How long would you wait?

[cacciatore]

I got them in 8 months

[BAK]

Some good info here, thanks guys. 

[Otto]

Went to their website,and those are some impressive knives. I've always wondered about the big website,and it you might get stung with a fake 

It's best to buy from a reputable dealer.   Nordic is one of the best.    There are lots of stories of guys getting stung on the auction site.    Just like buying bows or anything else.  Lots of fake Randall's out there.

[Orion]

Doubt there are very many fake Randalls or any other high end knives out there.  Counterfeiters would have to put in too much time to even get close to the same quality to pass them off as legit.  Just not worth their time to do it. 

Regardless, as with any other purchase of some import, the buyer needs to do the homework.  Check feedback on the site, contact the seller, ask for references, etc. 

[Otto]

Doubt there are very many fake Randalls or any other high end knives out there.  Counterfeiters would have to put in too much time to even get close to the same quality to pass them off as legit.  Just not worth their time to do it. 

Regardless, as with any other purchase of some import, the buyer needs to do the homework.  Check feedback on the site, contact the seller, ask for references, etc.

There are more than you think.  Google foo is your friend.   Average Chinese wages are about $1200 a month.   So if you can sucker someone in the US into paying $350 for a fake Randall, that makes it worth it for the counterfeiter.

[Petrichor]

Toelke and a bowyer that will not be named taught me a valuable lesson. Long wait times do not necessarily mean great products. Toelke is the best shooter I got and it took five weeks. Now they’re are plenty of great makers on the web with wait times less. If six years is your bench. I’d learn to forge and make my own in that time.

[Long Barrel Colt]

I waited 2.5 years for my Shiloh Sharps Quigley in 45-110... As you can see it was worth the wait.

[Crittergetter]

Then you will have people upset that they can’t get on the list. How long should he put a hold on orders? Year, 2,or5?  No telling how many orders he would lose during that time because inevitably there will be customers that where willing to wait that could no longer get on the list. So if he holds off on orders for a few years while he catches up then the customer has essentially waited a few years just to get back on a list...   cause I bet there will still be a line of people waiting.

I get the quality control argument….but at some point put a hold on taking new orders if the backlog is that long. 5-6 years….half a decade or more is ridiculous.

I would not wait that long for a knife, bow, etc. There are a lot of great makers/builders/artists out there. Life is to short.

If someone or a company has a backlog that is years long…they need to buck up and hire some help, take on an apprentice or two.

I agree with the first part of your post.
I don’t necessarily agree with the last part.
It’s not always about “bucking up” and hiring help.
Some people are so quality conscious they have a hard time trusting someone else to meet their expectations.
They have a waiting list for a reason and I’m sure it’s because of their reputation and quality. Every one on their list knows what that wait time is before hand and they still choose to wait! Sounds to me like they are completely comfortable where they are at and they have plenty of work in the future with no down time!
Good for them!

[Tim Finley]

I got a Randal off the auction site I paid more than factory price for it but it was a new knife I received . It took me less than a week to get it when I called the Randal shop they told me 9 years . I have another Randal that the front half of the blade is not hardened and the new one i got is nothing special as far as a working knife. I wouldn't buy another there are as good or better knives for sale  .I guess its the name we look at .

[Bowguy67]

Lots of makers of all sorts of things have years wait lists. If they’re taking money I’d never do it but if only adding a name to the list until it gets closer I can’t see the harm. We wait for lots of stuff boys, this is small time

[trad_bowhunter1965]

I am a knife nut and I paid top dollar for knives but there's no way I am waiting five or six years for a knife. It's hard for me to wait 6 months to a year for a bow. 

[Otto]

Lol....some of you guys must think that you have to sit still on a chair for 6 years.   Here's what you do.   You throw em $50, then go about your life.   One day, a knife shows up.   Wait???   What wait...??   Go live life and forget about it.   LMAO......

[GCook]

Or you've had your 5th and fatal heart attack and never realized the dream of the knife  because the guy can't produce for his customers.
I agree it's ridiculous.   The hype probably way outweighs the product.   I have a couple of customs and they sit in a drawer and more serviceable knives get used for real world applications.
But I'm no collector.  I've no use for something that has no use.  A Kershaw I've cleaned at least 200 pigs with means a lot more to me that something with some guy I've never met name on it.  But to each his own.  Some guys have 50 bows.  Some of us don't own 5 even though we could afford 50.
Everyone does their thing.  If you think it's worth the wait then for you, it dang sure is!   Thank goodness we live in America.

[Otto]

Why would you say a Randall has no use?

[PrimitivePete]

From a strickly consumers view, I find it hard to believe that this knife I would be waiting 5 years or more for does not have an equal that I could get in less time. Same goes for me with bows. I'm sure I can get a high quality bow by waiting for one to be built for me, but I can also buy one used that will give me equal value in the long run.

[Gen273]

No way I would wait six years on a knife.

[Otto]

From a strickly consumers view, I find it hard to believe that this knife I would be waiting 5 years or more for does not have an equal that I could get in less time. Same goes for me with bows. I'm sure I can get a high quality bow by waiting for one to be built for me, but I can also buy one used that will give me equal value in the long run.

You'll never make money on a used bow.
I've never met anyone who sold a Randall for less than what they paide for it.

[GCook]

Why would you say a Randall has no use?

I was speaking of "collector's items" in general for me.  I don't collect anything just because.  I buy tools.  Now it may be a purty tool but it is to be used.  It will get dinged up, dropped, etc. 
I know some folks do collect.  Keep this in new/in the box condition, yada yada.  That just isn't me.

[Otto]

No argument.   Here's what I don't get.    We all buy $1,000 bows and $40,000 pickup trucks, but won't use a $500 knife???   Talk about stupid.....

[GCook]

I've never lost a bow.
I've lost several knives.
My bow never gets used as a screw driver, or to dig a broadhead out of a tree root, or trim wire insulation,  or open a can of Ranch style beans to put on the fire or . . .