Allan Blade Bushcrafter

[wildrover]

Hi Guys,
I know that lots of you have at least one of Allan's knives.

So if I could ask a quick question regarding Allan's confirmation of orders.

I e-mailed Allan a couple of weeks ago asking about option's on his bushcrafter knives. He very promptly responded (next day) with the options avaliable etc.
The next day I confirmed my order with the specification required.

Sooo the question is this. Does Allan usually confirm your order? Or do I assume that he got the e-mail and that I will recieve notification when the knife is almost ready for shipping.
It's just that I would hate to wait 14 weeks for the knife only to be disappointed.

Wildrover

 

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

Hi Guys,
I know that lots of you have at least one of Allan's knives.

So if I could ask a quick question regarding Allan's confirmation of orders.

I e-mailed Allan a couple of weeks ago asking about option's on his bushcrafter knives. He very promptly responded (next day) with the options avaliable etc.
The next day I confirmed my order with the specification required.

Sooo the question is this. Does Allan usually confirm your order? Or do I assume that he got the e-mail and that I will recieve notification when the knife is almost ready for shipping.
It's just that I would hate to wait 14 weeks for the knife only to be disappointed.

Wildrover

I hate to say this, but I had the exact same experience with Allan. He was very communicative before hand, but when I actually e-mailed him and stated I was ordering the knife we discussed, I got no response. I sent him a few e-mails over the next 2 weeks and still got no response. 6 weeks later, when the date was coming up that the knife should be finished I suddenly got an e-mail saying he had never recieved my "order" and hadn't even started on the knife yet.

I cancelled my order, and I hated to do so. I really wanted one of his knives but with all the background stuff I have found online about his "business problems", I would have to have the knife in my hands before I would send payment.

He makes great knives, no doubt about it to me, but I was willing to give it a try and then had problems.

 

[leon-1]

Allan has been going through a rough time of it earlier in the year and through circumstances beyond his control has fallen behind on some orders.

I can understand why (I am and have been waiting for an order for some time), however I will wait. As it is you only send payment to Allan when he has finished the knife and it is ready to be sent. He normally gets in touch by e-mail to let you know.

I have dealt with Allan before and been pretty happy with the service and the goods (enough so that I place another order) and I daresay that I am not the only one on here.

 

[Hoodoo]

I have purchased 6 of Allan's knives. Never once did he ask for payment until the knife was done. Never had a problem with delivery. Allan's main problem is that he sells his knives too cheap, way to cheap for the quality that you get. And because of that he has gotten backed up quite a bit. As for business practices, Allan went through some hard times. It wasn't pretty. People still like to dredge it up. I have yet to hear of anyone in the past 3 years or so, have a problem with Allan's business practices. All the whining dates to the past from what I can see. All I can say is that people who think Allan is getting rich are sadly mistaken. He's one of those knifemakers that barely scrape by.

 

[MagiKelly]

Most of you will know I have a few of Allan's knifes, another on order and no doubt more orders to place. Allan is a great knifemake of that there is no doubt but his knowledge of computers is not as good. I have found that when I confirmed an order Allan would tend not to reply as he just added the order to the list. Of course if he does not recieve the order then neither of you realise untill it is too late. The only instance this effected me was when I changed steel to D2 on one of my order's and Allan did not recieve the email. Once we realised Allan immediately offered to make ammends and all was sorted out.


I have also found that there are times when Allan is replying to emials very quickly and others when it takes days or even a week or two. It does not seem to matter whether we are discussing spec or placing an order it seems to have more to do with whether he is using his computer or on holiday

If you have any doubts about if he got your email then send another, asking for a reply. I send Allan an email on Monday and have not had a reply yet but I will wait till next Monday before I send a reminder.

Also I am one of the few people who has ever recieved anAllan Blade knife that had a fault. My very first knife from him, a Bushcrafter, had a problem with the heat treat and was a bit soft. Allan was horified when he found out and imiediately had me return the knife and made me a replacement. It was this responce to a problem that made me the loyal customer I am today.

 

[bambodoggy]

Allan made me a packpal earlier this year and I have to say his service was 100% in my case.

