As someone who has been waiting for a gso 12 that I paid for in full 6 years ago. The apology isn't really worth a lot. Send me the blank, the handle parts, and the sheath that I paid for and we can call it even
Really sucks for people waiting on knives. Glad I'm not one of them. A lot of dudes could probably use that money. That said I'm also glad I'm an owner of three Survive knives in 3V, K890, and Elmax. I guess the time for watered-down and sugar-coated thoughts is over, so I'll say this. In my opinion you didn't charge enough, you were too picky, you were too slow, and you tried to change the rules of the game rather than learn to play the game in your own way. Thats a selling point on one hand, I mean who doesnt like a company that "refuses to settle". Thats just a saying though and ALL successful companies settle on certain things. Ultimately, I think not knowing how to find that happy medium was your downfall. Lead times were horrible before the magnacut issue. Customer service was always pretty mid. Fit and finish was impeccable but that only lasted until I used the crap out of it, then none of that mattersd. No one cares if theres a blem in the steel behind the handle. In no way do I support Benchmade, but the rules of the game that you chose to play in say they can charge $250 for a $150 knive that has loose manufacturing tolerances and sub par heat treat SO LONG AS its fast, its convenient, and when it breaks you get a new one no questions asked. And thats why they're successful. They'll never go out of business. You didnt want to play that game, I get it. But thats the game and that revenue flow is what allows them to make a few great products like yours. Its a balance between pride and success. Its a shame to see you go, I think you made great products and below-value prices. I thank you for the products you did make. However, if I'm being honest I kinda saw this coming. That said, man to man, I wish you nothing but future happiness because you've done absolutely nothing to deserve being deprived of that. Good luck.
After our experience with Millit and investing so heavily into them, it was double down or quit. Everyone pushed for us to go for it. We almost pulled this off but too many things happened, too quickly and we couldn't absorb all the lost time and materials and still have a viable business. I have no problem discussing things but I'm also not going to approve your rage bait nonsense. No offense but those earlier comments you wrote were childish. You think we entered into an agreement with the state attorney general's office without testifying? There was no criminal intent here, no flashy purchases were made, we just had an unrecoverable run of bad luck.
so i can forget about my knife, which i've ordered 2 years ago.... happens but given that you've been making thousands of knives, and most of them were in the range of $250..... what else can you blame, if not a bad management?
I worked on a team, with several people. While I was not the manager, at the end of the day, the buck stops with me. You can blame me. We grew the business from a negative position, mostly with predatory lending, with predatory terms. When production issues crop up, the overheard doesn't stop, the bills keep needing to be paid. One too many things happened, in too short of a timeframe, putting the business in an insolvent position. I don't like any of this or how it's ending but those are the facts. I did what I could but it wasn't enough. An apology isn't sufficient, but please know that I am sorry.
Aside from ignorant rage bait, no comments have been deleted. Comments are held for review and I approve them when I happen to be looking at the phone.
I'm not sure what the circumstances are, but PayPal does appear to still be issuing refunds in some circumstances. I sent a message for clarification and it seemed like that situation wouldn't change until they got a bankruptcy letter. That place is kind of on auto pilot, with very few humans these days. I can only feel so bad, they've made tons of money off me these last few years with PayPal loans. 🤷🏻♂️
2.5-3 years of waiting for knives that we paid for, and nothing. No knives, no refunds. What a fucking scam. No sympathy. You're getting everything you deserve here.
While the situation isn't that simple and several external factors played a part in the company's failure, you're right, at the end of the day the buck stops with me. I'm ultimately responsible for the outcome and that's something I have to live with. I sincerely apologize for letting you and others down. Please know that was never my intention.
You couldn't at least ship the unfinished blanks to customers who paid for knives, but you sold the equipment before it could be repossessed? I would also think that selling off equipment that belongs to all the creditors (including people that prepaid for knives who became creditors) would be violating the terms of bankruptcy if done within a certain number of days before filing (like 90 days).
The company had no money when the equipment was going to be repossessed. I was also in the process of being evicted from the shop, so the liquidation of the shop assets was the only logical move. I was hoping the small amount of post liquidation proceeds would be enough to pass off production to a machine shop here locally. Unfortunately chargebacks made that option impossible. It is not my intention to offend you but comments like this and some others help me understand that a lot of people really don't understand much of anything about how things actually work. This isn't television. Under the law, secured creditors, like equipment lenders, are the first in line to receive payment. I have no options for moving forward with negative money on the books. I have no place to work, no money to rent a place, no car to get around, and no equipment at all to do work. On the advice of council and under the terms of my assurance of voluntary compliance agreement, SURVIVE! is done, I'm done. I am truly sorry that I let some of you folks down, but my hands are tied at this point.
Wish I had found that Bladeforums thread detailing Survive's issues before blindly hopping on the hype train years back from the DBK vid and just trusting that I'd be getting my purchase in 6 months.
I do sincerely apologize for that. If it weren't for that entire magnacut situation, there are videos posted from that time period, those orders would have delivered on time. Looking back, I don't know what I could've done differently, none of that happened in our shop, but the buck stops with me. It's ultimately my responsibility. I apologize.
I think there’s a lesson here for everyone who’s unfortunately not getting a knife. A paid preorder is a loan you’re offering with no interest and no collateral. Blade Forums’ membership has been predicting S!Ks situation for years, and unfortunately some folks didn’t want to believe it.
As with any crowd funding or preordering model, there are always risks. I've tried my best to provide information and updates along the way, outlining the struggles and changes in the business model that were needed to push things forward. Several knife companies and similar ventures have come and gone during my time, mostly due to start up/production issues and the general struggles of having things made here in the US. It's sad to say but this venture would have been totally viable if we had partnered with Chinese, Taiwanese, or Japanese manufacturers. Knowing what I know now, I agree with your sentiment on not placing prepaid orders with any company out there that doesn't already have a product ready to deliver. Even well established companies sometimes have major issues that can lead to their sudden failure. I sincerely apologize to those I've let down. I never took an order without believing we could get it done. Looking back, I should have closed up shop when things went so wrong working with Millit Knives.
I am so sorry to hear the terrible turn of events for your business and all the effort you put into making a go of it. When I visited your shop I was welcomed for a nice tour and brought some cake for the workers there. I love my Survive knives, especially the edc 4 and was really looking forward to the edc 5. That was my perfect knife. I also was looking forward to edc 3 as that was perfect size to edc. I don’t know if there is a chance of getting the blanks for knives we had on order or not but if not then ok. Hope you are able to get back on your feet. Thank you for the efforts you and the team made against a lot of problems.
