Anybody Know Who Makes These Knives for the US Army?

As mentioned, it looks like an Ontario Knife product but ...:confused:
 
Outsourcing to either master cutlery or taylor brands is not news. The same thing happens with the Smith and Wesson knives. Though they are made in China my understanding is they are licensed with permission from the company. Also, WeAllJuggleKnives reviewed the US army knives and found them to not be terrible after stress testing. Similarly the Smith and Wesson Homeland Security has also been pretty highly reviewed. It's advertised as 440c. So though these knives are manufactured in China and some of the brand knives have shoddy quality, not all will. I'm kind of a sucker for American made items myself so I don't know that I would ever buy either the S&W or the US Army brand knives, but for others who don't care as much you may be happy with them.
 
I'm pretty sure that the US Army folding knives are distributed by Taylor Brands as part of the Army-licensed product line sold online and in stores. Whether or not the fixed blades have any tie-in with Taylor Brands, the knives are (as far as I can tell) legit in the sense that they are in fact licensed, but at the end of the day, they are no more "Army strong" than various t-shirts, sleeping bags and various other things licensed by the Army that are otherwise just rebranded versions of products you've seen and passed over before.
 
Forgedfixedblade said:
Looks like "Master Cutlery" is a distributor but it has to have some credibility to endorse that they are Officially Licensed by the US Army, I would think that could get them in some trouble with the website set up like they have it if it's not legit.
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Having the army logo on a licensed product it a world away from having an actual army issue product. Just like when you buy a watch with the audi logo on the face when you buy a new car doesnt mean the watch is up to audi build quality or made by audi. its probably a $5 hunk the company picked out of a catalog of 900 other knives and said "put our name on this and make it cheap"
 
Forgedfixedblade said:
Your probably right their Mr. Miyagi, with the commy Chinese, it appears they can steal and knock off anything now-a-days and get a way with it.
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Man they rip everything off. Rolex, iPad, Mini Cooper
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You name it they will copy it with no shame. This knife has to be a cheap crappy Chinese made knockoff. It's probably made from materials that our government has banned for years.
 
Well that didn't come out right... Anyway, the very idea of the U.S. Army licensing cheap Chinese crap for profiteering job eliminators just turns my stomach.
 
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Even if I was real, I wouldn't use it for any civilian tasks let alone while deployed. Remember goverment issued just means it was made by the lowest bidder.
 
Yeah but sometimes, and I'm not saying this is one of this times, lowest bidder and quality product align. There's a lot of great army surplus stuff that can save you some good money on camping gear.
 
I'm a huge supporter of the armed forces, but I still don't understand the logic behind licensing the US Army name to be put on a bunch of shit quality Chinese knives, so they can sell them to teenage kids in hopes of making them want to be soldiers. I just think there are more responsible ways of recruiting and building the "brand".
 
knifehoarder said:
I'm a huge supporter of the armed forces, but I still don't understand the logic behind licensing the US Army name to be put on a bunch of shit quality Chinese knives, so they can sell them to teenage kids in hopes of making them want to be soldiers...
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You know, I never really put two and two together but there may honestly be a lot of true to this
 
It appears to be a rip off of an Ontario SP50. Whenever you see something that appears to be a ripoff, especially with military type advertising, it almost certainly is a ripoff. As far as I know, Ontario hasn't licensed anyone else to make ripoffs of their knives, nor would there be any reason to do so. Use your common sense and stay away from anything made in communist China. If you like the SP50 design, buy the real Ontario that's made in USA. It's not expensive. I think it's about $74 on amazon or walmart. You can buy direct from Ontario and pay MSRP or buy from reputable dealers and retailers for a pretty good bargain.
 
Actually, it might be a ripoff of the Ontario SP51, which has a saber grind. The real SP51 is about $80 on amazon. The SP50 has a flat grind.
 
I caved in and picked one of these up for the heck of it and for the price i'm gonna put in through its paces. Received it in today and must say it's not a bad set up, much better then I expected, came razor sharp and super thick at 7mm, build quality is sure a lot better then any other commie made knife I've seen or owned, Molle sheath is pretty nice and heavy duty with multiple points of attachment on the back, zero lateral flex when pulled with both hands on each end against the knee and feels very solid in the hand. I did black out the Army logo on it for more of a tacti-cool look, guy on Youtube was advertising these as made in the USA, not true. It does say that a portion of the proceeds from the sell of this knife does go to the US Army. It is what it is and for what I paid for it, I can easily order me up a nice SP50 and toss this one in the can.
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Balls Deep said:
You know, I never really put two and two together but there may honestly be a lot of true to this
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That wasn't my opinion or speculation...that's exactly what this stuff is (a recruiting tool). The Army calls it a "mini brand" and they openly admit it's purpose is for marketing to teenagers and college age kids for recruitment purposes. It's all what's called "branding" in the marketing world, and it's meant to familiarize the audience with the "brand" and make it seem cool/relevant.

They have an "Army Strong" video game, the knives mentioned here, and an array of other crap using the "mini brand" under license.

Here's a link to the Army Strong mini brand guide...
http://www.usaac.army.mil/sod/download/brand/U.S.ArmyMiniBrandGuide_print.pdf
 
I dont understand why a shoddy chinese knife could be sold in US by a US registered company? is it a chinese company or a US company who selling this knife?
 
vicooo said:
I dont understand why a shoddy chinese knife could be sold in US by a US registered company? is it a chinese company or a US company who selling this knife?
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I don't think they've conclusively determined that the actual knife is shoddy...just their business practices LOL I'm sure somebody here will buy one eventually, just out of curiosity if nothing else.

Its funny, though, how the Chinese unabashedly make knock-offs of well established products...and its not limited to small items either. Have you ever seen the Ford F-150 copy they sell? I think they also did a Chevy Silverado, but I'm not positive.
 
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