American Made

sabre cat

sabre cat

Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
6,159
I try to purchase American products if possible but it is getting harder to do every day.

One of my knives is marketed as "Made in America". However, I recently learned that only the blade and handle are produced here in the US. The pocket clip, screws, and all the other hardware is contracted to outside sources in Asia. I am sure this common in many different industries but I don't have to like it.

My question to all my fellow Bladeheads is this. When it comes to a knife, or any product for that matter, what does "American Made" mean to you?

If American steel is shipped overseas for basic blade forming, with HT, milling, grinding, and all the fit and finish work back here, still American made?

What about when the raw components are sourced from somewhere else and the labor is all here? Or maybe main components made here with the small stuff from overseas like my knife?

Can it be a numbers game where fifty-one percent makes it "Made in the USA"? Is a foreign company with American workers still a US product? Or does it have to be a US owned company?


Well, I guess, you get the idea. To you, what does it take for a knife to be "American Made"?
 
The problem is, it's a very deep rabbit hole. Most "100% made in the USA" companies can't guarantee that everything is actually 100% USA made. So how far down do you go? Blade steel and handle materials are easy, but what about pivots, screws, washers, pocket clips, etc? But if you can guarantee those are made in the USA, can you guarantee that the materials that they are made from came from the USA?

That's why I don't get so worked up about who's money goes where. One of the most popular US made brands on this forum is owned by a Japanese parent company, which means a large portion of the money spent goes out of the country. Trade is so fluid anymore that it's virtually impossible to stay "clean" when it comes to preferring US made.
 
There used to be an ad in Australia which said something like "Australian made is good. Australian owned is better". When it comes to keeping the money in your country, this may be true. I think the other thing that's really important is where the quality control is done and at the end of the day who is responsible for the product you buy. Take Spyderco for example; a lot of their knives are made in countries outside the USA, but their name is on the knife, their brand is at stake so their quality is good and they reportedly take warranty matters seriously.

Also, consider this hypothetical situation:
I want to make knives here in Australia. I want to help grow the Aussie economy and I want to provide jobs to Australians so I can help put food on Australian tables. All good stuff. So I build my business and employ a couple of people, source everything locally right down to the screws. My product sells well enough to consider growing the business. If I grow the business i could employ more people, but some of my processes are expensive enough to prevent that. It's those screws - getting them made locally costs a lot more than buying from a reputable factory overseas. That means I would have to keep my product prices high, which will limit my market. That means I have to make a choice; grow my business and make a product which is only 99% Australian made or not grow my business and employ fewer people.
It's an over-simplification but I hope it provides some explanation :)
 
I simply don't care when it comes to knives. Good knives are good knives. Made in USA is a bonus, and I buy them when I can, but foreign manufacture is not going to hold me back from getting my hands on a great blade... In fact, I just bought a Kizlyar Savage tonight! Made in Russia. Makes little difference to me. It's a great knife.
 
Last edited:
For me, I don't like a knife to only be assembled in the U.S. This is my issue with some of what SOG does. After seeing nothing but non English-speaking Chinese women assembling Tridents, it was the last straw for giving them my business. Maybe I'm wrong for that but with everything that bothers me about that brand, it just makes sense for me to not support them. My point here is, I wouldn't base an entire opinion on something like that, but I would take it into consideration when choosing to support a brand.
 
Chris Larrikin said:
. My product sells well enough to consider growing the business. If I grow the business i could employ more people, but some of my processes are expensive enough to prevent that. It's those screws - getting them made locally costs a lot more than buying from a reputable factory overseas. That means I would have to keep my product prices high, which will limit my market. :)
Click to expand...


Sometimes keeping it small ensures the best products, even if the price is higher and production numbers are smaller. Look at Hinderer. He only makes small batches which sell out in minutes at a high cost for the average person. They are 100% USA made down to the screws. He doesn't outsource to grow his business or increase production volume. He keeps it small and yet I'm sure he and his employees are well paid.

As for me, after many years of collecting and selling knives, I currently own only 4 brands. Emerson, Hinderer, Strider, and Survive!. To my knowledge all of them are 100% USA made down to the smallest detail. I've owned many knives from many countries, and USA made has always been a step above the rest.
 
AntDog said:
I simply don't care when it comes to knives. Good knives are good knives. Made in USA is a bonus, and I buy them when I can, but foreign manufacture is not going to hold me back from getting my hands on a great blade... In fact, I just bought a Kizlyar Savage tonight! Made in Russia. Makes little difference to me. It's a great knife.
Click to expand...
Same here; however, there are a few countries of origin from which I'll not buy any knife regardless of whose name is on the knife.
 
