Buying American ?

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i prefer american but, also love japanese and german as much. other countries make fine knives as well. i just buy what i like.
 
effer said:
http://detnews.com/article/20100928...jects-concessions-at-GM-plant-in-Indianapolis


With this happening on different levels, buying only American will be more and more difficult.
And it is not just auto industry. I've met several people who chose unemployment over salary cut, because they felt that they are entitled to keep that job and that salary. With time and accepting even worse job and less pay, I'm sure they realized that they might've made a mistake, but pride speaks otherwise and they vent their frustration on higher management, government and so on. Everybody is replaceable. In global economy this means a lot.
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That $29 an hour translates to $60K a year, not including the generous insurance and pension. Compare that with the median income for people with Master's degree in the U.S., which is about $52K. With that kind of attitude they deserve to be unemployed.
 
I like to buy American whenever I can, which is why I like Kershaw a lot lately. Japan is my next top pick. I will absolutely not buy chinese.
 
my only considerations are the way a knife looks, reviews about it, and if its at my price point.....country of origin doesn't affect my decision at all
 
Dagon said:
Being a proud European, I am pretty neutral about buying American knives (which is better than my perception of American cars).
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Just curious, what is your perception of American cars?
And whatever it is, why do you feel that way?
Has it changed for better or worse over the last 10 years?
The last 5 years?
The last 2 years?
6 months?

Thanks!!
PS, just curious how others see USA
 
I'm not from the US, so I don't go out of my way to buy American made knives. However, I try to avoid buying any kind of Chinese product whenever I can. It doesn't have to do with price or quality, but rather personal political views.

I also admit to having a stupid irrational bias against Taiwanese knives. I've handled enough Spydercos made over there to know they are excellent, but I still don't feel comfortable carrying a knife made in Taiwan. I've tried to overcome this because I now I'm missing out on some cool knives, but any Taiwanese knife I buy ends up collecting dust on a shelf or is quickly given to somebody else as a gift.
 
Buying American for the sake of buying American is hardly a noble thing to do. On the contrary, it's simply welfare and in the long run, hurts American knife companies because they learned to rely on a dwindling supply of chumps who'll buy anything with a billowing American flag on the box, rather than spend the effort to build better, more competitive products. Foreign competition gets hungry enough that they can't afford to slack off, and before you know it, the foreign product outshines the domestic in every way. And the only thing left going for the domestic product is the "USA" stamp on the tang, reduced to an embarrassment in the face of competing products.

If you really care about knives, you don't subsidize mediocrity and call it noble.
 
My favorite beer is not American, my favorite guns are not American, the phone I'm typing from wasn't made in America and my house was built by Mexicans. Why would I care if my knife wasn't made here?
 
shecky said:
Buying American for the sake of buying American is hardly a noble thing to do. On the contrary, it's simply welfare and in the long run, hurts American knife companies because they learned to rely on a dwindling supply of chumps who'll buy anything with a billowing American flag on the box, rather than spend the effort to build better, more competitive products. Foreign competition gets hungry enough that they can't afford to slack off, and before you know it, the foreign product outshines the domestic in every way. And the only thing left going for the domestic product is the "USA" stamp on the tang, reduced to an embarrassment in the face of competing products.

If you really care about knives, you don't subsidize mediocrity and call it noble.
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I like what you said..., reminds me of American cars in the 70's and 80's.
 
shecky said:
On the contrary, it's simply welfare and in the long run, hurts American knife companies because they learned to rely on a dwindling supply of chumps who'll buy anything with a billowing American flag on the box, rather than spend the effort to build better, more competitive products.
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Kershaw builds a better knife for a lower price. If they can do it, then your point is invalid.
 
shecky said:
Buying American for the sake of buying American is hardly a noble thing to do.
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I have to agree - I think that the best thing we can do for knife makers and ourselves is to make a concerted effort to support those companies that put a lot of effort into making quality products. Don't reward companies that sell junk for too much money but do reward companies that offer good quality at a fair price.

I recently bought a new sharpener made in the USA (Work Sharp) and I already had another sharpener made in the USA (DMT). I have Maglite & Surefire flashlights. I have knives made by Ontario, Spyderco, ESEE & KA-BAR. None of these purchases were BECAUSE the goods were made in the US or by US companies - I bought them because I liked the products. As long as the US makes worthwhile products at fair prices the sales will come.

But I would not avoid buying other companies good products just because they are made elsewhere. My Opinel & Mora knives are great value and the companies making them deserve the support of fair minded consumers.

Makers of poor quality junk can go under for all I care - regardless of their country of origin. If a bad US company goes under then that leaves more sales for the good companies - you can't give your money to everyone so make sure you don't foolishly give it to people selling junk. This applies to Chinese companies too - only reward the good ones and let the cheap and nasty ones fade away. (if only everyone would do that)

If we could all try not to fall for slick marketing and spend our money wisely then we will be doing our part in supporting the companies that deserve support and giving nothing to those that don't deserve it.
 
Being USA made or not is not something I think about when buying knives or other things.

I am European, but I don't mind buying items which are made outside Europe. If I need to purchase a product and a company outside Europe has a better price-quality balance, then I buy it. I want the best product for the money and if a company from country Q offers such a product, I buy that.
 
I will always buy American made products, if Americans are making the product I want, the way I want it.

My reasoning is the economy, I am trying to keep all my money in house. If everyone would make an effort to do this, it would help (how much, I don't know).
I'm not just directing this at Americans, everyone should try to purchase what they can from their home country. Help your local economy and spread out from there.
 
