For many of you, this is going to come as old news, but the 2010 SOSAK Knives Of The Year are already in most people's grubby little hands, and the results seem to be quite favorable. As of this writing, I have just gotten mine, so I haven't had much of a chance to fiddle with them or take better photos, so hopefully these will do for now!
The knives this year were something very new to the market- mass produced, factory issue wood scales, which is something that very few knife companies in or out of Switzerland have managed to do successfully. While it's too soon to really decide whether or not these scales are likely to hold up to daily life (Wenger does extensive testing, but nothing can really replace actual time) they do seem quite sturdy and robust. Still, given the expense of these knives, both the standard and Knife Of The Year models, I doubt many of them will spend a lot of time “in the field.”
We were quite pleased overall this year with the knives themselves, although tragically they were a bit more expensive and many members were not able to part with the funds necessary to get one of these. That means that the members who did manage to get the knives this year have a bit more of an exclusive knife than in other years.
Like any project, each year Travis and I try to look at the Knife Of The Year objectively and decide whether we are still doing it because it's something people want or whether we are doing it simply because we've always done it, and each year we come away with the answer- it most certainly is worth doing. Even this year with the slightly higher costs involved, we have still managed to see that without a doubt this has been a success, and for that we are quite proud.
This year marks the eighth year we have run the Knife Of The Year, and so far we have relished the challenge of coming up with something new and special each time. I keep saying “we” as if I had much to do with it, but I really have to make it sound like I do something or I'll be replaced by a chimp! Really though the credit all goes to the one and only Travis Autry, and if you appreciate the Knife Of The Year program as much as I do, send him a message saying thanks or take a virtual walk through his store on EDCSource.com to see what other goodies he has available.
As for me, I'd like to take a moment and thank everyone for their continued support of SOSAKOnline, and as we close down 2010 feel certain that we'll be back in 2011, stronger than ever!