What are you doing in here?

M

MidwestDave

Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
679
I was just thinking about how I found this room and discovered John's talent and was wondering how others found their way here.
In my case, I've been a BF member since 2006 but just became one of John's followers two months ago.
It's all Pit's fault. I used to follow the threads about his hikes with Maisey, Snicker and his TTSK in the WS&S forum.
Pit must have been singing the praises of Stomper and I wandered in to see for myself.
IIRC, John had just posted a Drop Point Hunter with black micarta for sale and I snapped it up. My first handmade knife.
Once I got that knife in my hands I was hooked.
I was just curious how others got here.



Dave
 
Bearthedog showcased a JK kephart with oak handle. I HAD to have one! I'm easily influenced like that, hahaha. Now I have 8 of John's knives- by far more than any other maker. That kephart has been a good companion, but my recent best buy I'd the LDK, it is my pocket knife and goes everywhere I go.

I'm on my phone or I would post a proper review with pics. Computer has crashed and I need to save for a new one. Slaves to technology!

So that's my beginning with this place. I come here first on BF, then WSS. I wander around into a few other forums, but don't say much there. I'm content to lurk.
 
I was on the hunt for my "LAST FIXED BLADE" I started a thread on BF W&SS for ideas...Most people either said RAT Cutlery or custom maker, I seen Stomper come up a few times so I thought I'de check him out. After a few E-mails & a chat on the phone, I'm waiting on my LOBO :thumbup:
 
I'm a nut for tools that work and can be used hard. I read reviews on John's knives and saw them being used and appreciated and I paid more attention to them and him.
After hearing about the way John treated his customers and his openness in working with people to get exactly what they wanted, I was hooked.
I now have two of his knives, both that I won, but I will certainly be buying more when the dollars start coming in.
 
I've been kind of a lurker on Bf and then I got more into it and start frequenting the WSS forum. In a thread I saw some picture of C Bryant's mini-kephart and decided to go see who the "K" stamp belonged to. Well, I worked my way into here, looked at John's other knives and sent out and e-mail. Several e-mails later I'm on the order list for a full sized Kephart. Can't wait to get it! I check this forum a couple times a day, whenever I get on my computer I stop by and see what's going on.
 
I kept seeing pictures of knives I really liked and kept asking myself "Who makes those knives with the K stamp". Then I think I saw JWiliams torture test and thought, hmmm I think that those knives would be a good choice. This was around the holidays last year IIRC, and I was broke from buying Christmas presents, and then I think John got his own forum soon after the holidays ( I won a pocket companion in his first contest) and I placed an order for my EWOK. Then he had his "extra long tin knives" and then ran a special on the hiker (The knife I had actually been wanting the most of his), and then the special on the neckmuk, and then the fire kit.

I'm still wanting a full sized nessmuk, but its probably going to have to wait a while.
 
I think it was a Kephart with tiger stripe maple that first caught my eye, then one day I created a thread asking about a good outdoor knife and thanks to Kgd, pitdog and a few others I ended up with two JK's, a hiker (amazing knife) and a AK. It was also this thread that really sold me on the strength of John's blades and I figured if it could take that kind of abuse then its good enough for me http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=601044
 
I spent most of my time on BF in the Schrade or Traditional forum. I am an outdoors type of guy so I always lurked in the W&SS forum as well.

I noticed my vintage slipjoint and Schrade "collections" far outweighed my user fixed blades. So I decided to solve that problem.

I love carbon steel, but hate coated blades. So that ruled out RAT(hate choils too) and Becker. I also live in a sub-4" blade state, so that ruled out many of the BRKT models.

So I decided to bite the bullet and get a custom. John gets good reviews on both quality and price in W&SS so I lurked in this sub-forum for abit.

