Attitudes

Jaeger

Jaeger

Joined
Feb 27, 1999
Messages
543

I went to a gunshow over the weekend to pick up a few things for my wife's M1 Carbine. There was a knife dealer there with a table full of some really beautiful custom knives as well as some high end production knives. One of the custom knives was a small kurkri (about the same size as the kagnas katne) with an ivory handle and a flat brass buttplate. The handle was gorgeous! However the blade left something to be desired. The vendor thought it was made of ATS34 but he wasn't sure. He also couldn't remember who made it. The blade was shaped like a forward curving style. It was not well polished and had multiple nicks and rough spots along the edge. I commented on this and tried to tell the vendor about Himalayan Imports but he didn't want to hear about it! He kept repeating that this knife was made in America. No matter how much I tried to tell him about the incredible quality of HI khurkris he wouldn't listen and kept repeating the "made in the USA" mantra. It was frustrating!
 
"For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who don't understand, no explanation is possible." I think this line was used by Harley Davidson a while back, but it applies to HI khuks also.


[This message has been edited by Steven F (edited 02-01-2000).]
 
Unfortunatly Americans have lost a lot of the meticulus nature that makes these knifes great. There are a handfull of artisans who still hold the precepts of quality vs. quantity, execelnce vs. excess, tradition vs.technology. I am gald that there is a company that stil thinks these are valuable things. I am glad that there is a place where bussiness is still done with a handshake and a promise. These are a few of the things that bring us to Uncle Bill and HI.

------------------
"Clear a path for the Kukhri or it will clear one for itself"
 
That saddens me ( actually it doesn't but they wouldn't let me print what I really think of what "American Made" means anymore.

------------------
Harrassment in this forum will not be reported. It will, however, be graded.
 
Kinda makes me wonder: if american craftsmanship was at the standards it used to be, would so many americans be so resentful/prejudiced of/against imported goods? I think alot of people( deep down) realize that alot of our locally produced goods are not as good as some foreign imports
, and they feel alot of resentment because of it. Its too bad they couldn't have uncle Bills attitude towards competition and welcome it because of confidence in one's own product! Thats my 20 cents.

Rob
 
I think good old American craftmanship is still around, but you have to know were to look. I have several friends that are swordsmiths and they specialize in the Japanese style blades. Their work rivals the traditional Japanese Nihon-To. They don't try to be Japanese, but their work reflects the perfection that is needed to look, and feel like a traditional Katana. Many Japanese sword collectors tell my friends that they are not Japanese so, they can't make Japanese swords. That's B.S.! Weird world huh?

[This message has been edited by Broken Arrow (edited 02-02-2000).]
 
BA, Is there anyway that I can find out more about your friends? I have been looking for a good quality Katana style sword. I have a very close friend who has helped me out a lot and I what to get him a Katana. thank you in advance.
 
I consider myself very patriotic. I ride a 10-year-old Harley Davidson motorcyle and drive a 1978 Chevrolet Camaro. However, I buy Toyotas for both my wife and daughter. Why? Because the Japanese cars are better engineered and more dependable than today's American cars . The Toyotas rarely need anything other than routine maintenance, whereas the American cars I have owned were always having problems of some sort, even when new. The last American car I bought, a Ford, had to be taken back to the dealer 13 times before it had 3,000 miles on it -- it was that vehicle that was the "straw that broke the camel's back." I'm not willing to compromise when it comes to my family's security just to be able to say that I "buy American."

P.S. My Harley has about 75,000 miles on it and has required roadside repairs on virtually every long-distance trip I've been on. I ride with fellas who own high-mileage Honda Goldwings and BMWs who have never had to have anything done to their bikes except for routine maintenance. A few of the Goldwings, believe it or not, have close to 300,000 miles on them and have never broken down.


 
In Hawthorne, Nevada, the largest ammo depot in the so-called free world, we have a Taj Mahal built to break down out of date and unstable ammo. It would be environmentally friendly, produce compounds from the old ammo that could be sold and reused...

But it was cheaper to disassemble and burn the stuff instead. Now there is no-one left who knows how to run the thing. So it sits.

We ( the US ) used to make quality. Then we let shoddy but cheap products in to compete. The people here went for the shoddy cheap stuff. So American mfgrs. lowered the quality and when that didn't work, sent jobs outside the country. Now if you want quality, you buy foreign except some almost cottage industries. Look at Colt, Smith, Winchester. Quality control all over the place. Look at the pre-64 and post-64 model 70 Winchester.

