. I'm not a greedy guy and all I want is to share my creations and to have people be happy. I've learned a lot since then and feel confident that we're approaching the beginning of much better days.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Fingers crossed for a great 2015 for you guys. (I mean, you are in Idaho now )

 

[willythekid]

You are not wrong there, we did try to grow a bit too quickly in the past but if you have read either my own or Ellie's previous posts you would know that wasn't really my doing except for the fact that I trusted the wrong person. I'm not a greedy guy and all I want is to share my creations and to have people be happy. I've learned a lot since then and feel confident that we're approaching the beginning of much better days.

Greedy was the wrong word and not what I wanted to convey... let me apologize for that wording. Overly-ambitious was what I was trying to get across. Even though I had some mishaps with SK I want it known that in all my dealings with Guy through emails over the years he was always professional and courteous. Like I said before, I wish you the best of success in the future.

 

[SURVIVE!]

Greedy was the wrong word and not what I wanted to convey... let me apologize for that wording. Overly-ambitious was what I was trying to get across. Even though I had some mishaps with SK I want it known that in all my dealings with Guy through emails over the years he was always professional and courteous. Like I said before, I wish you the best of success in the future.

Thanks for the clarification Man. On a personal level that really means a lot to me.

 

[1Hiker2]

I have purchased three perfect GSO's, the two I ordered from S!K took awhile to get, but they are perfect and well worth the price. Over the past "month" I have ordered three Bark River knives and have sent them all back. They do a nice job on the handles but their blade grinds leave a lot to be desired.
So, Bark River Knives, readily available and very disappointing.
Survive Knives, well as the saying goes, "good thing come to those who wait".

 

[psychophipps]

You ever think about a (Jump)Kickstarter campaign? There is a whole bunch of people here that would love to see you guys get to the next level. Even if the smaller contributions are just first-dibs on the next run with a discounted price, I think you would generate some serious interest.

As for growing pains, I have noted from several posts on a whole mess of forums that the knife industry is absolutely fantastic when it comes to helping out new folks. If you were to PM a few of the admins for various makers here, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you had several offers of advice and encouragement.

 

[SURVIVE!]

You ever think about a (Jump)Kickstarter campaign? There is a whole bunch of people here that would love to see you guys get to the next level. Even if the smaller contributions are just first-dibs on the next run with a discounted price, I think you would generate some serious interest.

As for growing pains, I have noted from several posts on a whole mess of forums that the knife industry is absolutely fantastic when it comes to helping out new folks. If you were to PM a few of the admins for various makers here, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you had several offers of advice and encouragement.

None of the major crowd funding sites allow anything that could be considered a weapon to be funded. Kind of a bummer but instead we're working on our own sort of crowd funding/reservation campaign. Ellie insists that I keep my mouth shut for now but we'll be releasing more information as soon as we get all of the fine details worked out. There will be various ways to get involved in this.

 

[md02geist]

None of the major crowd funding sites allow anything that could be considered a weapon to be funded. Kind of a bummer but instead we're working on our own sort of crowd funding/reservation campaign. Ellie insists that I keep my mouth shut for now but we'll be releasing more information as soon as we get all of the fine details worked out. There will be various ways to get involved in this.

I'm in, sight unseen. I would happily support Survive knives (especially if it means some swag for me LOL).


Seriously, I love you guys' knives.

 

[fielder]

Hi, I love what I see and hear about Survive! knives. I just wish there was a U.K. dealer, someone like Heinnie Haynes. Importing individually is a hassle. I recently sent a Sebenza back for warranty work and had problems with customs on the return. Will a U.K. dealer ever be a possibility?

 

[SURVIVE!]

Hi, I love what I see and hear about Survive! knives. I just wish there was a U.K. dealer, someone like Heinnie Haynes. Importing individually is a hassle. I recently sent a Sebenza back for warranty work and had problems with customs on the return. Will a U.K. dealer ever be a possibility?

We definitely need to speak with someone about possibly having a European distributor, so you guys don't get sacked with so many potential duties and taxes.

 

[fielder]

We definitely need to speak with someone about possibly having a European distributor, so you guys don't get sacked with so many potential duties and taxes.

That is brilliant news, I know you guys are busy, but "make it so" . Thanks for the reply.