Manufacturing Begins / MSK-1 Made Better / Delivery Change and More...
over 9 years ago
– Sun, Aug 21, 2016 at 09:49:55 PM
Hey Friend,
I realize now that the MSK-1 Knife Project was insane! There I said it...
My vision to bring 2 knives, an adaptable 2-in-1 sheath and a complete survival system - from concept to reality - has taken nearly 3 years. Holy cow!
When I started this, I didn't know that I would end up with 49 individual item part numbers from 11 different companies... to make up what are now the MSK-1 bundles and add-on gear.
What was I thinking?
I joke with friends that, for my next Kickstarter, I will be offering special survival hats. One size fits all. In 3 colors: red, green and blue :)
BUT seriously, I am excited to announce that we are almost there... or at least we are getting there. AND, I'm still alive to tell about it!
So, in this update... I have LOTs of good news to report and a potential snag that MAY effect our delivery dates. More on that in a minute.
But first...
News and Updates
As of this week, I have ordered EVERYTHING to fulfill the MSK-1 project. Yea!
Knives, sheaths, paracord, handle survival kits, firesteel, tee shirts, sunglasses - everything!
It's a crazy process that took me about 3 weeks (alone) to gather all the data to get to the point of knowing how much of everything I should order.
Here's an Example of Why this Process took 3 Weeks...
What if, (for instance), you found out that 100 MKS-1 Mini Neck Knives fit on a large (and very expensive) sheet of knife steel?
AND... what if, you found out you needed to make 303 Mini Neck knives (3 more that fit on 3 slabs of steel).
Would YOU purchase an additional sheet of steel and end up with 97 more knives (that you don't need right now)?
This is only one example of the crazy things it can take to actually order what is needed to move a project as complicated as the MSK-1 forward. But we did it!
Update to Our Delivery Timeline
Now, add this to the complexity of setting up the survey (in June and into July - so that you could confirm/ modify or add onto your rewards), and the "herding cats" that collecting pledges and getting surveys filled out is...
AND...
I have realized that the 30-45 day, "Murphy's Law" buffer that I built into this project timeline is about gone.
For this I am sorry.
As "stuff" happened along the way, I have had to make the hard decision to push this project forward (at all costs) or take the time to ensure that things were done right.
I chose the latter.
NEW Delivery Timeline Coming Soon
So, over the next few weeks I will be gathering information from our manufacturers (as they begin building knives and sheaths) to come up with a revised timeline.
I will get this to you as soon as I am confident that I have all the details needed to share with you a realistic timeline revision. One that I am certain we can meet.
Now, Without Getting Your Hopes Up...
Can I tell you that MY great desire is to still ship (and deliver) MSK-1s and MINIs before Christmas?
If I can't deliver in time for Christmas, and you have pledged for an MSK1 (or MINI) to give as a gift (LET ME KNOW) and I will personally send you a super cool card that announces your gift. And don't worry, I won't include an autographed photo of me in a Santa Hat with an MSK-1 :)
Okay... so stand by for more timeline updates in coming weeks.
Whew! I'm super glad to be past these phases and onto manufacturing (and soon fulfillment)!
GEAR is Arriving Almost Daily NOW!
Most exciting this week was the manufacture and delivery of our CUSTOM firesteel designed in partnership with Andy @ Solo Scientific in NY.
You're going to love this fire-steel. It sheds more blaze-starting sparks than any other fire-steel I've seen.
A Better MSK-1 and Mini Neck Knife - WHAT?
Recently, I made a bit of a last minute decision to upgrade the blade dynamics of BOTH the MSK-1 and the Mini Neck Knife along with a few features of the ACS Sheath System.
These change improve performance and usability of the knives and sheaths significantly and make the MSK-1, Mini and sheath system even better than what you saw in the Kickstarter video. You're gonna love the MSK-1!
Need to Talk?
Please, if you have any questions, comments or concerns involving the MSK-1 project, the potential timeline shift (mentioned in this post) or anything else, feel free to contact me directly using this email address: [email protected]. I'll do my best to reply in a timely fashion.
Okay. That's it for now...
Let's keep moving forward... and thank your for your encouragement, partnership and support.
Talk soon,
