Country of Origin

[stabman]

People talk about country of origin of knives, and I get it.
I like that my Grohmann $4 was made in Canada. I feel the money I paid for certain knives made in the USA was more justified due to cost of labour, land taxes, other taxes, energy rates, etc.

Some folks have varying ideas of when it counts though...

I live in Canada.

The knife was designed in Canada (by me...initial concept sketch):

Made in Canada by me:

But the steel, while bought in Canada, is USA made steel:

 

[stabman]

But the heat treat was done in Canada by McLearie & Sons Heat Treating Ltd.

However, the G-10, handle hardware, and Kydex (and belt clip) are from the USA...
But all USA materials were extensively worked in Canada to make the final product...

So I'd call this a 100% Canadian Knife, made by a 100% Canadian, 100% in Canada.
A couple of people I've talked to would call it 80% due to "Foreign Materials" and the foreign screws/fasteners, despite the fastener tubes and screws being cut here...

Thoughts?

 

[jbmonkey]

it's 100% North American continent made.....

 

[stabman]

ita 100% North American continent made.....

Works for me.

 

[jbmonkey]

Works for me.

makes it easier...can have Mexico in there too.....

 

[stabman]

makes it easier...can have Mexico in there too.....

I do have some stainless steel machine screws from Mexico...with "North American Made" as the category, they can be used too.

I actually did get a Mexican made axe a couple months ago at the hardware store.
It convinced me to buy it; I wasn't in the market for an axe, but I saw it as I was at the hardware store.
I saw the axe and was like "Bet it's made in China, or 'Assembled in Canada.'"
But then I saw the "Made in Mexico" sticker, and thought "I need that!"

So yeah, I guess I do like North American continent better.

South American can be cool too...I like the machetes and large knives out of El Salvador.

 

[Fixall]

I know it’s not the legal definition, but I’ve always been of the mind that where the blade is made, designates where the knife is made. I mean it is a cutting instrument after all. Ergonomics are important, but the blade is the heart and soul in my opinion.

So if the blade was cut, ground, and heat treated in Canada, I’d consider it a Canadian knife. I couldn’t care less where the steel, g10, screws, adhesive were sourced from. If the handle has contour work (like shaped g10 or Micarta), I’d prefer the shaping to done in the same country as the blade, but it’s not a huge deal to me either way.

I would pay a small premium for a knife with parts all sourced from a single country, simply because I think it’s kind of cool and uncommon. I really like that Buck produces most of their screws in house for instance.

 

[rctic]

Nicely done Stabman

 

[stabman]

I know it’s not the legal definition, but I’ve always been of the mind that where the blade is made, designates where the knife is made. I mean it is a cutting instrument after all. Ergonomics are important, but the blade is the heart and soul in my opinion.

So if the blade was cut, ground, and heat treated in Canada, I’d consider it a Canadian knife. I couldn’t care less where the steel, g10, screws, adhesive were sourced from. If the handle has contour work (like shaped g10 or Micarta), I’d prefer the shaping to done in the same country as the blade, but it’s not a huge deal to me either way.

I would pay a small premium for a knife with parts all sourced from a single country, simply because I think it’s kind of cool and uncommon. I really like that Buck produces most of their screws in house for instance.

Interesting.

I guess I have a bit of that thinking too...
I have a knife where the blade in made in Denmark. But then a USA person living in the United States put a new handle on it, using some of the original handle parts in the new handle.
I think of it as a Danish knife.