Community Designed AH Hunting Knife

Beautifully done Ross. Perfect clarity. Last question. Is the space for the African Blackwood (4) large enough to be replaced by Cape Buffalo horn? And would this look as good or better than the Blackwood? I understand too much of a good thing can be bad. Your thoughts?
 
Fed Ex called me twice to ask about the custom knife Ross made for me. I wish Fed Ex could hire someone that speaks English but then again my southern accent can be far from perfect English. I actually didn't get the docs to pay duties until after my knife arrived, go figure that one out.
Just a heads up, duty was about $20.00. Certainly not a deal breaker for me.
100% satisfied with the knife, fwtw.
 
Hombre said:
Fed Ex called me twice to ask about the custom knife Ross made for me. I wish Fed Ex could hire someone that speaks English but then again my southern accent can be far from perfect English. I actually didn't get the docs to pay duties until after my knife arrived, go figure that one out.
Just a heads up, duty was about $20.00. Certainly not a deal breaker for me.
100% satisfied with the knife, fwtw.
Click to expand...

Deep southern accent meets thick foreign customer service accent has to make for a heck of a time on a phone call trying to straighten things out.
 
Hombre said:
Fed Ex called me twice to ask about the custom knife Ross made for me. I wish Fed Ex could hire someone that speaks English but then again my southern accent can be far from perfect English. I actually didn't get the docs to pay duties until after my knife arrived, go figure that one out.
Just a heads up, duty was about $20.00. Certainly not a deal breaker for me.
100% satisfied with the knife, fwtw.
Click to expand...
They wouldnt do that here in Africa, deliver first then ask for payment! We would tell them to bugger off! :ROFLMAO:
 
Africa1 said:
Beautifully done Ross. Perfect clarity. Last question. Is the space for the African Blackwood (4) large enough to be replaced by Cape Buffalo horn? And would this look as good or better than the Blackwood? I understand too much of a good thing can be bad. Your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Yes, that we could do.

Buff horn will take a more glossy, shiny black, where blackwood will be a more mat black. Both are beautiful and would work really well. The choice really is yours

Here are some examples:

Buff Horn
WhatsApp Image 2026-09-05 at 6.40.25 AM.jpeg



African Blackwood
WhatsApp Image 2026-09-05 at 6.40.26 AM.jpeg
 
Mine is on the way again. It spends 2 weeks in Memphis, but now looks like it should be here any day.....

Image 9-5-26 at 06.35.png
 
Ross... you make it a difficult decision. Design, beauty, utility and user friendliness. Which would you choose and why? Thanks for your patience . Cheers! Herb
 
As a side note, the sheath Ross send was more practical than expected. Knife "locks" into place and fits well on my belt. I was going to have a sheath custom made but hard to argue with functionality.
I went ahead and paid the duties because I didn't want to get another call from Fed Ex people again. My head still hurts from trying to understand those two ladies.
 
Mekaniks said:
Mine is on the way again. It spends 2 weeks in Memphis, but now looks like it should be here any day.....

View attachment 790145
Click to expand...
Glad its moving. My fedex agent said that they were all "being resolved" and should be moving soon.
Hombre said:
As a side note, the sheath Ross send was more practical than expected. Knife "locks" into place and fits well on my belt. I was going to have a sheath custom made but hard to argue with functionality.
I went ahead and paid the duties because I didn't want to get another call from Fed Ex people again. My head still hurts from trying to understand those two ladies.
Click to expand...
Thanks man. Hard to beat the pure functionality of kydex.
 
Africa1 said:
Ross... you make it a difficult decision. Design, beauty, utility and user friendliness. Which would you choose and why? Thanks for your patience . Cheers! Herb
Click to expand...
Personally? I would go with the blackwood. Ebony and ivory is a quintessential paring after all!
 
Ross...Excellent... Do you want to PM me on a final cost for this build? I really appreciate your efforts to put this together. This knife should say "Africa!" and I feel we accomplished this in spades. Any additional suggestions are appreciated. A more user-friendly, bombproof, rust resistant with care and Africa-sourced materials hunting-style blade would be difficult to assemble. Does the bluing, lightning bolt effect on the blade have any place in this build? Thank you for your time.
 
Africa1 said:
Ross...Excellent... Do you want to PM me on a final cost for this build? I really appreciate your efforts to put this together. This knife should say "Africa!" and I feel we accomplished this in spades. Any additional suggestions are appreciated. A more user-friendly, bombproof, rust resistant with care and Africa-sourced materials hunting-style blade would be difficult to assemble. Does the bluing, lightning bolt effect on the blade have any place in this build? Thank you for your time.
Click to expand...
Hi Herb, PM sent
 
Mine arrived today!!!