It may have taken him a day or so to reply to my mails but then when he asked about additions on my knife it took me a day or so to reply to him too! lol

His work is outstanding and the price is smashing but he's a knife maker and not a pc geek...bear with him and you'll end up with a smashing knife at an unbeatable price.

As Hoodoo rightly says Allan did have some business problems a few years back but I too have not heard of any problems since then other than the very unfortunate family issues that cropped up earlier this year for him.

It's easy to start to panic and wonder if all is well, a mate of mine ordered two packpals and was worried when he hadn't heard anything, I told him to hang fire for a week and low and behold both knives turned up pretty much on time from Allan's first estimate

Hope that helps,

Bam.

 

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

People still like to dredge it up. I have yet to hear of anyone in the past 3 years or so, have a problem with Allan's business practices. All the whining dates to the past from what I can see.

My experience with him happened starting in April through June of 2005.

Folks for the record, I wish him the best, but wildrover asked about not hearing back from Allan when placing an order, and I related my experience with that same situation. I have no axe to grind with Allan and truly hope he has things going good, but in my case it didn't.

 

[bambodoggy]

I think we're talking about two different things Matey, Hoodoo and I were refering to business issues Allan had a few years back which are now sorted as far as I know.

You're talking about Allan's limited communication which as I said is due to him being a knife maker and not a pc jocky, it's fairly important for Allan's business NOT to get the two things mixed up.

April 2005 would have been about the time Allan was having family problems which I won't go into on a public forum as it's not my place to do so.

Fair play for answering the posted question as you saw the answer but please be careful, this is Allan's livelihood we're talking about and he did post on here and other forums at the time to explain why his production had slowed down.

Again, I'm sure Allan will be in touch shortly.

Bam.

 

[andyn]

Out of curiosity whats the best way to contact Allan to find out his "product range" as the website i found in the link thread no longer seems to be valid and I was hoping to conact him.

I have found an email address on another forum, but the post was about 2 years old so im not sure if it is still valid.

Thanks.

 

[bambodoggy]

You can email him from his site here:

www.bladecutlery.net

Bam.

 

[Ronin]

I too have had a packpal from Allan and have had nothing but the best in terms of response, service and product. Have more orders lined up.

I have been in correspondence with him recently and he is just plain busy.

We are spoilt as regular IT users, as we expect a quick response to our emails. But not everyone lives in a Drive Thru world.

Hey, its a lesson in Bushcraft. Patience, perseverance and respect. He will reply.

And trust me , it is worth the wait (I just wish he would charge more!)

Sean.

 

[outdoorcode]

I recieved this from Allan this morning:

Hey,

Just so noone thinks i have forgot them, i havent.

Just have been behind a bit, had some family issues and got put behind a few eeks that are basically impossible to catch up on, so im about 4 weeks it seems behind from where i should be after i looked at the orders lineup .

Therefore im not taking anymore ORDERS until my backlog i have from current orders and knives in progress are finished and complete.

Ive also had to take a part time Day job , which i get off at 12 noon, then im in the shop tell 8 pm nightly. SO the time in shop is the same and i will still maintain my 4 to 5 knives per week deliveries.

No trobles at all except for a few weeks extended time i need on orders is all.

THose i have talked to in email this week about this weeks knives going out , they are still going out with my mail run on friday.

next week i will notify the next batch of 5 orders about there knives and so on.

Knives ordered and those on the books are going out weekly so i hope to be caught up before Christmas.

then i can take orders again.

anyway,,, just wanted to give everyone a heads up so nobody thought i forgot them or there order.

Also, my email takes a couple days for me to respond so dont feel like im not answering if i dont email right back that day, with work in the morning and shop in the afternoon and evening somtimes i just go to bed. But i will answer within a couple days.

Again thanks, and i apologize for the extra few weeks i need.


Regards, Allan Blade

Thought it might help


Andrew

 

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

I think we're talking about two different things Matey, Hoodoo and I were refering to business issues Allan had a few years back which are now sorted as far as I know.

You're talking about Allan's limited communication which as I said is due to him being a knife maker and not a pc jocky, it's fairly important for Allan's business NOT to get the two things mixed up.

