Can China made produce a good blade?

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GrReaper said:
I've also heard that Chinese people avoid all made-in-China products because they're considered dangerous to their health. If Chinese people will avoid Chinese products, who but an ignorant person would buy made-in-China?
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I take it your communication device you just posted that from is made in the USA.

I'm pretty sure you aren't worried about hazardous materials in the slightest. If you were you wouldn't jump in your car or truck and suck down the exhaust from the vehicle in front of you.

A real question here now. What hazardous materials can you provide evidence of being in Chinese made knives? I heard doesn't count.
 
bld522 said:
I'm waiting . . .
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For what ? Pictures like this of broken Chinese made knives ? I have lots of those. :D (we had 3 of these Blackjacks for testing and all 3 broke at the same place about 20mm inside the handle). I broke 2 of them personally, one by throwing so that could be seen as abuse, although no other knife has broken from throwing the same way at the same target to date. The other knife was broken chopping bamboo and that is not abuse in any way shape or form. The 3rd knife was broken chopping a 4x4 but I wasn't actually there to see how qucik the failure happened.

I guess we just got 3 lemons, right ?

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Preaching to the choir Haze-

Not that I don't think that China can produce quality..I have seen it..Deal with it daily. Just not in the form of knives.
Vigilance is the word I think.. Materials get swapped all the time. ABS is one that I see most. Looks like ABS,.but I have machined enough ABS to know this crap isn't what was spec'd.
The materials smell different..too much formaldehyde smell and it doesn't machine the same either...much more brittle.

Anyway- my experience is only one small sample and is not meant as a representative indicator of a country as a whole..My biggest beef would be ripping off the designs of others. A conversation that has been had, hashed and will probably continue to be had.
 
Problem I see is, one can show pictures of broken u.s. Knives too, that doesn't mean (all) u.s. Knives are junk, and same can be said about any country manufacturing any product... Yes, china makes cheap crap Knives, but also makes some nice quality ones... And plenty that fall somewhere in between. It's a country with a plethora of manufacturing facilities contracting for a plethora of different companies world wide.
 
Chinese factories definitely can make good blades; whether the company contracting them wants to pay for that level of QC is another matter. The Spyderco economy line (the low-priced slipjoints and the Tenacious family) are very good quality, as are the Byrds. I posted in another thread that I hadn't tried a Sanrenmu, but I forgot I own an H03, which is every bit as good as the Chinese-made Spydercos and Byrds. The Rough Riders I've gotten have all been excellent for the price point. I don't think I've ever gotten a China-made Boker Plus, but I've only had QC issues with one of those knives, which I think is a poor design in itself.

Most Chinese-made Kershaws I've heard about were excellent, although the reviews on Knifecenter seem the most variable on the Chinese-made models. The Cryo and Thermite I have handled looked very solid, with no flaws I could detect. The Schrade line appears to be impressing all manner of people with their sturdiness and low price point, although opinions vary widely on those, too; I've neither handled nor owned any so I can't say for myself, and ditto that for the Ganzo and Enlan lines.

OTOH, I've heard legions of horror stories about the Chinese-made Gerber line, to say nothing of their many recalls, but I had already stopped buying Gerbers long before because I just didn't like their designs. I gave up on CRKTs when they were still being made in Taiwan (usually an excellent source of knife manufacturing, but not in this case).
 
PURPLEDC said:
GrReaper said:
I read up through page 2 and then stopped. +1 with you Haze! Of course, any country's factories could produce quality products, but in the case of mainland China, their products have a well deserved reputation for garbage. It goes beyond quality control problems. There are fraud and deception problems, putting in hazardous materials and impurities into their products. As well as the stealing designs and counterfeiting problems. So it's a trust issue, first and foremost. If you've been burned before multiple times, you'd be stupid to keep getting burned. This is just basic common sense and human nature. So I personally stay away from purchasing anything made in China (People's Republic of China), including knives, whenever possible.
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Problem is those problems are not unique to china. I dont agree that they have a reputation for just garbage. Thats just how you identify with them. Yeah for good reason. Once upon a time they really didnt make great stuff in many cases. But times change. You have chinese products all over your house. The good ones you dont notice are made in china because they havent given you any problems. But they are there and chances are you are really happy with them. Im watching a chinese TV, typing on my chinese laptop and checking out a new batch of knives sent to me from china. Word has it they make some pretty mean food too. If I boycotted every instance of corruption, deception and problematic manufacturing I dont think I would own much of anything. Sure "china" has a reputation. But "china" doesnt make knives. People, as in human beings born and raised in china do. And I dont think they are all bad people. And to be honest David from Reate has shown infinite amounts of patience and understanding of the naysayers. Lets not forget the question of this thread was "can china made produce a good blade" The answer despite all of the other unrelated anecdotes in this thread is a yes. Its a fact.
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Those problems may not be unique to the Peoples' Republic of China, but they are endemic in the People's Republic of China, and that's the point.

Regarding your litany of Chinese products you choose to use, most people's flat screen TVs will likely be Mexican as Mexico is the worlds largest exporter of flat screen TVs. Is the Chinese one you bought a counterfeited copy?
 
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Who here feeds there dog(s) Chinese dog food and Chinese dog treats? What's not to trust?
 
leghog said:
Those problems may not be unique to the Peoples' Republic of China, but they are endemic in the People's Republic of China, and that's the point.

Regarding your litany of Chinese products you choose to use, most people's flat screen TVs will likely be Mexican as Mexico is the worlds largest importer of flat screen TVs. Is the Chinese one you bought a counterfeited copy?
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His example was an homage, I believe.
 
