The New SURVIVE!

[TRfromMT]

^^^Holy wall of text, Batman!

 

[JJ_Colt45]

I'm glad the S!K line is going to start being offered. I preordered a 5.1 and yes it took a bit longer then first thought to get but it was worth the wait ... I've ordered full custom knives that have taken longer to receive and weren't near the quality of my GSO 5.1
I know in the instant gratification world we live in today waiting on what we want most get frustrated ... I wish Guy & Ellie all the success possible.
And I hope this does help move along the GSO orders for all those still waiting to receive a beautiful highly functional knife ... that I think most will agree was worth the wait once they have them.
I will be looking at the S!K line and may jump in and give that a go also.
But have to say to those that are frustrated or upset on long wait times Ellie goes far above and beyond keeping in touch and trying to answer questions so be glad they care and put so much into producing a grade A product and that they care enough to interact with us here.
I'm excited to see the S!K line start to filter out into our hands.

 

[Fancier]

^^^Holy wall of text, Batman!

The heart of good writing is in the editing...
Did anybody wade through it, and were any new points made?

 

[Silver Needle]

The heart of good writing is in the editing...
Did anybody wade through it, and were any new points made?

There's a lot in there, but it sounded mainly like concern about the SK line and GSOs actually getting out faster.

If people don't read the whole chunk of information on the website and just go off of "we're behind on GSOs and now we're adding a new product line" I get how there is confusion and concern. If things go exactly as we're hoping then the idea that the SKs are worked on by an entirely different team of people and Guy can focus solely on preorders then other existing orders then it sounds like a win to me. Right now we just don't know how much of a positive impact there will be, but I remain optimistic. I do hope that any final checks once the SKs get back to the SURVIVE! shop for shipping really are minimal. Let's move these knives, people!

 

[Silver Needle]

@Sagemode We hear you. Most of us here have faith that the company is slowly turning things around, but there are still some unknowns. I'm hoping for better days ahead and I think S!K is taking steps to make this happen.

 

[grogimus]

The heart of good writing is in the editing...
Did anybody wade through it, and were any new points made?

Yes. No.

 

[ndmiller]

If things go exactly as we're hoping then the idea that the SKs are worked on by an entirely different team of people and Guy can focus solely on preorders then other existing orders then it sounds like a win to me. Right now we just don't know how much of a positive impact there will be, but I remain optimistic. I do hope that any final checks once the SKs get back to the SURVIVE! shop for shipping really are minimal. Let's move these knives, people!

I hear ya, but this is what worries me......

• SK-3.5: In Production, completion TBD. Check back for regular updates.

If an outside firm is producing the SK-3.5 to 95% and shipping to Survive! for an in house team for the last 5%, why TBD? Based on the amount of knives produced, can't anyone estimate production, shipping, heat treat, shipping, final production, shipping to Survive?

Assuming they are using Peter's their 2 weeks return shipping should apply, no delays posted. Shipping between locations definitely can be estimated, say 2-3 days each stage, another 2 weeks. Production estimate, the other firm has to be able to estimate that right? So how long from 95-100% in house survive, I'm completely making up 2 weeks. 6 weeks of stuff, plus production time, so double it (production and padding) and within 3 months one should be able to buy an SK-3.5.

If Survive! has 50-100 SK-3.5's in-stock, ready for sale in September-October for delivery within a week, I would think Survive!'s new model will help. If it's in-stock November or even later, continued disappointment will be the name of the game.

 

[Fancier]

I am personally pleased that Survive has stopped making optimistic production schedule predictions.
The knives will happen when they happen. For twenty five dollars you will be among the first to know when that is.

 

[Silver Needle]

ndmiller You already seem to know more about it than I do. I'm only going off of what is on their website and my own optimism. S!K leads the knife industry in blown out delivery estimates so I get it if they're playing it safe. Maybe at least for this first run with the new process they're being extra vague. Like the first synopsis you mentioned in the last paragraph of your post I hope making an investment in this new process and product line pays off for the company and their customers.

 

[Silver Needle]

One thing I'm anxious to find out is how the SK line will be finished. The handle microtexturing and blade peened finish had been done in house, so unless the new company has similar machines maybe the SKs will feature different finishes. My curiosity is off the charts.

 

[Fancier]

Silver, my read of the information provided by Survive is that all of Guy's little touches are going to carry on in the GSO line but will not be present in the SK line.
I'd love to see the new finish and the micro textured scales in the SK line but I'm not expecting them.
I expect a much more "generic" level of finish on the SK knives, which for the price I consider to be a reasonable compromise.

 

[Silver Needle]

Silver, my read of the information provided by Survive is that all of Guy's little touches are going to carry on in the GSO line but will not be present in the SK line.
I'd love to see the new finish and the micro textured scales in the SK line but I'm not expecting them.
I expect a much more "generic" level of finish on the SK knives, which for the price I consider to be a reasonable compromise.

