Where can I go to purchase a good knife?
      a) Shop @ Home (Television)
      b) Online & Mail Order Shopping
      c) Brick & Mortar Stores, Flea Markets, etc

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Shop @ Home via Satellite Television --Cutlery Corner Network (updated June 1017)

Cutlery Corner Network airs four times weekly on Dish Network and Direct TV. The Show is the brain child of Jim Frost. The show has three hosts. Tom O’Dell and Sheila Travis usually tag team for an hour while Todd Boone normally flies solos. O’Dell has been a pitchman for the show since its origins on QVC, some 20 years ago.

While the show often runs for up to eight hours in a row, it is actually only about three hours long and then repeats itself. Original Shows air Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night with the show repeating during day time hours the following day.

In the past, much had been made of their outrageous shipping charges. A conversation with a representative of the company in May 2017, revealed their current shipping matrix. The CCN standard shipping if via Fed-Ex Ground and the rate is as follows: Packages under $25 ships for $6.99 It moves up in $2 increments before capping out at $18.99 on purchases over $200. Shipping is based on the cost of the order and not by weight, even on the large orders with hundreds of knives.

Each phone call to the show will constitute a separate invoice and separate shipping charges. Buyers are urged to write down the product numbers and place only one order to avoid multiple shipping charges.

Many of the knife brands sold are actually owned by Jim Frost, who also sets the retail value. The quality control of many of the lower priced knives is suspect at best. See the Who Own Who Section to see what brands are owned by Jim Frost.

If you are looking for quality knives, your safest bets are to purchase knives made by Case and Hen & Rooster. The Case knives are made in the USA and the Hen & Rooster are made in Germany or Spain. Hen& Rooster International are made in China or Pakistan. CCN has recently started selling Smoky Mountain Knife Works house brands including Rough Rider, Marbles, and discontinued Colt knives. These are also good quality for the price paid. These are normally made in China. They have good quality checks in place.

CCN also offer numerous knives customized by Michael Prater. These are normally Case or Hen & Rooster but a few other brand names, including some Frost economy brands have also been customized by Prater. These are also a safe bet for purchase.

Of the Frost economy house brands, most consider the Steel Warrior and Frost Family knives to be a safe bet; at least when purchasing traditional pattern knives. These have better quality checks and are normally made in China.

Many of the other brands seem to come and go with many being made in Pakistan and of suspect quality.

The large “dealer special” sells are a product dump. The odds of making money trying to resell the product is slim and none. If they could sell them for a better price they would.

The hosts for CCN will sometimes identify the steel used in the fixed blade knives. In most cases, the steel is 3Cr13 or 420J2. Both steels are a very low quality knife steel used in economy knives. It will dull quickly and how poor edge retention. The 440A steel used in the pocket knives is a better steel but far from top grade. See my section on Blade Steel for more details.

Often the leather sheaths on the low priced knives will be anything but top quality. Many are very poor quality: paper thin, stiff, poorly stiched and just all around bad!

In short, being an educated buyer can save you time and frustration. CCN will show plenty of shiny objects but if you’re paying $5-$10 for a knife expect to get a $5-$10 knife.

To date, I have only made one purchase from CCN. What I can tell you is the operator was very pleasant, the shipping charges were as I mentioned earlier. When I called, the operator explained to me if I closed the order and were to place another order I would be paying separate charges and even recommended that if I planned on ordering more I should consider waiting! She was very honest and forthright.

As it turned out, there was a problem with my first order. I had ordered two knives and when my order arrived one of the knives was the wrong knife. I was expecting a nightmare but instead their customer service told me to keep the knife (valued at around $15) and they would send out the correct knife (valued at $10). The replacement knife arrived about a week later. I assume if the wrong knife had been more expensive they would have had me send it back. In any case; despite the shipping error, the entire customer service experience was actually pleasant, the shipping charges similar to other companies.

The knives I bought were poorly made with horrendous fit and finish. Of course, I knew this was going to be the case when I purchased them I spent $9.70 on one of the knives and $10.50 on the other. I was expecting poor quality knives and that’s what I got. My purpose for the order was to actually check out their order processing, shipping rates and how long it took to process orders. The fact that they had made an error on my first order was a bonus as I also got to see how they handled complaints. In this area, I found them in line with many online ordering services.

I would not hesitate to buy from CCN again, however I would only purchase knives from respected and well-known name brands that I am personally familiar with. This also means the price will be similar to other online retailers. The one exception to this could be the Micahel Prater knives as these are typically marketed through the show and will normally show up on the after market at a higher price.

Where can I go to purchase a good knife?
      a) Shop @ Home (Television)
      b) Online & Mail Order Shopping
      c) Brick & Mortar Stores, Flea Markets, etc