- Joined
- Apr 4, 2007
- Messages
- 8,578
So I got interested in taichung spydercos and their proud (rightfully so) defense for using Joti development to make many of its knives and I started doing some research on the company and found their site. When you go here,
http://www.jotitech.com/handle.htm
You will find pictures of some knife handles that look strikingly similar (identical) to USA made buck knives. So my question is, is it normal for companies to make "made in USA" knives from parts rough machined from foreign countries? I know in the Swiss watch industry to have a watch be able to be named "Swiss made" it has to have 50% Swiss parts by value and the watch's movement needs to be finally assembled and cased in Switzerland to get the Swiss made label. This of course means that Swiss watches can be primarily made of 90% Chinese parts since the cost of Swiss made parts is considerably more money than that of those made in china. And really it makes sense. If people think they are getting a 100% Swiss made item for $400 their are mad. So do knife companies follow this same way of using loop holes to claim USA made?
I ask this question not so stir controversy but to get a better understanding of how it works. I was very surprised to see parts being made in Taiwan for knives that are advertized as USA. I honestly dont care where a knife is made anymore and I base it on quality Vs price. But I cant help but think that there are many people out there who actively and aggressively seek out USA made products only and might have either a change of heart or a change of brands if they found out that their "USA MADE" knife was for the most part only assembled and finished here. I have seen this type of manufacturing loop holes used for many of my other hobbies including guitars and amps. But with knives you have guys who buy a USA made knife because they want to support USA manufacturing jobs. Some of them wont even touch a foriegn made knife and may unknowingly be buying them anyway. Of course the pics could be of clones. But they arent terribly expensive USA made knives to begin with so it may not be worth making clones. And it may very well explain why they cost as little as they do. What do you all think?
http://www.jotitech.com/handle.htm
You will find pictures of some knife handles that look strikingly similar (identical) to USA made buck knives. So my question is, is it normal for companies to make "made in USA" knives from parts rough machined from foreign countries? I know in the Swiss watch industry to have a watch be able to be named "Swiss made" it has to have 50% Swiss parts by value and the watch's movement needs to be finally assembled and cased in Switzerland to get the Swiss made label. This of course means that Swiss watches can be primarily made of 90% Chinese parts since the cost of Swiss made parts is considerably more money than that of those made in china. And really it makes sense. If people think they are getting a 100% Swiss made item for $400 their are mad. So do knife companies follow this same way of using loop holes to claim USA made?
I ask this question not so stir controversy but to get a better understanding of how it works. I was very surprised to see parts being made in Taiwan for knives that are advertized as USA. I honestly dont care where a knife is made anymore and I base it on quality Vs price. But I cant help but think that there are many people out there who actively and aggressively seek out USA made products only and might have either a change of heart or a change of brands if they found out that their "USA MADE" knife was for the most part only assembled and finished here. I have seen this type of manufacturing loop holes used for many of my other hobbies including guitars and amps. But with knives you have guys who buy a USA made knife because they want to support USA manufacturing jobs. Some of them wont even touch a foriegn made knife and may unknowingly be buying them anyway. Of course the pics could be of clones. But they arent terribly expensive USA made knives to begin with so it may not be worth making clones. And it may very well explain why they cost as little as they do. What do you all think?