So the people who paid 2 years ago get fucked? Never mind I asked for a refund a while back with numerous voicemails, emails and certified letter with no response back. Stop making videos to make yourself feel better for taking our money! I hate people who make excuses for their failures.
John, I also put my life savings into this and lost everything. I'm not making excuses, I'm providing an explanation. That's what every update video has been, an explanation of what's going on. I apologize your messages went unanswered. I tried several times to hire people for customer communications. At the end of the day I just did not have enough time myself to do work and field all of the questions. It's my fault, I'm taking responsibility for that right here and now. I didn't set out to screw anyone over or ruin my life. One too many things happened, in too short of a timeframe, it was unrecoverable. That's not an excuse, those are just the facts of the matter. Wishing it was different doesn't make it so. Again, I apologize.
Operations have ceased, the business accounts are very much in the negative, there is no longer any means to send anything to anyone. I'm liquidating personal property and looking for a job just to be able to get the bankruptcy completed. I truly apologize but my bankruptcy attorney made it very clear that I'm done with this. My next steps will be decided by the court.
“Now I gotta figure out what to do with these blanks” Sell them to pay off your debt, obviously. You’re never going to finish them or get them finished.
Operations of SURVIVE! have ceased but these blades and parts are technically the property of individuals. If I'm directed to liquidate that property to settle debts, that's what I'll do. Right now my bankruptcy attorney told me to cease operations and wait to see what the court has to say about it. The company accounts are in the negative by many thousands of dollars at this point, I signed a civil agreement with the state, so my hands are tied.
You made great knifes and went all in doing so. Im happy with the 2 knifes delivered and i will survive loosing the funds for the 2 knifes not recived. Thanks for dreaming big and actually go all in. I lost 2 knifes, you lost so much more.. Best of luck with your next chapter in life.
I have lost a lot of money and more importantly a lot of years time waiting hoping and stressing… But I forgive you Guy! I know you’re in a lot worse situation than any of us individually and hope that you come out of this ok. God bless
Operations have ceased, the business accounts are very much in the negative, there is no longer any means to send anything to anyone. I'm liquidating personal property and looking for a job just to be able to get the bankruptcy completed. I truly apologize but my bankruptcy attorney made it very clear that I'm done with this. My next steps will be decided by the court.
My bank statements and PayPal records tell a different story. I have to say, I won't miss comments from experts who've never been to my shop. Rest easy knowing that I ruined my life as well on this journey.
It's Fing sad ... I absolutely love my EDC4 FFG, I could easily order some more from your company in the future. I hope you'll find somebody to continue working with you IP, it's worth saving and have a legacy. I'd probably be pissed out of the chart if I didn't receive my knife, but as it's not the case, ... I wish you all the best for the future !
I appreciate this video, Guy. Been following your business for almost 10 years. We only get a handful of decades on this planet, so I reckon that's a fair bit. Thanks for giving it a heroic effort. Despite the frustration and clamoring, I know you have a huge number of fans still enjoying your designs and high finishing standards. Everyone wants to know what they can do/if they can do anything to get whatever materials that were associated with their purchases. Some fancy finishing them themselves. I'm among that group, if only to hold relics of this time. What a story. Be kind to yourself. For all the anger and frustration, you attempted what others would not. I remember fondly the days you suspended yourself from one of your first blanks off of a tree. There was a lot more joy in your voice and in your life back then. I hope you get back there soon. Best wishes, Guy.
Just curious ? How much would it cost to finish the Gso 12 first since they are the oldest orders and then finish each batch according to largest to smallest . Of course someone would have to have a fully equipped shop to even entertain the idea. I would like the opportunity to finish my own knives. That are just sitting in those boxes.
The big blades are very difficult to do well and a huge time suck. There is a reason Millit never got them done when we worked with them. Looking back, it would've been less time, consuming to start over then to pick up a project they had started. Also, a LOT of the GSO-12's need annealed and rehardened. They were not handled in the most correct manner at Peters' and I'm realizing that batch had also been what they are calling "mildly decarburized". They were stress relieving and annealing parts in a non vacuum furnace, something that wasn't correct, but worked better for their production flow. That's what also led to the Magnacut situation later. Nobody at Peters' checked to see how badly Magnacut would react to an oxygen environment at high temperature and unfortunately it was really bad. They were also not very forthright about their methods, so it took me coming back to Pennsylvania to see these things. In light of that situation I believe they've since changed all of their processes. In talking through things, I do believe I helped them improve their processes, they just didn't want to get behind what had already happened. I was fired when I pressed them on it. The next steps would be any flattening, then finish grinding. That amount of time will depend on a shop's equipment. They're big, so for us, that meant 6 per table load. Each table load took about 1:30-2 hours minutes, including cleaning, measuring and flipping parts. For reference, we could finish grind 16 GSO-4 or similar sized blades. Rough grinding annealed parts, we were to a point where I could nest 30 smaller blades at a time on the table. Then is bevel grinding. For our process, that meant about 22 minutes per knife, plus part change over time. After bevel grinding was demagnetizing, washing and surface prep for tumbling. The surface prep took 16-18 minutes per blade for the GSO-12. I had some ideas to cut that down a bit, but never had a chance to experiment. For reference, smaller knives took anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes each. Next was tumbling. We had a 10.6 cu ft tumbler, that took 4 GSO-12 blades at a time, without significant part impingement or finish degradation. Any more crowded the bowl and they did not tumble well. Next is inspection and engraving, followed by assembly and sharpening. These have a thicker edge, so they would be very time-consuming to sharpen well by hand. I did all the GSO-8 and some GSO10's and 12's that way and it definitely wasn't efficient. After arriving to Gettysburg we moved to a water cooled, CNC sharpening process. It wasn't much faster, but it was very consistent and was more passive. You've seen the customer videos on our edges, it was a great advancement. Getting the GSO-12s done for folks was especially difficult because we had already paid so much for other companies to work on them and in the end, we had to finish them ourselves. First, we had to develop sound methods to ensure we could get them done consistently, then I drove efficiency to ensure we would actually be able to get them done. From our perspective, we were making those for free, and there was no profitability in them, at all. We were trying to build a cash buffer to get them done before leaving Idaho but then all the Magnacut stuff happened. Well, you can watch the blow by blow of that on our channel. I'll be leaving the youtube channel up, for the public record. I hope that answered your question. Have a great day.