Silvanus said:
Sometimes keeping it small ensures the best products, even if the price is higher and production numbers are smaller. Look at Hinderer. He only makes small batches which sell out in minutes at a high cost for the average person. They are 100% USA made down to the screws. He doesn't outsource to grow his business or increase production volume. He keeps it small and yet I'm sure he and his employees are well paid.
Click to expand...

You make an excellent point and I think this is a very valid way to do business. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not the only valid way to do right by your countrymen or make a quality product. Brands like Hinderer have managed to get into a niche market, where people are willing to pay considerable money for excellent quality; probably far better quality than most knife users need and certainly at a price point most consumers won't pay. Why give the rest of the market to companies which are wholly overseas owned? Our points aren't mutually exclusive, they're just aimed at different parts of the market.
 
As a builder of anything, it's difficult to buy all the components as made in the U.S. In my own world, I have checked out the components I use and stay true to U.S. made but at some point, I can't offer a product to customers that they want and sometimes even need, without breaking (or at least bending) the "Made in the U.S.A." rule.
I own foreign made knives. Most of my users and collectors are predominantly U.S. made brands though. How many of us patriotic Americans own a Spyderco from Seki City? You get my point.
Like most people, there are some brands I won't buy (SOG), and some countries I won't purchase from. On the other hand, if I build it, I want every component to be a U.S. made product, every time, if possible. That's my American pride showing and I'll never apologize for it.

An example though, would be Tek Loks. From what I've noticed, I don't believe any of the models available are actually made in the U.S.

I hope I'm wrong. Can someone enlighten me if there is a wholly U.S. manufactured Tek Lok?
 
If it says "made in USA" on the blade I consider that "American-made", but it's not a special requirement for me, I'm not American...
 
I like to buy nice, well made, things. I dunt care who makes them. We peeps need to support each other. It's gone Global.
rolf
 
I buy American made cutlery from Buck. They may not always have the shape or design I want but some are close. I cannot afford a D'Holder or Dozer. DM
 
I always find these threads kind of humorous actually. I'm always curious why people draw their line in the sand at the knives they buy, and will only buy wholly Made in USA blades.

Clip your Hinderer into your jeans, oops, probably can't do that as they're likely made in Mexico. Anyway, take your made in China #2 pencil and some paper, walk through your house, room to room, and make a list of everything that has to go as it not made wholly in the USA. Your house is going to be pretty empty I'm afraid. And if it's a newer home, likely without power as the wiring used is from overseas. No shingles. No nails or screws. No appliances either. No light bulbs. No tv. No carpet. No clothes. No shoes. No car. No ammo for your weapon since our benevolent EPA shut down the last USA lead plant. So all our ammo lead is imported. See what I'm saying?

It's great to want to support your home country. But with our worldwide economy, you can't just buy American. The USA knife industry is just a teeny tiny portion of the overall USA economy. Not trying to offend here, but it just seems a bit of hypocrisy when you say you'll only buy American, but then put on your overseas made shoes, take your overseas made generic aspirin for your headache, and head to the range with your Glock in a range bag made in Macao, wearing your cool Under Armor jacket made in Thailand. To me, it's the same as a vegetarian wearing leather boots. Doesn't make sense. Sorry if I insulted anyone. It's just my opinion. People should spend their hard earned as they each see fit. But a quality made product is a quality product, no matter where it's made. By your logic, I can't even own a Swiss Army knife. But they aren't 100% Swiss made either anymore.

Forgot to add - even when you buy a wholly American made blade, you aren't. The computers made to draft the design, were made overseas. The machines to make the knife are from overseas. In a building mostly made with overseas products. Workers driving to work in their car with overseas components. etc., etc. Those American made screws. Where'd they get the material to make them? What machinery turned them out?
 
Last edited:
Lycosa said:
I like to buy nice, well made, things. I dunt care who makes them. We peeps need to support each other. It's gone Global.
rolf
Click to expand...

I enjoy buying American made products because I like to know that I am supporting jobs here in the states. There is a sense of pride in carrying a knife that is made in the USA as well. I will say that I do agree with the above statement though and have come to this conclusion: we are all people and I'm sure that those same people in other countries have families to feed and are thankful for their jobs that provide that food. I recently got a Spyderco Delica in a trade and was really taken by that knife. I just ordered a Dragonfly to carry so that I don't have to hand over my Chris Reeves Sebenza when someone at work asks for my knife. I still prefer to buy an American made product but I also realize that buying from a reputable USA company like Spyderco supports USA jobs and industry as well as a worker/family on the global level and I can live with that.
 
