Loan a knife to an unknown writer?

J

JDW

Well-Known Member
I was approached by a guy who claims to be a gun magazine writer, freelance I assume. Anyway he was asking if I would be interested in letting him take one of my knives on a hunting trip to test it, and then write about it in a hunting magazine. He did not want a new knife, just one that I may have been using as a personal knife, or test knife. I think he is lagit, but don't know, he looked at my work like another maker would, checking for things that most novice buyers never would look at. I said I might be interested in that, and he will contact me closer to time for his trip. My question is, how can I be sure he is not just some fellow looking for a free knife? How do others protect themselves in situations like this? If it was a writer from a magazine, who writes for one publication on a regular basis, I would not be concerned. He seems like a trust worthy guy, but who knows.
 
I've had several offers similar to that during my career. Unknowns to me, claiming to be writers....being the brutally honest person that I am, my first question to them is to prove to me who they say they are. Once that question was laid on the table, I never heard from most of them again. The couple that were legit, took the time and effort to direct me to publishers they had worked for, and even sent me copies of magazines that their articles had appeared in.

You have to be wary....there are a number of people prowling around the custom knife world, who have been duping makers into sending them a knife....and then the person is never heard from again. Self protection is required, and if the person is who he claims to be, he should have no qualms providing you proof...but it is up to you to ask for it.
 
What Ed said. If the guy is a legitimate writer it should be easy enough to confirm. Just ask who he writes for or who he has written for and get ahold of that publisher/editor.

SDS
 
Hi JDW,

If he is a legit writer...he will have an editor or two that will vouch for him.

The scam several years ago was the writer did the article and kept the knife. I came along to late to take part in this. LOL
 
Big Ern started a thread on this a while back. Maybe he will chime in and give the correct name for that thread. It did go for quite a while and finally got closed by the administration.
 
It's perfectly reasonable to ask for the guy's resume, and see what he's written. If he's legit, he'll be proud to show off his work, and who's published him.
 
It seems that over the last several years, we've gotten more and more scammers working the custom knife world. I've even run into them at the Blade Show. Last Blade show I had an individual approach me, asking if I would be willing to donate a knife "For the troops." His story was that he had come to Atlanta for the sole purpose of soliciting donation knives to be distributed to Soldiers stationed in the Middle East. It might have been somewhat believable if the guy wasn't all decked out in "Goth", with more hardware hanging off his face than than where spots to put it, and sounding like he was high on something. He was eventually escorted out of the show by security.
The best defense is your common sense.....if something doesn't "feel" right about the situation or request, then you need to trust your instincts and investigate further before you make a decision.
 
Never realized it was poetry!:confused2: It's terrible to say, but some folks get so excited about something like having someone ask if they can write an article about one of their knives, that common sense just flies right out the window. :biggrin:
 
If you have his full name, GOOGLE probably has some dirt on him.
Especially if he's a published writer. Offer to hold his driver's liscense while he's in possesion of your goods. This could be good for you if he's legit and he can't blame you for checking him out.

Rudy
 
Thanks to all for the sound advice. What I told him was, I might be interested in doing that, but would think about it and let him know when he contacts me closer to his hunt time. I will ask for some proof of him actually being a writer, and who he has written for. Thanks Ed for the poetry. my common sense was telling me to be cautious.
Dale
 
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