You still did NOT address those Customers that paid for knives years ago (like myself) and how we are paying the price for YOUR business practices. You're a real class act Guy...NOT! A true P.O.S.!
Appreciate your "last" video and clarifying the situation but really dude, you ripped people off for years, refused to accept that things were going south, failed to reply to refund requests and refused to post, by moderating, most negative comments. You need to face yourself and your own lacking capabilities. Be honest to yourself and others and at least admit that you stole from people, regardless whether it was due to bad management or not. You have upset a lot of people and took money that they had worked hard to get to satisfy your ego. Bad move dude. Didnt expect that from a fellow veteran.
I appreciate your perception, but we really did make what we collectively thought were the best decisions at each step, with the information we had available to us at the time. It's only after the fact that I am able to kick myself about decisions made, with the clarity of hindsight. There is plenty of blame to go around, but please know that I did not set out to ruin my life. I didn't buy all of that equipment and learn those lessons in an attempt to rip anyone off. We were often overwhelmed and short staffed but I never took an order believing that we couldn't fulfill it. As far as your last jab about honor or whatever, 9 out of 10 businesses fail. I was reminded by my bankruptcy attorney of so many big names that failed several times before finally making it. It's a risk in any endeavor. The only way to avoid that is to sit on the porch and try nothing, to do nothing. If I failed to deliver something to you, I truly apologize. The rest of that stuff though, you can keep it. I asked for help the entire way, tried everything possible to avoid becoming a manufacturer but work kept falling short. In the end, we gave it our all and also still fell short. I'm disappointed in myself for letting folks down, but that's just part of life and business and I have to live with that. We live, we learn, we screw up sometimes, life goes on. I know that I've disappointed some people, but on balance, we made many, many more people very happy with a high quality product. The reviews over the year speak for themselves.
Those EDC 3s were sooo close to getting to me.. I was super excited to get to use them as my EDC. Thanks for the update.. Best of luck to you!!! Will miss Survive! :/ My favorite knives.
I reached out to several companies, to see if anyone had an interest in all of my designs and intellectual property, in exchange for helping me bring this home. To this date, I've had no takers. I really wanted this to work, even if I had to take a backseat and just be a floor employee.
Life’s rough, sorry to see things go the way they are.Thanks for the apology and for all your hard work and dedication to the cause of the some of the best quality knives possible. Good luck on your future endeavors Guy. Keep up the great Stuff & God Bless.
I really, really wanted that vendetta 7. Such an awesome design. Luckily i was able to get my money back through my bank so I'm good on my end. Good luck to you.
It was a good run Guy. I wish I could have gotten the other knife I had ordered, but the ones I do have are magnificent! The TSK is my favorite. I’ve enjoyed watching your story and the updates along the way. I wish you well. A fellow of your talents will bounce back for certain.
Guy I'm genuinely sad to see you fall on such hard times. You mentioned not being able to interact with customers. Is it at all possible those of us waiting on knives could pay shipoing to have the knives, in whatever shape or condition they're in, mailed to us? I've been waiting on a 5.1 SERE blade, I'd be happy to recieve it without the sheath or even without handles.
I’m really sorry to see how things ended up for you. I’m not gonna lie- I, like many others, took a crack at some jokes about what happened. As if it made my preorder losses justifiable for me to do so. But the fact is I was rooting as hard as I can for Survive Knives. I was looking forward to my EDC 2 and GSO 4 (especially in Magnacut). Oh well. But please try to let this go. Move on and away from this (beyond fulfilling your legal obligation).
More than likely those blanks and materials will be auctioned off for pennies on the dollar. I would love to see another maker pick up with the designs and make the patterns under a different name.
This breaks my bloody heart. Guy.....if you are interested I may have a work from home job with my company that might pop up soon. Dont worry its not some shady off the books crap. I work for an ISP. just gimme a DM if you want.
Hey Guy, as someone who only lost a couple hundred bucks..shit happens. People lost a dream knife. You lost a dream. I don't see a scam artist, hindsight is 20/20. It's a shitty lesson but such is life. I probably won't preorder a knife again (from anyone), but then again maybe you wouldn't have sold pre-orders again if given the chance. Not a bad dude for making a couple decisions that didn't pay off. Doing what you've gotta do now with the chips where they fell. Hope things work out for you.
I would assume that his goal was to make and deliver knives. I'm sure he doesn't want this. The guy has nothing left but those boxes. Remember when his wife was in the video. The guy gave everything and came up short.
An apology is better than no apology. Can the designs and production details and processes be passed on to or sold to a knife company that can actually make them? If so then maybe you could go work for them?
I would love to find a situation like that. I hate the idea of all these parts going to waste and folks not getting what they ordered, but I also don't want to waste more time messing around with people or companies who don't have the resources to get this done correctly. I never wanted to be the team, I wanted to be part of a team. My strengths are apparent when you look at the product, my weaknesses become apparent when you look at the situation overall. I thought I had better support around me than I actually did and I wasn't enough on my own to bring this home. I can only say those things with the benefit of hindsight, in the moment I do feel like we made the best decisions with the information we had available. I needed people with more experience though, I can see that now.
Thank you for this video guy. I ordered 6 knives from you but never got any of them. Would you have a handful of gso 4.7 blanks and scales I can buy from you? I really really wanted to have one or two of your knives.
As much as I hate to admit it, Guy is correct about not being able to ship any blanks or parts to customers, even if they do indeed belong to us. The court has to decide that now and in most cases, debt reimbursement/refunds will go in order of who is owed the most. So unfortunately the little guys like us lose out. That is a very bitter pill to swallow but one which we must do. I am down 500 dollars not including shipping charges that I paid for. Its a huge sh@t sandwich and everyone has to take a bite.😢
your cituation is much worst than mine and for once you apalogise and say your sorry. thats a good way to go. somehow even if ive lost 2k i wish you good man
Thankfully I was able to be one of your customers that was able to get a chargeback through my credit card company for 1 the 2 knives I had ordered. I expect jobs are going to be hard to come by for a long time, people don't usually want to hire people that have such poor character!
