Across the Pond Blades?

C

cultivateitnow

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Aug 21, 2010
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It seems on every site I visit people like to talk about non-USA made knives. Some are talked about as though they are evil and will bring doom and dismay to anyone that purchases these low cost knives. Others are touted as being great finds and I've seen thread saying "better than Case" or "as good as GEC".

First let me say I always question these statement a bit and wonder what the qualifacations are of person it making the statement. Sometimes it is a person you know and you have to give it some thought.

This whole China debate, along with pictures from a couple different vendors, made me wonder how many factories there are in China producing knives. Clearly some of these knives are coming from the same factory. Are they all? Do we know who the players are? Do we have a list of good vs evil?

When i seen a "feature" on a highend blade that was exactly the same as one of the lowend imports it gave me pause. The name brand wasn't the same and to add this feature for no reason would be costly.

I know some of the big name knife companies have gone on record as using one factory, the same factory, in China. How much do we know about the others?
 
smkw owns(or partially owns) rough rider and colt. colt being their fancier line. for me personally i try to buy american knives, just because i'm born and raised here, and want to support american business, especially in tough times like this. but i do appreciate foreign made knives. i like german, french, swiss, italian etc knives all the same. its mostly politics for people i think. government actions/views doesn't always reflect the views of their people. especially workers in a knife factory trying to make a few bucks.
 
matt1987 said:
...especially workers in a knife factory trying to make a few bucks.
Click to expand...

Excellent post (imho).

(By the way I assume you meant $ and not the brand though either might apply. ;))
 
cultivateitnow said:
rough rider and colt

Are these both US companies?
Click to expand...

Like most other consumer items, those are brands not companies.
Smoky Mountain Knife Works owns the Rough Rider brand and I think the Colt knife brand is (was?) owned by United Cutlery, just like Taylor Brands owns the Schrade and Smith and Wesson brands. None of these companies actually make knives.

These companies contract the products to be made in a factory somewhere. China, United States, Taiwan, etc., etc. Whoever can produce the products with the necessary price and specs.

Just like televisions, computer parts, clothes...

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Edited to add: I buy knives from all over the world. :thumbup:
 
Understood.

I'm really more interested in knowing if all the knives marked made in China come from the same factory. :)

I will assume for now they do not. I would like to know which knives come from the factories that are producing the blades the USA companies are selling for $100 to $200. I'm guessing their folders will be pretty good. I would add a few of those to my collection just because.

As a side note I see that Buck has patterns that are both made in the USA and China. Buying both versions would still help Buck. :)

This my be true for other USA companies too. See where I'm going with this?
 
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