Could these Chinese knives really be that good?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Pharmagator said:
I personally REFUSE to purchase a knife from Communist China....
Click to expand...

4mer_FMF said:
PRC, regardless of quality, I’d prefer my knife money go elsewhere. This includes when well respected American (or other nationality) designers decide to have their knives produced there.

ROC (Taiwan), some of my favorite Spydercos are made there.
Click to expand...

Just FYI, do you really know the difference these days? You might be surprised at how many knives made in the PRC are marked Made in Taiwan. The offices and such are in ROC but they are manufactured in PRC where knives can be produced cheaply in one of the many knife factories located there.
 
DrHenley said:
Civivi is probably not what most people think of as a "budget knife." But they are a fantastic value. The one I have (Naja) is made like a Swiss watch, absolutely flawless in fit and finish. Maybe not as much edge retention as I would like, but I carry it every day and use it often.
Click to expand...

"Budget" varies from person to person. Their 9Cr18Mov line is mostly under $50 with the regular Naja costing $42.50. With some dealers offering free shipping and discount codes, I'd say that's in budget territory for a lot of people.

The Naja was my most carried knife of 2019. You are right about the fit and finish. Edge retention on mine has been pretty good. It's definitely better than the 8Cr13Mov or AUS-8 we see in lots of budget knives. It's easily on par with 14C28N I've had. One thing I really like about the Naja is its cutting geometry. The blade stock on mine is 0.117" (just shy of 3mm). Nerve issues make it hard for me to measure thickness behind the edge but it looks to be around .02" or less in most places. It cheers up the chore of cardboard disposal.
 
I won’t buy any made in China knives especially cheap knock offs / copies of USA made brands. There are still some very good USA made brands that are affordable and have a tremendously good warranty.
 
Overall quality of name brand knives made in china from Spyderco to Kizer are pretty outstanding. Even walmarts Ozark Trail $3.78 pocket knives are a bargain for the price. I worked in manufacturing for 20 years and could slowly see the chinese improvements in the industry. If you have time, check out MonoFletch's Damascus Civivi. Really nice blade. Whats really scary though are the counterfeits. I've seen the typical Odd Lot store Benchmade or Emerson rip-offs that are obvious fakes but the Microtech, ZT and other counterfeits coming from places like DHGate are spot on and of good quality. Thats another topic though.
 
A good rule of thumb is stay with the known Chinese brands that have established a decent reputation, if it is too good to be true it usually is. I have found some of the knives fromAG Russell that are made in China to be good quality users. Also have a good Kizer Vanguard.
 
Bestech makes great knives. Their popularity has risen a lot over the last two years and their process have done the same. That being said, if you like small flippers, under 2.5" blades, Bestech is the dominant maker of excellent, well-priced tiny flippers. I have every under 2.5" Bestech except the newest Tulip which I will be buying soon.
 
Well just judging by the responses there are a lot of people divided by this. Some are saying they only buy American, some branch off into other countries such as Taiwan and Japan amongst others and some don't mind a good quality Chinese knife.

Now I know everyone has their reasons to why they do or why they don't buy Chinese knives and that's ok, but I honestly think I'm going to try more Chinese knives from some of the more reputable companies that some have mentioned on this thread. I now believe I'll be more surprised then disappointed.
 
Well my latest knife was from Bulgaria! The rest are Swiss or American.
Oh and German.

I saw a beauty of a Chinese knife on a UK website but cannot find it again; UK legal folder, about £130 (so ~$160), green handle, lovely blue details.
 
I own a lot of knives made in China.

Mainly Kershaws but also some CRKTs, Spydercos (excluding those made in Taiwan) as well as a few others. The 5 Artisan Cutlery knives are the only ones I own that are made entirely by a Chinese owned company. I have no problem with any of these knives.

In fact, I am carrying the newly released Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara 2 Emerson (made in China) that I recently received from Spyderco in my pocket now and I like it just fine.

I should also note that most of the other knives I own are made in the good old USA but some others are made in Italy, Germany, Finland, Japan, Taiwan(as previously mentioned) and perhaps a few other countries that I can't think of at the moment.
 
Last edited:
For me, my knife preferences for countries of origin are, in no particular order:

Switzerland
Japan
USA
Taiwan

I am very aware that knives made in China run the gamut of quality levels, and that some may be of outstanding quality. I simply haven’t seen any that I’m interested in, so I don’t own any, other than a Byrd hawkbill I’ve had for several years that is OK, but I prefer my Japan-made Harpy and Tasman models over the Byrd. It’s because I like the knives themselves better. And now that I’ve become extremely picky from experience and out of necessity, I will NOT be buying any upper-end China-made knives “just to try one out.” But it is nice to know that there are quality knife designs coming out of China that aren’t ripped off designs.

Jim
 
AshesFall said:
Yeah I'm leaning more towards too good to be true tbh. Plus like you said how do people know they're actually getting the advertised steel. I can't remember specific models off hand, but some of the companies names were Eafengrow, Katsu, Albatross and Kubey. Oh and Bastion was another one also.
Click to expand...

Those aren't the Chinese companies you want to look at. Eafengrow in particular seems mostly to be "homages" of other designs.

As others have said, there are a few good ones. Civivi in particular - that's the budget brand from WE Knives. If I had to get a knife for under ~$100, it would absolutely be a Civivi.

Korean Hog said:
Japanese made blades
Click to expand...

I'm curious as to which Japanese brands you're referring to. Spyderco's Japanese models are overpriced and have had quality issues recently - check Nick Shabazz's reviews if you'd like some evidence of that. Mcusta knives are just weird. I guess Fallknivens (the ones made in Japan) are good, but definitely not budget knives.

Pharmagator said:
I am old enough to remember the "Great Leap Forward" (30+ million civilians died for no reason) and I spend my money for knives from ANY other country...
Click to expand...

So it only counts if it was within your lifetime, which is why slavery, the Trail of Tears, etc., no longer matter? Every major country has had their atrocities. Saying you won't buy from someone like Richard Deng (founder of Reate Knives), because of something that some other Chinese people did, is jingoistic nonsense at best.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top