Good luck to you, Guy. It pains me to see someone fight so hard for something he believed in, just to have it fall apart. I have all the respect in the world for you and your team. I may not have received the 5.1 i ordered, but i have no hard feelings toward you at all. You and your team made some phenomenal knives, and i will cherish the 3.5 that i have forever. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Hopefully, in the future, we might see the return of Survive! Knives. If so, you can count on me to be a customer once again. Until then, good luck, and god bless!
Thank you for all you have done! Not just for what you were able to achieve with SURVIVE!, but also for the transparency and integrity with which you've ran your UA-cam Channel. SURVIVE! as a company has failed, but your efforts, so I believe, will contribute to make this world a better place in the long run. Whether you will get your share of it or not. To me you are a true inspiration and for that you will always have a place in my heart! I wish you all the best... Much love from Switzerland 🙏
Thanks Man! I very much wish there was a world where all of us true believers could get together and just focus on making something great together. I hate that the different ugly aspects of money had to get in the way of this. With the predatory lending, high overhead from buying an entire machine shop I wasn't anticipating on needing to buy, problems with steel, the losses with the decarb.... It was just too much. I came from nothing, I just didn't have it like that to force the issue forward.
Well we all have a reality distortion field, some super successful with it, most are not. One thing can be said, you made an amazing knife. Business wise...lets be real, you sucked. Hopefully you can just be a designer and let others make em and figure out how to make a business out of it, but I suppose after all the videos, you might be a little bit radioactive right now. But I'm betting your radioactive half-life will be short and you'll land on your feet somewhere soon. I am out two knives, but also received two, guess they'll be safe queens until a new "BETTER" version of Survive pops up.
RiP Survive! Knives. I have 5 amazing knives from Survive! and was waiting on the 6th. At least I know I can stop hoping for the GSO 5.5 I ordered 4 years ago to show up. Thankfully it was the only preorder I had still open. I can only imagine people who had multiple preorders open, how pissed off they would be to see this video. Best of luck to you Guy. Hope things work out for you once the dust settles.
As always, am praying for you, Guy. I appreciate the apology. It's important that you made this video and apologized. It doesn't get the knives people paid for to them or their money back into their own savings, but it is important that you put the apology out there. I know that lots and lots of us which we could just get our hands on the blanks and do our best with them ourselves, but there isn't money/time/materials/personnel to ship them all over. It's your fault that all of this happened. The fact that it is, really, your fault, is why the apology is so important, because there is no way you can make it better, it's literally all you have to offer. If you really managed to settle the liens, that is great. I'll be praying that someone offers to buy all the blanks and sheaths and parts with the hope of finishing them out, and I'll pray that you accept their offer, and that you get out of knife-related things and business management of any kind and find a job and a place to live free of destructive influences or at least with mitigation support, including the destructive influences coming from inside your own head. Here's to what you created, the beautiful knives you managed to get out, the quality you managed to achieve! Good luck with the personal bankruptcy efforts.
I’m sorry to hear this. It really burns me that the predatory lending that goes on goes on with no consequence to the lenders when a business fails. It sounds like you fell victim to it because you were trying to meet the demand and growth required to service all of your customers. When things are going good it’s easy to rationalize and justify these predatory lending terms and when significant bumps in the road occur you can’t weather them. I don’t think it is right that you are not allowed to own or run a business after this if this is the first time this has happened to you. Given the opportunity I would think you would have learned from your mistakes and be more successful. Don’t let this stop you from doing what you love. There will be ways you can get around the handcuffs they put on you here. Good luck to you in the future. Maybe in the future you could find enough success that you could offer something back to your customers that didn’t have their order fulfilled. You never know. Just push forward.
The normalization of predatory lending in this country is concerning. You're not building with it, you're fighting to stay viable. It's a sad state of affairs but most investors want a 12 to 24 month exit plan and banks aren't really lending to anyone who needs it. It's a great time to own money, you can sit back and watch people fight really hard to grow your wealth. I could've bought a house with what I've paid an interest since taking over the manufacturing.
You mean you can't have anything to do with the business in THAT STATE, but if you were to relocate to another state, with someone who'd back you without being a greedy snake, you're free to do that, correct?
I guess that's technically accurate but you won't be seeing me on the Internet again. I'm beyond burnt out in the aftermath of this and I have nothing to my name. It's a little sad, but it's also been quite liberating. I'm not throwing myself back into that kind of stress, for any reason. I would rather be professionally homeless and live on the road than take that journey again.
Praying for you . Cant say i am not disappointed in the knives I lost on pre order . However we live ,we move on. On to the next mission. Work on yourself and fix you.
Thanks for that. I've been really beating myself up, but my bankruptcy attorney reminded me of a ton of big names that failed several times before finally making it. I gave it my all and still fell short, but a lot of valuable lessons and knowledge were gained along the way.
Guy, I was a fan from the early days and the excitement of the old spec knives in 3v. Always loved your design and vision. Feels like a hole with your company gone. Wishing you the best as you move forward.
I’ve followed your journey for almost exactly a decade now, and the three blades I’ve bought from you over the years will most likely be the only fixed blade knives I’ll keep. Until they wear out - if ever. I’m sure it’s a drop in the bucket of feels amidst everything you’re going through now, but you have my thanks for the steel. 🫡 You’ve also now learned one way of doing things that ultimately did not work - most people have to go through several, before they land on one that does. Give it time, let yourself unwind, look after your health, yourself, and once things start settling down a bit, new approaches will pop up and present themselves. All the best, mate.
So you took our money and are not refunding us for what we paid for. Don’t be sorry, give us a refund!
Sorry does not put that stolen money back in my wallet.
As someone who has been waiting for a gso 12 that I paid for in full 6 years ago. The apology isn't really worth a lot.
Send me the blank, the handle parts, and the sheath that I paid for and we can call it even
Personal responsibility, you might try that sometime.
