Colorado vs Japan/Taiwan/China

I think all countries where Spyderco's are made produce great blades. I have never had a dud. That being said, the F&F on the US-made models is simply less perfect than all other three. I own a Tenacious and a Resilience, and their liners and blade edges are polished to a mirror. The Manix 1 and 2 are rough in comparison. The Manix 1 also has less than perfect rotating action.
I only own 1 Japanese made Spyderco (Police 3 G10) and it is flawless, really immaculate, and it has seen a LOT of use.
The best are the GB and the Vallotton I recently received. Both folders exude a custom-like quality.
The US facility obviously gets the honour of producing the highest-end models (particularly bladesteel-wise), and you'd think that with it would come the duty to produce the best-made ones. They are in my experience faultless in terms of functionality, but not in F&F, in fact, IMHO, they come last.
 
I only have 3 Spydies so far:
Native FRN - USA - Very dull out of the box, some blade play when partially closed, locks up tight though.
Delica FFG - Japan - Sharpest thing I have ever used, no real F&F issues, opening is a bit stiff even after hundreds of cycles
Sage I - Taiwan - Sharp but not as sharp as the Delica, could the the blade thickness. Beautiful piece of art, a couple of holes have little chips but you really have to look close.
 
For some reason I don't expect perfection from Spyderco knives. The fact that a lot are remarkably nice is why I keep buying them. Don't care where they come from as I have a lot of faith in how Sal runs his business.
 
I'll echo the sentiments of many here. I've got just over 50 Spydercos and gotten excellent examples of each and a couple that were just okay. Taiwan is probably the best overall right now, despite some hickups with grit on the recently released Chaparral and a couple reports of broken carraca springs on the Navaja (I think I've only heard of three or four confirmed springs breaking early in the year, but none recently, so it's no epidemic). From Taiwan, I've got a Sage I, Navaja, Chokwe, and CF Cat (factory 2nd). The level of quality is so good that I just ordered a PPT and Sage II (both of which should be here tomorrow). The only downside is lack of steel choices and sprint handles/steels. I'd love to see a PPT with different colored scales and CTS-20CP steel.

I haven't had any problems with my Golden models, but of all the knives I have, they are probably the least polished cosmetically. Functionally, they're perfect. The only real cosmetic "flaw" is the unpolished liners. I don't really care, but thought I'd mention it. Build quality is great and the knives are very solid. Lots of sprints and lots of steel choices makes Golden a great place for alternate versions.

Third on my list would be Japan. Maybe it's because I own more Japan models than any other, and therefore have had more chances to encounter less-than-perfect specimens, but my Caly3 came very gritty and was hard to open (after getting cleaned out no more problems). It was also a bit duller than typical, but I've got a sharpmaker and use it, so no biggie. I've also got a Khukuri that the grinder must have slipped and nicked the tang (not a factory second mark), but I use it and enjoy it and it functions just fine. Despite those two less than stellar examples, I've got a bunch more perfect ones from Japan.

Last would be China. It includes the only defective knife that I had to exchange (a Tenacious), but that was due to it being from the very first batch produced there and the serration pattern wasn't being done correctly. The serration issue was quickly fixed at the factory and my NIB replacement was fine. The only reason I put China last is because of material quality. They are using cheaper materials to reach lower price points and I'm fine with that. For the price, they are fantastic deals. The biggest thing holding them back is lack of high-end steels. Sure, 8Cr13MoV is good, but it's not quite up to the level of what the rest of the Spydie family is using.

I hope that helps give you an idea of quality. Just keep in mind that even the best makers may have a dud or two slip through and that even the worst factory is putting out excellent work. Spyderco stands behind their warranty and if there is a problem from the factory, whichever one it may be, they will fix it.
 
My favorites are the Military, and the Para Military models, never had a bad one yet, then the Sage series next. The knives coming from Taichung are very good quality. I just prefer my Millies, and Para Millies.
 
I'll be honest.
1st: Taiwan
2nd: USA
3rd: Japan

I used to think that Japananese made stuffs are unbeatable in terms of quality, followed by USA. Taiwan made products were rarely heard of. However, all the spyderco knives i own actually shows that Taiwan and USA are of much better quality than Japan. I only rank Tai Chung above Golden because i own more of the knives manufactured there. I used to think that Japan is only slightly behind these 2 countries because of the unfinished and sharp spyderhole.
Recently, i disassembled my superleaf because i felt that it was gritty, which wouldn't go away despite lubricating the pivot. Ok, so i took it apart and found that there are black sticky stuffs that stuck the washers to the blade. And they are not easy to remove. Next, the G-10 scales are glued to the stainless steel liners too. Whether this is true to all superleaf, i do not like it.
 