John ran a special on his Hiker, and was willing to shorten his design up a tad :)thumbup: mine has a 3 7/8" blade), and the rest is history. I now own four of his knives, plus one for my son, and now carry a JK everyday.:)
 
I was browsing on one of the 1,000,000 other forums I go to and spotted a picture of a knife that was exactly what I was looking for. It was John's Anniversary knife posted by Todd.
It was exactly what I had been looking for to carry at work, off duty, and even for hunting.
:thumbup:
 
Your the second guy, that I know of, on THR who I suckered...umm I mean convinced :eek:...to give John a try.:)

There is a duplicate of my Hiker being used in Texas.:thumbup:

Most of the guys over there are into "tactical" type knives.:barf:
 
I was checking the Makers knives for sale and saw Johns Kephart and Nessie. John told me that I could save money by getting them shipped together.;) Well a bunch of knives later, here I still am. Came over here as soon as John opened his own forum.

I have come to judge all knives by Johns standard of quality and pure toughness, Knives just don't get much better. The bang for the BUCK is outstanding.:thumbup:

With the number of guys posting here now, I am preaching to the choir.
 
MidwestDave said:
I was just thinking about how I found this room and discovered John's talent and was wondering how others found their way here.
In my case, I've been a BF member since 2006 but just became one of John's followers two months ago.
It's all Pit's fault. I used to follow the threads about his hikes with Maisey, Snicker and his TTSK in the WS&S forum.
Pit must have been singing the praises of Stomper and I wandered in to see for myself.
IIRC, John had just posted a Drop Point Hunter with black micarta for sale and I snapped it up. My first handmade knife.
Once I got that knife in my hands I was hooked.
I was just curious how others got here.



Dave
Click to expand...
Yeah blame me for getting ya hooked !!!!!:eek:

I can't quite remember what got me on this forum, I think it was after seeing Johns version of the Kephart.
Even then I just thought " Yeah they look ok, nothing outta the ordinary", I then went and won one of Johns Hikers and was amazed at just how nice they were in real.The handle was what had me sold( I have always been very picky when it comes to handles)the length was perfect, width just right, none of your namby pamby wafer thin slabs here !!!!!;):thumbup:
 
I've been an avid Bladeforums member for a few years.

Something about John's designs just spoke to me.

My Best Man at my wedding asked me what I wanted for a gift and I told him a JK Knife! Thus how the XL Kephart was born!

Due to it being a wedding gift from my Best Man for as long as I am alive my XL Kephart will remind me of what a good knife is, what a good woman is, and what a good friend is.
 
I to am going to blame it all on pitdog.:D After seeing his ttsk I new that I needed to have John make one of my own designs.

Unfortunatly now I have to wait for it to show up.:eek: But the best things come to those who wait, and I feel this is going to hold true for me and my JK:D
 
Todd A said:
Your the second guy, that I know of, on THR who I suckered...umm I mean convinced :eek:...to give John a try.:)

There is a duplicate of my Hiker being used in Texas.:thumbup:

Most of the guys over there are into "tactical" type knives.:barf:
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't have much time for the "tactical" knives to be honest. If the situation goes that far beyond the duty weapon or back up weapon anything goes at that point and I want a knife that I carry 24/7 and know intimately.
 
Interesting thread topic!

I have admired Stomper's work since I first saw examples of his Kephart model, which really appeals to me (though I still don't have one!). Last year, I started a personal 'Nessmuk Trio Challenge', where I wound up using only three knives for a six month period. One was my Leatherman Wave, one was my little EDC scandi, and one was a Delta 5. The Delta 5 served as my hiking and camp knife and primary food prep knife for half a year, and the experience taught me a lot about the features I wanted to see in my ideal hiking knife. When my challenge came to an end, I started posting some thoughts and reflections on the W&SS forum, and I began looking for a replacement for the Delta 5 (which did its job admirably, mind you).

Right around this time, John was holding his Anniversary Knife design contest, and I was watching closely. When he produced the first official Anniversary Knife, I knew that I had found what I was looking for. I contacted John and we exchanged some ideas regarding design features, materials, etc. His customer service was - and remains - amazing, and I was hooked. My JK-AK (a 5" version with black canvas micarta scales that rides in a Spec Ops sheath) has been my go-to hiking blade since it arrived.

All the best,

- Mike
 
I found blade forums a couple months ago by researching chris reeves knives. Eventually I found my way to this subforum and my jaw was floored that I could get custom handmade knives for such a good price. So I ordered my fire start kit and after such a warm welcome you guys helped me design my custom knife. Still waiting on both and still cant wait.
 
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