Hey everyone,
This one was too good to keep all for myself, so I decided to share it with everyone. Please allow me to explain...
As the Product Manager for all of our Blades collaborations, I have the duty and privilege of making decisions about which projects we pursue. Part of my job in finding designs that we can bring to production is traveling to knife shows to check out industry trends, see what’s popular, and find new designs that we think the community will be excited to see in production.
Shows are fun - they are great places to handle knives that most people only see online before deciding to buy, meet fellow collectors and reconnect with old friends. Many people come to their first show expecting they can walk right up to any maker’s table and buy whatever piece they like. That’s true for many makers, but the most popular makers have way more demand for knives than they can make by hand and bring to shows. To avoid a stampede of the people who line up outside the door (sometimes overnight), most of the most sought-after makers try to make things more civil and fair with a lottery system. Some take names on a list, others tear decks of playing cards in half, and some even print custom tickets for each day of the show. Entries are free, but “winning” doesn’t mean you get a free knife - you just win the opportunity to buy it.
At Blade Show 2018, I was one of eight lucky people (out of about 400 entries) to win Tashi Bharucha’s lottery and I was thrilled to take home a hand-built Heat Seeker.
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I saw in the Heat Seeker some similarities to the Prism, as well as some differences, that I thought members would appreciate. Like the Prism, the Heat Seeker features a two-piece frame construction with window-like milling that goes through both sides of the handle. The handles of both knives hold a blade that sits lower than the grip, a key design element of Tashi’s knives to make the knife useful to prep prep on a cutting board. The Heat Seeker is definitely bigger, and has an upswept blade with a sharper point. While the Prism opens by way of a hole in the blade, the Heat Seeker deploys with Tashi’s signature flipper tab, which has curves that flow through the handle profile in both open and closed positions.
After carrying it a few times, I came to love the knife for its ergonomic handle and broad, sweeping blade that has a long straight edge and sharp point - the two things I think make a blade most useful for everyday carry. Not many people get a chance to to own a Tashi Bharucha custom knife - but making knives like this available to a wider audience, and replicating the designs in production as close to the hand-made version, is what our Blades collaborations are all about. So, I got in touch with Tashi and asked if we could make the Heat Seeker our next collaboration. He graciously agreed, sent us the files right away. Six months later, we got the prototypes. They were pretty good, but not quite perfect - we adjusted the spacing of the “heat vents” and ordered up a second round, which we think turned out great and I hope you will agree.
Thanks for reading, I know this was a little bit more about me than most intros to the collabs that we do, but I wanted to give you guys the whole story of how the Heat Seeker came to life. I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about this project, and about how custom knives become production models.
As always, there are a few housekeeping notes to check out below:
This drop is limited to a maximum of 600 individually serialized units.
Only members who join this pre-production drop will receive serialized units
Only members who join this drop will receive a serialized aluminum Certificate of Authenticity
Serial numbers will be randomly assigned, without regard to the order in which you join
Please note that the Carbon Fiber version has screws on the “show” side scale instead of the lock side scale
JonasHeinemanWhy'd you have to do this to my wallet Jonas? Ochs drop in March and now this there goes half my knife budget for the year. Would you ever consider dropping a balisong? I think a good quality balisong drop in the 200ish range would be awesome and definitely sell well.
AmateurLinemanUh...sorry about that? ;) Good choices there, I take it you prefer larger blades?
We've been asked about balisongs and autos, but we are based in California so we can't ship those kinds of knives direct to customers. There's also some question as to whether we would want to devote resources to a project that a large portion of community members (anyone outside the US, plus CA and NY and 11 other states) wouldn't have access to.
JonasHeinemanThank you for sharing this rather important insight. The design is terrific, period. I agree that it is Massdrop's best so far. The knife has all the specs I look for in a knife. 0.4 mm or larger blade stock; 3" +; flat grind; good steel, and the fashionable Persian upsweep. Plus, CF if possible for lightness. The Tashi design is very clean, well integrated and balanced, a terrific flipper design, and the CF version is especially desirable. I have only one knife with the Persian upsweep, the rest are drop points or other variations. Made in China however is not a very attractive solution - and, using M390 steel might have been a better choice.
Matt57Note my comment on the Persian blade shape. Do you see any similarity between the Tashi and mine? That's the point, literally,. Other points are comparisons to drop points, and those are the photos I had on hand. They're not for sale, sorry. And that last comment was pointless. Literally.
agb100Well, then. You could have left out your photos and still achieved your desire to share an opinion about the product.
If, as you say, the comment was pointless, why respond with animosity?
Could it be you are proud of your knives? Why not say so?
Matt57Could be it is you who has a problem that I cannot address in this blog - and owe you no explanation for your trying to divine intent of people you've never met. You may need to consult someone in the private matter business. Freud is a clue. And this: THOU SHALT NOT COVET.
Matt57@agb100 alright boys, let's take it to another thread. There are other people in this thread getting notifications for.....whatever it is you two are going through
BknguyenSorry buddy, I'm not going through anything. The fellow to whom I replied is, and apparently got offended by my posting some photos of knives. Apparently, for undecipherable reasons, some of the folk who see this blog are interested in knives. Go figure. I don't owe anyone an explanation of the obvious why I posted the photos. Nor is it my job to figure out why some people don't "get" the obvious. This is my last post on this matter to the unhinged.
JonasHeinemanWhat is the deal with the fancy pocket clips shown in these pics?
Is the handle thickness the same across all handle options for this model?
JonasHeinemanWow I really like Bharucha's blocky tang-flipper style, it's like the T1 tang but as a flipper, with absolutely zero compromises for lower mass.
I like a massive tang.
BknguyenYour evaluation of this conversation adds nothing to the discussion. I'd appreciate it if you would stop using the word "thread" and take your evaluation to another fire that requires squelching.
Matt57Lol did you seriously get triggered by that? Not much of a "discussion" you two are having if you ask me. And I'm not taking my "evaluation" elsewhere because like I said, we're all getting notifications for your disagreements with agb100.
Davidsh331Yer…anus…? No. But I'll fight for your right to express yourself.
ya. It was a long day. Getting back under my bridge now. No more tolls today.
JonasHeinemanHello Jonas. I have a prototype of the plain (grey) titanium Heat Seeker. I am curious as to how many prototypes were produced, and maybe a vague price assessment. Thank s You so much. What a beautiful knife.
MillettWe shipped a limited number of prototypes to reviewers - what channel did you post on, or buy it from? Any figure I might offer is pure speculation. Some people think prototypes are worth more than production. some people might argue less. The value is...whatever the seller and buyer agree on!
JonasHeinemanGotcha. Thanks for your input and all you do for the community. I actually don’t know which reviewer it came from, I bought it from a guy with whom I’m not really acquainted who bought it from a reviewer. There also is no certificate with it. Just s really sweet case with Bharucha and Reate patches. Anyhow I love it and that’s really the only value it needs. Thanks again, Enjoy! JM
- This drop is limited to a maximum of 600 individually serialized units.
- Only members who join this pre-production drop will receive serialized units
- Only members who join this drop will receive a serialized aluminum Certificate of Authenticity
- Serial numbers will be randomly assigned, without regard to the order in which you join
- Please note that the Carbon Fiber version has screws on the “show” side scale instead of the lock side scale
Carry On -- Jonas