State of the (various) Knife Forums These Days?

After a good year or two of down time on the forums, I am finally now having time again to devote to my love of knives. But…

I am wondering what the 'state' of the many knife forums is. My reading of KKF is that after it was sold and Dave took some time off, a lot of the old regulars faded away and some of the tone became a bit negative. Don't get me wrong, I am not against a changing of the guard in 'posters', and I actually think it is very valuable to keeping a forum going. But I remember the days when Deckhand, Kynfenerd, Sachem (to name a few that come to mind), and many others injected life, but now it seems as if more posts are about vendors and FS items. And there is less concern about the 'family' of knife craziness that is cooking. I could be wrong though -- in fact, tell me that I am wrong as that makes things easier.

I like this forum, but there is lower traffic (for now). I would never go to the CKTG forum, and the old ITK forum hasn't done it for me in a while. It only took to an overly long Ken Schwartz PM or two to turn me away from KF for good.

What do you think is the best place to talk knives? I must admit that I am starting to feel that going to separating food forums is the way to go: smoking meats forum, fermenting forums, and wine forums.

This weekend I was in Rabat Morocco talking with an American telling him about knives and he was absolutely fascinated -- and he said: "You need to write about this stuff, this is awesome." I didn't really know what to say though. In the past it was easy with KF and then KKF -- but not so more.

Am I out of touch? Someone give me a pep talk.

karring

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one thing. I posted this here because, if there is ever a true "Online Knife Uncle" that it is Jim. I don't think there is a knife fanatic that I have ever trusted more or respected his tone and opinion -- whenever I swear too much in my posts, he is the guy that keeps me from doing it more. I sh!t you not See what I did there?

He is (to me at least) the sharp, but calm reassuring knife knut that still simply loves food and keeps all passions going. As for Dave M. He started it all for me and got me crazy in the first place. Thanks gents.

k.

 

I can't comment on other forums as this is the first and only knife forum I've been apart of.
In fact...I have no clue what CKTG or ITK even stands for.

All I can add is you are on one hell of a forum already. There might not be the traffic that other forums have and consequently conversations might run at a slower speed. But in order to get the traffic ya gotta have the content.
And the content comes from passionate knife guys like yourself.
By all means talk food, talk knives, talk BBQing, talk anything at all. We are glad to have you here!

 

Maybe it's because there is already so much info on the other KKF that can be found through searches that there isn't the pressing need for continual threads on steels, profiles, best sub-$150 gyuto, etc.? And also since you soaked up the beginner info a long while back it's easy to just skip over all the n00b posts? I know for me I mainly hang out on the KKFs to see what the makers are doing, what's in B/S/T and what interesting foods or gadgets people are posting about. I definitely do not need to ready everything the way I did when I first ventured into this knife world, and I suspect it's the same for you.

So what does that really leave? Mainly the social aspect, and that seems to ebb and flow a bit. And also, there is always attrition among the ones who have been around for a long time, and it can take some time to warm up to newer up-and-comers.

Having more DC area people join the forums this past year has been nice, as it always makes it more engaging when there are people you can meet up with, etc. And the East Coast Gatherings helped me meet some other members as well, which adds more interest to hanging out on the forums for me.

 

I find Jim's forum to be friendlier than Dave's forum. My only 2 cents.

 

Agree. I would say the people here are more mature, more comfortable in their skin. No chest beating or trying to prove the other person wrong. More like meeting old friends at a pub. Quite like that.

 

I don't know what it is about the pursuit of a sharp edge, whether it's for a knife or a razor, that drives people batshit crazy. The level of hyperbole can get pretty absurd.

-Why, the last time I honed a razor, it slipped out of my hand and sliced its way right through the center of the Earth. It was found by a guy in a raft on the Indian Ocean. He mailed it back to me along with five dollars and a thank you note, saying it was the best shave he ever had.

-The pics you posted of your new La Veinette coticule looks like it came from the unfashionable upper portion of the vein. Funny, you never struck me as a chump before.

-I know I told you to buy a complete set of Shapton stones six months ago, but since I tried the new Naniwas, I can no longer recommend you as a sharpener.

-I'd rather see my sister in a whorehouse than cutting a tomato with a microbevel.

My point? It's people that make a site, and there seem to be some pretty good ones around here. It may not be the biggest (yet) but it has level headed leadership and a terrific talent pool. I'm sure that as it grows, this place will become one stop shopping for all your manly needs.

 

I had only been reading KKF stuff for a short time before I found out about this place. I've let KKF fall off a bit. No biggie. I do post and read at CKTG and try to leave personal politics at the door and just read through/past things. I'm not one to stir the pot on an internet forum these days. Ten years ago maybe.

