Woodlore Knife Pro
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A good discussion is as critical as it is positive, life would be boring as hell if everyone agreed or everything all the time
Completely agree, don't blame Ray - its just human nature. Plenty of people think nothing of paying a lot more than £500 to upgrade the car they are buying to a 1.8/GLS/4x4/metallic paint (when a 1.6/GL/2x4/standard paint would have been more than adequate to transport them and anything they are likely to need to carry in comfort at well in excess of the legal speed over any terrain they are ever likely to drive - don't get me started on "premium" car brands) because it makes them feel better about themselves.
That said, my guess is that the majority of these knives are bought by collectors/speculators and live sad lives in drawers or display cabinets for fear that the slightest scratch will damage the resale value.
Most of the rest will be bought by people (lets be honest 99.99% will be men) with money burning a hole in their pockets and who know deep down in their hearts that a <£20 Mora will do everything that they will ever need to do but hope that a bit of the great man's magic will rub off on them and/or ownership of the bushcraft equivalent of excaliber will boost their bushcraft credibility when they strut their stuff at the various bushcraft shows clad head to toe in pristine Fjallraven gear with an RM knife and GB SFA hanging from their belt.
No better or worse than those people (and quite possibly they are the SAME people) who buy Valentino Rossi replica leathers (in XXXXL) to sit on a wall eating chips in Matlock Bath twice a year. Harmless fun but some people are cruel and snigger behind their back.
If someone has a need/desire for £500 knife with a name other than the maker's on it and will use it regularly (shaving their arms on Utube vids doesn't count) then there are worse things to spend their hard-earned on. Personally, I'm some way from exhausting the limits of my old Mora.
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You've hit the nail on the head, but I think you're overlooking something. It ain't cruel to chuckle at those chaps in their oversized replica leathers. For centuries people have dressed as clowns and we've laughed, its human nature to laugh, there is nothing malicious about it. I'm sure if I decided to go into town today dressed as the sugar plum fairy, people would laugh and point... but I knew that when I dressed myself in the rather large tutu. I can't then go crying that people are cruel because they've laughed at a fat bloke pretending to be Tinkerbell.
With the knives, I can see someone collecting knives spending £500+ in the hope they may make a marginal profit on it one day, but given the high price, its going to take a while. I can also see a collector buying it to put in a cabinet... not entirely sure why because its not a good looking knife really... but there we go. But for the average punter to buy that knife, I feel perfectly justified in chuckling to myself about it. Is it cruel or uncalled for? I dunno, but my initial reaction to seeing someone slip on a banana skin is still to laugh rather than immediately rush over to help them fill out a claim form.
It is a touch surprising that it only appears to be Ray Mear's gear that has a high price tag... his marketing team have either identified his audience as having lots of spare cash, or they believe far too heavily in the celebrity pull factor.
Weirdly at the other end of the market, you can get a great Gerber knife for £50. Unfortunately you have to deal with it having BG's face on the packet when you buy it.
Getting back to the knife, does anyone know why there is such a large gap between the cutting edge and the handle? Is it called the ricasso?
The last knife I had with such a large gap was not great for carving as the squared edge of the metal used to gouge lines in the project I was working on; I adjusted my position and technique to cater for this but it was temporarily annoying.
The last knife I had with such a large gap was not great for carving as the squared edge of the metal used to gouge lines in the project I was working on; I adjusted my position and technique to cater for this but it was temporarily annoying.
You can file that off as if it was not there, which I have done with some of my own knives.
For £550 you could buy all the equipment + more to get you started making your own knives and duplicate the knife in question which would cost around 20 quid for material
For £550 you could buy all the equipment + more to get you started making your own knives and duplicate the knife in question which would cost around 20 quid for material
I'd love to see anyone manage to do that and turn out a duplicate of the same standard as the woodlore knife on their first attempt.
Well you wouldn't. As a 3 piece knife it wouldn't take long for some one to get there though.
Call me crazy, but a knife is a tool! How could anyone justify £550 on a tool! What is that really going todo that my mora isn't?
Anyone buying this should consider buying a mora and contributing the rest of the money to something that could benefit others!
Anyone buying this should consider buying a mora and contributing the rest of the money to something that could benefit others!
I understand the sentiments many have expressed here. My view is that if owning an RM knife gives you pleasure, do it! I will not criticize your decision.
Nor do I hold Ray at fault for the high price. He is charging what the market will bear. This is not the same as taking unfair advantage.
