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POLL?

Statements I have recently heard include

"I dont know why people say the quality is inconsistent, I have never bought a bad one"

"I never should have listened to the bad reviews, I always knew them to be a good company with a good product"

"Everyone said it was close to custom quality"

What I hear when I read comments like that is :

"The internet effects what I purchase and why"

Recently we saw a case where a bad video review caused a fairly well known company to stop answering thier phones. We still do not know if they will survive as a knife manufacture. I think it is a shame that a company with a fair/good reputation can be so effected by by one persons opinion of the one knife they have received. In this day and age a person views something online that is not perfect about a knife and the first thing that happens is "great, now I need to go heck mine". And we do!!

Even if this is a knife we have carried and enjoyed, we still fell the need to validate the concerns of another knife person.

Dont get me wrong. I read the reviews, I ask opinions and I listen closely to the responses. Some of them surprise me, others not so much. Sitting beside my keyboard is a list...what to put my hands on at the next show. Thats honestly my response to a good bit of what I read.

so here is my question to you. What influences you?

Internet Reviews, Magazine Reviews, Word of mouth or a knife in your hand? What is your preference?

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In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on December 17, 2012 at 18:54: The opinions of some knife enthusiust aren't worth a whole lot, for one reason or another. When reading a review, I ask myself, who are these people, writing this, how much experience do they have with a knife. I do like to hear the opinions of people that I am sure know a good knife from junk. If you are unsure about a knife or brand, wait, get more info before buying.

Comment by Jan Carter on December 17, 2012 at 5:23: There are some reviewers that I feel strongly about their opinion. I know them to be collectors and users. Then there are the ones I never watch, I never discount someones opinion. I just take it, with the others about the same knife and tell myself to check it out more.

We certainly have some awesome folks on here, I have seen enough of their reviews, put the knife they are talking about in hand and have done it enough to know their thoughts on a knife and mine are in sync.

Comment by Steven Matthew on December 16, 2012 at 22:39: Nobody has ever asked my opinion, but that's never stoped me before. Lol
I don't mean to sound sharp, but I NEVER let a review determine what I do. I don't do it for movies, I don't do it for knives, or anything else for that matter.
Most critics, like Steve said, may not really have OUR best interests in mind. That's why I asked the entire group of fellow knife collectors about the rough riders. I trust those that truely use the product, rather then those who may have something to gain from reviewing a product.

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on December 16, 2012 at 18:54: Yeah, I know what you mean about some of the YouTube reviews! LOL!

You can get some good reviews on other forums too (can I say that? LOL!)

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on December 16, 2012 at 18:52: I also don't usually go by ONE review on a knife. I look around the internet and see what a general consensus is. But I still might get it or not. So it depends. Sometimes the reviews are generally bad and I go ahead and get it to try it out for myself. Sometimes I go through an involved thought process....and it's tough seeing that I only have two brain cells left.

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on December 16, 2012 at 18:44: oops, i answered before you were done! LOL!

"Internet Reviews, Magazine Reviews, Word of mouth or a knife in your hand? What is your preference?"

I use them all if possible. Then I makes my choice an pays my money. I can usually tell from most good reviews if I want to try something out.

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on December 16, 2012 at 18:40: Well, as far as I'm concerned, I like reviews to be fair, and frank. One person's level of acceptance is different from another's.

What I don't like is;

* People that are not civil about what they say

*People that ONLY bad mouth a product/knife

*People that refuse to mention flaws in a product/knife because they are fans of that product/knife

*People that like to jump on a band wagon of hate

When I do a review or comment on a knife I try to be fair and frank. I try to have balence. I list the good and bad. AND, what I like and dislike in a knife might be different fro others. That's life. For example; small gaps between spring and liners doesn't bother me much, but I know people that have a hissy fit over gaps.

But what I think is sad is, to have a world where that ONLY good can be expressed. People that get knives and say "I've never had a bad one" have to be clear about what they think "bad" is. If it's factory made I doubt it's going to be "perfect". I DO want to hear what niggly things the knife has so I can make a decision about if I want to send my few pennies on it. And I've read reviews that the reviewer says thus and so and I think "Oh, well, that wouldn't bother me!"

So that's my feelings for what their worth.