Best nontraditional folder $10 or under?

[jekostas]

I've never heard of MultiTaskerTools. Are they in any way affiliated with CRKT? Did this representative work for CRKT at some point that he would know this information as fact? How does being a representative for a company that manufactures mutil tools for firearms give him the inside track on how CRKT does business or who they use for OEM? If this is proof then we have different ideas of what proof is. I can't just take some guy's word for it because he says it matter of factly.

Actually, a better question is why would you doubt that SanRenMu is making knives as an OEM for larger companies? SOMEONE is making knives in China for Spyderco, Kershaw, Buck and CRKT, and the latter three have lifetime warranties on their Chinese-made pieces.

Why couldn't it be the company that looks like someone taught them a heckuva lot about knifemaking in a very, very short period of time (SanRenMu's only been around since the late 90s).

It actually seems very odd that you're resisting the idea that SRM could be an OEM for more established brand. Everybody and their dog is saying that the quality of the pieces they produce is surprisingly good - that kind of manufacturing knowledge, technical skill and design capability doesn't just kind of spring out of nowhere.

Opening your own factory and training workers in a foreign country is a massively, massively expensive venture for any company, to say nothing of trying do so as a smaller producer of specialized items.

 

[Tony8179]

Actually, a better question is why would you doubt that SanRenMu is making knives as an OEM for larger companies? SOMEONE is making knives in China for Spyderco, Kershaw, Buck and CRKT, and the latter three have lifetime warranties on their Chinese-made pieces.

Why couldn't it be the company that looks like someone taught them a heckuva lot about knifemaking in a very, very short period of time (SanRenMu's only been around since the late 90s).

It actually seems very odd that you're resisting the idea that SRM could be an OEM for more established brand. Everybody and their dog is saying that the quality of the pieces they produce is surprisingly good - that kind of manufacturing knowledge, technical skill and design capability doesn't just kind of spring out of nowhere.

Opening your own factory and training workers in a foreign country is a massively, massively expensive venture for any company, to say nothing of trying do so as a smaller producer of specialized items.

I'm not resistant to the idea. If a reputable source came forward and said it, I would undoubtedly believe and accept what they say. This hasn't happened and all I've heard is a bunch of people guessing and assuming which means nothing to me. Whether it's one person or one million people assuming that SRM is producing knives for these companies it's still just an assumption. Show me the proof. Find a reputable source, perhaps a representative from Kershaw, Spyderco, CRKT, Boker, or Buck and have them post here.

 

[jekostas]

I'm not resistant to the idea. If a reputable source came forward and said it, I would undoubtedly believe and accept what they say. This hasn't happened and all I've heard is a bunch of people guessing and assuming which means nothing to me. Whether it's one person or one million people assuming that SRM is producing knives for these companies it's still just an assumption. Show me the proof. Find a reputable source, perhaps a representative from Kershaw, Spyderco, CRKT, Boker, or Buck and have them post here.

I understand your position, the problem is I don't those companies would ever do it. It would kill business for them - "Look, I know we have XXX company make our products for us and we charge twice as much for those items as you would pay XXX directly, but you should still pay us!" Warranty issues, while important to a community that places significant value and pride of ownership in their tools just isn't a major deal to a lot of people that use knives "in passing" or are happy with "good enough". Same thing happens in so many other industries. Batteries for electronics is another HUGE area where this happens.

I'm not a huge fan of many of SRM's business practices - even if they OEM'd for CRKT or whomever in the past, it certainly doesn't give them the right to use CRKTs designs (KISS, Drifter et al) now, especially designs that we know are collaborations from custom makers. I will give them credit for the fact that they do seem to be bringing out more and more designs that just aren't found elsewhere, even if it's because those designs are just monstrously ugly.

However, without direct proof (and I doubt it'll ever happen, given what I've said above), you sometimes do have to make decisions based in circumstantial evidence. It's certainly not unreasonable to think someone taught SanRenMu a ton about knife manufacturing and design in a short period of time.

 

[Tony8179]

I understand your position, the problem is I don't those companies would ever do it. It would kill business for them - "Look, I know we have XXX company make our products for us and we charge twice as much for those items as you would pay XXX directly, but you should still pay us!" Warranty issues, while important to a community that places significant value and pride of ownership in their tools just isn't a major deal to a lot of people that use knives "in passing" or are happy with "good enough". Same thing happens in so many other industries. Batteries for electronics is another HUGE area where this happens.

I'm not a huge fan of many of SRM's business practices - even if they OEM'd for CRKT or whomever in the past, it certainly doesn't give them the right to use CRKTs designs (KISS, Drifter et al) now, especially designs that we know are collaborations from custom makers. I will give them credit for the fact that they do seem to be bringing out more and more designs that just aren't found elsewhere, even if it's because those designs are just monstrously ugly.

However, without direct proof (and I doubt it'll ever happen, given what I've said above), you sometimes do have to make decisions based in circumstantial evidence. It's certainly not unreasonable to think someone taught SanRenMu a ton about knife manufacturing and design in a short period of time.

Now this is some real talk. I never said I had a problem with SRM as a manufacturer. I said I have problems with some of their design choices. If they didn't produce knives that seemed to me like blatant ripoffs of other companies' designs then I wouldn't have a problem with them at all. Well almost, I still don't think that they have permission from Benchmade to use the Axis Lock. If they make great knives for the money then that's fine. It is my choice whether or not to support them though and I choose not to.