Country of origin

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I have had a couple of decent china knives a tenacious and a kershaw/Emerson colab they are gone now but i have a pm2 a cqc7 and roadhouse so I guess it is good marketing
 
I preference USA or Europe, but I've had plenty of nice knives from all over and plenty of garbage from all over.
 
I generally will not buy knives made in China if I can help it. There have been some Chinese knives made by Kershaw that I've purchased, because I trust Kershaw to take care of me if there are any issues. China is the only country I have an issue with, because I believe that their longterm goal is to destroy us economically. That's my belief, and I spend my dollars on American made when given the opportunity. I do not have any issues with products from other countries (except for China), and will say that Taiwan Spydercos dominate their Golden products in my opinion.

For many things, there are few choices other than buying an imported product. But knives? With knives there's always a choice. :thumbup:
 
I prefer my Taiwan made Spyderco knives. Very very good fit and finish. Spyderco sends the materials over there so the steel is the same as you'd get from the US models.

For traditionals I prefer US made but I do love SAKs and I enjoy Rough Riders for the quality at a low price point.
 
For most of us knowledgeable BFers we can recognize a decent knife regardless of country of origin by design and materials used.
But what percentage of the population do we represent? Not much, and when I pull a knife from my pocket and someone asks to see it, which happens more often than not, I don't want to explain to them the reasoning for the Taichung Taiwan emblazoned on the blade anymore. I got tired of explaining. That and the recent offerings from that locale have exceeded what I want to pay not to have USA etched somewhere.
The excuse that a knife can't be made in the US at the same quality for the price it's being turned out for offshore is getting tired. The tech is here, develop it.
 
I'll support great knife makers wherever they happen to be, whether it's the US, China, under the ocean, or on the moon.
 
K.O.D. said:
I've had knives from all over this planet. I have had garbage knives from the US an excellent knives from China, and vice versa. As with all consumer products, I try not to be brand loyal...
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LX_Emergency said:
I care about who makes it, not where it's made.
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nick21 said:
I couldn't care less. Quality is what matters.
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These three things best sum up my feelings ,I have a Pakistani Electrician's knife with a level built in for setting up PDBs and disconnects. It's basically a large TL29 with a lock back screwdriver and a really nice notch for stripping wire.

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Goosey said:
I don't really care where it's from as long as the quality is there.

I'm not going to only purchase knives that say "made in Canada" because that's silly and I'd end up with a pretty small collection.
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That's really not true at all; there's a lot of really awesome Canadian custom knife makers and at least one well known "manufacturer" LOL! :thumbup: ;):p:D
 
Barman1 said:
For most of us knowledgeable BFers we can recognize a decent knife regardless of country of origin by design and materials used.
But what percentage of the population do we represent? Not much, and when I pull a knife from my pocket and someone asks to see it, which happens more often than not, I don't want to explain to them the reasoning for the Taichung Taiwan emblazoned on the blade anymore. I got tired of explaining. That and the recent offerings from that locale have exceeded what I want to pay not to have USA etched somewhere.
The excuse that a knife can't be made in the US at the same quality for the price it's being turned out for offshore is getting tired. The tech is here, develop it.
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That's interesting. I rarely pull my knife out of my pocket in front of people and when I do, I've never had anyone comment on where the knife was made. They're generally more interested in the knife itself than in the blade etchings. And my experience is that knives aren't being made in the US at the same quality for the prices they're being turned out for offshore. But hey, I'm always open to reason. Just give me a list of US manufacturers that are producing the kind of high-quality knives I want to buy for the prices I'm paying for them offshore and I'll definitely check them out. :)
 
Quality is my foremost consideration, regardless of country of origin. For example, I believe Spyderco's Taiwan made knives are their best made offerings. All of my experience with them has been outstanding, with better build quality and F&F than their other blades. Including U.S. Made offerings. YMMV. I have blades from many other countries which are also outstanding.

That being said, if there is a choice, as in the same or similar product made elsewhere, I prefer not to buy products made in China. That is only due to my own personal outlook on socio/political/economic issues (those things do matter to me), and not a statement on quality.
 
I love my USA made knives, but I decided I would really be missing out on some amazing blades if I went down that road. For production knives, Spyderco's Taichung line is very hard to beat as far as quality. Also, higher end Böker knives made in Germany are some of my favorites.
 
I read once that part of the reason knives coming out of Taiwan and China are as good as they are is because the machinery they use to produce them is newer than the machinery we use. It's really an infrastructure issue. Then add the delta in labor costs and it's no wonder that a company like Kizer Cutlery can produce high-quality knives at price points that put US knife prices to shame. If the US wants to keep up, the first thing US manufacturers may need to do is invest in new machinery. If they do that, of course, they'll have to raise the prices of their products to compensate. And I believe that's what's called burning the candle at both ends. Higher labor costs plus infrastructure investment doesn't look like a winning combination for US knife manufacturers . . . at least it doesn't look like it to me.
 
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I do have preferences, but to me quality is more important than country of manufacture. And I'm aware that many good knives are manufactured in China, but I generally avoid them (a couple exceptions, including a Byrd hawksbill). I mainly prefer knives made in the U.S., Switzerland, and Japan. Currently, my most-used knives were made in Switzerland and Japan. That may be altered once I get a small CRK Insingo.
But again, it depends on the knife. I've owned name-brand knives made in the U.S., Ireland, etc., that were terrible in regards to materials, F/F, function, etc. I would buy a Taiwan-made Spyderco in a heartbeat, if they were designs I was interested in. My Taiwan-made Cold Steel Code 4 spear point folder is amazingly well-built.

Knives are made by people who work in manufacturing plants in various countries, not by countries. So it's silly to say that "China makes knives", etc.

I'm also a bit amused at how so many people still lump Taiwan together with Mainland China, as if they're one monolithic entity. They're not; I lived in Taiwan for the better part of a decade.
 
I'm interested in knife designs and don't particularly care where one comes from. That said, I like to "follow the flag," meaning that traditional American/UK designs are best made by American or UK manufacturers.

China can make excellent knives, provided the company commissioning them pays for the quality and stays on top of quality control. Buck's China-made knives are an example. I also like the Chinese knife designs that come from SanRenMu, a Chinese knife company.
 
The USA has a reputation for quality cutlery, so does Germany. There are older Sheffield England made knives. A large part of the hobby for me is older knives.

That being said, I've bought plenty of good budget knives directly from China. One bad thing about them is not being sure what is being represented is what is being sold. The steel in the commonly bought China knives is perfectly decent, but if it's marked "440C" you can't be sure it really is 440C.
 
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