Brand name knives from China

Darn, it's a pity that the Benchmade NRA stockman has been discontinued. That looks like a great knife, I especially like the looks of the canoe-style bolsters.

I would probably try one of the imported Buck trappers. They are very cheap at Wal-Mart, should I decide to get one.

Jim
 
Great Thread ! i have: 8 Rough Rider, 5 Marbles, 6 Schrades, 3 Steel Warrior, 1 Kissing Crane, as well as 3 Owl Head and 1 German Bull and 1 Hen & Rooster that i THINK are from China. my absolute favorite is a Steel Warrior 2 blade copperlock, 2nd blade is a Wharncliffe. the first one i put in my pocket 1 year ago, just to "try out". it has proved perfect and this is 90% outdoor use daily. so i just bought another one ($12.95) with stunning Candy Apple handles. the Schrades vary: a 108OT was shit, but a 97OT and the custom stone series (3) are all very good. the Rough Riders are all excellent except the pearl/abalone Sunfish has a gritty feeling in tang area when blades are opened, but i have not oiled it. the 5 1/8" 2 blade amber bone, embossed bolster, Whittler is fantastic and unique. the K.C. small stag Canoe is just fine too. 2 of the Marbles are excellent: large trapper in amber bone (1/2 stops) and a large Congress: black lip pearl/MOP, fully "fileworked" backsprings and blades, fluted, pinched bolsters, 1/2 stops.
all from ebay, no hand picking. roland
 
I was able to find a Steel Warrior Trapper for 50% off today and I was lucky enough to snag the last one. Great lock up, fit and finish and edge for $7. I am going to try and locate some more. They are good enough to even have one in your kitchen drawer, tool bags, etc. I am very surprised at the China made finds that I have recently made and my pocket is still in good shape. The wife is not yelling at me for buying too many knives. It feels pretty good.
 
Sometime last week I decided to check out a different Ace Hardware from the one I normally go to, to see any knives they might have (I was hoping to find some more Case). They had a large cabinet of knives, which at a distance looked like a bunch of cool Case patterns. As I got closer, I saw they were all Frost Cutlery offerings. They had several knives that did not LOOK too bad, but knowing the reputation of Frost, I did not take the bait.

I'm certain the knives were made in China, but the actual reason I didn't want to get one was the name of Frost Cutlery. Which is too bad, as there were copperheads, peanuts, trappers, stockmen, etc....actually a larger assortment of patterns than in the other store's Case offerings. If one of those copperhead patterns was offered by one of the better-name distributors, I would've gladly tried one out. They were less expensive than the Case knives go for, but they were not exactly for cheap, either. I don't know if Hen & Rooster are distributed by Frost, or how good they are, but I am certain I didn't see any other logo on that knife case but Frost.
Jim
 
I appreciate the offshore knives because they are,in my opinion ,a very good value for the money.I don't mind using them because I don't have $50-$60 in them.As I said I have purchased 4 rough riders and three remington knives since christmas and they are all good users,the rough riders are better,from my small sampling.and I will probably buy more as I have been giving them to non knife people trying to get them interested in traditional knives.I can't afford case knives to give away,so I hope some of these gifts will get others hooked on our hobby.
 
(Um, hi. I'm one of the lurkers here. Mostly I collect veteran's accounts of their wartime experiences, and the occasional knife, as well as accumulating Bucks; haven't really had anything to contribute til now.)

I've not had good luck with the China-made knives, but then again I don't have good luck with some USA-made knives . . . don't get me started on Gerber. Anyhow, having given my 10-year-old nephew my EDC (an old Remington UMC), I needed a new trapper. Made the trip into town today, grabbed a Buck medium trapper, got home and found out it was made in China.

Generally, I'm not impressed. I can still see where the blades were punched or stamped or whatever, and parts of the blades were ground/polished to different angles or with different grits. The fit just isn't up to the standards I've come to expect from Buck. This is the dullest new Buck I've ever seen; both cutting edges are "ragged" and the clip blade has a chip in the edge. There are burrs on the brass liner.

Is the fit and finish acceptable for the price? I don't think so, but from what others have written maybe I just got a bad example.
 
coffeecup said:
Is the fit and finish acceptable for the price? I don't think so, but from what others have written maybe I just got a bad example.
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Well it's about time you spoke up! :D

That is not typical in my experience of the import Bucks. I've seen a few that were a little rough, especially in the early days of them, but lately they have really been slick!

I'd send it to Buck and they will gladly send you a replacement.
 