The box was destroyed, but the knife and sheaths are all perfect.

Thank You Ross

Cheers :D Beers:

IMG_6222.jpeg

IMG_6221.jpeg
 
In my post #339 I mentioned that I was not charged customs fees at time of delivery for the two beautiful knives I received from Ross, but that I've experienced FedEx billing me later. Today is later. I received the bill--EIGHT pages of info! Good grief. Total breakdown for two knives is as follows:

Customs Duty $51.52
Storage Fee 20.48
Food & Drug Administration Clearance 29.00
For a total of $101 for the two knives.

I did expect to have to pay something, so $50.50 per knife is OK. I get why FDA does checks no matter what is declared.

Now I will contemplate my next knife from Ross.

Enjoy your knives everyone! Laura
 
Laura AK64north said:
In my post #339 I mentioned that I was not charged customs fees at time of delivery for the two beautiful knives I received from Ross, but that I've experienced FedEx billing me later. Today is later. I received the bill--EIGHT pages of info! Good grief. Total breakdown for two knives is as follows:

Customs Duty $51.52
Storage Fee 20.48
Food & Drug Administration Clearance 29.00
For a total of $101 for the two knives.

I did expect to have to pay something, so $50.50 per knife is OK. I get why FDA does checks no matter what is declared.

Now I will contemplate my next knife from Ross.

Enjoy your knives everyone! Laura
Click to expand...

The storage fee and FDA clearance fee is almost comically annoying.
 
Sabre said:
The storage fee and FDA clearance fee is almost comically annoying.
Click to expand...
I agree--annoying. I have a friendly relationship with the ladies at the FedEx counter here and when I have time, I'll stop by with my eight pages and see what they can tell me about storage and the FDA clearance fee.

I do have an account with FedEx, so I wonder if my process or paperwork is different than a person receiving goods who does not have a FedEx account.

Storage is arbitrary on the part of FedEx. They are the ones holding up shipment to the final destination when Ross' wife's description of the item was exactly one that meets a category description on US duties specifications. I guess the FDA had to check for bugs in the wood!!! Yes, of course, bugs.

Ross's knives and talent are exceptional, so the fees I have to pay are OK to have these knives.

Laura
 
I got my customs tax bill this evening...... $74.04. Breakdown is below

Image 9-8-26 at 19.53.png
 
Laura AK64north said:
I agree--annoying. I have a friendly relationship with the ladies at the FedEx counter here and when I have time, I'll stop by with my eight pages and see what they can tell me about storage and the FDA clearance fee.

I do have an account with FedEx, so I wonder if my process or paperwork is different than a person receiving goods who does not have a FedEx account.

Storage is arbitrary on the part of FedEx. They are the ones holding up shipment to the final destination when Ross' wife's description of the item was exactly one that meets a category description on US duties specifications. I guess the FDA had to check for bugs in the wood!!! Yes, of course, bugs.

Ross's knives and talent are exceptional, so the fees I have to pay are OK to have these knives.

Laura
Click to expand...

The difference in charges from person to person for the same knives really shows how arbitrary their charges are.

I agree, I would also figure it was worth it to get such nice knives.
 
Laura AK64north said:
In my post #339 I mentioned that I was not charged customs fees at time of delivery for the two beautiful knives I received from Ross, but that I've experienced FedEx billing me later. Today is later. I received the bill--EIGHT pages of info! Good grief. Total breakdown for two knives is as follows:

Customs Duty $51.52
Storage Fee 20.48
Food & Drug Administration Clearance 29.00
For a total of $101 for the two knives.

I did expect to have to pay something, so $50.50 per knife is OK. I get why FDA does checks no matter what is declared.

Now I will contemplate my next knife from Ross.

Enjoy your knives everyone! Laura
Click to expand...

Mekaniks said:
I got my customs tax bill this evening...... $74.04. Breakdown is below

View attachment 791217
Click to expand...

Sabre said:
The difference in charges from person to person for the same knives really shows how arbitrary their charges are.

I agree, I would also figure it was worth it to get such nice knives.
Click to expand...


I cant begin to describe how frustrating shipping has been this year. Last year, and all 9 years Ive been making and shipping knives before that, no issues. This year? Its like a switch has been flipped that says "How can we make life as hard as possible for these guys?!"

Its my single greatest stress in my business. Worrying what problem shipping will throw our way next is the stuff of nightmares for a small home business guy. My wife in particular is starting to really feel the stress of it.

The only positive is that so far, it seems that they always make it. Its just what we have to go through in the meantime
 
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