$15 Chinese Knives vs. the Good Stuff

[cutter17]

There are some decent knives being made in China. Kershaw, for example, builds some very nice knives there (they also make a lot of Snap On knives, so it's possible that what you have was, in fact, built by Kershaw). It comes down to quality processes.

We would all like to believe that the way we think about something will never have to change. That the way we learned to think about something decades ago hasn't changed. Sadly, that's never true. Things change. With all the money just pouring into China for manufactured goods, you can bet that every generation of factory gets better than the one before it. Soon, we will be hard put to discern the difference in quality between a US-made knife and a China-made knife. I don't doubt that at some point in the future the China-made production knife will be a better product than many US-made production knives.

Let me direct your thoughts to the way we here in the US used to think of Japan-made goods. In the 1960s and early '70s, they were crappy and cheap. That changed and over time as more money was poured into their factories and processes, Made-In-Japan became an indicator of real value.

My point is that just because it was made in China doesn't mean it's a crap knife, particularly if you are depending on past history to make that assessment. Things change. Be aware.

Very well said! I've said the same thing for the past couple of years. Once the Chinese economy took off, the newest knife making machinery was bought, workers trained, and out came some pretty good knives. The ones I've bought have been well made, with excellent fit/finish, and great blade grinds with razor sharp blades. Hammer Brand and Rough Riders are my favorites and when you can buy these for $10 or less, then it's time to shop!!

Inexpensive, instead of cheap.
Hey, a well made knife is just that, at any price, made anywhere.
rolf

Short, sweet, and more importantly, to the point! Well said Lycosa.:thumbup:

 

[blue109]

Oops! I was only familiar with the Chinese version. When firing it, I had to keep my hand on the clip or it would fall out! Lol

Clips fall up I have a Russian "red" SKS that is nicer than most WASR AKs. Chinese AKs are actually decent. I'll still choose my ARs for game day! To keep on topic..amazon has had lots of kershaws for $19 w free shipping lately. Hard for me to spend money on anything else since I've had nothing but good experiences with them.

 

[GronK]

This subject has more than one answer. If your point is to get by as cheaply as possible for something that will "cut stuff" with no other considerations then the cheap imports are definitely the way to go. I'm at the opposite end of this equation. I want to buy the very best product I can afford so I have top quality steel, fit and finish and the pride of ownership that goes along with that. Right now American manufactured traditionals fit this role just fine.

 

[mmarkh]

Some people are more easily impressed than others. Anyone who is happy with a crap product, more power to you. Since I am into knives as a hobby why buy crap just because it's cheap?

 

[spydercobenchmadekai]

This subject has more than one answer. If your point is to get by as cheaply as possible for something that will "cut stuff" with no other considerations then the cheap imports are definitely the way to go. I'm at the opposite end of this equation. I want to buy the very best product I can afford so I have top quality steel, fit and finish and the pride of ownership that goes along with that. Right now American manufactured traditionals fit this role just fine.

Exactly. Except that for me, it is US-made Spydercos, Benchmades, ZTs, Beckers, ESEES, you get the point.:thumbup:

 

[spydercobenchmadekai]

This knife was $15. If it came with a premium steel, I would have paid $100 for it.

You would have paid $100 for a knife without a warranty, made in China by an unknown brand? I would buy something like a Spyderco Manix, Benchmade 300-1, ZT 350, etc.

 

[Codger_64]

They do make decent entry level knives for new users. When one is lost through carelessness or neglect, poor use or maintenance skills, the monetary loss isn't bad. And as their knowledge and skills improve, they can work their way up to a nice quality knife that they can rightly be proud to own and use. There is a market for every pricepoint and always has been.

 

[bradlox]

i picked up a paul chen hanwei rock creek folder after totally falling for the design .
not a 'cheap Chinese 'btw .
i think it was a 'tortugas' really love the classic chinese shilin cutter shape , long story short backspring broke within a week (no abuse normal care taken )
first time i ever had a backspring fail ....gave it a second chance with a replacement ...exact same fail 2nd time around !!!
soo sad such a nice knife all round otherwise .
i have a few cheap knives but the real prize goes to my sanrenmu 760 , the one with a bottle opener .
i could go on all day about this knife totally amazing edc !! super sharp ,dead center , opener works well , buttery smooth fast open and shut .
only just started to notice a couple of faint rusty spots on blade im sure some flitz will get rid of .
only regret is i didnt buy more of this knife .

ive owned it for 2 years now and its still going strong .

 

[Seilu]

It's funny as someone who has visited many parts of Asia that they consider American made items 2nd class and prefer German or Japanese made goods. It was an eye opener to see how we pride American made things because we are American and that pretty much anywhere else in the world they view our goods as lower end.

I still prefer my Emerson's over Enlans though.

 

[328xi]

Generally a factory produced item is built almost entirely using functions and machines that cut out human error, in which case the country of origin doesn't really dictate the quality. It just matters what kind of volume a company produces (and thus how much time they can put into any one given product) and how much they pay their work force. In China, labor is poorly paid and they don't put that much time into any given product, prefering to focus on quantity over quality. In America, companies pay living wages for the first world, so naturally our products are much more expensive.

That said, when you're talking about craftsmen, it is true that you see more imitation than innovation out of the Chinese. Capitalist cultures drive innovation because market competition demands producers to always adapt to changing needs and wants. In a communist or quasi-capitalist society like China, you don't have those same market forces, there aren't startup knifemakers and entrepreneurs with new products springing up left and right like there are in the US. We have a culture of constant change and evolution driven by a market economy, and that will naturally breed a better type of craftsman. If you compare custom craftsmen from China (right now I can only think of one custom maker from China, and I'm pretty sure they're just a high end production shop) to craftsmen from the US and other Western capitalist countries, we blow the Chinese out of the water. Its not that there aren't craftsmen in China and people don't take pride in their work, its just their market doesn't have such stringent quality demands that craftsmen have to produce on a certain level in order to make a living.

