As a small business that has only been doing full manufacturing for a short time it can be difficult for us to provide exact delivery dates. For one thing, we really want to get these knives in your hands as soon as possible so we can be overly optimistic at times. Then when something big happens, like the decarburization issue that affected nearly 900 blades, it really throws off our scheduling. Conversely, we are a very small team so hiring just one person can cause a huge jump in our output.
With that said, now that we are settled in and production is moving smoothly again we will work on getting some delivery estimates posted. One thing we absolutely will not do is compromise our high quality standards. It may take a little longer to get one of our knives but you won't regret it once you have it in your hand.
As we get caught up we are striving to fulfill new preorders within 90 days and have more knives available for immediate delivery.
Click on each model for more detailed information about where it is in the production process.
At Final Production Steps: These knives are back from heat treat and going through final machining and finishing steps. Orders are shipping now or preparing to ship soon!
There is a large batch of GSO-5.1 blades working its way through final machining and finishing steps. Preorders are getting built and shipped in regular batches.
We had planned to have all of these big knife orders fulfilled before our move back to Pennsylvania but the decarburization issue put everything else on pause. These large knives are moving through final machining and finishing steps again. They are very time consuming but we have all of the fasteners and sheaths in house already and we are doing our best to fulfill orders as quickly as possible while maintaining our high standards.
If you have an older order for one of these models be sure to keep an eye on your inbox. We will not ship these out until we have received an address comfirmation from you.
Because of their large size it did take a bit longer to figure out the best production methods for the GSO-12 and GSO-10. For example, we did extensive testing to find a new wheel that makes it much quicker to surface grind these big knives, Click here to learn more.
This is an important spot in the preorder timeline! Our oldest open preorders are for the big blades. The other SURVIVE! models were not made available until 2020 or later. By then we were limiting the amount of new orders so the knives listed below this note will be fulfilled much more quickly.
TSK blades are all finished and handles have been machined. These knives are starting to get built and preorders will ship as sheaths are completed. This is a very small run that is being worked on during gaps in larger production scheduling.
The EDC-4 blades are going through finishing steps and preorders are getting built. More sheaths are on order, there will be another large batch of these shipping out as soon as those arrive.
There are a ton of EDC-4 blades in various stages of the production process. We are working to have these be a regularly in stock model.
The GSO-4 blades are working their way through finishing steps and getting built as soon as handles come off the mill. They will be shipping out in regular batches starting next week.
The EDC-3 final machining steps have all been programmed and fixtures are made. An initial batch of blades have been finished and those will be getting paired with handles. Sheath template knives are heading out so production can begin on those.
The next batch of GSO-4.7 blades are starting to be finished and handles will be getting machined in the next few weeks.
The new GSO-5.3 blades are back from heat treating and just waiting their turn for final machining steps.
Replacement blades are back from heat treating and are starting to go through final machining and finishing steps. The handle and sheath fixtures and programming are already done for these so final production steps will go smoothly.
Post-Heat Treat
These knives are back from heat treating and will be working through final machining steps as the schedule opens up. As our surface grinding bottleneck is cleared up this category will disappear. These are currently on schedule to ship in 2 to 4 months.
These little blades are just waiting their turn for surface grinding before moving to the next stages. As soon as the large knives are done these will be completed within a couple of days. We already have handle blocks cut and will be able to finish these up very quickly once the big blades are completed.
This is a very small batch run that is being worked on during gaps in larger production. The EDC-2 was specifically designed to reduce waste and is not pulling materials away from other models.
GSO-5.5 blades are back from heat treat and will be working through final machiing steps soon.
GSO-3 blades are at final machining getting their bevels ground. The blade and handle machining have already been programmed and fixtures are done. There is a blade with the sheath company for setup. These will be completed very quickly once it is their turn.
The V-4.5 blades are back from heat treat and waiting their turn for surface grinding. The final machining fixtures and programming have been setup so these will be moving through production quickly once we have fulfilled older preorders.
Pre-Heat Treat Machining
These models are at the beginning stages of production or will be starting production soon. With our current schedule these will be shipping in 4 to 6 months.
The V-4 blades were part of the decarburated Magnacut batch. Replacement blades will be prioritized so they are completed as quickly as possible.
The Necker II blades have been cut and will be on the mill soon.
The Pikal blades have been cut and will be on the mill soon.
The V-5.5 and V-7 knives have started production and are waiting their turn on the mill.
The EDC-5 and EDC-5.5 blades are getting cut out and will be working their way through production over the coming weeks.
Additional Information
We are working hard to streamline our production to be able to have more knives more readily available. The EDC-3, EDC-4, EDC-4 FFG, GSO-4.5, and GSO-5.1 will be on-going SURVIVE! models that we aim to have in constant production with the goal of having them be more readily available. These will be our main offerings with other models being made in between these runs.
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You can see regular updates by following @surviveknives on Instagram!
This page will be updated as new information is available. The last update was on November 15th 2023.
Here is some order fulfillment data so you can follow along as we get caught up. We will do our best to update these each month to share our progress with you.
This table shows the percentage of orders that have been fulfilled from each year.
The only open orders from 2015-2019 are for the largest SURVIVE! models, the GSO-12 and GSO-10. Those took a bit more time to get figured out once we took over manufacturing but they are being produced to our highest quality standard in regular batches now. Those years will be to 100% very soon!
This chart is used to show the proportion of open orders in our system. We created this so you can see that while we do have a few older open preorders the vast majority are from within the past year.
We are working hard to get caught up so that this chart becomes obsolete.
