My new SKM 4.5" mini stiletto

[Scotchman]

Here is my first SKM knife.

IMG_20170410_120310.jpg (119.05 KiB) Viewed 3293 times

[JulesVane]

Congrats! How do you like it?

[Scotchman]

Thanks JulesVane. It's horrible actually. The safety/lock broke, two pins stick way out. Half the blade on both sides look like there is oil or something that won't come off (I dont really know how to explain), there is one full brass liner on one side and not the other. The only good thing is, it has real horn scales.

[Scotchman]

When I say full liner, I meant it covers the bolster "ear".

[JulesVane]

Wow! I'm sorry to hear that. Hard to believe someone could of packed such a piece in a package and sent it to you in that condition. I'm not sure if you mentioned where you got it from. Hopefully inside the states so you can return it. Waiting on a new toy in the mail only to find out 'ya got a lemon stinks! I know, been there!

[whippersnapper]

I'm sorry to hear that, scotchman, especially since I gave Bladeplay a good recommendation.

[Scotchman]

You can't win em all. I don't blame BladePlay. I am working on getting another Frank B though.

[Scotchman]

I got it in the states, but I'll keep it, it will be used for opening packages, etc.

[sammy the blade]

I'd send it back!!!!!

[Fishtail Picklock]

Send it back. They will make it right.

[JulesVane]

You can't win em all. I don't blame BladePlay. I am working on getting another Frank B though.

Short story: I just received my very first purchase from BladePlay. Partly due to recommendations and availability. I bought an A.G.A. Diamond Batwing Swinguard in Buffalo Horn for $335. Been wanting it for a LONG time. 3Knives have been out of stock for months & months, so I went with BladePlay. I was excited when it arrived (of course). I took it out of package & saw some serious blemishes on the NS bolsters. The edges of the Swinguard were rough. It had "pin prick" roughness on the scales near the diamond safety button. I fired it. Only partially opened. Mind you, I got the very last one they had. I fired it over & over, but would not fully deploy. I took it home, oiled it up and worked out the function bugs. Cleaned it up the best I could. Worked fine now. I decided to "live with the roughness" of the swinguard and scale (one side had the tiny pin-pricks that were raised). I don't know where or if I could find another one, so I didn't complain. BUT, for a $335 "collectors piece"? Eh...what more can I say? Not exactly a "lemon", but not pristine. Maybe I expected more(?).

[DonC]

JulesVane:
I'd contact BP and let them know that the knife was of considerably lower quality than you expected and ask if they'd take it back and refund the purchase price. It sounds like a "bad one" may have slipped through AGA. Their products are usually very well done.
DonC

[whippersnapper]

Sounds like neither knife should have been sent out unless sold specifically as "defects". Bladeplay/BladeHQ used to be excellent and were on the "good ones list" here. The company has grown a lot in the last few years and like is often the case customer satisfaction suffers.

It has been awhile but the owners email was cam@bladehq.com. He should respond and fix a problem.

I know it is a pain to send things back but there is no reason to shell out good money for something your not satisfied with.

[Luke_of_Mass]

In my experience, SKM and AKC both have shoddy quality control ... I won't touch either brand anymore. Their owners' main lines? Sure; JulesVane's Batwing nightmare is the only example of an AGA Campolin QC slip-up I've ever heard, and Armando Beltrame's personal line of knives is right on par with his brother Frank.

But these low-end production lines owned by the high-end cutlers of Maniago have burned me a total of 5 times. Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me 5 times, shame on me... times 4.

Luckily BladePlay is very good about returns/exchanges but if the entire line is garbage you'll end up returning SKM after SKM with all kinds of issues. You'll never get all your money back because they charge you a restocking fee for a refund. The only way to make out OK is to take store credit (no restocking fee), buy some other crap and offload it on eBay or at a knife show. I had to do that thanks to two AKC slimline leverlocks that came with the exact same problem (bad trigger sears).

I'm sorry the mini-stiletto didn't work out but hey if you're gonna take a chance on SKM do it through somebody like BladePlay who will take returns because if you order direct through SKM, you're out of luck if you don't dig what they send you...

[Scotchman]

Thanks everyone and I'm sorry for those of you who got burned. Like I said, I will keep it, as I got it for a pocket knife to use to open stuff. I'm trying to save up for another Frank B.