Really sucks for people waiting on knives. Glad I'm not one of them. A lot of dudes could probably use that money. That said I'm also glad I'm an owner of three Survive knives in 3V, K890, and Elmax. I guess the time for watered-down and sugar-coated thoughts is over, so I'll say this. In my opinion you didn't charge enough, you were too picky, you were too slow, and you tried to change the rules of the game rather than learn to play the game in your own way. Thats a selling point on one hand, I mean who doesnt like a company that "refuses to settle". Thats just a saying though and ALL successful companies settle on certain things. Ultimately, I think not knowing how to find that happy medium was your downfall. Lead times were horrible before the magnacut issue. Customer service was always pretty mid. Fit and finish was impeccable but that only lasted until I used the crap out of it, then none of that mattersd. No one cares if theres a blem in the steel behind the handle. In no way do I support Benchmade, but the rules of the game that you chose to play in say they can charge $250 for a $150 knive that has loose manufacturing tolerances and sub par heat treat SO LONG AS its fast, its convenient, and when it breaks you get a new one no questions asked. And thats why they're successful. They'll never go out of business. You didnt want to play that game, I get it. But thats the game and that revenue flow is what allows them to make a few great products like yours. Its a balance between pride and success. Its a shame to see you go, I think you made great products and below-value prices. I thank you for the products you did make. However, if I'm being honest I kinda saw this coming. That said, man to man, I wish you nothing but future happiness because you've done absolutely nothing to deserve being deprived of that. Good luck.
Should've never done the pre orders. Should've kept it small and at a manageable growth.
After our experience with Millit and investing so heavily into them, it was double down or quit. Everyone pushed for us to go for it. We almost pulled this off but too many things happened, too quickly and we couldn't absorb all the lost time and materials and still have a viable business. I have no problem discussing things but I'm also not going to approve your rage bait nonsense. No offense but those earlier comments you wrote were childish. You think we entered into an agreement with the state attorney general's office without testifying? There was no criminal intent here, no flashy purchases were made, we just had an unrecoverable run of bad luck.
so i can forget about my knife, which i've ordered 2 years ago.... happens
but given that you've been making thousands of knives, and most of them were in the range of $250..... what else can you blame, if not a bad management?
I worked on a team, with several people. While I was not the manager, at the end of the day, the buck stops with me. You can blame me. We grew the business from a negative position, mostly with predatory lending, with predatory terms. When production issues crop up, the overheard doesn't stop, the bills keep needing to be paid. One too many things happened, in too short of a timeframe, putting the business in an insolvent position. I don't like any of this or how it's ending but those are the facts. I did what I could but it wasn't enough. An apology isn't sufficient, but please know that I am sorry.
Has anyone here had the comments deleted ? Seems like Guy doesn’t like to hear the truth even when is right in front of his face
Aside from ignorant rage bait, no comments have been deleted. Comments are held for review and I approve them when I happen to be looking at the phone.
Has anyone been able to get a refund from PayPal? And how did you get them to do it?
I'm not sure what the circumstances are, but PayPal does appear to still be issuing refunds in some circumstances. I sent a message for clarification and it seemed like that situation wouldn't change until they got a bankruptcy letter. That place is kind of on auto pilot, with very few humans these days. I can only feel so bad, they've made tons of money off me these last few years with PayPal loans. 🤷🏻♂️
2.5-3 years of waiting for knives that we paid for, and nothing. No knives, no refunds. What a fucking scam. No sympathy. You're getting everything you deserve here.
While the situation isn't that simple and several external factors played a part in the company's failure, you're right, at the end of the day the buck stops with me. I'm ultimately responsible for the outcome and that's something I have to live with. I sincerely apologize for letting you and others down. Please know that was never my intention.
You couldn't at least ship the unfinished blanks to customers who paid for knives, but you sold the equipment before it could be repossessed? I would also think that selling off equipment that belongs to all the creditors (including people that prepaid for knives who became creditors) would be violating the terms of bankruptcy if done within a certain number of days before filing (like 90 days).
The company had no money when the equipment was going to be repossessed. I was also in the process of being evicted from the shop, so the liquidation of the shop assets was the only logical move. I was hoping the small amount of post liquidation proceeds would be enough to pass off production to a machine shop here locally. Unfortunately chargebacks made that option impossible.
It is not my intention to offend you but comments like this and some others help me understand that a lot of people really don't understand much of anything about how things actually work. This isn't television. Under the law, secured creditors, like equipment lenders, are the first in line to receive payment.
I have no options for moving forward with negative money on the books. I have no place to work, no money to rent a place, no car to get around, and no equipment at all to do work.
On the advice of council and under the terms of my assurance of voluntary compliance agreement, SURVIVE! is done, I'm done. I am truly sorry that I let some of you folks down, but my hands are tied at this point.
I was lied to for years and I blame you for not making a knife I paid for in full. I for one dont accept your apology.
Wish I had found that Bladeforums thread detailing Survive's issues before blindly hopping on the hype train years back from the DBK vid and just trusting that I'd be getting my purchase in 6 months.
I do sincerely apologize for that. If it weren't for that entire magnacut situation, there are videos posted from that time period, those orders would have delivered on time. Looking back, I don't know what I could've done differently, none of that happened in our shop, but the buck stops with me. It's ultimately my responsibility. I apologize.
I think there’s a lesson here for everyone who’s unfortunately not getting a knife. A paid preorder is a loan you’re offering with no interest and no collateral. Blade Forums’ membership has been predicting S!Ks situation for years, and unfortunately some folks didn’t want to believe it.
As with any crowd funding or preordering model, there are always risks. I've tried my best to provide information and updates along the way, outlining the struggles and changes in the business model that were needed to push things forward.
Several knife companies and similar ventures have come and gone during my time, mostly due to start up/production issues and the general struggles of having things made here in the US. It's sad to say but this venture would have been totally viable if we had partnered with Chinese, Taiwanese, or Japanese manufacturers.
Knowing what I know now, I agree with your sentiment on not placing prepaid orders with any company out there that doesn't already have a product ready to deliver. Even well established companies sometimes have major issues that can lead to their sudden failure.
I sincerely apologize to those I've let down. I never took an order without believing we could get it done. Looking back, I should have closed up shop when things went so wrong working with Millit Knives.
I am so sorry to hear the terrible turn of events for your business and all the effort you put into making a go of it. When I visited your shop I was welcomed for a nice tour and brought some cake for the workers there. I love my Survive knives, especially the edc 4 and was really looking forward to the edc 5. That was my perfect knife. I also was looking forward to edc 3 as that was perfect size to edc. I don’t know if there is a chance of getting the blanks for knives we had on order or not but if not then ok. Hope you are able to get back on your feet. Thank you for the efforts you and the team made against a lot of problems.
So the people who paid 2 years ago get fucked? Never mind I asked for a refund a while back with numerous voicemails, emails and certified letter with no response back. Stop making videos to make yourself feel better for taking our money! I hate people who make excuses for their failures.