I'm a big fan of Ray's and have learned from his television shows. The disappointment for me is that I will never own an RM knife. The price is higher than I'm willing to pay for a bushcraft knife. But that is my personal decision. It's also why I don't own a private jet, a Ferrari, or a cabin in the Sierras.
For those willing to spend to have an RM knife, I've only one thing to say: "Ooh, can I touch it!!!"
- Woodsorrel
Nor do I hold Ray at fault for the high price. He is charging what the market will bear. This is not the same as taking unfair advantage.
I'm a big fan of Ray's and have learned from his television shows. The disappointment for me is that I will never own an RM knife. The price is higher than I'm willing to pay for a bushcraft knife. But that is my personal decision. It's also why I don't own a private jet, a Ferrari, or a cabin in the Sierras.
For those willing to spend to have an RM knife, I've only one thing to say: "Ooh, can I touch it!!!"
- Woodsorrel
But using that logic, why would anyone ever purchase a Ferrari California 250GT?
0 to 60, 7 seconds? You could beat that with a much cheaper car. 140mph top speed, most modern saloons will do that. Comfort - the GT isn't very comfortable, it could be argued a 1980s Lada offers better comfort. Aesthetically, there are better looking cars and economy wise, its a heavy car with an oversized inefficient engine... so not great there either.
Hard to see why it is the most expensive car in the world right now, but then we're not all billionaire car collectors with a taste for the rarer car.
I can understand the collector spending £550 on a knife, I can understand a real enthusiast... but for the average person, it makes about as much sense as buying a California GT just to do the school run. But... and there is always a but... suggesting a Mora as a replacement to a collector is like offering a Nissan Micra to someone who collects classic cars.
Why stop at a RM knife https://www.fortisclothing.co.uk/shop/special-edition-bran-v1-637/ ��
Yes, remember folks there is a whole other league of overpriced knives out there....£500 is not a lot compared to some collector knives. or you can pay £200 for a spyderco with 'with made in taiwan' stamped on it
(might not be taiwan but memory fails me)
Man, you seem to have some real issues about expensive knives...
So what that they cost so much, if someone can afford it then I'm happy for them to buy one. If I see them then I'm the same as Woodsorrell in that I'd be 'Can I touch it?'.
I certainly wouldn't deride them for having bought it or the fact that there are expensive knives out there.
I bought a JP Woodlore 25th anniversary knife 5 years ago. I paid a similar amount for it as the current Woodlore, it's now worth almost double. In a way it's an investment for me for when things get desperate but that's not the reason I bought it.
I bought as a present to myself when I turned 50 and I came into some money when a close relative left me some money after they'd passed away. I also bought it because to me it's a beautiful knife and I love the way it looks and feels in the hand.
At least I've got something tangible to help me remember my relative by rather than having frittered the money away but not doubt you'll think it was a waste of my money.
What on Earth is "Gynsing Damascus"?
Gynsing? Chinese?
£500 is not much if you look into Japanese knives handmade by some master knifemakers that used exotic materials.
Do they mean Gysinge pattern by the Swedish company Damasteel?
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Look, if you work for your money, then it's up to that person what the they deside to spend there money on, if it brings that person joy then good luck to them ☺
Iv known people to spend thousands of pounds on what I would think silly ie 10 grand push bikes, handbags, fashion, knives and dinner.
All I can say is " as long as it didn't come out of my tax then do as you please"
Iv known people to spend thousands of pounds on what I would think silly ie 10 grand push bikes, handbags, fashion, knives and dinner.
All I can say is " as long as it didn't come out of my tax then do as you please"
The fact that Ray Mears, who is not a small bloke, is using his Judo skills to wrestle people to the ground and then tying them up (using homemade cordage) in the back of the woodlore shop and refusing to let them go until they hand over £500 plus for a knife is well out of order in my opinion……
D.B.
D.B.
I would suggest there is no good reason to buy such a car, its a waste of money which could have fed and housed a few families for a life time in parts of our world, and its killing our planet with an engine which uses stupid amounts of fuel to carry someone uncomfortably at the same speed as my 1.2 corsa
People may argue its their money to waste, i would suggest such a selfish attitude is the reason people are watching their kids starve and entire villages are being washed away by rising sea levels
But thats just me
...and of course i am well aware that a siginficant proportion of the people on this planet do not agree (which is why we're all doooooomed)
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