Look a little closer next time your there. The Ace near me has the same display case. There are some "Steel Warrior" slippies mixed in. The peanut with the bone stag handles for example. Not a bad knife for $10. Steel Warrior may be a Frost brand but they seem a step above other Frost knives.

James Y said:
Sometime last week I decided to check out a different Ace Hardware from the one I normally go to, to see any knives they might have (I was hoping to find some more Case). They had a large cabinet of knives, which at a distance looked like a bunch of cool Case patterns. As I got closer, I saw they were all Frost Cutlery offerings. They had several knives that did not LOOK too bad, but knowing the reputation of Frost, I did not take the bait.

I'm certain the knives were made in China, but the actual reason I didn't want to get one was the name of Frost Cutlery. Which is too bad, as there were copperheads, peanuts, trappers, stockmen, etc....actually a larger assortment of patterns than in the other store's Case offerings. If one of those copperhead patterns was offered by one of the better-name distributors, I would've gladly tried one out. They were less expensive than the Case knives go for, but they were not exactly for cheap, either. I don't know if Hen & Rooster are distributed by Frost, or how good they are, but I am certain I didn't see any other logo on that knife case but Frost.
Jim
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There is some good value and quality to be had for some chinese made knives. I have a schrade large stockman and it is a vault with no blade play and some serious snap. The steal is okay I need to sharpen mine up some. I have to admit I try finding reasons not to like this knife but come up short. I do like this knife alot. It has ironwood scales and is a beaut. I find that a traditional slippy should be American made but when low on funds (which I often am) then a quality slippy made in China is not so bad afterall.
 
The Last Confederate said:
Well it's about time you spoke up! :D

That is not typical in my experience of the import Bucks. I've seen a few that were a little rough, especially in the early days of them, but lately they have really been slick!

I'd send it to Buck and they will gladly send you a replacement.
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Thanks for the welcome, TLC.

For what it's worth, on the bottom of the box, in letters about 1 mm tall, there is a what appears to be a date: 11-29-05. I don't know if this means it is old stock, or even if that is a date.

I'm sure I can send it to Buck for repair/replacement, and in a month or so they'll get it back to me and everything will be fine. Probably. I'd do that, or live with the flaws, if Buck didn't seem to be trying to hide where the knife was made.

Of the 100+ Buck 110/112s I've got on hand, all but the earliest four are stamped with some variation of "BUCK USA." On this little trapper I got last night, the clip blade is marked "BUCK" and the opposite side of the spey blade is marked "CHINA" in very small letters. It just strikes me that if Buck weren't trying to hide the origin, they'd be consistent about marking their products.

This will be the first time in 30 years I don't get a new Buck for my birthday, and I think that tradition is over. I'm going to return the knife tomorrow, then hunt me up another old Remington R1173.
 
the clip blade is marked "BUCK" and the opposite side of the spey blade is marked "CHINA" in very small letters. It just strikes me that if Buck weren't trying to hide the origin, they'd be consistent about marking their products
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But it is marked, right? On my buck 110 and 112 it's marked BUCK 11x then, below that IN SMALL LETTERS it says usa. Does this mean bucks trying to hide thats it's made in the usa? You have to also realize that the trapper is a small knife. The 112/110 have the room.

It's the same as with my stockman. It says Buck 37x on the clip blade and it says china on the sheepsfoot. If they wrote china on the clip blade the printing would be to small to be worth anything. I mean really, what do you want? To open the clip blade and see MADE IN CHINA! written across the whole blade??

I'm not trying to start anything and you have the right to think anything you want. But, before you right off Buck maybe try sending it back. See what happens. I have 2 china stockmans and 1 trapper. Both are great. If not, Send it to me. I'll be glad to "take out the trash":rolleyes::p:D

Sam
 
coffeecup said:
if Buck didn't seem to be trying to hide where the knife was made.

It just strikes me that if Buck weren't trying to hide the origin, they'd be consistent about marking their products.
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Buck clearly marks the packaging and the knife as to where there are made.

They are not trying to hide anything and accusations that they are are baseless.
 
Buck is one of the few companies that indicates whether the knife is US made or not, on their website. This is a nice feature for those for whom this is a consideration. There are many companies who are shy of indicating country of origin about their knives. Buck isn't one of them.
 
Interesting discussion. Yes, the imported knife is marked with country of origin. Yes, careful examination of the box does show that the box is marked "Made in China" in the text around the UPC code, on the bottom of the box (who reads UPC labels?). I'm sure this meets all statutory requirements. Now that I know what to look for, I'm aware that Buck does indicate on their website not the country of origin, but whether or not the knife was made in the USA.

