Chinese knives...am I xenophobic?

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Vonderek

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I will admit it...I have a serious bias against Chinese products. Not only from a political standpoint but also from personal experience. Whether it be from shoes to clothing or electronics, it seems that anything I have bought that was made in China is cheaply made and fails after a few uses. I would rather pay more for a quality product that lasts than a Chinese product that I have to replace in short order. Which brings me to knives...I am on the email list of numerous internet knife merchants. Whenever I see a product that I am interested in, if it is made in China I automatically exclude it and move on. Am I missing out on some quality cutlery?
 
Yes you are, there are many spydercos made in China that are worth it, and brands like Kizer (love them) and Reate wich I find on par or above with strider, hinderer, zt
 
Short answer? Yeah, you are.

Edit: To clarify, you are missing out on quality cutlery, I'm not quite judgey enough to call you xenophobic. ;)
 
Vonderek said:
I will admit it...I have a serious bias against Chinese products. Not only from a political standpoint but also from personal experience. Whether it be from shoes to clothing or electronics, it seems that anything I have bought that was made in China is cheaply made and fails after a few uses. I would rather pay more for a quality product that lasts than a Chinese product that I have to replace in short order. Which brings me to knives...I am on the email list of numerous internet knife merchants. Whenever I see a product that I am interested in, if it is made in China I automatically exclude it and move on. Am I missing out on some quality cutlery?
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Anything you bought, made in China? You say that while typing away on no doubt a communication device made in China. A bit ironic isn't it ?
 
I think the Taiwan made knives are of slightly better quality. I just ordered a Lightning OTF. Heard some good things about it over in the auto forum.
I heard the Spydercos are actually Taiwan made *head scratch*
 
socalknifecollector said:
I think the Taiwan made knives are of slightly better quality. I just ordered a Lightning OTF. Heard some good things about it over in the auto forum.
I heard the Spydercos are actually Taiwan made *head scratch*
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Taiwan and mainland China are very different places. I lived in Taiwan for nearly a decade. And Spydercos are made in the US, Taiwan, Japan, and Italy. Their Byrd series and some others are made in China.

Jim
 
you are gonna love the lightning, I paired it with my Microtech Scarab, and its great, over 300 open and close with no misfire, its great knife
 
It depends on if it's a low quality item being made in China, or a high quality item being made in China.
There no reason why Chinese people would be inherently bad at making quality products. It's just that America is so addicted to cheap, crappy consumer goods, that tends to be the majority of what they make for us.

You're going to need to dig a little deeper than the "Made in _____" label on a product to know whether it's high quality or low quality.
You have access to the internet, so take like 10-15 mins and do a little research.
You won't find very many negative reviews of most of the offerings from Kizer and Reate and even some of the more recent Chinese companies like WE.

China has figured out that a lot of guys in America are willing to pay $200-$400 for a high quality folder, and so they are responding to that demand.
You owe it to yourself to give some of these brands a shot. If you don't like it, or don't see the value, you can always sell it here.
And try to remember, these companies are run by regular guys making knives. It's not their fault the Chinese government sucks, so why punish them for it?
 
Anything he buys made in China fails after a few uses. Yeah right, try to buy shoes, electronics not made in China. I heard the same thing out of a sporting goods clerk years ago. While he stood there wearing shoes and a baseball cap made in China. When I and another customer pointed that out, he was speechless. If you don't want to buy knives made there you can, but it's utterly impossible to not buy many items made there. So, why come off like you really don't buy everyday items made there?
 
I remember when products made in Korea were junk. My parents will tell you while they were growing up "Made In Japan" meant cheaply made garbage. Political belief aside, China is really starting to put out some decent quality products in recent years. All that being said, I still avoid buying chinese made products when I can. Xenophobia? Nah. I just don't like to promote criminal activity (i.e. Ganzo, Enlan, etc.)
 
I don't get these threads. It's this simple: You get the quality the company paid for and designed. If it's bad quality, it's because of the company's shortcomings, the ability to design products for manufacture and to choose a subcontractor, and to manage the process. The often cited example of the iPhone is a good one.

It's brain-dead to be anti-China for quality reasons. The product will have as much or as little quality as the company pays for and designs and manages for. In general, if you're getting a poorly made product it's because you're buying from the wrong company, and often from these threads it seems people are too cheap to buy from the right company, but they then complain about the quality.

Political reasons - that's a separate discussion.
 
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If you get bit by your neighbor's crappy little chihuahua over and over does it make you "chihuahuaphobic" to not be nice to the little f**ker anymore? The contemporary mode of communication which labels everybody "phobic" everytime they do not like something needs to hurry up and pass.

To answer your question, no, I doubt you are scared. You are basing your decisions on past experiences. Same as children who get burned touching a hot stovetop learn to not touch a hot stovetop anymore. By necessity, we must purchase things made there. I doubt many people who follow politics are stoked about it.
 
I have been avoiding Chinese knives. However, Spydercos made in Taichung, Taiwan are known to be of great quality.
 
jill jackson said:
If you don't want to buy knives made there you can, but it's utterly impossible to not buy many items made there. So, why come off like you really don't buy everyday items made there?
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Selective xenophobia. "I buy everything American... except my phone, computer, TV, shirt, pants, shoes, toys, etc."

I try and buy American made products when i can, but I also have no qualms about buying a Chinese made product.
 
China made Spyderco/Byrd and Real Steel are both very good quality as are some Kershaw products (Cryo and Emerson models for example). In fact I can say they are better than some moderately priced US made knives I've purchased in the quality of construction, fit, and finish.

My main users are still US made, but if I see a knife I like for a good price then where it comes from is generally not a issue for me.
 
Sonnydaze said:
I have been avoiding Chinese knives. However, Spydercos made in Taichung, Taiwan are known to be of great quality.
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I don't avoid country. I avoid company. Any company can produce anything of quality in any country they choose. The issue is if the company wants quality. Spyderco is a perfect example. Their Taichung stuff is amazing. Better F/F wise than their US stuff. Price shows it. No free lunch. Their is value to be had but foreign made does not mean bad anymore as far as knives are concerned.

I'd welcome a person who posts here to share their device that in some way was not directly related to Chinese production.
 
I struggle with this constantly. I like to support US business, since I live here, but use and buy stuff from all over the globe. For me, I think because I have options, that most knives I buy are US made. That said I also buy Swiss, German, Japanese, French, etc. I do the same with hand tools. I KNOW I am missing out on good knives... My thinking makes no sense, even to me!
Bruce
 
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