"Chinese Tolerance", 2015+. Kizer, Reate, etc.

[The Aflac Duck]

I could care less where my knife was made. I have a few Chinese flippers that were in the $100-250 range and they're all great knives. They were worth what they were priced; gotta factor in that warranty might not be easy when things come from China, and the fact that they probably don't have an established customer-service center.

The 2 Chinese companies I have personally spoken to, and dealt with were Reate and Kevin John (yes, the clone guy). Both seemed to be a "one-man" operation for customer service/warranty.

I contacted Reate and bought from them directly, and they were great to deal with. I asked for custom anodizing on my knife, and they did it. Pretty awesome of them.

I contacted Kevin John after I bought one of those Daboia flippers, due to an ill-fitting steel lockbar insert. The person I spoke to claimed to be "Kevin John" and he shipped me a brand new steel insert from China in about a week. He was concerned about how much I liked the knife, it seems like he wanted some feedback. (Note; I don't condone clones, but the Daboia isn't one, and it's a very cool knife).

Out of the few Chinese flippers I own (Reate, Daboia, Kizer, Carson Lab Tech) I can easily say they were all great knives. I'm not gonna compare them to any usa company because they are very different experiences, however, I can say that they were all worth what was paid.

I have a lot of American knives that are $500+ and while the Chinese knives don't compare to the overall experience of a good usa brand, they definately hold their own when it comes to quality.

 

[PURPLEDC]

It sure is refreshing to see a change in this age old conversation. I dont expect certain people to like chinese knives. But to see some of those who dont even really carr to buy a chinese knife admit they can make a good product is a welcome change to the usual "china sucks" comments.

China can produce anything in whatever quality you want if you are willing to pay for it.

If they can make an iPhone 6 they can make a pocket knife.

at least 5 heads just exploded due to this post. I love it.

As long as it's a quality product I don't care what country it comes from

And another five just went pop! Keep the truth flowing

 

[Sonnydaze]

American consumers have long ago decided they love Chinese and foreign made goods, and knives are certainly no different than anything else. We like Chinese quality for out blenders, baby seats, iPhones and fire extinguishers.
You can buy top quality from anywhere.

Not me, but that's about all you can find to pick from in many categories. We cannot compete with their labor prices. America doesn't try to compete any more...on darned near anything. We are satisfied with inferior stuff, as long as it's cheap.
We went thru this once before with Japan, and now China. China's knives will continue to get better, and more expensive, until some of our home-grown stuff is competitive once more.

 

[RBid]

Thank you for the replies. I'm still reading all of these and trying to remain in a learning mode instead of forming unfounded opinions.

 

[RX-79G]

Not me, but that's about all you can find to pick from in many categories. We cannot compete with their labor prices. America doesn't try to compete any more...on darned near anything. We are satisfied with inferior stuff, as long as it's cheap.
We went thru this once before with Japan, and now China. China's knives will continue to get better, and more expensive, until some of our home-grown stuff is competitive once more.

We can't compete because we have no trade restrictions that matter. You could buy US made examples of most products into the '90s. It isn't just simple labor costs. Germany doesn't have the same problem.

 

[MIKE969]

As long as it's a quality product I don't care what country it comes from

Precisely my opinion as well. As long as it's not counterfeit either (that is, a replica with trademarks and branding on it in an attempt to fool buyers into thinking they're buying the genuine article).

I feel that there is a lot of emotion (read hate and frustration) surrounding products made abroad by foreign companies, specially China.

Domestic makers building products to questionable standards will hopefully increase quality or be taken out, rightfully so.