Reading Wenhongs post ( BEST ALL-AROUND TACTICAL FOLDER) got me thinking about knives in China. My experience with Chinese knives has been limited due to the fact that the ones I run across are usually low quality knock-offs with questionable manufacturing qualities.
A country with the diversity of China surely has the potential to turn out premium knives in addition to other products (looking back at Japan and Korea as two examples of countries that have gone from inferior cheap mass market products to products of choice for many nations and people around the world).
I would think that in the rural areas of China, there are probably people who make very good knives with more traditional methods (forging with regular carbon steels). People and companies in the larger cities should have access to modern steels and heat treat methods and could potentially make knives with the current "super steels".
Considering the standards of living and wages, it certainly looks like a land of opportunity for some entrepreneurial Chinese knife makers and small production companies to make pseudo-custom benchmade knives and improve their standard of living while delivering a very good knife at a price point within reach of people with more modest means who just cant spend several hundred dollars on a custom knife.
What experience do you have with Chinese knives above the super cheap low quality stuff?
Thanks in advance!
Stay Sharp,
Sid
[This message has been edited by Sid Post (edited 11-03-2000).]
A country with the diversity of China surely has the potential to turn out premium knives in addition to other products (looking back at Japan and Korea as two examples of countries that have gone from inferior cheap mass market products to products of choice for many nations and people around the world).
I would think that in the rural areas of China, there are probably people who make very good knives with more traditional methods (forging with regular carbon steels). People and companies in the larger cities should have access to modern steels and heat treat methods and could potentially make knives with the current "super steels".
Considering the standards of living and wages, it certainly looks like a land of opportunity for some entrepreneurial Chinese knife makers and small production companies to make pseudo-custom benchmade knives and improve their standard of living while delivering a very good knife at a price point within reach of people with more modest means who just cant spend several hundred dollars on a custom knife.
What experience do you have with Chinese knives above the super cheap low quality stuff?
Thanks in advance!
Stay Sharp,
Sid
[This message has been edited by Sid Post (edited 11-03-2000).]