Brands to stay away from

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There are plenty of knife companies outside of China. As well as plenty of makers/designers who don’t have them make their knives as well. I e been in the hobby well going on 25 years now and have been able to mostly avoid it with no issues to this point.
 
severedthumbs said:
There are plenty of knife companies outside of China. As well as plenty of makers/designers who don’t have them make their knives as well. I e been in the hobby well going on 25 years now and have been able to mostly avoid it with no issues to this point.
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I edited my post, but your definition includes Buck, Kershaw(Zt by extension), spyderco, etc. Just seems extremely limiting. I understand not directly supporting China, but the majority of companies are connected there in some way these days.
 
I've got more than a few knives from WE, and they all look, feel, and function great!
I'd like to think that a really good knife trumps Politics...
 
I 100% disagree, a good knife absolutely does not out weigh human rights violations. Choosing not to support a communist foreign government with a laundry list of human rights violations isn’t about politics fam. While it may not be able to be avoided 100% this is one area where it is able to be avoided and for me the decision is a easy one.
 
DrRollinstein said:
I edited my post, but your definition includes Buck, Kershaw(Zt by extension), spyderco, etc. Just seems extremely limiting. I understand not directly supporting China, but the majority of companies are connected there in some way these days.
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I also do not buy anything from any of those companies. While they do have American made models and models made in non communist countries they really don’t make anything I like. But buying a Golden Spyderco is a far cry from a knife 100% made in China.
 
severedthumbs said:
I 100% disagree, a good knife absolutely does not out weigh human rights violations. Choosing not to support a communist foreign government with a laundry list of human rights violations isn’t about politics fam. While it may not be able to be avoided 100% this is one area where it is able to be avoided and for me the decision is a easy one.
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Whatever floats your goat: Bro...
 
DrRollinstein said:
That's actually highly debatable. I don't think I've owned much that have been as tuned in as Reate or We. Except stuff like CRK, which are almost always in a different price range. Haven't had one with a single issue yet. Plus then you got the budget line Civivi, which easily outstrips the majority of American budget options.

Zt is one of the few American brands I can think of with similar levels of quality and price.
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I’m not debating materials. I’m saying performance. Chinese brands aren’t making blades thinner behind the edge inherently. I’d rather pay 200$ more for similar materials than buy Chinese, and I tend toward globalism when it comes to the economy.
 
Murdamook said:
I’m not debating materials. I’m saying performance. Chinese brands aren’t making blades thinner behind the edge inherently. I’d rather pay 200$ more for similar materials than buy Chinese, and I tend toward globalism when it comes to the economy.
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That's still a very broad stroke you're painting. WE by themselves have to have nearly a hundred different knives, if not more. You can't tell me that they're all worse than similar American ones.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I'm sure Sal and Eric et al have a room full beancounting eggheads that run all kinds of numbers as to what is best for Spyderco's bottom line without sacrificing integrity. Sprint runs just make more sense for them, I guess.

Same goes for GEC. Why change what works? They sell out and have a high collectable value. Frustration of potential customers is, frankly, a moot point when people with cash in hand are just fine with how things are.
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This topic causes me to consider things that have very little to do with the actual knives themselves. . .

Spyderco: there is a reason they choose to invest heavily and build knives with partners in China, Tawain, and Japan over Golden. Sprint runs are really cool, but, I suspect they make the bean counters crazy as nobody outside us knife nerds care. I tend to agree with a previous poster comment that Spyderco is having a difficult time keeping stock of their Golden made products compared to their foreign made products. A search of the major online shops confirms this. Bendhmade and Buck don’t seem to have this issue. Why?

GEC is another animal all together. I’m not sure I can think of another company that leaves more money on the table. I scratch my head every time I see their runs sell out in 5 minutes and a couple days latter end up being sold for double in the second hand market.
 
"Don't buy this for that reason... Don't buy that for this reason..."
What's your favorite flavor ice cream? 😁
 
With all things being equal, meaning a company sells both US made and China made, I will go US all the time from that brand. Spyderco and Kershaw come to mind. It comes from personal experience. My Tenacious, while it's a great knife for the price, does not come close to the quality as my PM, Manix, Para 3 etc. It wasn't supposed to really. Spyderco and other manufacturers who have both US and China made do not intend for them to be the same quality of materials. They are called budget friendly for a reason. TO ME, I can feel the difference in quality and see the subtle differences when compared to others. My Kershaw Emerson is stupid cheap feeling compared to my Emerson made. My China made Cryo sucks compared to my ZTs. No comparison. Bottom line to me, people need to make their own decisions and no matter what or why the decision is made, respect.

Now will I buy a WE, CJRB, or other China made knife. Maybe but not likely because with it being a new to me brand I would want to handle the model first before dropping $100+ on a knife. No one near me carries those brands.
 
mmyron1 said:
Spyderco and other manufacturers who have both US and China made do not intend for them to be the same quality of materials.
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Everything I’ve read and heard from Mr. Glessner is that Spyderco intends to produce the same high quality knives regardless of the location (USA, China, Taiwan, Japan, Italy). There is a good Blade Show 2021 interview out there about this and their partnership with their China partner. I too try to stay away from China made where possible, but Mr Glessner certainly is upfront with this for Spyderco and I give him respect for that.
 
DrRollinstein said:
That's the vast majority of knife companies in one way or another. Might want to find a different hobby lol.

Like, by that definition, you're including Spyderco, KAI, Case, Buck, Etc, along with all the actual Chinese brands.
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Virtually 90% of midtechs made by Custom makers these days as well, which is why I don't buy nearly as many knives as I used to.
 
To quote KC “Its so fuckin ironic to see these clown ass makers literally shill their custom designs to companies that would GLADY steal them just as easily. Thanks to social media, thats a lot more difficult these days, dont get it twisted and think its out of respect. I want more collectors to have my work” is always a good excuse which usually translates to “i wish i had the motivation to make more custom knives, but I would rather sell all my customs to overseas bidders and let people drive to shows so they can kiss my ass and buy bottle openers instead””
 
severedthumbs said:
To quote KC “Its so fuckin ironic to see these clown ass makers literally shill their custom designs to companies that would GLADY steal them just as easily. Thanks to social media, thats a lot more difficult these days, dont get it twisted and think its out of respect. I want more collectors to have my work” is always a good excuse which usually translates to “i wish i had the motivation to make more custom knives, but I would rather sell all my customs to overseas bidders and let people drive to shows so they can kiss my ass and buy bottle openers instead””
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Give the foul language a rest, it’s against the rules nor is it necessary to convey your point.
 
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