What's the bestselling knife design?

J

Jameswlepage

Joined
Dec 13, 2016
Messages
26
Hi all,

I've grown proficient in knife making in the last few months, and I like to sell my next knife build. I'm not limited by skill as I'm (fairly) experienced and have the right tools, but I am limited in my knowledge of knife sales.

So, in your opinion, what is the best selling combination of knife build?

Full tang or not?
Handle material?
Steel type?
Knife design?
Bevels?
Artistic, utility, bushcraft, edc or fighting knife?
Knife size?
Kydex or leather sheath?
Etc.
...

Hoping for some great answers, and I'll post a photo of my final product.

Thanks,

James.

Attached are some knives that I like.
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29357d8c6c08f65044bc072a44a8b973.jpg

8d53806af576425c73d6a12af6e86908.jpg
 
The best selling knife design in the the USA of all time is the Loveless Drop point hunter. Don't make one, it likely won't sell for you.

The best selling TACTICAL knife design in the USA for a fixed blade is some variant of the Western Tanto.....that you can likely sell if you produce it right.

5/32" stainless steel stock, acid wash finish, or satin.

5-7" blade.....although some do well with as short as 3 1/2"

4 3/4" handles seems to be a sweet spot.

Some sort of synthetic handle, black is popular.....stay away from Mother of Bowling Ball(Kirinite) when you are trying to build your name.

Sheath doesn't matter to most folks it seems, 'cause they don't carry 'em, but for those that do, a Hartsfield style sheath is worth looking at.

Hope this helps and

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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Steven is pretty spot on.

You look at the Loveless and Randall designs for fixed blades and you will have a good start considering they have been selling the same designs for decades for a reason.
 
If you make quality knives they will come.

People will want to buy your quality knives and your name will grow. It's hard to say which knife sells best, but full tangs seem to be a hot item now. 3v steel seems highly in demand.
 
Lapedog said:
If you make quality knives they will come.

People will want to buy your quality knives and your name will grow. It's hard to say which knife sells best, but full tangs seem to be a hot item now. 3v steel seems highly in demand.
Click to expand...

This is not a baseball field in Iowa.

Competition is at an all time high, and buying is overall....down.

Who are you and where do you get your information?

C&H is not a good place to drive your post count up.....unless you are Rolf Helbig with haiku posts.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
That's why I said if you produce a quality knife your name will get out there. I agree knife production is at an all time high and the market is flooded with high quality cutlery.

Obviously it is possible in today's market a knife maker will never strike it popular. However the best bet is obviously to put out a good item if you want your name to be known.

Anyway I am only trying to help, really couldn't care less about my post count.

Now clearly there is no database on whether full tangs or hidden tangs sell better, or what steel will make someone into a roaring success. I am just making observations based on what I see.

Since there is no such data base any suggestions made to answe the OPs question will be based on our best guesses. If the OP feels that my points are not valid it is his choice to discount them.
 
Lapedog said:
That's why I said if you produce a quality knife your name will get out there. I agree knife production is at an all time high and the market is flooded with high quality cutlery.

Obviously it is possible in today's market a knife maker will never strike it popular. However the best bet is obviously to put out a good item if you want your name to be known.

Anyway I am only trying to help, really couldn't care less about my post count.

Now clearly there is no database on whether full tangs or hidden tangs sell better, or what steel will make someone into a roaring success. I am just making observations based on what I see.

Since there is no such data base any suggestions made to answer the OPs question will be based on our best guesses. If the OP feels that my points are not valid it is his choice to discount them.
Click to expand...

This is where forums can get sticky. If the OP came here looking for experience driven data and thinks that everyone here has lots of experience(most do in C& H, that post regularly).....than your input will be lumped in with everyone else.

But I and for that matter, nobody else does, have any idea who you are and what you know....which is why I called you out. Welcome, by the way.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Lapedog said:
If you make quality knives they will come.

People will want to buy your quality knives and your name will grow. It's hard to say which knife sells best, but full tangs seem to be a hot item now. 3v steel seems highly in demand.
Click to expand...

Good advice! Make quality knives and properly promote yourself.
 
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Thank you for your greeting. I don't really have a way to demonstrate what I know other than posting. I have collected knives for years and actually have checked in on this forum for more than five years, just never bothered signing up.

Now I see of the four knives the OP posted two alpear to be modern "tactical", one appears to be more traditional, and the last one seems to be some sort of modern fantasyesque sword? It kind of reminds me of something from Lord of the Rings.

Some makers seem to explode in populairity and can't even supply the demand that exists for their knives. Others do not. Maybe you can find someone on the boards who produces knives in the style you would like to who became popular and ask them?

I definately think having a presence here will help get your name out.

Best of luck! You're living the dream!
 
Thank you all for your great input. I do like tanto blades, so I'm thinking I'll go with that [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
wrt knife design, this forum is a great place to get a glimpse of the future. Knowing how to look for that glimpse, however...
 
Posting some pics of your knives is always a good place to start.

It's also a good idea to say who made the knives you posted pics of.
Giving credit where it is due is always a good practice, especially if your knives are "inspired" by specific makers knives or style.
 
A well executed, clean and simple design using quality materials is probably more important than a best selling design.

The Makers For Sale Forum will give you an idea of what other makers are making and moving. The For Sale Forum will show you what isn't.
 
It's a little like asking a stockbroker "What's done really well the last year?". By then it's too late. ;)

Yogi Berra: "Hit it where they ain't!"

Those makers who come up with something different: which is useful, or clever, or extraordinary, tend to have good response.

The NEED for 'users' is finite. The WANT for 'unique' is unlimited.

I would also suggest that folders outsell fixed blades. Keep that in mind.

Good luck!

Coop
 
Even though they don't get a lot of love in this portion of the forums I would say the best selling knife would be a 240 gyuto.
A lot of the regular knife makers are starting to branch out to kitchen knives these days.
Getting the profile and geometry correct are critical as well as super clean fit and finish and good quality materials.

Whatever style knife that you decide to focus on, my opinion is that fit, finish and materials are critical.
Examples of a few younger knifemakers who appear to be doing well with the style they have chosen would be:
Will Morrison - Fighters
Lee Lerman - Folders
Greg Cimms - Kitchen Knives

I just mention these three because they are ones that I am fond of and I was impressed with their talents vs their age.
 
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tom brown tracker ? sharpbycoop made a great comment, the want for unique is unlimited. that was pretty heavy. however i can never seem to draw a knife profile that has not been used already :)
 
Don't ask what it sells, ask yourself what you can produce different than what is already on. I am by no means a knife expert, but I know what I want from a knife. Step in buyer's shoes and pic a segment of the market - bushcrafting, hunting, tactical, EDC - chose one and start from there. Decide what you want to be: a custom elite producer or a popular choice. If you will be custom elite producer, I see very little chances for western-tanto-like knives unless you really know what you are doing. If you want to be popular choice, find something that you don't like @ an existing type of blade and make your own design. You will be right with your creation if you think from the user's point of view.
PS And above all be a better listener than the rest of us. With www the lack of critic opinions is not an excuse anymore - especially if you want to make a living from this.
Nobody cares about full tang or about the type of materials you use as long as the "whole" screams "I can do great the things I was created for". Making a good design from a special/super steel will be just the cherry on the top. The selling point is the design that comes from "form follows function" - is how I see it.
 
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