Nepal is not the only place where the people who could do quality work are dying off and have no-one to pass their knowlege on to.

Oh, well. Wonder if we could export televangelists? Not just the programs, I mean send THEM overseas too, and lose their citizenship records. Rwanda might be a good start. If that works, then the politicians and lawyers too.

------------------
Harrassment in this forum will not be reported. It will, however, be graded.
 
Shakespeare said it first and best" First we kill all the lawyers."

------------------
"Clear a path for the Kukhri or it will clear one for itself"

[This message has been edited by Matt Matheny (edited 02-02-2000).]
 
American Quality is still there, you just have to look. Here are some examples:

Trucks: Hum-Vee--Try and beat that.

Cars: Viper Coupe, wins it's class and takes the top 4 or 5 spots, resoundly beating Porche.

Guns--Although our baseline guns are rough compared to the likes of Sig and H&K, our custom gun smiths like Les Bear, Novak's Joe Bonar, Wilson, etc. cannot be beat anywere in the world.

Knives- If you are into knives, I don't think I need to go into detail on this one.

Aircraft-- The best in the world, bar none!!

Computers--Well, you know!!

I agree that quality in the average american vehicle is not up to the standards of say the good japanese cars and Mercedes, but current quality has gotten very competitive. I have yet to have a Chrysler product give me problems. I know people that own several GM products and they have not had problems. Unfortunately, the damage that the American auto industry did to itself in the mid to late 1970's is still being felt. Automakers in those years thought that they could make a turd on wheels and Americans would buy it. The Japanese invaded and took over. Now, Detroit has no choice but to make a good quality product or sink. IMHO

 
Its not just the reliability issue of the American cars, but the build quality. My dad bought an Olds Bravada, and though it lists for the low 30s, you can pick'em up for a lot less. Wonder why? The damn thing is 90% plastic, and cheap plastic at that. The panels have 1/4 to 1/2" gaps between them, and, no, it isn't just crooked at one spot -- it is uniform. They engineer slop in so that screw ups can still be sent off the line w/o a rework. My early 90s Acura is much higher quality inside than a new GM luxury SUV and the panels fit close outside.

My uncle's buddies from high school (class of '59) went to work for Cincinnati Milacron (this was in Cincy, BTW), where they make a lot of the lathes and boring equipment that industry, including automotive, uses. These guys told him that GM would run the engine block boring equipment until the cutting heads needed replacement, then take the light bulbs out of the indicator lights, and keep running them until they couldn't turn over the engines made on it. Some of the engines that weren't off too much with anti-sieze compund and turned over by a lathe motor PTO setup until they broke free. Not current, but a horror story nonetheless.
 
Hey Matt,
What is your price range that you want to spend on a Japanese style sword? My friends swords are alot cheaper than their Japanese counter parts, but to many, it is still alot of money. You can e-mail me or post your response.
 
I hate to say this in the context of this thread, but...

If you're looking for a well-made, robust katana copy for a very reasonable price, you can't do better than Kris Cutlery. I have both the long and the short katanas from their range; they're as sturdy as shin gunto, made (like the HI khukuris) from 5160 or better, properly hardened & tempered (though there is, of course, no hamon) and they cut. No question about that.

Last time I looked, the price was around $150 or less.

 
Tom, I'm pretty sure the friend Broken Arrow was referring to was Cecil Quirino of Kris. So it looks like you're both right. BA tells me Cecil also has keris of good quality as he can get them in. BA, old friend, old buddy, old pal... I know I have something to trade you that you really NEED if you can find me a light keris like the one you have that you were telling me about. ROTFLMAO

------------------
Himalayan Imports Website

Himalayan Imports Khukuri FAQ
 
Well guys you are correct on one of my friends being Cecil of Kris Cutlery. He offers a great selection of using swords for an excellent price! He has his standard bread and butter stuff, as well as his antique and traditional Kris/Sundang, Barongs.
On the other hand, my other friends that makes traditional Katanas and trained by an actual Japanese smith are: Michael Bell, Francis Boyd. The other smiths that I can recommend are: Randal Graham, and Howard Clark. These guys are the best in my opinion in Japanese blades in North America.

Russ, give Cecil a call, he might be interested. He has a bunch of Indonesian Krises in stock. Very beautiful!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top