Absolutely, my man, absolutely. I think you and I are reading things the same. I guess my previous post was my round about way of wondering out loud if the SK line will return to plainly textured micarta and tumble blade finishing. And I remain in agreement with your last point that I'd be completely happy with that arrangement.

I do hope that Guy can show epic levels of self control and make the 5% of work done in the shop just a quick look over for major issues then get to packing and shipping those babies out the door!

 

[TRfromMT]

^^^THIS!

 

[Fancier]

I do hope that Guy can show epic levels of self control and make the 5% of work done in the shop just a quick look over for major issues then get to packing and shipping those babies out the door!

Since they won't be GSO models perhaps Guy can allow a merely stringent level of quality control on them.
Maybe Ellie won't let him look at them at all...

 

[CataD]

@the_wall_of_text The fact that people are not posting/showing you their knives, it doesn't mean they're not getting them. Here, I'll make an exception: GSO 7/7 starter received some time ago.

 

[Brian77]

Still looking forward to receiving mine. Hoping this year brings them.

 

[everysmith]

^^^Holy wall of text, Batman!

Sagemode makes some good points. There are a number of problems, some of which were covered, that indicate that those who paid are taking some risk in never receiving what they paid for.

My experiences thus far have been similar to most other customers: pay and wait much longer than expected; check website and instgram surviveproductionupdate for any indication that production is moving along; continue to wait in frustration.

I have to believe that the company is flooded with email and phone calls since the supply cannot meet the demand. My last couple emails are a disappointment. Their website says they offer MIL/LEO/EMS discounts with proof of service, which I thankfully participated in. When I purchased subsequent blades, the discount did not show, but I purchased anyway because I did not want to miss out on a purchase window, and hoped that they would fix it later. When I asked the first time the discount did not work, they eventually replied to the email and glossed over the fact I paid full price and told me it should have worked. When I later purchased another blade, the discount did not work again. When I emailed about it, the email went unanswered this time. I guess I did not learn my previous lesson.

So Sagemode's points add up to lost confidence, and I can understand. Buyer be aware.

 

[rc51kid]

I hope this does wotk out well for them. I love my Survive! knives. Obvoiusly this will put a more "production" level knife out there faster for the masses. That is a great thing.

But i fail to see how it wil help production time of the GSO. Right now Survive! Is only producing the GSO and it takes a year or so (lets just say). So moving production of SK knive to some place else isnt realy going to help GSO orders at current volume.

The one exception would be if in the future that the majority of people order SK and demand of GSO goes down. That would speed delivery of GSO knives. But i would think as a company they would rather not hope for a decrease in orders on any line of knives.

We could speculate that if SK knives sell well and deliver quickly they could help Survive! financialy and allow them to expand GSO production. But that is a lot of specualation and a long way down the road.

Honestly i am glad Survive has a plan in the works to help there buisness becouse i love there knives and want to see them around for years to come. But personaly i will still be interested in the GSO line.

 

[Fancier]

As I understand the new plan Survive will only retain a fraction of each production run of the blades and other materials for each model.
The rest of the production run will go to an outside contractor to finish and assemble and will be sold as the SK line.
Survive won't be spending time reworking materials to make the grade for firsts and then selling seconds and uglies from the rest.
The Survive shop will only work on GSO knives from the best materials from each run, and there will be a lot fewer GSO knives sold in the future.
The SK line will be the majority of the knives sold by Survive and there won't be any Survive shop time required on SK knives.
Under this business model the demand for the GSO line isn't going to decrease, but instead fewer GSO knives will be made so that the Survive shop isn't overloaded.
The GSO will be the harder to obtain premium line with all of the hand fitted detail, and the SK line will be the higher volume production versions.

 

[Oyster]

As I understand the new plan Survive will only retain a fraction of each production run of the blades and other materials for each model.
The rest of the production run will go to an outside contractor to finish and assemble and will be sold as the SK line.
Survive won't be spending time reworking materials to make the grade for firsts and then selling seconds and uglies from the rest.
The Survive shop will only work on GSO knives from the best materials from each run, and there will be a lot fewer GSO knives sold in the future.
The SK line will be the majority of the knives sold by Survive and there won't be any Survive shop time required on SK knives.
Under this business model the demand for the GSO line isn't going to decrease, but instead fewer GSO knives will be made so that the Survive shop isn't overloaded.
The GSO will be the harder to obtain premium line with all of the hand fitted detail, and the SK line will be the higher volume production versions.

Do you (or anyone else) have an explanation for the rather curious (to me, anyway) situation that the SK and GSO versions of the 6 are being offered at the same price? (The SK version is on "sale" for an insignificant $13 less).