John, I also put my life savings into this and lost everything. I'm not making excuses, I'm providing an explanation. That's what every update video has been, an explanation of what's going on. I apologize your messages went unanswered. I tried several times to hire people for customer communications. At the end of the day I just did not have enough time myself to do work and field all of the questions. It's my fault, I'm taking responsibility for that right here and now. I didn't set out to screw anyone over or ruin my life. One too many things happened, in too short of a timeframe, it was unrecoverable. That's not an excuse, those are just the facts of the matter. Wishing it was different doesn't make it so. Again, I apologize.
Send me the parts for the TSK I PAID FOR !
Operations have ceased, the business accounts are very much in the negative, there is no longer any means to send anything to anyone. I'm liquidating personal property and looking for a job just to be able to get the bankruptcy completed. I truly apologize but my bankruptcy attorney made it very clear that I'm done with this. My next steps will be decided by the court.
“Now I gotta figure out what to do with these blanks”
Sell them to pay off your debt, obviously. You’re never going to finish them or get them finished.
Operations of SURVIVE! have ceased but these blades and parts are technically the property of individuals. If I'm directed to liquidate that property to settle debts, that's what I'll do. Right now my bankruptcy attorney told me to cease operations and wait to see what the court has to say about it. The company accounts are in the negative by many thousands of dollars at this point, I signed a civil agreement with the state, so my hands are tied.
You made great knifes and went all in doing so. Im happy with the 2 knifes delivered and i will survive loosing the funds for the 2 knifes not recived. Thanks for dreaming big and actually go all in. I lost 2 knifes, you lost so much more.. Best of luck with your next chapter in life.
Why you taking down my post ?
I have lost a lot of money and more importantly a lot of years time waiting hoping and stressing…
But I forgive you Guy! I know you’re in a lot worse situation than any of us individually and hope that you come out of this ok. God bless
But considering I paid for my knife, how about returning my property to me?
Operations have ceased, the business accounts are very much in the negative, there is no longer any means to send anything to anyone. I'm liquidating personal property and looking for a job just to be able to get the bankruptcy completed. I truly apologize but my bankruptcy attorney made it very clear that I'm done with this. My next steps will be decided by the court.
Customer charge backs? Riiiiiight. Nobody got their money back.
My bank statements and PayPal records tell a different story. I have to say, I won't miss comments from experts who've never been to my shop. Rest easy knowing that I ruined my life as well on this journey.
It's Fing sad ...
I absolutely love my EDC4 FFG, I could easily order some more from your company in the future.
I hope you'll find somebody to continue working with you IP, it's worth saving and have a legacy.
I'd probably be pissed out of the chart if I didn't receive my knife, but as it's not the case, ... I wish you all the best for the future !
I appreciate this video, Guy. Been following your business for almost 10 years. We only get a handful of decades on this planet, so I reckon that's a fair bit. Thanks for giving it a heroic effort. Despite the frustration and clamoring, I know you have a huge number of fans still enjoying your designs and high finishing standards. Everyone wants to know what they can do/if they can do anything to get whatever materials that were associated with their purchases. Some fancy finishing them themselves. I'm among that group, if only to hold relics of this time. What a story.
Be kind to yourself. For all the anger and frustration, you attempted what others would not. I remember fondly the days you suspended yourself from one of your first blanks off of a tree. There was a lot more joy in your voice and in your life back then. I hope you get back there soon. Best wishes, Guy.
His scam has ended. It’s over.
Just curious ? How much would it cost to finish the Gso 12 first since they are the oldest orders and then finish each batch according to largest to smallest . Of course someone would have to have a fully equipped shop to even entertain the idea. I would like the opportunity to finish my own knives. That are just sitting in those boxes.
The big blades are very difficult to do well and a huge time suck. There is a reason Millit never got them done when we worked with them. Looking back, it would've been less time, consuming to start over then to pick up a project they had started.
Also, a LOT of the GSO-12's need annealed and rehardened. They were not handled in the most correct manner at Peters' and I'm realizing that batch had also been what they are calling "mildly decarburized". They were stress relieving and annealing parts in a non vacuum furnace, something that wasn't correct, but worked better for their production flow. That's what also led to the Magnacut situation later. Nobody at Peters' checked to see how badly Magnacut would react to an oxygen environment at high temperature and unfortunately it was really bad. They were also not very forthright about their methods, so it took me coming back to Pennsylvania to see these things. In light of that situation I believe they've since changed all of their processes. In talking through things, I do believe I helped them improve their processes, they just didn't want to get behind what had already happened. I was fired when I pressed them on it.
The next steps would be any flattening, then finish grinding. That amount of time will depend on a shop's equipment. They're big, so for us, that meant 6 per table load. Each table load took about 1:30-2 hours minutes, including cleaning, measuring and flipping parts. For reference, we could finish grind 16 GSO-4 or similar sized blades. Rough grinding annealed parts, we were to a point where I could nest 30 smaller blades at a time on the table.
Then is bevel grinding. For our process, that meant about 22 minutes per knife, plus part change over time.
After bevel grinding was demagnetizing, washing and surface prep for tumbling. The surface prep took 16-18 minutes per blade for the GSO-12. I had some ideas to cut that down a bit, but never had a chance to experiment. For reference, smaller knives took anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes each.
Next was tumbling. We had a 10.6 cu ft tumbler, that took 4 GSO-12 blades at a time, without significant part impingement or finish degradation. Any more crowded the bowl and they did not tumble well.
Next is inspection and engraving, followed by assembly and sharpening. These have a thicker edge, so they would be very time-consuming to sharpen well by hand. I did all the GSO-8 and some GSO10's and 12's that way and it definitely wasn't efficient. After arriving to Gettysburg we moved to a water cooled, CNC sharpening process. It wasn't much faster, but it was very consistent and was more passive. You've seen the customer videos on our edges, it was a great advancement.
Getting the GSO-12s done for folks was especially difficult because we had already paid so much for other companies to work on them and in the end, we had to finish them ourselves. First, we had to develop sound methods to ensure we could get them done consistently, then I drove efficiency to ensure we would actually be able to get them done. From our perspective, we were making those for free, and there was no profitability in them, at all. We were trying to build a cash buffer to get them done before leaving Idaho but then all the Magnacut stuff happened. Well, you can watch the blow by blow of that on our channel. I'll be leaving the youtube channel up, for the public record.
