Do your morals have any impact on your knife purchases?

I think your taking this off topic, if you disagree that this is a moral issue that's fine. You voiced your opinion now please stop clouding up the thread with examples that have nothing to do with knives or the OP. I do think making a choice on whether to support a dishonest shady company or maker is a moral issue choice everyone has.
Rey HRH said:
Now that I understand the root issue, allow me to challenge the premise of the original question. People are mistaken if they think it is their sense of morality that is dictating their decision to not buy from a "dishonest" knife maker. Or at least you're not consistent in letting your sense of morality rule your consumerism. I would hazard to guess that most here would say it is immoral to treat women as property, not give them freedom to vote, or even drive cars. If you agree and are of the mind to not buy products from people who would do such things, then you would not buy gasoline as most of it comes from the middle east where women indeed are treated as property, not allowed to vote, or even drive cars (except for a few countries and recent events). Okay, so you have no choice when it comes to gasoline, I suppose it means your morals dictate your purchases only when you are able to do so or when it's convenient.

I would suggest that it really isn't about morality at play here but the product itself. You bought yourself a painting that you thought came from an artist with extensive training and experience who spent a decade contemplating the universe in a monastery and gains his inspiration from long treks into nature. Then you find out it's only a dog dragging his butt across a canvass. It's still the same painting but it's all a lie. It's not the product you thought you were buying. It doesn't have the same provenance.

If I bought such a product, I would feed defrauded also and I would not buy the product. Finding out that the knife "designed for special ops" was actually inspired by a prison shiv makes a world of difference with regards to the product. But it's about the product, not about morals -- people just do not want to feel ripped off and defrauded.
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Please don't name companies as I'm trying to keep this thread from becoming a bash thread.

I agree with some of your points but please no company call outs.
J85909266 said:
Yes, they do.

I will not buy from Strider due to their lies.

I will not buy from BM because of their misconduct with Spyderco regarding the trademarked hole.

I will not buy from Kershaw/ZT because of the unacceptable attitude of their loudest representative and his massive negative effect on the knife community.

I will not buy from Hinderer because of his sales practices.

I will not buy anything Chinese because of what it represents.

Knives are special to me. I do not look at most products this way, but knives are a window into my soul. My knives are bought with love, and so I must be at peace with their origins.
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Kind sir, these off topic posts do the thread no good. Please refrain from going too far off on your examples or what have you.
RedLynx said:
I tend to agree with you in that this really isn't a moral issue as much as some seem to think it is. However, re the gasoline example, it begs the question of whether we are, in fact, compromising ourselves for the sake of convenience. In countries like the U.S., that do not have a very well-developed public transport system, many people need to purchase gasoline for their personal vehicles, if for no other reason that to get to and from their place of employment to put food on their tables. It could be argued we aren't doing that for the sake of convenience, but pure necessity. I'd actually prefer the U.S. had better public transportation so that, as in many other countries, driving and owning a personal vehicle would not be a necessity. But, it is what it is. And what it is, is necessity. I suppose you could limit yourself to jobs that are only within walking or biking distance, but the job market in your area may not allow for that.
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Agreed, thanks for the post
lambertiana said:
I will not buy a knife from a company that engages in shady practices or is owned or run by someone who has a shady background or current life. Period. There are too many good companies run by upstanding people to even think about supporting those on the dark side.
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No brands, no examples. Tip toe around the periphery of the issues. Pointless thread. That's all I have to say about that.
 
Rey HRH said:
I would suggest that it really isn't about morality at play here but the product itself. You bought yourself a painting that you thought came from an artist with extensive training and experience who spent a decade contemplating the universe in a monastery and gains his inspiration from long treks into nature. Then you find out it's only a dog dragging his butt across a canvass. It's still the same painting but it's all a lie. It's not the product you thought you were buying. It doesn't have the same provenance.
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quote of the day for me. :thumbup:
 
Well I guess you won't be posting in it again then..