The Deacon said:
Golden, Japan, and Taiwan have all turned out some excellent knives. They've all turned out some less than excellent ones as well. Best I can say for the ones from China is that they're a good value for their price. In terms of fit and finish, I'd say the ones from Spyderco's maker in Taichung, Taiwan are the most consistently excellent.
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Yup, I'm with Deacon on this one.
 
One thing I like is the different possibilities that each source brings to the table. IIRC, there were interviews about the Navaja that said no one other than the Taiwan team really wanted to tackle the knife. I don't own many spydies, but all have been of the quality/f&f I have expected for the price point and design, regardless of mfg source.
 
The first Spyder I got was a Persistance just to try the brand.It's the only made in China knife I own.I nicked myself and didn't even know it until I felt the blood dripping down my arm.The fit, finish,deployment and lock up was all good.Much better than I expected for a $26 knife.That was about 2 years ago.The other Spyder was just purchased,it's the USA made Para2 and the knife is absolutely perfect!
 
From the many spydies I've owned, I'd say ones from the Colorado plant are most likely to be sharp out the box. I've had too many from seki (mostly vg10 models) which couldn't cut paper. :p However the seki zdp189 models are a completely different story in my experience and the best i've run into as far as sharpness from factory.
 
I have at least a couple of dozen Spydercos. Have never sent one back, and had no complaints about the vast majority. The three for which I do remember being a little disappointed with the finishing, were all (I think) from Golden. A Navigator and a Native which had sections of the edge not properly sharpened. And a sprint run Manix II that had discoloration of the scales and uneven (slightly wavy) jimping. FWIW - won't stop me buying them from any of their production sources.
 
During my Spyderco addiction years I owned over hundred Spydies. I never had any Spydies made in China, so I cannot comment on them. In general I satisfied with Spydercos produced in Golden, Japan, Tauching, and Italy. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. As of today all my EDCs are made in Japan as well as most of my knives made in Japan. Three Spydercos made in Japan went back for warranty evolution and were exchanged. Second largest group are Golden made knives. Most praised. Great fit and finish + pride of ownership, which means a lot for me. Native5, which I got few days ago is outstanding knife. I would love to see this knife with polished g10 or micarta. I owned few Spydercos made in Tauching, still have two of them. These few knives had F&F better than average Spyderco made in Japan or US. Navaja came quite dull with very thick edge, other than that everything is great. The best CF comes from Tauching. But no any pride of ownership for me. :( Also I believe that Taiwanese made Spydercos are too expensive to compare with US made knives. I was quite surprised to see Taiwanese made Chokwe with the same price as Military, or Sage1 with S30V and liner lock only $20 less than Moki made ZDP189 Caly3 with backlock.
I would be more happy to buy US made Spydercos, but do not have problem to buy Spyderco made in Japan or Europe. I have really love the knife made in Taiwan to buy it.
 
bh49 said:
Also I believe that Taiwanese made Spydercos are too expensive to compare with US made knives. I was quite surprised to see Taiwanese made Chokwe with the same price as Military .
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Soooooo... same price for a superior quality is a bad deal?
 
related to price point i'd say all are very close to equal....but in my experience owning about 15 or so spydies from all locations....the ones from golden had the most issues, in fit and finish. none were horrible though.
 
I guess I should add that the FF on the Manix 2 that I ended up with is mint. The grinds are perfect. The one I turned down was awful though. I have never seen such brutal grind lines. Based on most of the posts here Taiwan seems to be the most consistent. Maybe a Sage is in my future.
 
darthsoaker said:
Soooooo... same price for a superior quality is a bad deal?
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I wasn't talking about deals. The topic of this thread is “Colorado vs Japan/Taiwan/China” And this include not only quality. There is personal perception. There are excellent quality knives, which I would never buy, just because I do not like the color of the handle. When we are talking about two equally quality knives, for me, personally, the knife made in US worth more than the knife made in Taiwan.
 
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