Home Depot: Why Do We Get Knife Knock-Offs?

[Confederate]

A few years ago I picked up a few Gerber AR 3.00s for a good price and never used any of them. I'm eventually going to give them away as gifts, but I've always liked this particular knife, though my opinion of Gerber has steadily declined. I also liked (and still use around the house) the EZ-Out, though I have no idea what kind of steel is in the knife, it's good for light duty and stronger than it looks.

Anyway, I was in Home Depot a few weeks ago when I spotted a rip-off of the AR 3.00. I don't know why it's so difficult to find good knives in a hardware store, but everything was either 420 or 420J2 stainless. And some of them weren't cheap! But not so with the rip-off, made by Sheffield, a British company. The price was about eight bucks. I picked up the knife to see how slavishly it was copied, thinking it might be an identical frame. That turns out not to be the case. And, naturally, the knife was garbage as you'll see in the photos below.

Gerber's blade is teflon coated AUS8 blade. The finish was quite
attractive and the knife was sharp out of the box.

Trash for cash! The Sheffield not only is a horrendous copy,
the blade is butt-ugly and poorly finished. The steel is
simply listed as "stainless." The frame, while similar, is clearly
not identical. The rubber fit poorly into the aluminum frame,
while the fit in the Gerber frame was excellent.

The differences in lockup also are miles apart. Note the
fit and finish of the Gerber frame.


It's not so much that Gerber is being ripped off. That happens with many knife companies and is not news. What gets me is that for the price of three of these junk knives, you could get a decently made Gerber that's made in the United States. If you can't get a decent knife at a hardware store, where can you get it? (That's a rhetorical question, BTW.) And it's not just Home Depot. I went to two local mom and pop hardware shops and neither had a decent folding knife available. Yet in Western Kentucky, I distinctly recall a friend's chain of Tru-Value hardware stores that featured almost all of Buck's line of fixed and folding knives as well as bait and tackle and, before that, guns.

Of course I'm in the Washington, D.C., area, so it might be a local thing, but Home Depot is a chain. I can't imagine anyone getting a Sheffield and not feeling ripped off. What's with them?

.

 

[lambertiana]

This is simply a result of the vast majority of knife-ignorant Americans considering only price when they buy a knife. When I show some people a quality knife, they just pull out theirs and say things like "but this one only cost me $5.99! They don't realize that you get just what you pay for.

 

[nate3993]

This is simply a result of the vast majority of knife-ignorant Americans considering only price when they buy a knife. When I show some people a quality knife, they just pull out theirs and say things like "but this one only cost me $5.99! They don't realize that you get just what you pay for.

i hate that...how people just think that we're throwing money down the drain...they don't know about steel, edge retention, how it feels in your hand, and so forth...i don't rag on people about their hobbies, so i don't think that they should rag on us

 

[DPris]

Sheffield is a town in England. I've never heard of it being a company. You sure it doesn't say China on it anywhere?
Denis

 

[shecky]

Of course I'm in the Washington, D.C., area, so it might be a local thing, but Home Depot is a chain. I can't imagine anyone getting a Sheffield and not feeling ripped off. What's with them?

Home Depot doesn't cater to knife nuts. The reality is most people who buy these knives will be perfectly satisfied with them. Is that really such a bad thing?

 

[3Guardsmen]

Home Depot doesn't cater to knife nuts. The reality is most people who buy these knives will be perfectly satisfied with them. Is that really such a bad thing?

Well, was it really "such a bad thing" when you bought your Cold Steel Urban Pal knockoff? Did the knife not cut for you or something?

 

[shecky]

Well, was it really "such a bad thing" when you bought your Cold Steel Urban Pal knockoff? Did the knife not cut for you or something?

Are you saying it was a bad thing? Because I didn't. What you're getting at is unclear. It amazes me how many people read that account and came unglued.

Confederate's OP seems to have two complaints. One, that the Sheffield is a knock off. Which I didn't address before, and will now: BFD.

Second, that folks will buy the Sheffield and will feel ripped off. My reply is as before. Most folks don't know, don't care, and will be perfectly satisfied. Feel free to argue otherwise.

 

[HOUNDDAWG]

Many folks who don't appreciate a good knife need something to open paint cans and pry up manhole covers, and, they seem untroubled by the fact that the edge wouldn't cut hot butter.

I just can't relate to some people.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

The "Sheffield" brand is 100% Chinese-made junk. 420J or 440A in everything. They're riding off the name and reputation of the location, like many do for the names Solingen or Toledo.

 

[grybsh7]

Shecky I agree with you that there is nothing wrong with having the choice of buying an inexpensive knife if thats what you want. What sucks is all of these retailers have stopped carrying any decent knives ( Lowes dropped thier Case XX cabinets, Walmart discontinued the Spyderco native, Ace stopped carrying Case XX ). You would think hardware stores would want to give their customers the option of buying a quality tool as well as an inexpensive one. Maybe its just me.

 

[t1mpani]

You would think hardware stores would want to give their customers the option of buying a quality tool as well as an inexpensive one.

If they sell, they'll stock them; if they don't (and apparently they didn't) they won't. Really the selection of hand tools at any of the big stores like that is fairly limited, owing to the fact that the number of customers who actually do a great deal of work with their hands is fairly limited. It's not just hardware stores---go to pretty much any large store and their stock, be it electronics, books, footwear or anything else and it's about volume, not selection. More and more, people are using the internet to shop if they want something specific, and stores don't bother to take up space with products X, Y and Z when 95% of their customers will take A, B, or C. Just the nature of the beast--be glad you know what you know, and also take it with a grain of salt. I guarantee there's probably something you've purchased, be it a padlock, a counter top or a type of carpet, that somebody--somewhere--would never BELIEVE you could be satisfied with. I mean come on, granite counters from Home Depot?! Doesn't anybody care that the best granite for counters is quarried in........