A.P.F. said:
You are doing yourself a great disservice, my friend, if you have not closely examined the quality of the knives you mentioned. The Gayle Bradley is probably the best made and finished knife that I own, and I own a significant number. In fact, I think many Spyderco owners would agree, that the Taiwan product frequently eclipses even Seki City.
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Right on. I rank Taiwan-made Spydercos first, Golden-made second and Seki third.
I also buy custom knives from makers all around the world, in the end what matters is quality.
 
QUOTE=LorenzoL Right on. I rank Taiwan-made Spydercos first, Golden-made second and Seki third.

:thumbup::thumbup:

I try to Buy American made knives whenever I can...I have several US made

frame lock knives and many others. My favorite is my Taiwan made Gayle

Bradley. ;)
 
I don't necessarily have a preference for a country of origin for my knives, but my preferred knives tend to be made in the following places, listed in no particular order: USA, Japan, Switzerland. Taiwan also makes great knives, and their knife manufacturing has only improved over the years. Although I don't own any of the Taiwan-made Spydercos, some of them look awesome.

My favorite knife co.'s are:
Chris Reeve
Victorinox
Spyderco
Benchmade

Kershaw is also great; I only wish more of their blades weren't bead-blasted. I also own knives from MANY other knife co.'s.

As far as knives manufactured in China, I don't own any except a cheap Messermeister(?) picnic knife. Not for any particular reason; I simply have no interest in any of the knives I've seen that happen to be made in China. Although I must admit that in the past, I simply did not want "Made in China" stamped on my knife.

One thing I want to address is that a lot of people equate mainland China and Taiwan as the same, and they're not. Not that a country makes a knife, people working in certain facilities manufacture knives. And that means there are variances, even among the same knife models. Some of the best-made and worst-made knives I have owned were American-made.

Jim
 
I have 2 favorite knives right now - my CS (Taiwanese) SK5 Trailmaster and Buck Paklite Skinner and i don't really care where they were made. I'm pleased Buck is able to do it here on US soil, but if the Paklite were made in Taiwan - no problem. In my mind, they are excellent quality tools for the tasks i throw at 'em and at a price i'm OK with.

I recently bought 2 ESEE Isula's - 1 for each of my children and i suspect they'll be fine knives also. I think they're US made - i don't really know. I bought 'em b/c of their small size, i could get one in pink for my daughter, and have their names laser etched into the blade at the place i bought them.

If i ever buy another big-ass knife for chopping in lieu of my Trailmaster i'll be contacting P Moore for one his bowie styles. I like entreprenurialship - willingness to take risk - and if the item is good quality at a price i can manage i'll buy it.

It really is a very simple equation if someone is willing to remove the rose-colored glasses of hyper-patriotism. BTW, i can say that cause i spent my time "on guard" - and not as some pencil-pusher or truck driver, but as a front-line grunt. Airborne? I'm not looking for applause or thanks, but simply to head-off crys from narrow-minded zealots.
 
James Y said:
I don't necessarily have a preference for a country of origin for my knives, but my preferred knives tend to be made in the following places, listed in no particular order: USA, Japan, Switzerland. Taiwan also makes great knives, and their knife manufacturing has only improved over the years. Although I don't own any of the Taiwan-made Spydercos, some of them look awesome.

My favorite knife co.'s are:
Chris Reeve
Victorinox
Spyderco
Benchmade

Kershaw is also great; I only wish more of their blades weren't bead-blasted. I also own knives from MANY other knife co.'s.

As far as knives manufactured in China, I don't own any except a cheap Messermeister(?) picnic knife. Not for any particular reason; I simply have no interest in any of the knives I've seen that happen to be made in China. Although I must admit that in the past, I simply did not want "Made in China" stamped on my knife.

One thing I want to address is that a lot of people equate mainland China and Taiwan as the same, and they're not. Not that a country makes a knife, people working in certain facilities manufacture knives. And that means there are variances, even among the same knife models. Some of the best-made and worst-made knives I have owned were American-made.

Jim
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Unfortunately that message does not seem to get across.
If I was Sal I would etch the following logo on the Taiwan-made knives:
Taiwan, Not China, Earth.
 
Sep said:
That $29 an hour translates to $60K a year, not including the generous insurance and pension. Compare that with the median income for people with Master's degree in the U.S., which is about $52K. With that kind of attitude they deserve to be unemployed.
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If you think 60k is too much you are in the wrong field. I make more pulling wrenches and although I believe in unions I am not in one. My salary is high to keep out the union.
 
shecky said:
Buying American for the sake of buying American is hardly a noble thing to do. On the contrary, it's simply welfare and in the long run, hurts American knife companies because they learned to rely on a dwindling supply of chumps who'll buy anything with a billowing American flag on the box, rather than spend the effort to build better, more competitive products. Foreign competition gets hungry enough that they can't afford to slack off, and before you know it, the foreign product outshines the domestic in every way. And the only thing left going for the domestic product is the "USA" stamp on the tang, reduced to an embarrassment in the face of competing products.

If you really care about knives, you don't subsidize mediocrity and call it noble.
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I'll take this a step further: buying American for the sake of buying American is quintessentially UNAMERICAN, in the sense that free market forces are undermined. The historical greatness of American products is a direct consequence of heavy competition within the market to satisfy consumer preferences, leading to higher quality and lower costs. The "American" thing to do is to reward the manufacturer based on real world results--their economic output--not on what flag flies over their company. We operate in a world economy.

Americans who insist on "buying American" are in reality accomplishing the exact opposite of what they intend: they are acting to reduce national wealth. Obviously they're not doing this on purpose, but out of an ignorance of basic economics.
 
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