Can't make everyone happy, if people start naming companies others complain of bashing.

Keep people from naming companies and you complain tip toeing.

You don't have to click on this thread.
GronK said:
No brands, no examples. Tip toe around the periphery of the issues. Pointless thread. That's all I have to say about that.
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shinyedges said:
I think your taking this off topic,
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I apologize; I can be quite dense at times. I was insensitive to the protocols of this discussion thread. I would like to get back on track.

I am a person of moral standards and, as such, I will not buy a knife from a company that engages in shady practices or is owned or run by someone who has a shady background or current life.

There you go. And you can rest assured that this will be my last post in this thread.
 
Made in hell by the devil ? Yeah, I'd probably buy a knife if the price was right.

Made by some of the oddballs in the industry ? My experience is they usually don't have what I'm interested in.
 
Rey HRH said:
Now that I understand the root issue, allow me to challenge the premise of the original question. People are mistaken if they think it is their sense of morality that is dictating their decision to not buy from a "dishonest" knife maker. Or at least you're not consistent in letting your sense of morality rule your consumerism. I would hazard to guess that most here would say it is immoral to treat women as property, not give them freedom to vote, or even drive cars. If you agree and are of the mind to not buy products from people who would do such things, then you would not buy gasoline as most of it comes from the middle east where women indeed are treated as property, not allowed to vote, or even drive cars (except for a few countries and recent events). Okay, so you have no choice when it comes to gasoline, I suppose it means your morals dictate your purchases only when you are able to do so or when it's convenient.
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Not quite. I hear similar often in discussions of morality vs purchases of specific products. Such broad based statements are easily researched. Your assertion is a common misconception and totally dependent on where you live. In the USA nearly 40% of domestic oil needs are met by domestic product. A significant portion of the rest is met by Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela.


And to the OP, if you want this discussion laser focused and not to bring in larger points of morals vs purchases you need to facilitate that with more than just lamenting certain points being off topic. It seems you want to zero in on something specific and knife company/knife maker related, and if that's the case you need to just put it out there, otherwise expect others to discuss lager issues within morals vs purchases.


Bottom line: most people buy what they want without bothering to research the morality of the company or maker which is perfectly fine.
 
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No, if I like a design I'll buy it. That said I'm not in on any knowledge of knife brand malpractises. I guess if I found out some Taiwanese kid was being locked in a room to assemble my knife I probably wouldn't purchase it.
 
Rey HRH said:
I would hazard to guess that most here would say it is immoral to treat women as property, not give them freedom to vote, or even drive cars. If you agree and are of the mind to not buy products from people who would do such things, then you would not buy gasoline as most of it comes from the middle east where women indeed are treated as property, not allowed to vote, or even drive cars (except for a few countries and recent events). Okay, so you have no choice when it comes to gasoline, I suppose it means your morals dictate your purchases only when you are able to do so or when it's convenient.
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It just shows to go there are many factors in play. There's the level of need or want for the product as well as the rest of the variables.

How much more would you pay to get it elsewhere? Can you get it elsewhere easily? How much money do you have? Do you need it or want it? What's the "level of immorality"? Does this immorality affect others? How much? Is poor little Tiny Tim sitting in front of the fireplace needing that crutch?

It really feels as if the responses are being guided into predetermined niches. I feel like I'm watching Oprah.

leghog said:
And to the OP, if you want this discussion laser focused and not to bring in larger points of morals vs purchases you need to facilitate that with more than just lamenting certain points being off topic. It seems you want to zero in on something specific and knife company/knife maker related, and if that's the case you need to just put it out there, otherwise expect others to discuss lager issues within morals vs purchases.
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Nicely put there.
 
I wont buy from makers that I don't like. No matter how nice their knives are. For that reason there are a lot of makers that will never see any money from me simply because of the way they treated me or others.

There are plenty of makers out there who make excellent stuff whom I like. Too many to waste time and money on the ones I don't like.
 
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