 

[Larrin]

I just wish Home Depot still sold sharpening stones.

 

[Moondrop]

I can't imagine anyone getting a Sheffield and not feeling ripped off. What's with them?

.

I can tell you, my father would be perfectly happy with that knife. I can also say he probably wouldn't spend the $$ on it in the first place. He doesn't see any reason to carry a knife (though he EDCs a gun--I don't remember the make and model). Even says he would never remember to grab a knife every day, though he never forgets his cell phone, gun, pager...

He's got a cheeeeeeeap Chinese lockback (that was given to him by someone at work) that he keeps in a drawer, open, that he uses for "cutting" stuff whenever the need arises. Blade is all dinged up and he doesn't care. He thought I was nuts when he found out how much I paid for my Mini-Grip. Blade steel, warranty, company reputation, lock style... None of that means anything to him. He can get behind that kind of thing (quality materials, fit & finish, brand) when it comes to guns, but with knives, he just can't understand it.

In fact, his last experience with exactly ONE 440C blade was so long ago, he thinks that any knife made with the stuff is brittle garbage. There's no convincing him otherwise.

I think there are more like him than there are like us.

 

[Confederate]

Home Depot doesn't cater to knife nuts. The reality is most people who buy these knives will be perfectly satisfied with them. Is that really such a bad thing?

I would have to see a study before I believed that most people are happy with these sleazy knives. They're ugly, crappy and one-third of a decent knife isn't a great savings. The real reason probably has to do with Home Depot paying $2 for the knife and making $6 profit and selling more of them.

When I asked one of their employees if they sold any decent knives, she just gave me a blank look and pointed at the rack. "That's all we have."

They have good flashlights. Are knives any different? Decent, brand name batteries. Good lawn mowers. Why would they settle for cheap, crappy knives? Anyone looking at the Sheffield would know it was junk.

It just eludes me.

BTW, the package is shown below. It doesn't say "China" anywhere on the knife itself. I seem to recall it being made in the U.K., or at least a product of the U.K.

 

[Confederate]

Confederate's OP seems to have two complaints. One, that the Sheffield is a knock off. Which I didn't address before, and will now: BFD.

Nope, you misread me. Sheffield can rip off and make horrid copies of anything they wish. My complaint is that at a national hardware chain I don't have the ability to choose the Gerber or another good folding knife about the same size and weight. I've heard that some Home Depots offer the Buck 112 for $35, but neither of the last two stores I visited had them in stock. Besides, if someone wants a pocket knife for themselves or to give as a gift, having only crap to choose from is unconscionable. I think all hardware stores should have some knives in a case because one shouldn't have to go to both a hardware store and a sporting goods store to get hardware. A knife, after all, is hardware. Some might argue that it's the quintessential hardware, being one of the first pieces of hardware invented.

I know my grandfather would never have stood for such trash. He was a machinist who worked for the railroad and he knew all about tools and how to care for them. One would think that most folks who go to Home Depot would know enough to want a good tool. Sure you have people who buy from the five dollar bins, but you have to cater to all types.

A Byrd Cara Cara would be an excellent choice for a reasonable
balance between quality and cost.

 

[Jennifer_B]

My complaint is that at a national hardware chain I don't have the ability to choose the Gerber or another good folding knife about the same size and weight.

Go to Lowes or Wal-Mart, buy a better knife, then drop Home Depot's customer service department a letter telling them why you shop with their competition.

 

[shecky]

I would have to see a study before I believed that most people are happy with these sleazy knives. They're ugly, crappy and one-third of a decent knife isn't a great savings. The real reason probably has to do with Home Depot paying $2 for the knife and making $6 profit and selling more of them.

OK. So they're ugly, and crappy, and people are buying them anyway. Who cares if Home Depot is making $6 or $60 profit on them? They're in the business to sell stuff people want to buy. Does anyone think they put these Sheffield knives on the shelf because nobody will buy them? If it really is the case that nobody will buy them, Home Depot will remedy that situation. Not because the hand wringing from knife nuts, but because it affects their bottom line. Capitalism has a funny way of correcting itself in such a manner.

 

[macgregor22]

I get a kick out of non-knife people also.
Last year hunting there was a guy there walking around with a dull usmc ka-bar saying "you know what this is, this is a ka-bar; its the best knife ever made".
I bit my tounge as I had a scrap yard yard hook on my belt.
We invite people to hunt with use and I have seen people bring everything from box cutters to those cheap bundle deal knives you buy by the hundreds.
I also like the mentality that "stainless" steel is the be all end all of steels.

 

[joe-bob]

BTW, the package is shown below. It doesn't say "China" anywhere on the knife itself. I seem to recall it being made in the U.K., or at least a product of the U.K.

I'm pretty sure it says China on the back of the package and that these are in no way connected with the UK.

 

[sparrtain117]

They have good flashlights.

I'm a CPF member so lights are a bit more of my hobby than knives, and when I say this is not a true statement, its not a true statement(no this isn't a knock against you, I'm just saying since its more my area of expertise rather than knives) The lights that home depot and your local hardware store will sell are terrible. Good modding platforms maybe(mag lites etc) but nothing in the way of surefire, fenix, nitecore etc. So us flashaholics(and new knifeaholic) feel your pain.

M16a

PS, accidently posted on my friend's account. We've been on and off all day. please excuse me for that. If a mod finds this to be unacceptable, i can delete this post(or edit it out) and post it again as my true self. Thanks a lot for bearing with me.