Isn't there places for both the quality hand made items and places for factory?

I am "craftsman" with knives. I have been in the custom field of knives for over ten years and learning from, in some cases masters, others with decades of experience.

I have many times gotten a person coming up to me and say they "heard you make knives." They ask me how much for a knife. Not sure how much knives are like shoes but "how much" is not an easy answer. To many varyables. When it comes down to the idea that a basic hunter, from me, runs $200US+, 90% of the time I get the "But I can get one from Walmart (Basspro, ect) for 50 bucks!!!!"

There are no rich knife makers. Even the top "gods" of the knife world can only be discribed as well off. So I can sympithise with your view of a loss.

Here comes the but...

You bring up the lose of appreciation of quality from a century or more ago. In the knife field there have always been cheap knives. The only differance was they were made at home or by a friend/hobbist. One of the most famous knives in US history, the bowie knife, was from the two surviving discriptions nothing more than an ugly banged out piece of steel. Only the rich could afford the best quality. Actually today there are more people who are in positions, in this country, to afford quality custom pieces.

From what little I know of the shoes it is the same. 200 years ago how many people wore quality shoes? How many people wore shoes everyday all day? Aren't the ghillies decendant from nothing more than leather wrapped around the foot and laced up?

Also how many people need that level of shoe/knife? I wear "dress" a lot more than most the people I know. Most of my co-worker will only wear dress shoes a couple times in their lives. Rest of the time it's athletic shoes. Since it is jeans an tees at our work a $1500 pair of shoes is a bit of an overkill.

I would also ask what it wrong with having outfits appropriate to the event? I have a nice, hand stitched Scottish mill woven kilt. I also have a PV. I wear the hand stiched one when I am formal and even semi sometimes but I would cringe at watching the guys participating in Scottish games in a $700 kilt. It would be like doing a marathon in an Armani. Same when I hanging out or just shopping. When I'm kilted I go with a kilt of different levels. If it is a jeans kind of thing than PV or a modern style. While a well made tux could last for everyday wear it is out of place.

These fields are hardly limited to craftsmen. Look at the plight of the famliy farm vs the industrial farm. As a foodie of a high level I would love to say I cook with only locally grow in season foods. That I get my meat from grass feed cows where the farmer names the cows instead of numbers them. It is not a realistic life for me.

Jim