Well put KnifeGuy! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

That is the bottom line. We, as consumers, are subject to market trends.

High demand and high secondary prices are great for Busse.

*** Congratulations are due.

Ultimately, the goal of any business should be to drive up demand, drive up prices, drive up profits and drive up net earnings.

I would assume, Busse is doing well at this.

Unfortunately for me, this is putting their product out of my justification range for "users".

Buying for investment has not been my interest. I have purchased and sold MANY knives over the last few years. Largely, my reasons for purchasing is something looks very interesting on the internet and I can't "see" it unless I buy.

Sometimes I have stumbled upon some jewels - Like Swamp Rat and Scrap Yard.

But, sometimes a knife isn't what I had hoped it would be.
I have sold some knives for some very modest profits and I have sold some for losses. I even recently sold one (in a moment of needing cash and weakness) that I wish I had not sold.
I am still regretting this recent sale.
I have even made great profit on ebay inadvertently and unexpectantly a few times.

Anyway, I collect to use and to own. Not to resale.

If they cost too much to justify, I will inevitably loose interest.

I like some Randall knives and many customs, but for the same reasons, I don't buy Randall or most custom knives anymore. And I have had to sell off all my Randall's (only about 3) and most of my customs as I couldn't justify keeping them based on what they where worth to me to sell vs. justification to keep.

To each their own, but even in times when I have lots of money, I have to question me personally purchasing or owning knives worth much over $200, let alone $300... $400 ... $500+

And regardless of price, I have to analyze what I am getting and "Should" it really cost me as much.

As I have known and you have shown (Vic), for a "user" a good machete can be had for $25 and take a LOT of abuse (ie: Pleanty tough) and get the job done for my chopping needs (and I really don't "need" to chop much. - Chopping is generally more of a sport, hobby or entertainment than need for me). and a big machete can often do a better job at chopping than large expensive knives.

Although.... Machetes aren't so good at batoning.... But, then axes are cheap too.

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That too. I was hoping to be able to get Swamp Rat quality, toughness and function at better prices...

Swamp Rat used to sell quite a few SATIN knives in D2 and SR101 with micarta, Res-C and Mudder grips at under $100 !!!!


One of my ongoing issues though is still that I don't believe "LE" blades should cost $50 - $60+ more. I have made my points about this. See line above where they used to sell "Complete" nice knives for barely more than the now up-charge for satin.

I DO prefer Satin blades.

DM at $69 seemed like a good deal. I say it was.

DMLE (finished knife) should have been about $79 - $85 tops. (IMO)

***** But, Scrap Yard sold them all..... So..... I loose. And I should probably shut up and get over it.

To me, it is a bad sign for me.

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While I am willing to agree with a lot of comments here and disagree with other, I have one concern that has been eating me for a while and I want to address it. This is a personal thing as a member who has also been here a while. I know not as long as some, but still longer than others.

People seem to want to continually bash the price difference between the CG & LE version of the Dumpster Mutt. It seems everyone has forgotten how much of an amazing deal the CGDM was in the first place. I know people have lots of arguments to tell me I an wrong here, however the bottom line is the DM would have been just as much of a success at the $90-100 mark and nothing was stopping Dan from releasing it at that price. To me, Dan gave us a real treat on the price the first time around. We should be happy about that & take it for what it is worth! I use mine a lot and it laughs at the use/abuse it gets.

If the CGDM had been $99.95, which seems like a reasonable price for it over the unreal original release price, would folks still have such an issue with the price of the LE model? After all, folks seem fine with that price for the Scrapper 6 & the DM is an even tougher blade (sharpened crowbar? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )

We should be happy that the original release was such a stellar deal instead of acting unhappy and bordering on bitter with the normal pricing on the LE model. People had a chance to score a Limited Edition Scrap Yard blade for $10 more than what we spent on the CG Yard Hook/Guard! Should Dan have to price CG models higher in cases like this just to keep people relatively happy about the LE prices?

Dan gave us an excellent deal on the first Dumpster Mutts, we shouldn't be sitting here complaining about it! We need to get back to using what we have & enjoying this hobby while we share in the excitement of waiting for the next blade.

Cheers,
Chris <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Another thing most people don't understand is how incredibly expensive hand finishing is in a North American shop. If you have ever ground out the dimples and lines in one of the Scrapyard CG's you will understand how long it takes.
Shop time is probably about 150$ an hour or more.

Thats why I think the comp grades will cost at least as much as the CG versions. If they have the god zero edge it will take a lot of hand finishing which is where the costs come from. I used to not like the LE's but recently have changed my mind. I am especially looking forward to the DFLE.

The one change I would really like to see is thinner blade stock. The 1/4 inch thick blades suck as cutters and with a steel as strong as S7 are completely unnecessary. Some 3/16th CG blades like some SS4s in S7 would be awesome.
Or a 3/16th S6CG.

what makes a knife comp grade?

I was trying not to post anymore on this subject. But,...
Sorry Unsub.... I disagree.

First of all, we are not talking about a "HAND" finish.

We are talking about a belt grind finish at approx. 220 - 400 grit... comparable to what most knives in the industry offer for satin blades at under $100 for a completed knife.

Maybe Walter Brend gets $150 an hour or more when he personally steps up to a grinder... But, that is not what we are talking about.

And maybe it takes me, you and Joe third world grind shop with a $40 home grinder, without much practice, not much skill, having to change belts all the time and work around already installed handles a while to "Fix" the blades.

But, I am confident that Busse has enough production and machinery and skilled laber probably at a pay rate of about $10 - $20 an hour that (assuming they grind prior to installing the scales) they can put a decent satin finish on these blades in 15 - 30 minutes. I don't believe it should cost so much.

99% of the production knives in the world at probably under $50 total retail price or even less have a satin finish. (* Not "Hand" rubbed finish.)

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cold one, that makes perfect sense. still, it's not difficult to see that people came here to buy busse performance for $100. the price of the le doesn't bother me, but it seems the performance ratio title is going back to ranger as prices increase. swamp rat started the same way the yard did, and gradually became more expensive. are they still worth it? of course, especially relative to the rest of the knives out there when considering capability.

The introductory prices became such only after their success. the dumpster mutt was supposed to be a one time only thing and the basic handles would never come back, just like the infi street scrapper 4 hasn't. if the sr77 version comes out anywhere near the same price as the previous infi model, i'm not buying it. i think it's worth the money and i can afford it, but on principle i simply don't like it. should be less than half that looking at the price ratio between the df, battle rat, and fbm.

if the dog father returns with a higher price, i won't like that either, despite being worth it. might still get one, though. if the dfle is $200 ($198.95 still counts) or more, then i'll be officially pissed. there's always jerry, justin, and nepal.

this may have come off more harsh than i hoped.

I hope I dont sound too stupid here..but what is a zero edge?None at all?

haha, sort of. i thought it meant no second bevel, but i've seen the label applied to knives that clearly had second bevels, so i must have been wrong.

Uhh