I like this place for a lot of the more adult-level-headed-self-moderating atmosphere. And the burls... lets not forget all the eye candy.

 

I used to read other fora (not knives) and encountered quite a few obvious non-experts asserting themselves quite a bit and trying to establish community "wisdom". When I met a guy online who had been banned from one of those communities, I thought I had found a like mind and could actually look at things honestly. Turns out, he was one of the KSchwartz acolytes, and my limited experience in that space was pretty negative, with other false authorities shielding themselves within a community. Dave's KKF seemed to be counter to that, but there was a lot of hostility to non-vendor craftspeople and a different breed of authorities and their sycophants. So far this place has had fewer of those problems, but that might be a function of size than anything else.

 

Its not juat size, you can set a tone at the door, of you greet people in a friendly way and respect them, they tend to continue the theme... it's a big deal and it works.

 

With the other KKF and CKTG it got to where there were just to many entirely to full of themselves and always trying to prove their superiority. It really got to be a turn off at both places. Myron told me about the new KKF in the first few days of lift off so I came and checked it out. It is a little slow at times but I have laughed harder and enjoyed myself more here than I have at the other places in a long time. The best of the best have seemed to migrate here! Just great camaraderie and not all the competition.

 

Write your article and make a crosspost on every forum that you like. You'll see yourself which one works best for you.
Fora has only a fraction of KKF users so it's like comparing a small family to a large crowd.

 

I became a member of the other KKF last year...and I loved the place. I loved the people. I loved the information being shared. The problem was that the censorship regarding what could be said by anyone who had ever put a file to a piece of steel to shape it into a knife (or any other vendor) was ridiculous. Even worse...if you paid for your own subforum, or a hobbyist craftsman tag...it was like you labeled yourself someone to watch, specifically for those kinds of comments and posts. I totally understood the desire not to have the forum turn itself into a self promotion fest for people selling knives, handles, cutting boards, or anything else knife related...but some of us aren't chef's...and so that's the only constructive input we have. I can't talk food at a level that would be of use to anyone here. But I can talk metallurgy, cross sectional geometry, fit and finish, and anything else directly knife related with the best of them.

It makes me sad that their methods to maintain that goal...have in fact (based on your comment about vendor's posts being the majority of what's there now) had the 180° opposite effect. This place though, to me...is what I saw in that place was when I started there, only without the constriction and threats of banning if your post is in any way misconstrued.

Also, I hope my post here wasn't out of line. I wasn't trying to bash or in any other way put down any other forums. I'm an open and honest guy though...and one of the reasons I love it here, is that it's EXACTLY what I saw there when I first joined...only without the negatives.

 

I've struggled with the same thing since the inception of this forum (fora?), Karring. I like it here, I really do...but I do find myself reading and posting at the other KKF, just because there is more action there.

Jim and I, along with at least a mod or two on here, have discussed that the state of this place is like playing baseball in one of the finest stadiums in the world, with only a quarter of the seats filled. I have no idea how to make it full, but it sure would be nice....

 

i like the "pub" style group here. i check the new posts every day and whe something catches my eye i read it. and when some thing really gets me i post. i jsut dont post a whole lot anywhere

 

I think the BST trade at the other KKF drives a lot of traffic. Many of the long time active posters seem kind of tired. I think the new batch of moderators over there is helpful. They have a good energy.

I like this place a lot. There just isn't enough knife content yet. I check almost everyday just hoping to get a new pic of Jim's smoker. The recent Harner grinding video and Cris Anderson's shop odyssey has been, for me, the best content on either forum recently.

There is more to sift through over there but when there is new content here it is much more likely to be memorable.

 

guess i ll hav eot make more videos

 

I've got time for both KKFs. As noted the original has more knife content and more technical in nature. And B/S/T there moves knives. This has more of a "Floyd's" feel to it, a friendly gathering. And that's not a bad thing. In the long run the vendors need to feel they're getting bang for their buck, I would like to see it grow in that direction.

 

Please do.

 

I'm right there with you my friend .

I've got some pretty cool stuff coming up now that I'm back to making knives again, instead of building a shop. Most of my knives I make get daily updates anyhow...and honestly, I worry that it might bore you all lol. The main reason I do it though is for the customer...and I don't think it bores them at all . I think it gives them a nice tie to their knives that they might not have otherwise.

Also, be on the lookout for WIP's on the two new passarounds....and my understanding is we're going to be having a pretty cool tool available here shortly (I'm not sure if it's just for vendors or for everyone...I'll let Jim field that when the time comes) to sell knives through.

Honestly, anything I can do to help bring traffic here, I will...gladly. This is a great place, with great people, and an incredible...but more importantly maintainable atmosphere.