 

[TheChunk91]

All this talk about china knives has made me want another china kershaw for some reason, maybe its cause its essential for any knife nut to own at least 1 high value china kershaw so I just got a freefall for $25 with free shipping off ebay I still dont get as much enjoyment out of less expensive high value knives as I do with something expensive with really nice materials thats made in the usa like one I recently received but inexpensive knives are still really fun.

 

[Sharpnessis]

This reminds me of the movie "Shallow Hal"! The op is happy with cheaper knives. We shouldn't try to persuade him any different. Wouldn't it be great to open a new $1 knife and have it totally blow your mind!

 

[HwangJino]

Sadly, all that copying, they're starting to learn that quality fetches more bucks that cheap and easy.

My guess is that China will make quality knives commonly in the next decade.

I bought a cheap $5 knife to practice sharpening folding style knives and I have to admit, this knife is worth more than $5 easily. I keep it in my car's emergency survival kit.

Still won't kick the Sebenza out of pocket I'll tell you that much

 

[dkb45]

This reminds me of the movie "Shallow Hal"! The op is happy with cheaper knives. We shouldn't try to persuade him any different. Wouldn't it be great to open a new $1 knife and have it totally blow your mind!

I think the OP is more saying that cheaper foreign knives are definitely not automatically bad, and domestic goods are not automatically good. Every product should stand on its own merit, not just let false patriotism drive sales. I will outright say that I have had a few Benchmade knives that were pretty much garbage. Only one Manix I had was great. The only company that hasn't disappointed me much, if at all, is Kershaw and ZT.

What I am saying is we should demand more out of companies. When we can buy foreign goods made as well or better for a fraction of the price, what is the incentive to buy the expensive American products? Better steel only goes so far.

 

[Myal]

Compared to nothing. I'm just curious about the availability of Australian made production knives in Australia.

http://www.google.com

no charge

 

[o4tg]

Slowly, some Chinese companies will start making good knives without US help or inspiration. I mean better than Enlan and Sanrenmu too. One need only look at their flashlights. 10 years ago they were making Surefire rip offs, and now those same companies are responsible for insane amounts of technology developments in LED's and batteries while Surefire is still relying on the models that they stopped knocking off long ago.

While Sanrenmu still has a long ways to go in my opinion (including the Tenascious), if you had told me I could get a knife from China of this quality for $15 ten years ago I'd have told you that you were full of it.



Funny thing is, the lowest quality knife I own right now is a $80 Buck Vantage Force Pro, made in the USA.

 

[richard thurman]

I sold a coworker a very long time ago a Benchmade oft. To sharpen it he used a bench grinder. He saw me use the bench grinder so he did it. I told him I was sharpening a chisel not a knife. Of course this over 25 years ago too. So much for that knife. What did a high end knife do for him?? He wanted to buy another one. No problem but this time he asked me to sharpen it for him.

 

[GronK]

Exactly. Except that for me, it is US-made Spydercos, Benchmades, ZTs, Beckers, ESEES, you get the point.:thumbup:

I obsessed on moderns for years but finally burned out on the drama of new steels, limited availability, etc., and am now enjoying slipjoints. I still have and use 30 or so Spydercos as well as other moderns but the traditionals are my current buys.

 

[MassMatt]

Attitudes differ widely from country to country. The Chinese seem to have a more predatory approach to business, and they don't seem to take pride in their work, the way the Japanese do. When you are making so much money selling cheap crap to everyone, and you like it that way, why do you need to change? My tip is that things won't change much for quite a while, if ever.

I think this is more based on economics than national attitudes. As many have mentioned "Made in Japan" used to mean junk--I believe the founder of Sony said he was humiliated when Americans waved "Made in Japan" cocktail umbrellas at him, and resolved to change that attitude.

Japan started off with low quality stuff and gradually climbed the quality ladder--in the 70's and 80's everyone was pissed at Japan for their "economy cars"; Japanese cars are not the cheapest around today but they are generally considered a good value/quality for the price.

We are already seeing the same thing happening in China, they are starting to lose out on some of the lowest cost manufacturing to places like Indonesia and Philippines, China will probably need to offer higher quality if they want to remain competitive.

Big difference is China is much larger, so what happens there has a bigger impact on us, but really the path of development is pretty similar.

I doubt Chinese manufacturers like making cheap crap, they like making $, they know higher quality stuff generally makes for higher margins.

 

[richard thurman]

I think this is more based on economics than national attitudes. As many have mentioned "Made in Japan" used to mean junk--I believe the founder of Sony said he was humiliated when Americans waved "Made in Japan" cocktail umbrellas at him, and resolved to change that attitude.

Japan started off with low quality stuff and gradually climbed the quality ladder--in the 70's and 80's everyone was pissed at Japan for their "economy cars"; Japanese cars are not the cheapest around today but they are generally considered a good value/quality for the price.

We are already seeing the same thing happening in China, they are starting to lose out on some of the lowest cost manufacturing to places like Indonesia and Philippines, China will probably need to offer higher quality if they want to remain competitive.

Big difference is China is much larger, so what happens there has a bigger impact on us, but really the path of development is pretty similar.

I doubt Chinese manufacturers like making cheap crap, they like making $, they know higher quality stuff generally makes for higher margins.

if that is so then why is there a meg market or the clones then?? everyone and there brother are selling the cheap china switchblades but nobody are selling the ones that are being made in the USA. how come that is please?? The ones that are made in the USA are so much better made that the china ones but the china ones are out selling the USA ones. maybe the china workers aren't dumb like you think. They have a much better selling them like hot cakes.