I understand, but "limited communication" to the point that customer orders get overlooked and a customer waits 8-10 weeks for a knife only to find out it hasn't been made at all, are "business problems". Hoodoo stated that he had "not heard form anyone in 3 years that had a problem", I was just simply answering that.

Mr. Blade himself appologized and took responsibility for the error at the time, which I think speaks highly of him. I truly do wish him the best, Maybe I should have just told wildrover to call or e-mail and make sure he got your order and left it at that. I wasn't trying to flame Allan Blade, I was just trying to answer another forumite's question.

 

[scruff]

can i be the diplomat here and call this end of discussion?

quite rightly Bear Claw Chris was just giving his view on this initial quandry.

Clearly Mr Blades work speaks for itself.

The Bushcrafter seems to be an outstanding knife and i've been drooling over the review on BB since it was posted!

alas i dont 'require' one.....just yet

 

[Hoodoo]

Hoodoo stated that he had "not heard form anyone in 3 years that had a problem", I was just simply answering that.

Sorry Bear Claw but I did not make myself clear on that issue. I was referring to the kinds of problems that occurred 4 or 5 years ago, not just short delays in knife delivery or email response. From what I have seen and experienced over the past few years, Allan has made a lot of people happy campers. I've watched his popularity grow both here and at BB and I know it's for good reason. Where else can you find a coffin tang bushcraft knife ground to perfection for the kind of money Allan sells them for? IMO, he took the woodlore design and improved it, by adding a coffin tang which combines the best of full tang strength and stick tang warmth during the winter. Personally I think it's better balanced as well. As far as I know, he was the first to do this, which shows that not only is he one of the best freehand grinders around, he's creative as well. And the price is ridiculously low when you start to comparison shop. Yup, some bad things happened 4-5 years ago, almost all of which have been resolved. But I fail to understand why people constantly feel they must dredge this up in a public forum, given that those kinds of things are not happening now.

 

[Mr_Yarrow]

Dear God, the man is a machine. I will HAVE to order one next year now!

 

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

Sorry Bear Claw but I did not make myself clear on that issue. I was referring to the kinds of problems that occurred 4 or 5 years ago, not just short delays in knife delivery or email response. From what I have seen and experienced over the past few years, Allan has made a lot of people happy campers. I've watched his popularity grow both here and at BB and I know it's for good reason. Where else can you find a coffin tang bushcraft knife ground to perfection for the kind of money Allan sells them for? IMO, he took the woodlore design and improved it, by adding a coffin tang which combines the best of full tang strength and stick tang warmth during the winter. Personally I think it's better balanced as well. As far as I know, he was the first to do this, which shows that not only is he one of the best freehand grinders around, he's creative as well. And the price is ridiculously low when you start to comparison shop. Yup, some bad things happened 4-5 years ago, almost all of which have been resolved. But I fail to understand why people constantly feel they must dredge this up in a public forum, given that those kinds of things are not happening now.

Cool, like I said, I like his knives, when he is taking orders again I plan to order again. I whole heartedly agree with everything you guys say about his knives, he is probably one of the best "makers for the money" out there!

 

[bambodoggy]

I understand, but "limited communication" to the point that customer orders get overlooked and a customer waits 8-10 weeks for a knife only to find out it hasn't been made at all, are "business problems". Hoodoo stated that he had "not heard form anyone in 3 years that had a problem", I was just simply answering that.

Mr. Blade himself appologized and took responsibility for the error at the time, which I think speaks highly of him. I truly do wish him the best, Maybe I should have just told wildrover to call or e-mail and make sure he got your order and left it at that. I wasn't trying to flame Allan Blade, I was just trying to answer another forumite's question.

No worries Bud, and as a side issue.... Welcome to BCUK Good to have you here

Bam.

 

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

No worries Bud, and as a side issue.... Welcome to BCUK Good to have you here

Bam.

Thanks, I love all the threads about Mora's here!

Some of my favorite knives.

 

[wildrover]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I'll wait and maybe e-mail him in a wee while.
I don't want to hassle him too much. I know what it's like to have someone breathing down your neck at work.
And anyway the best things in life are always worth waiting for.

Cheers

Wildrover