I've been using the hell out of my new Byrd Cara Cara 2 (G-10). Fantastic knife for the price.
 
trevitrace said:
leghog said:
Those problems may not be unique to the Peoples' Republic of China, but they are endemic in the People's Republic of China, and that's the point.

Regarding your litany of Chinese products you choose to use, most people's flat screen TVs will likely be Mexican as Mexico is the worlds largest EXporter of flat screen TVs. Is the Chinese one you bought a counterfeited copy?
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His example was an homage, I believe.
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hahaha. Best laugh thus far today. Thanks.

I inadvertently posted that Mexico is the worlds largest importer of flat screen TVs. Mexico is the worlds largest exporter of flat screen TVs. I corrected that typo.
 
Kind of an incomplete comparison to form a conclusion there Haze.

High end knives as we know them today are very much a western thing, with all established brands coming from Europe and the USA. Sooooo I am not surprised that your Chinese buddies who are into knives covet the sames things that we do. In fact, just like Americans can't get enough of German and Italian cars, the Chinese historically have had a love afair with foreign brands as well. Just like how I always have a bias towards Italian shoes and Swiss watched and overlook what is made here for those items. Taking it further, if they can afford high priced hobby grade western knives, they probably are the same type of Chinese that I know, both born here and China that drive Mercedes Benz, own several businesses, and their wives and themselves own real non counterfeit designer clothes. Yes, I have Asian friends who detest fakes of all kinds also, and they covet the real thing fron BMW's to Sebenzas.
 
Haze, I also have Chinese friends and coworkers that can go on here if needed to denounce counterfeits as they dislike them as much as we do. I can also have them tell you (I know you live/lived in Asia) that China which is a nuclear, space program country (regardless of their policy choices) can build as good a knife as anyone. Twice on Sunday. Years ago they had counterfeit Sebs and the CR subforum was running in circles to even figure out the difference (granted, in pictures). Point being, knives arent rocket science, let's hate and criticize China with facts not ignorance.

I'm sure this is gonna end up in some hidden part of BF. :). I just have a feeling. It's ok. Just count to ten.
 
Haze said:
For what ? Pictures like this of broken Chinese made knives ? I have lots of those. :D (we had 3 of these Blackjacks for testing and all 3 broke at the same place about 20mm inside the handle). I broke 2 of them personally, one by throwing so that could be seen as abuse, although no other knife has broken from throwing the same way at the same target to date. The other knife was broken chopping bamboo and that is not abuse in any way shape or form. The 3rd knife was broken chopping a 4x4 but I wasn't actually there to see how qucik the failure happened.

I guess we just got 3 lemons, right ?

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You're going to have to do better than that, Haze. I can show you pictures of Becker BK-2 Campanions that broke at the same place.

Just out of curiosity, how long ago did you buy those Blackjacks, what model were they, what alloy were they constructed of, what did they sell for at the time, and are they still in production? Reason I ask is because I had a Grunt like this one and it held up very well before I sold it:

https://youtu.be/vS9kKWUsdsU

I can't remember what I paid for it when I bought it several years ago, but it seems to me it was stupid cheap . . . something like $20 or $30 but certainly no more that $50. From a bang-for-the-buck perspective, it was easily one of my better purchases. In fact, it was the knife that got me seriously looking at Chinese knives. Thanks for the memories. :)
 
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leghog said:
Who here feeds there dog(s) Chinese dog food and Chinese dog treats? What's not to trust?
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Are American petfoods immune from recalls? Buahahahah! Far from it.

You think your McDonalds meal and veggies from Walmart is free of pesticides, hormones, and other disease causing junk? Yeah ok.

The crap they are feeding this country is just as bad.
 
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Stays Sharp said:
Are American petfoods immune from recalls? Buahahahah! Far from it.

You think your McDonalds meal and veggies from Walmart is free of pesticides, hormones, and other disease causing junk? Yeah ok.

The crap they are feeding this country is just as bad.
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Such a logical fallacy is known as a false equivalence and a red herring, a not so good attempt at avoiding answering the question asked, so I'll repeat the question for you should you actually care to answer it this time.

Who here feeds their dog(s) Chinese dog food and Chinese dog treats? What's not to trust?
 
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bld522 said:
I couldn't agree with you more. No way would I buy edible knives Made in China. :rolleyes:
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Do you buy any food from China for your own consumption? If not, why not? Certainly you feel you can trust it.


Do you buy any food from China for your pet's consumption? If not, why not? Certainly you feel you can trust it.
 
I don't have a pet. Try again. And this time, think "knives" before you respond. You can do it. I know you can.
 
I can do much better, but to be honest I just don't care enough to argue this point with you any further.

I will answer your questions though. The knives were bought in the summer of 2011, they were about US$18, they were made of stainless steel, I have no idea if you could get the same knives today. The handle was used in a Halloween costume so it was good for something at least. :)

I'm not saying it is impossible to get a useable knife from China but generally the knives are sub par, in my experience (I know you tell us your experience is different). You seem to be happy enough buying them and I have my reasons for not buying them, we will have to just leave it at that.

bld522 said:
You're going to have to do better than that. I can show you pictures of Becker BK-2 Campanions that broke at the same place.

Just out of curiosity, how long ago did you buy those Blackjacks, what alloy were they constructed of, what did they sell for at the time, and are they still in production? Reason I ask is because I had a Grunt like this one and it held up very well before I sold it:

https://youtu.be/vS9kKWUsdsU

I can't remember what I paid for it when I bought it several years ago, but it seems to me it was stupid cheap . . . something like $20 or $30. From a bang-for-the-buck perspective, it was one of my better purchases.
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