Does this bother anyone else?

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polebridge

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I will not mention the supplier but I have been getting their knife catalog for years now. I have notice a trend that is bugging me a bit. More and more (and the percentage seems to keep climbing with each new catalog) of the knives are being made in China. Less and less in the USA.

Does this bother anyone else or am I just suffering from jingoism?
 
You should not really bother about knives. It is everything else what is the problem...
 
I feel the same way. Id like to be able to buy all my products from the USA but its not going to happen. Just think of it as supporting the american way.... making the most money you can.
 
When you buy "Made in China", don't forget that it is Americans who are doing the importing, distribution, selling and shipping of the products. For ever $1 you pay for a China product, only about 1/3 stays in China, the remaining 2/3 of every dollar stays in the USA.

Hopefully that helps.
 
Do a bit of searching and you will find numerous and LONG discussion threads here on the subject.

Short answer, it does bother quite a few folks, and doesn't bother a lot of others.

It's a complex issue and a frequently volatile one for some who have very strong opinions for a variety of perfectly valid reasons.
 
Alann45 said:
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Short answer, it does bother quite a few folks, and doesn't bother a lot of others.
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Click to expand...
It is like the matter of personal debt - some get concerned when others are not even bothered...
But that is probably too big and volatile issue to try to tackle here - you are right.
 
Chunk the catalog and buy handmade knives from u s makers.Actually,yes it bothers me a bit,but i still like a lot of the cheap China knives.Be thankful we have the USA companies we do.Go to Wally and try to buy a shirt usa made.The knife industry is actually healthier than many thanks to knuts like us.
 
only if the quality goes down and the price to quality doesn't match what your paying. other than that it's a nonissue, to me anyways. others think differently and that's fine, but it's not going away and getting uspet over it to me is a waste of time and energy....or an excercise in futility.

good news is that vendor lets you know what comes from where so you can make an informed choice, and plenty of solid american made production and custom knife makers in the good old usa to support.....choices aint' a bad thing, imho.
 
Custom handmade knives made by a person you know and trust...it is the only way to be sure;)
 
It bothers me some too. Mainly I think that when some (not all but some) manufacturers have their product made in China they consciously make a tradeoff between price and quality.

Sometimes Chineese products are not the steel or quality (heat treat) that they advertise - a lot of the time it s due to ignorance. I remember when chineese knifes used to use "soligen steel" a lot because that is what they saw on other knifes.

Also, I like to support made in America because we need the jobs and the BEST knifes are made here.
 
I usually never take sides in arguments on this forum, not that this is or will be one. But I do feel that when you spend your money on a knife, wherever that money goes, as long as you are supporting QUALITY, it is money well spent. If you waste your money on cheaply made products that will not last, you are saying that is what you want to see more of. If you spend it on something made with quality material and workmanship, that's the demand that you will create. If we work together to keep the demand UP for QUALITY, then we all win.

As far as Made-in-USA vs. Made-in-XYZ-3rd-world-2nd-world country, I don't care a whole lot. As said before, if you buy from over seas, you are helping raise someone's standard of living who made it, giving some to those who shipped it here, and also most likely supporting a business (small, large, or in between) here in the US. Spread the wealth, I say.

So, whether it be A. G. Russell, Cold Steel, or Benchmade, if it's quality, go ahead and buy it, wherever it came from.

All this is predicated on the fact that I will not support ANY knife that has not been credited to the original designer.
 
What impresses me is just how expensive a lot of the Chinese offreings have become. We're not talking Rough Rider prices on these knives.
 
All good points to be sure but here is my concern. China made knives appear to be very cheap (talking price here). If they sell well only for that reason than that will place pressure on many other (if not all) manufacturers to start manufacturing in China in order to compete. If we are not diligent in our consumer practices we may see a day when American made knives go the way of just about everything else that used to be made here. If you don't care about that I guess it's OK. As far as spreading the wealth I would prefer to spread it around THIS country. As far as raising the standard of living in China, you are kidding right?
 
I don't think it's right that some of the manufacturers send their product over seas to have them made at less cost then expect us to pay more for something that is a piece of scrap. But it's still business and they are wanting to make a buck.
 
All political and economic issues aside, the quality of knife steel made in China is not good, in my experience. Obviously there are some quality items made there but on the whole the quality is just not acceptable for my hard earned dollars.
 
I would definitely own a Spyderco Sage 2 if it were made somewhere other than China or Taiwan. I'm not paying $150 for a knife made in Taiwan, and I don't care how good the quality is. Even if the knife is of no better quality and made in the US, I still feel the knife has more "perceived quality" and more of a cool factor for me. Saying China or Taiwan on a knife cheapens it to me personally. After all, we are talking collector items here. If I could afford nothing above Chinese made knives and was going to beat the heck out of my knife it would be a different story. Since I enjoy knives as collector items more than users I will hold out for something that meets all my criteria instead of settling for something I'm not 100% in love with. I don't mind having products that say Swiss Made like watches since that stands for quality or even Japanese made items that are mostly very good. Of course the Spyderco leaf storm is US Made, but it's not what I'm looking for exactly with that 2.5" blade and half g10 scales.
 
polebridge said:
I will not mention the supplier but I have been getting their knife catalog for years now. I have notice a trend that is bugging me a bit. More and more (and the percentage seems to keep climbing with each new catalog) of the knives are being made in China. Less and less in the USA.

Does this bother anyone else or am I just suffering from jingoism?
Click to expand...

I'm not from the US and I don't see what the big deal is with "Made in the USA".

As long as the product is of the same quality I don't care. The only thing "Made in the USA" is good for is that US made products are usually superior to those made in, say, China or Malaysia.

"Made in the USA" is in no way superior to "Made in Canada", Made in Germany" or any other first-world country.
 
It's obvious China can make quality products.
Recent traditionals offered by AG Russell are truely impressive in a knife priced below $100. F&F are top notch. But AG gets them to make them to his standards, and has pointed out that while he might prefer to have them US made, they would then cost 5x to 10x the price.

Then we get into areas that rightfully upset folks.
Knives that appear to be bargains, but are really junk. Who likes that?
Knives that, while possibly being decently made, are obvious knockoffs of US makers. That is really going to offend a lot of folks. Then when a US company produces a knockoff and then doubles the insult by having it made in China things really get heated.

Then you factor in the politics and things really go downhill fast.
I absolutely respect anyone who refuses to buy China made products for political, moral, or economic reasons. I don't know enough about the reality of this kind of trade and what or how it effects things to know if their positions are valid, but I'm pretty sure China is not our buddy.
I do know that when you start mixing politics with business things get real confusing.

Its a personal choice we each can make and we should respect one anothers reasons for making those choices. The best we can do is provide valid information so folks can make informed decisions.
 
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