Question

mike miller said:
Is the usualsuspect forum gone now? I used to check it out but can't pull it up any more.
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I haven't seen much mention in years now. I read they had some server/software issues a few years ago and the forum revamped and never took off again after that. I also think they made it private for awhile.

They had a small presence on Instagram for a bit too but doesn't seem to be much activity in the last 3 or 4 years.
 
J. Doyle said:
I haven't seen much mention in years now. I read they had some server/software issues a few years ago and the forum revamped and never took off again after that. I also think they made it private for awhile.

They had a small presence on Instagram for a bit too but doesn't seem to be much activity in the last 3 or 4 years.
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Thank you
 
I was on it for a long time before the shut down...seems like after they fixed it everyone left and it was never the same. It's a shame, cause it was a cool site!
 
It was always a tad "dark webby" as you could not really search for it directly on the web. As someone mentioned, it was priavte with a soemwhat convoluted method of joining. At one point, you could not use a "free" email server like Yahoo or GMail if I recall. They also banned a bunch of people years ago. Their "crime' was commenting on the "stolen honor" allegations involving the two principals of Strider Knives. Anyone who was "caught' commenting in a less than supportive manner on any other forum was banned from joining and, in some cases kicked off of the USN forum. The group still holds the show in Vegas. It was cancelled in 2020 because of COVID, but it was back in 2021 and 2022.
 
Do I understand the "usualsuspect forum" was just another forum on the net like a motorcycle forum, gun forum, knife forum, etc? From the way jmforge describes it I'd think it was a small group of folks talking/writing to each other thinking they had the only thing worthwhile to talk about.

I see on facebook there are a number of usualsuspect groups with motorcycle clubs who seem to be celebrating their "outlaw" heritage.
 
It was another alternative to Bladeforums but they had subsections for other topics than just knives. But a lot of big name knife makers were over there like Tom mayo and Ken onion. But it kinda died out over the past few years imho
 
I hate to point this out on a knife forum, but knife forums ain't what they used to be. I am still wondering where all of those people went? Instagram?
 
KenH said:
Do I understand the "usualsuspect forum" was just another forum on the net like a motorcycle forum, gun forum, knife forum, etc? From the way jmforge describes it I'd think it was a small group of folks talking/writing to each other thinking they had the only thing worthwhile to talk about.

I see on facebook there are a number of usualsuspect groups with motorcycle clubs who seem to be celebrating their "outlaw" heritage.
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Did you ever go to the Blade Show in say 2006-2008? Remember all of those guys with expensive folders and watches in the Pit at the hotel? Those guys. the modern equivalent might be what some call the "Instagram knife makers" or "knife bros." High prices, auctions, weird designs, etc. In a number cases, the high end of tacticool. LOL
 
jmforge said:
I hate to point this out on a knife forum, but knife forums ain't what they used to be. I am still wondering where all of those people went? Instagram?
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Follow the money.
Forums IMHO are either very user/tolerant friendly for the most part or not.
 
jmforge said:
Did you ever go to the Blade Show in say 2006-2008? Remember all of those guys with expensive folders and watches in the Pit at the hotel? Those guys. the modern equivalent might be what some call the "Instagram knife makers" or "knife bros." High prices, auctions, weird designs, etc. In a number cases, the high end of tacticool. LOL
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That was a bit before my time - I was still bumming around on a sailboat. I think around 2015/16 was my first blade show.
 
KenH said:
That was a bit before my time - I was still bumming around on a sailboat. I think around 2015/16 was my first blade show.
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Hmm, reading this makes me wonder how subjective "before my time" really is, and how long some of us have been around. I realize how hard it is for any of us to face how old we are, but I remember my first Blade show (visiting) in 1993, and my first table in 1995. I remember the usual suspects forum, but it seems like fairly new stuff to me. It must have been around 1998 that I moved from the "Knife List" email discussion (where I was invited by Wayne Goddard) to the "Highlander's Sword Shoppers Guide", which eventually became "Sword Forum International." Don Fogg had started the "Bladesmith's Cafe" there and, while you may think that is old junky internet relics stuff, it was the place for blade discussion on the internet at the time. After this "Blade Forums" began and just about every knifemaking internet forum after that was a desperate attempt to find a place to talk knives without the drama of that place.

I feel old, I remember it all, and now threads like this are a reminder of how old I really am. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Facebook, Instagram etc. are just all the new things that came along long after I grew tired of knifemaking on the internet.
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Hmm, reading this makes me wonder how subjective "before my time" really is, and how long some of us have been around. I realize how hard it is for any of us to face how old we are, but I remember my first Blade show (visiting) in 1993, and my first table in 1995. I remember the usual suspects forum, but it seems like fairly new stuff to me. It must have been around 1998 that I moved from the "Knife List" email discussion (where I was invited by Wayne Goddard) to the "Highlander's Sword Shoppers Guide", which eventually became "Sword Forum International." Don Fogg had started the "Bladesmith's Cafe" there and, while you may think that is old junky internet relics stuff, it was the place for blade discussion on the internet at the time. After this "Blade Forums" began and just about every knifemaking internet forum after that was a desperate attempt to find a place to talk knives without the drama of that place.

I feel old, I remember it all, and now threads like this are a reminder of how old I really am. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Facebook, Instagram etc. are just all the new things that came along long after I grew tired of knifemaking on the internet.
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You're not that old. Now tell us what you used to pay for O1 and L6 back in the good old days. ;)
 
If I'm not mistaken, USN was in the middle of migrating servers/upgrading the forum software when they ran into some issues. I believe the owners of the forum had a house flood or something as well.
They do have a Facebook group for the interim ("USN V2" if I recall), and I believe there was just an update posted on the page, though it still sounds like it'll be a while.
 
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