I hope that answered your question. Have a great day.
You still did NOT address those Customers that paid for knives years ago (like myself) and how we are paying the price for YOUR business practices. You're a real class act Guy...NOT! A true P.O.S.!
Appreciate your "last" video and clarifying the situation but really dude, you ripped people off for years, refused to accept that things were going south, failed to reply to refund requests and refused to post, by moderating, most negative comments. You need to face yourself and your own lacking capabilities. Be honest to yourself and others and at least admit that you stole from people, regardless whether it was due to bad management or not. You have upset a lot of people and took money that they had worked hard to get to satisfy your ego. Bad move dude. Didnt expect that from a fellow veteran.
I appreciate your perception, but we really did make what we collectively thought were the best decisions at each step, with the information we had available to us at the time. It's only after the fact that I am able to kick myself about decisions made, with the clarity of hindsight. There is plenty of blame to go around, but please know that I did not set out to ruin my life. I didn't buy all of that equipment and learn those lessons in an attempt to rip anyone off. We were often overwhelmed and short staffed but I never took an order believing that we couldn't fulfill it. As far as your last jab about honor or whatever, 9 out of 10 businesses fail. I was reminded by my bankruptcy attorney of so many big names that failed several times before finally making it. It's a risk in any endeavor. The only way to avoid that is to sit on the porch and try nothing, to do nothing.
If I failed to deliver something to you, I truly apologize. The rest of that stuff though, you can keep it. I asked for help the entire way, tried everything possible to avoid becoming a manufacturer but work kept falling short. In the end, we gave it our all and also still fell short. I'm disappointed in myself for letting folks down, but that's just part of life and business and I have to live with that. We live, we learn, we screw up sometimes, life goes on. I know that I've disappointed some people, but on balance, we made many, many more people very happy with a high quality product. The reviews over the year speak for themselves.
I'm glad I got my "10" way early on. It really is a BEAST! Good luck. Guy. It's really too bad things worked out this way.
Those EDC 3s were sooo close to getting to me.. I was super excited to get to use them as my EDC. Thanks for the update.. Best of luck to you!!! Will miss Survive! :/ My favorite knives.
I reached out to several companies, to see if anyone had an interest in all of my designs and intellectual property, in exchange for helping me bring this home. To this date, I've had no takers. I really wanted this to work, even if I had to take a backseat and just be a floor employee.
Thanks for giving this update and closing it out this way. Something is better than nothing. Wish you the best in the future and God bless.
Life’s rough, sorry to see things go the way they are.Thanks for the apology and for all your hard work and dedication to the cause of the some of the best quality knives possible. Good luck on your future endeavors Guy.
Keep up the great Stuff & God Bless.
I really, really wanted that vendetta 7. Such an awesome design. Luckily i was able to get my money back through my bank so I'm good on my end. Good luck to you.
It was a good run Guy. I wish I could have gotten the other knife I had ordered, but the ones I do have are magnificent! The TSK is my favorite. I’ve enjoyed watching your story and the updates along the way. I wish you well. A fellow of your talents will bounce back for certain.
ALL YOUR FAULT. SHOULD BE IN JAIL.
Guy I'm genuinely sad to see you fall on such hard times. You mentioned not being able to interact with customers. Is it at all possible those of us waiting on knives could pay shipoing to have the knives, in whatever shape or condition they're in, mailed to us?
I've been waiting on a 5.1 SERE blade, I'd be happy to recieve it without the sheath or even without handles.
I’m really sorry to see how things ended up for you. I’m not gonna lie- I, like many others, took a crack at some jokes about what happened. As if it made my preorder losses justifiable for me to do so. But the fact is I was rooting as hard as I can for Survive Knives. I was looking forward to my EDC 2 and GSO 4 (especially in Magnacut). Oh well. But please try to let this go. Move on and away from this (beyond fulfilling your legal obligation).
More than likely those blanks and materials will be auctioned off for pennies on the dollar. I would love to see another maker pick up with the designs and make the patterns under a different name.
I would also love to see that. I've reached out to several companies, ones who I thought would have the ability to do it, so far no takers.
This breaks my bloody heart. Guy.....if you are interested I may have a work from home job with my company that might pop up soon. Dont worry its not some shady off the books crap. I work for an ISP. just gimme a DM if you want.
Hey Guy, as someone who only lost a couple hundred bucks..shit happens. People lost a dream knife. You lost a dream. I don't see a scam artist, hindsight is 20/20. It's a shitty lesson but such is life. I probably won't preorder a knife again (from anyone), but then again maybe you wouldn't have sold pre-orders again if given the chance. Not a bad dude for making a couple decisions that didn't pay off. Doing what you've gotta do now with the chips where they fell. Hope things work out for you.
I’ve been around, kid - Guy
And I’ve also been a square kid - Guy
I would assume that his goal was to make and deliver knives. I'm sure he doesn't want this. The guy has nothing left but those boxes. Remember when his wife was in the video. The guy gave everything and came up short.
An apology is better than no apology. Can the designs and production details and processes be passed on to or sold to a knife company that can actually make them? If so then maybe you could go work for them?
I would love to find a situation like that. I hate the idea of all these parts going to waste and folks not getting what they ordered, but I also don't want to waste more time messing around with people or companies who don't have the resources to get this done correctly. I never wanted to be the team, I wanted to be part of a team. My strengths are apparent when you look at the product, my weaknesses become apparent when you look at the situation overall. I thought I had better support around me than I actually did and I wasn't enough on my own to bring this home. I can only say those things with the benefit of hindsight, in the moment I do feel like we made the best decisions with the information we had available. I needed people with more experience though, I can see that now.
Thank you for this video guy. I ordered 6 knives from you but never got any of them. Would you have a handful of gso 4.7 blanks and scales I can buy from you? I really really wanted to have one or two of your knives.
Life according to Guy...
As much as I hate to admit it, Guy is correct about not being able to ship any blanks or parts to customers, even if they do indeed belong to us. The court has to decide that now and in most cases, debt reimbursement/refunds will go in order of who is owed the most. So unfortunately the little guys like us lose out. That is a very bitter pill to swallow but one which we must do. I am down 500 dollars not including shipping charges that I paid for. Its a huge sh@t sandwich and everyone has to take a bite.😢
your cituation is much worst than mine and for once you apalogise and say your sorry.
thats a good way to go. somehow even if ive lost 2k i wish you good man
An absolute shame.