Last edited:
I don't kid myself about any "production model" ANYTHING being 100% US-made. I have several electric guitars assembled in the US by American companies, but right off the bat, at least a portion of the wood is imported simply out of necessity. On the higher-end models, some of the steel components were made in Germany. I have no doubt that some of the smaller parts are from somewhere in Asia. However, whether its the wages paid to American workers or profits going to American owners, I'll take something over nothing. I am not a huge SOG fan, but I do have a few of their knives and at least appreciate that they're honest enough to state "Assembled in the US" rather than implying that all of the parts were made here as well. Again, better something than nothing. Likewise, I understand that some of my SOGs and most of my Cold Steel knives are made in Taiwan, but there is still some portion of the workforce - even if in an office with no hand in production - here in America. On the flip side of that, I get that KAI is a Japanese company and the profits "go home" when I buy a US-made Zero Tolerance or Kershaw knife, but those profits can keep American workers employed and (hopefully) lead to more investment in American production. At the bottom of my list, but still on it, are companies based in countries that are either formal allies or at least generally friendly to us. While I do own a Ganzo knife and have a Kizlyar on the way, the former was bought used here on the Exchange and the latter was a purchase of curiosity to see how Russian knives compare.

Now, there are certainly knives produced overseas for American companies that are absolute crap, but those knives were in some cases previously produced in the US and still absolute crap. I have at least a couple of United Cutlery knives that were built here years ago, and while a couple of the fixed blades are nice, the folders are almost universally flawed in ways that would more typically be expected of Chinese knives.
 
Joe58, here's how I look at it. I can't control where a lot of the products you mentioned are made. I can however control where some of my products are made. Knives being the thing I buy most, I like to support American knife manufacturers. It just bothers me to see so much being outsourced.

Does anybody know of Segeant First Class Leroy Petry? He was a US Soldier that received the Medal of Honor for throwing back an enemy grenade during a firefight, losing his hand in the process. He saved the lives of his fellow soldiers at great cost to himself. I live in his hometown, and a parade was given in his honor when he got home. The parade staff handed out small American flags to wave as he went by to show our support and patriotism. And what was written on the edge of those AMERICAN flags being waved for an AMERICAN soldier? Made in China. Then and there, I decided to support those companies that support my country when possible.
 
Most of my knives are made in the USA but I don't limit myself by country of origin. Take Japanese super blue steel for example,pretty cool stuff. I bought a Kershaw Cryo just to try out the design and even though it's made in China,I found it to be good based on it's own merits. What ticks me off is a company like Quartermaster that boasts American made,when in truth they are made in China.
[URL=http://s1201.photobucket.com/user/blackhorse71/media/20130720_080842_zps034fd78a.jpg.html][/URL]
 
I never think about all of that, and just try to buy a US product from a US company when it comes to knives. I've never thought much about where the parts are made.
I do buy foreign on occasion if its a design I badly want. I'll never buy China though.

I have no problem with anyone buying foreign, and those people shouldn't have a problem with the one's that mostly(or only) by American.
I've never seen anyone here catching flak about buying foreign, but often see people jumped on for buying only American.
We should all be free to buy what we want without getting told what we should buy.
 
In 1993 I bought a Harley Low Rider FXR. Before that I always rode Japanese dirt and street bikes and was proud to buy a 100% Made in the USA product. Nope...I was wrong. Japanese forks, I think Showa, rear shocks, electronics. Even some chrome pieces were made and plated in China.

Now, I try and buy USA made if possible, but I am more about quality, and if that means from another country, so be it.
 
Joe58 said:
I always find these threads kind of humorous actually. I'm always curious why people draw their line in the sand at the knives they buy, and will only buy wholly Made in USA blades.

Clip your Hinderer into your jeans, oops, probably can't do that as they're likely made in Mexico. Anyway, take your made in China #2 pencil and some paper, walk through your house, room to room, and make a list of everything that has to go as it not made wholly in the USA. Your house is going to be pretty empty I'm afraid. And if it's a newer home, likely without power as the wiring used is from overseas. No shingles. No nails or screws. No appliances either. No light bulbs. No tv. No carpet. No clothes. No shoes. No car. No ammo for your weapon since our benevolent EPA shut down the last USA lead plant. So all our ammo lead is imported. See what I'm saying?
Click to expand...

+1 to this. Even if I agreed that only buying American was a good thing (I don't--if everyone bought only goods from their home nation that would also mean hurting the many US businesses that sell to other countries) it's just not even remotely possible. You couldn't drive a car, because some chunk of the electronics or some rubber gasket or whatever was made overseas and then purchased by the automaker and assembled into your vehicle here in the US. Clothing? Ha, good luck. What about food? Do you buy only locally grown produce? Take a look at the stickers, bags and boxes on the produce at your grocery store some time.

The whole foreign=bad bugaboo is silly. I think the US is the greatest place on Earth and I'm a veteran, but trying to buy US-only products is tilting at windmills as far as I'm concerned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top