Country of Origin; does it matter to you?

goodeyesniper said:
I'm a human first, American second. I prefer my knives to be made on planet earth, which is why I usually buy spyderco. I know of no other maker who clearly states when a knife is built on planet earth. The last thing I want is to support "USA, Mars"... If you thought a red STATE was bad, how about the whole damn planet being red.
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You, sir, just made my day.
 
RedLynx said:
I'm pretty open-minded in this regard as well. I do not own any custom knives from any country... can you recommend some SA makers that I can take a look at?
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I can recommend American.
Here are my personal favourites :
1) Alton D'Holder
2) Jack Crain
3) Robert Parrish ( if he still makes knives)
4) Vaugn Neeley
South AFRICAN? : I am afraid.my experience is only limited to Chris Re eves.
Oh ! I forgot 1 more American name : Gil Hibben.
And Maybe Michael Walker
 
Frankly yes it does. I would much rather have an American made product if I can get it. If I can not then it really does not matter to me which country its made in.
 
carbonsteelfan said:
I can recommend American.
Here are my personal favourites :
1) Alton D'Holder
2) Jack Crain
3) Robert Parrish ( if he still makes knives)
4) Vaugn Neeley
South AFRICAN? : I am afraid.my experience is only limited to Chris Re eves.
Oh ! I forgot 1 more American name : Gil Hibben.
And Maybe Michael Walker
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Interesting, thanks for those recs, I'll check some out.
 
Country of origin matters very much to me. I will always buy American-made products first because I want to support my country and my fellow countrymen. Plus, I find that in most instances American craftsmanship and quality control tend to be superlative. That said, I love knives--knives of all sorts--so I own knives from many different countries. But I stridently endeavor to never buy knives from countries that I believe pose a threat to my country, her ideals, or her citizens.

-Steve
 
I only own one Chinese made knife, a Kershaw Camp 10. The remainder are U.S. or Italian made. Finances were the main reason for the Camp 10 decision, and i am sorry I made this decision at the time. I have nothing negative to say about the knife. I just have changed what I am looking for in the knives that I buy. Supporting U.S. manufacturing is important to me, and there are plenty of choices to do this. No longer am I looking to fill niches in my collection as economically as possible. However, for those that do so because they want to, or have to, I completely understand and respect their decision. There are examples of quality made products from China made by a number of manufacturers sold at reasonable prices. I just choose not to buy these any more.
 
Scurvy092 said:
Yes. Knives are a rare instance of where we have a real choice. People like to say 'oh, you hate Chinese knives, better not look where your TV is from'.

I know my TV is Chinese. I can't buy a tv made anywhere else, I have no choice.

I prefer to use that available choice.
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Agree 1000 percent. No China crap for me
 
Interesting question; I prefer to buy American knives and most of my knives are American made but I do have Japanese knives and a Spyderco Salsa from Taiwan. I will not say that I will never buy a knife from China but I deem it unlikely. There are too many other knives that I like that are not made in China.
 
I usually try to stay towards USA made knives just to support my country. When I buy a Spyderco, I prefer US blades because the hole is slightly chamfered, meaning it's not as sharp on your finger or thumb when opening. The jimping is usually sharper as well.
 
mmarkh said:
Agree 1000 percent. No China crap for me
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Interesting how the guy you quoted and agreed with made a really good point, which you followed up with mindless xenophobia.

You essentially just agreed that the Chinese can make perfectly fine, multi thousand dollar, high tech electronics, but any slab of sharpened steel sandwiched between a couple handle scales is "China crap"?? Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
 
I've thought some more about this.

A lot of people love buying from what they consider to be "their" people, which is only natural. However; IMO this is sort of counter-productive. America became the industrial powerhouse of the world not due to a robust internal market but due to outstanding quality and value. When my father was wee (1950s) "Made in USA" meant fresh, grand and world-beating. Also, it cost slightly less than "Made in [Old Europe]". But somewhere along the line several things happened. Not so much that American good became worse but rather that the rest of the world caught up.

America is the third country to benefit massively from a world economy. Before the US it was the UK and before that it was...China.

Nu, this is coming from a historian, so pardon the tangent. But once upon a time "we" in the west were the knock-off producers. Porcelain is called "China" in English due to Anglo-Saxon producers making cheap knock-off porcelain and marking it as "China", thus parasitising on an Eastern "brand". Sound familiar?

Today, IMO, the best consumer-grade porcelain is made by Villeroy & Boch in Northern Europe. Some of the best knives are made in the US and some others in Europe, Taiwan, Japan. One day I foresee knifemaking going full porcelain, no reason to suspect it won't. I, for one, look forwards to genuine Chinese designs made by genuinely Chinese companies. They are getting there and for me as a user, much like previous generations and tableware, this can only be a good thing.
 
carbonsteelfan said:
I can recommend American.
Here are my personal favourites :
1) Alton D'Holder
2) Jack Crain
3) Robert Parrish ( if he still makes knives)
4) Vaugn Neeley
South AFRICAN? : I am afraid.my experience is only limited to Chris Re eves.
Oh ! I forgot 1 more American name : Gil Hibben.
And Maybe Michael Walker
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If you'll do a search of these forums on Jack Crain you may want to reconsider putting him on your list. Here's a few links to get you started.

http://bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348522

http://bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=347480

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/348522-Need-Jack-Crain-Info-FAST!!
 
Yes. Very much so. I have passed up on many spyderco knives just because of the fact that they are not made in the USA.
 
If the quality is good, better than average and I know the higher ups care about quality control, then no it does not matter where they are from. I do however think it is important to support local USA makers or companies and I do try to look for that first to see what they've to offer. Shop local, and it can be fun to check out what makers and companies are near by.
 
Not so much. I am a knife enthusiast. I like knives of all shapes/sizes/colors. Why should I deny myself a quality knife that I particularly like just because it's made in a particular country? As long as a knife is made with good quality and decent materials I'll buy it if I like it. USA, Japan, Italy, France, China, Russia, whatever. The only countries in particular that I don't think I would buy from would be India or Pakistan. Not that there aren't fine knives made over there, I'm sure there are, but I don't know enough about them to choose between them.

There are crap knives made all over the world, even in the USA. Be pickier about the knife you're buying than the country it was produced in.
 
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