Thankfully I was able to be one of your customers that was able to get a chargeback through my credit card company for 1 the 2 knives I had ordered. I expect jobs are going to be hard to come by for a long time, people don't usually want to hire people that have such poor character!
Good luck to you, Guy. It pains me to see someone fight so hard for something he believed in, just to have it fall apart. I have all the respect in the world for you and your team. I may not have received the 5.1 i ordered, but i have no hard feelings toward you at all. You and your team made some phenomenal knives, and i will cherish the 3.5 that i have forever. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Hopefully, in the future, we might see the return of Survive! Knives. If so, you can count on me to be a customer once again. Until then, good luck, and god bless!
Thank you for all you have done! Not just for what you were able to achieve with SURVIVE!, but also for the transparency and integrity with which you've ran your UA-cam Channel. SURVIVE! as a company has failed, but your efforts, so I believe, will contribute to make this world a better place in the long run. Whether you will get your share of it or not. To me you are a true inspiration and for that you will always have a place in my heart!
I wish you all the best...
Much love from Switzerland 🙏
If in the future, if you need a hand or ear; hit me up. Best of luck to you, Guy.
Thanks Man! I very much wish there was a world where all of us true believers could get together and just focus on making something great together. I hate that the different ugly aspects of money had to get in the way of this. With the predatory lending, high overhead from buying an entire machine shop I wasn't anticipating on needing to buy, problems with steel, the losses with the decarb.... It was just too much. I came from nothing, I just didn't have it like that to force the issue forward.
Well we all have a reality distortion field, some super successful with it, most are not. One thing can be said, you made an amazing knife. Business wise...lets be real, you sucked. Hopefully you can just be a designer and let others make em and figure out how to make a business out of it, but I suppose after all the videos, you might be a little bit radioactive right now. But I'm betting your radioactive half-life will be short and you'll land on your feet somewhere soon. I am out two knives, but also received two, guess they'll be safe queens until a new "BETTER" version of Survive pops up.
RiP Survive! Knives. I have 5 amazing knives from Survive! and was waiting on the 6th. At least I know I can stop hoping for the GSO 5.5 I ordered 4 years ago to show up. Thankfully it was the only preorder I had still open. I can only imagine people who had multiple preorders open, how pissed off they would be to see this video. Best of luck to you Guy. Hope things work out for you once the dust settles.
As always, am praying for you, Guy.
I appreciate the apology. It's important that you made this video and apologized. It doesn't get the knives people paid for to them or their money back into their own savings, but it is important that you put the apology out there. I know that lots and lots of us which we could just get our hands on the blanks and do our best with them ourselves, but there isn't money/time/materials/personnel to ship them all over. It's your fault that all of this happened. The fact that it is, really, your fault, is why the apology is so important, because there is no way you can make it better, it's literally all you have to offer.
If you really managed to settle the liens, that is great.
I'll be praying that someone offers to buy all the blanks and sheaths and parts with the hope of finishing them out, and I'll pray that you accept their offer, and that you get out of knife-related things and business management of any kind and find a job and a place to live free of destructive influences or at least with mitigation support, including the destructive influences coming from inside your own head.
Here's to what you created, the beautiful knives you managed to get out, the quality you managed to achieve! Good luck with the personal bankruptcy efforts.
I’m sorry to hear this. It really burns me that the predatory lending that goes on goes on with no consequence to the lenders when a business fails. It sounds like you fell victim to it because you were trying to meet the demand and growth required to service all of your customers. When things are going good it’s easy to rationalize and justify these predatory lending terms and when significant bumps in the road occur you can’t weather them. I don’t think it is right that you are not allowed to own or run a business after this if this is the first time this has happened to you. Given the opportunity I would think you would have learned from your mistakes and be more successful. Don’t let this stop you from doing what you love. There will be ways you can get around the handcuffs they put on you here. Good luck to you in the future. Maybe in the future you could find enough success that you could offer something back to your customers that didn’t have their order fulfilled. You never know. Just push forward.
The normalization of predatory lending in this country is concerning. You're not building with it, you're fighting to stay viable. It's a sad state of affairs but most investors want a 12 to 24 month exit plan and banks aren't really lending to anyone who needs it. It's a great time to own money, you can sit back and watch people fight really hard to grow your wealth. I could've bought a house with what I've paid an interest since taking over the manufacturing.
You mean you can't have anything to do with the business in THAT STATE, but if you were to relocate to another state, with someone who'd back you without being a greedy snake, you're free to do that, correct?
I guess that's technically accurate but you won't be seeing me on the Internet again. I'm beyond burnt out in the aftermath of this and I have nothing to my name. It's a little sad, but it's also been quite liberating. I'm not throwing myself back into that kind of stress, for any reason. I would rather be professionally homeless and live on the road than take that journey again.
Praying for you . Cant say i am not disappointed in the knives I lost on pre order . However we live ,we move on. On to the next mission. Work on yourself and fix you.
Being honest was the best thing bro. Much respect
I am hoping and praying things turn around for you.
Dang man. I wish you well.
Thanks for that. I've been really beating myself up, but my bankruptcy attorney reminded me of a ton of big names that failed several times before finally making it. I gave it my all and still fell short, but a lot of valuable lessons and knowledge were gained along the way.
Guy, I was a fan from the early days and the excitement of the old spec knives in 3v. Always loved your design and vision. Feels like a hole with your company gone. Wishing you the best as you move forward.
Having 3 of your GSO knives, I appreciate your work, and do wish you well Guy
You are a thief!!! Not more!
Thanks for all the great blades! The ones I have are treasured. Situation sucks but I hope you land on your feet.
Best of luck Guy, I hope you do well in whatever you do next.
Sad times Guy. Thanks for the apology and effort. Best wishes.
JOH 3: 16 Amen
I’ve followed your journey for almost exactly a decade now, and the three blades I’ve bought from you over the years will most likely be the only fixed blade knives I’ll keep. Until they wear out - if ever. I’m sure it’s a drop in the bucket of feels amidst everything you’re going through now, but you have my thanks for the steel. 🫡
You’ve also now learned one way of doing things that ultimately did not work - most people have to go through several, before they land on one that does. Give it time, let yourself unwind, look after your health, yourself, and once things start settling down a bit, new approaches will pop up and present themselves.
All the best, mate.