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Celebrities Endorse Knives!

You have all seen the TV shows, YouTube vids, been to knife shows or read in magazines about several characters who have some interesting backgrounds who go about endorsing knives!

Here are some of the notables:

R. Lee Ermey

Yes we call him Gunny and he has served as the spokesman for SOG for some time appearing in some videos.

R. Lee Ermey, Full name Ronald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, Drill Instructor and actor. Wikipedia
Born: March 24, 1944 (age 68), Emporia, KS

Then we have Les Stroud:

Les Stroud (b. October 20, 1961, in Mimico, Ontario[1][2][3]) is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, and survival expert best known as the creator, writer, producer, director, cameraman and host of the television series Survivorman. Stroud became a full-time wilderness guide, survival instructor and musician based in Huntsville, Ontario. Les works with Camillus Brand knifes.

And the at one time ubiquitous Bear Grylls

Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (born 7 June 1974) is an English adventurer, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his television series Man vs. Wild, known as Born Survivor in the United Kingdom. In July 2009, Grylls was appointed the youngest ever Chief Scout at the age of 35. Bear endorsed a lines of knives for Gerber.

And a new entrant:

Mykel "Myke" Hawke (born November 29, 1965) is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer.[1] He is best known for his role in the Discovery Channel series Man, Woman, Wild, where he co-stars with his wife, Ruth England, a British television presenter and actress. He is the author[2] of several books, most recently Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from New York University and a Master of Science degree in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. As a combat veteran Hawke was an enlisted Green Beret and later commissioned as a captain in special forces. He fought rebels and trained UN peacekeepers in war torn Africa and did combat search and rescue during the drug war in Colombia. Also of note he has earned black belts in Aikido and Judo.

Hawke has teamed up with Tops Knives to create his custom survival knife, the Hawke's Hellion 2020, a machete like tool with a sharpening tool, firesteel, whistle, and survival saw.

Haley Heath knows hunting and all her years of experience have given her an expert perspective on what gear a woman needs in the field. Our famous ERGOHunter handles were modified and re-curved to fit smaller hands and provide a safer grip, while a finger guard at the bottom of the blade was added for increased safety. Buck is pleased to introduce the knife series that Haley trusts to serve her outdoor needs. With a variety of blade steels(S30V,12C27Mod Sandvik and 420HC) there is a choice for every woman.

(As appeared on a back cover ad for Buck Knives...... Knives Illustrated magazine)

So those are the spokesman endorsers! Here is my question. do these people make you want to buy the knives they endorse?

Tags: Bear, Camillus, ERGOHUNTER, Ermey, Gerber, Grylls, Hawke, Lee, Les, Mykel, More…

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Replies to This Discussion

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on July 24, 2012 at 13:38

Well Clint, if there's a disable class hunt, sign me up. I will despense with the 200 yard run, I'll just turn and fire my little 32.Mag. and do clean up with my custom ML Swamp Knife. Rick, sounds like a fun hunt, do you want to go?

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on July 24, 2012 at 14:26

Clint,

I believe that endorsements by our Special Forces, Delta team or SEAL Teams don't fall into the caragory of "(Paid) Celebrity Endorsements". I can understand why sales would increase because I'd be much more inclined to buy something that I knew that THEY were using.

Clint Thompson said:

Dale....

In fact the endorsements do help. I know if I write about a tactical knife I know is being carried by SF, Delta or the Seals and state this fact in one of my articles, knife sales of this knife go up. There are many armchair commandos. I have a good friend who had a great career in the Army and won several metals in Vietnam. He loves Cold Steel knives and swords. He bought over $3,000 from me alone. If I wonder about a Cold Steel knife I just call my friend. Even though he served his country and was wounded several times, he buys commando cutting things and carries a firearm in his recliner chair. Commando movies and Commando weapons all in one spot.

Tactical knives do sell to those who dream about doing what some of us have done. I buy knives or other cutting tools because someone here at iKC has recommend them. The TV survivors are just entertainment. I always wanted to be paid to hunt Bigfoot like those guys and gal on TV. Now this would be a good job.......

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Permalink Reply by Clint Thompson on July 24, 2012 at 14:27

Robert...

You can be our motorized unit commander. However, even a .32 mag on a 800 pound Bigfoot coming at you at 30 mph seems a little light. No other Bigfoot shows have a motorized unit....we will be the first.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on July 24, 2012 at 19:04

Pardon me for forgetting the Buck Knives spokesperson, a woman by the name of Haley Heath and her new line of Adrenaline Series.

Still think there is nothing to this new trend? She was at the Shot Show!

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 24, 2012 at 19:44

Hog,

Wow, I did not realize that Buck was utilizing a female Spokesperson. Now I gotta go look at that info.

The trend is certainly real and I think Dale said it best. "We" would not be swayed but "we" are not your average knife buyers. The average person is going to buy a knife strictly as a tool, to meet a need and they may indeed be swayed by a celebrity endorsement. Can any of our history buffs tell us...is this the first time for the trend or has this advertising tactic been used before for knives?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on July 24, 2012 at 20:56

I need to put this in the main body of the post but here is a pic of her. Check out the ERGOHUNTER Adrenaline Series!

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Permalink Reply by stephen tungate on July 24, 2012 at 21:11

good information hog thank you sir......

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Permalink Reply by Shlomo ben Maved on July 25, 2012 at 14:03

Before Rambo, Jimmy Lile was a very good and somewhat known maker from the backwoods of Arkansas with reasonable priced knives but as soon as the movie came out, his prices jumped ten fold…Same with Gil Hibben although he had a bit more notoriety with his Elmer Keith knife that was featured in numerous magazine articles but commanded nowhere near the prices he garnered after the 3^rd movie came out.

I’ve said I own and like TOPS but if they’re so good at selecting knives from designers why did they allow that useless, over-priced, monstrosity of Ron Hood’s, the ATAX or keep perpetuating the somewhat better (and not by much) designed knife by Tom Brown Jr., the Tracker…Do they achieve such a percentage of market share to be kept on when you have far better designed knives by other makers also available.

As you said, there is a huge difference between endorsing and designing—R. Lee, Bear and Les didn’t have much, if at all, in their commercial ventures but Les did spend a lot of time with Helle for his Bushcraft knife…As to Hawke, oh wow, he added a whistle, lanyard, sharpening/fire steel to a Golok copying what Gerber did and charging $200…It’s like Cold Steel charging $700 for their San Mai III Kukhri—Why? These are tools that you abuse in your daily chores like chopping out that sapling, trimming back your lilac bushes, clearing a path through the bush etc.

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KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Saud ul Hassan on July 25, 2012 at 15:03

May be these have a little influence on some people but ,IMO , specifically knives in hand of some great movie heroes leave real effect and make people buy them . eg , Rambo , 300 , Lords of the rings etc .

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on February 23, 2013 at 16:17

Okay, I understand that getting a celebrity to endorse a knife is going to push sales. It has made me take a look at a few knives. I looked at the Gerber and Camillus endorsed knives but passed on them. They were made in China and were not necessarily any better (or worse) than thier other off shore products but were priced higher. Not interested in paying for a name. Still the endorsement got me to look.

I here now the Larry the Cable Guy is endorsing a few knives. All are USA made. I'm pretty excited about those and will check them out. I like Larry, and it looks like the knives will be done by Buck and/or Case. I like both of those companies as well.

The only other knives I have that were endorsed by Someone are a couple Bill Lowen Globally produced Buck knives. I don't know Bill Lowen from Adam but i liked the way the knives looked and the prices were reasonable so i bought them.

Not sure if that answers the question but there you are.