We will now interrupt the regularly scheduled program for this Good Old Blakes micro podcast. We're entering into a strange time in Knifecraft because you know we have economic downturn and issues in the United States. We've uh all suffered from a global pandemic in COVID, and the social media um conglomerates are making it ever more difficult as well. And I it's become ever more apparent to me each knife show I go to and talking to other makers when you know we're actually speaking candidly. And the reality is that sales suck. And I think that it's negatively impacting knife makers' creativity and the engine that has been created and sustained uh probably for the better part of 20 years. And let me kind of uh go into a little bit more detail on that. Um Bruce Bump told me that there's uh you know, in knife making there's feast and famine and a lot of famine. And I I know from other knife makers who have sustained the industry for the last 30 plus years that uh there are always times of trial and tribulation, but I think that it's coming to a head in some ways, and here's kind of where I'm concerned. Um at Blade Show Texas, I noticed a lot of phenomenal knife makers. Uh, I mean, people that you would not assume have any type of problems, uh, not like they didn't sell a single knife, or ones who have usually sold real well at shows uh and rely on shows for their livelihood uh sold uh a bare minimum. And uh, you know, I'm not going to disclose names, but I I usually go and talk to people and try to um, you know, at least in my head, pull what's going on in the in the industry, and I have to say that sales are slow, and depending on who you are. And if you have a phenomenal uh and loyal customer base that you know continuously buy up your knives, then uh you know you might not have a problem. But for a lot of makers, and I would actually include myself in that, where you know there's not a phenomenal uh continuous following of customers that uh there are a lot of issues that keep us from selling knives uh regularly, and especially going to shows, it seems to be at a downturn as well. Now, obviously, m economy has a lot to do with it. There's not as much disposable income, so you have to pick and choose uh where your money goes. And don't get me wrong, if I'm selling a $400 knife, I understand that even for myself, spending $400 plus dollars on anything is more of a burden. Uh grocery prices are higher, gas prices are higher, the cost of living in general is higher. And so um knives that I sell typically are considered a luxury item. However, what I've also noticed as a corollary to this is that um a lot of makers will follow trends. So if they see that buoys are popular or drop point hunters are popular, or certain types of uh slip joints or other pocket knives are popular from a design or aesthetic perspective, I see more and more makers gravitating towards what sells and not necessarily what's cool or what's in internal to them. And that market, um, having knife makers and craftsmen gravitate towards what's popular versus the the self-expression uh that they have in the knife medium to me is uh a detriment to us all. I mean, you think about uh Buster Buster Woransky and other makers, and if if popularity was the only motivation for their craft, we would not have the King Tut knife. We would not have the amazing works of Delana and Van Barnett and all of the areas that they've pushed themselves into that that really open up the craft and our imagination to all things possible. We wouldn't have Grace Horn and her selling her scissors and everything, which you know by far it, you know, she's one of the most uh you know predominant knife makers um that you know turned turned uh making scissors and they're amazing. Uh and and I look I think about artists pushing into those areas and taking the insane amount of risk in not being able to sell their products, and for a lot of people, that is the state of the union. Selling knives is encumbering creativity. And you might agree or disagree with me, but I'm seeing an overall trend where the things that are interesting in life, the things that are intriguing are done by the brave and those who have the money to invest in failure. And what I mean by failure is not that the the work is not um is not a failure, but the ability to sell it, recoup the cost, and roll it back into the business is uh you know a potential failure. And you know, all of that greatly affects a knife maker, especially full-time knife makers, which I have many friends who have gone full-time um with the market, you know, the market trends going where they were uh just into the uh the pandemic. And I I really feel very strongly that all of us are at risk uh in some ways of the craft and and not being able to continue uh or having to slow down because the market's just not there. And you know, I understand that you know general uh general opinion might be there's more than enough customers to go around, but um I also see that there are a lot of customers not at certain areas where I would expect them to. Um my taking myself out of that, I see a lot of great makers that are not able to sell knives and it has nothing to do with them or their product. So uh kind of on that note, if you love this craft, and if you love knife makers and if you support them uh, you know, their their lives in the craft, then I implore you to think seriously about not just buying their knives because they're cool, but investing in them because the next thing that they come up with is the pushing the envelope. The next thing that they come up with is something that continues their craft uh where they can sustain this period of time where it's it's tough for them. Uh those make knife makers that are going full-time or have gone full-time in the hopes that that momentum would continue, if they don't have your support, then they have a high likelihood of failure because there's not a lot of stability in knives already. There's not a lot of stability in in crafts in in general, um, especially with what we do with knives, leather work, gunsmithing, um, you know, making tactical like knuckles and things like that. Any any type of situation where there's handmade anything, uh, there's a lot of uh upfront costs, sweat equity, and and risk involved with that. And I think it's important for us to be able to rally around uh those knife makers and support them and and leather crafts and things like that and throw them our business when we can. That's especially important for knifemakers like me, uh, where you know if I have sheaths or other things that um I can have somebody else make, even though I could technically make them myself, I will rather take that money and invest it with others to give them a small cut of what my eventual profits are because it's important to share the wealth, it's important to support each other and to make sure that we can sustain this this period of downturn. Now, I know in five years it might be different. The economic uh situation might uh be in an overall upturn, but lots of businesses closed down during COVID never to reopen because the sustainability of the business was impractical and almost impossible. And a lot of these a lot of these businesses are shut down for good because of a short period of time of turbulence. And there's a lot of knife makers that have to make those same decisions. Once a knife maker decides that they have to go and get a regular job or more stability in the in in a regular nine to five or whatever, uh it's a lot more difficult for them to get back to it, if at all, because of that that economic turbulence. So um if you see makers support them, um it's sometimes you will not realize how, sometimes you will not realize the impact that you make to a maker by just simply buying their wares or talking to them about commissions or things like that. There's a lot of us who are not turning down work because of the uh economy. And I I'm blessed to have a full-time job that supports my family and everything. It allows me to make uh some riskier decisions and to um play the field a little bit differently. But there's a lot of makers that will not say anything about it, but they need the help and they need the support. So um, you know, keep an eye out because a few hundred dollars in a knife maker's pocket makes an awful lot of difference on keeping the lights on for another month. And if you like a maker's work, if you like who they are, what they believe in, and everything, I would highly recommend supporting them. I hope this helps give you some perspective, and let's all come together and boost this industry up and make sure that um you know we show the love where we can.