I'm not accusing Buck of anything; I'm stating an impression. It is my impression, as both a loyal-if-not-exclusive fourth-generation consumer of Buck products, and as a Buck "accumulator" ("collectors" are organized, "accumulators" just have lots of knives), that Buck is trying to hide the origin of their imported product from consumers at point-of-purchase. It would be easy to show me that my impression is wrong: show me that Buck marks comparable USA-made products in a manner similar to that used on the imports.

In my experience (which admittedly is limited to the larger Buck knives), "Buck" and "USA" are marked in the same location. I don't have many small knives made in the last 30 years, but those I do have (2 Schrades and an SAK) are all marked on the same blade. The SAK and one of the Schrades are marked on blades smaller than the Buck. The font used for "China" on the Buck looks like it would fit on the same blade under "Buck" and the model number.

If I had known before purchase that the knife was an import, I'd have examined it and selected another example, or sought the product of another manufacturer. Lacking that information, I made the purchase based on the reputation of the manufacturer. I wouldn't do that for any company in current production except Buck. In the almost 39 years I've been using Bucks, and the almost 30 years I've been purchasing Bucks, I've never seen or heard of a problem.

It comes down to this: I'm a customer, I bought the knife for immediate use. The product is damaged/defective. Sending it to the manufacturer and waiting a month (the estimated time noted on the website) for replacement is not an acceptable option, so I will return it. While I suspect I may have enough Buck knives to meet forseeable needs, if there is a Buck I like (regardless of country of origin) and it passes a basic QC inspection before purchase, I'll still buy it. I won't buy another without that inspection.

Since my first purchase, buying a Buck has always been something I knew would go absolutely right. No problems. No questions. No disappointments. That is why I've purchased them for myself as a birthday present. No longer having that certainty, I'm not going to do it no mo'.
 
I have one Chinese made Marbles, Large, Fluted Bone, Sunfish slipjoint. I purchased it more out of curiosity than anything else. I still prefer American and German knives, but I must admit that the Marbles knife is very well made. The fit and finish isn't perfect, but the blades came razor sharp in the box and they are easy to keep that way. I noticed that the Marbles stainless steel stays sharper longer than my Case Stainless knives. I used the Marbles Sunfish to cut two rooms of cut-pile carpet up into 3' wide strips and the blade was still sharp enough to push cut copy paper. For $10 the knife is a great deal and a decent user knife. I have no plans to buy more Chinese made knives unless the Marbles beater dies.
lg_palmz_011-1.jpg
 
This afternoon I pulled the trigger and purchased a Remington Sportsman Trapper pattern at the local Rural King store to see what they were like. Both blades were very sharp when the knife was taken out of the clamshell package and both were very stiff opening and closing. Half stops were there on both blades. Fit and finish were quite acceptable for a knife that cost me $9.95. The package states the blades are 440 stainless and at this point I have not used it enough to see how long the edge will last. I am a great fan of the Camillus knives that I had purchased in the past, I only own one Case and one buck knife and nothing from Queen let alone Canal Street or the newer knife companies but it appears that this knife is at least as nice as some of the lower cost Camillus and Schrade knifes that I own
 
I decided to pick up one of the Chinese made Shrades a while back on a whim.
I was lucky to have a nice selection to browse through, but honestly the very first one was the best of the bunch, and the one I picked up. Out of about a dozen knives, about half were really rough in one way or another and half were pretty decent. Only 2 that I looked at that meet up with knifenut specs, but better than I expected. It's a Shrade 80TW in Ironwood, and I have to say, nice fit and finish and great walk and talk, seriously snappy without being hard to open at all. Edge was a little uneven but grinds are pretty good, and after a proper edge reprofile I've been pretty happy with the edge retention, for what the steel is (420HC?). It's a decent user, for the price a hell of a knife.

I guess I'd buy some more imports, but only if I can get my hands on them first.

Syn
 
synghyn sounds like you got the same knife I did-see post#50. I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes this knife. Plus I have not seen any slippys made with Ironwood slabs!
 
Nope, not just you Diamond Dog :D .

It's not a perfect knife by any stretch, but like I said, it's a nice knife, for the money, I'd buy it again. And yeah, the Ironwood is nice, it's even pretty nice burl wood, although the shield side is very nicely burled and the other much less so, but both attractive.

I was kind of put off by the idea of the imports, and I still prefer an American made product in just about anything, but if you can check them out before hand especially, not too shabby.

Syn
 
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