How does Smith & Wesson (Taylor Cutlery) stand here in the forums?

Cosmic Superchunk

Cosmic Superchunk

Joined
Jan 28, 2001
Messages
3,709
Looking back at Taylor Cutlery's past and seeing how they developed a not so well reputation for design ripoffs. (See the link below)

http://www.bladeforums.com/magazine/secure/jan/shame.shtml

How do they rate here in the forums today?
All their boxes are now correctly marked to show the country of origin, plus they have now begun to credit Darrel Ralph on 2 knife designs, so far as well as Mike Lamprey for the magnesium folder.

The quality of their HRT line is very good considering the prices, although there is the neck knife which looks like a copy of the CRKT Bear Claw, but how many folks here still refuse to buy their products?

I'll be the first to admit that I own 2 S&W knives: HRT Magnesium folder and an HRT Tactical Boot knife. I find them very well made and like both of them.
 
ick.

I still have a foul taste in my mouth for S&W. They caved. Won't buy their guns or their knives.

-Al-
 
My refusal to buy S&W has less to do with their quality and more to do with their politics.
 
I got the HRT Badgeknife. I even reviewed it in the Reviews and Testing forum. I find the quality extremely high for the price. I buy what I want and need. If S&W knew about my "politics" they probably would boycott me.....BTW, I don't think the HRT is a ripoff of anyones design.
 
I have no problems with them, as long as they give people credit for their creations. Besides, my S&W M/27 .357 Magnum rocks!
 
Received an HRT folder as a Christmas gift. Quality is equal to or maybe even slightly better than CRKT. I would not have considered them prior to the gift since CRKT satisfies my needs for that price range. However, I'll be looking at them closer from now on.
 
I know that Darrel Ralph would never lend his name to an inferior product, so there is no doubt that the Ralph/Smith & Wesson collaborations are of good quality. Politics aside, I personally don't have a problem buying a Smith & Wesson knife if I know that credit is being given to where credit is due. If I see a blatant ripoff of someone else's knife, I just won't buy it.
 
I stumbled across an S&W "Cuttin' Horse" liner lock in a Big5 Sporting Goods store. It was an appropriate place for it. Expensive junk. Well, "expensive" in the sense that it was marked $35 and I've seen $15 knives that were made better. The handles were pliable, the lock was way off center, and the blade had a lot of play.

I have since seen similar model for sale on eBay for $9.95. That's a more appropriate price, but I still wouldn't buy one.

If you want a $35 knife there are enough deals out there on CRKTs, Cold Steels, and Spydercos that I wouldn't even consider a Taylor/S&W.

-- PG
 
There are plenty of good products out there so that there's no reason to patronize Clinton Wesson. Their politics are so odius :barf: that I would never buy aother product carrying the S&W label.
 
The company policy has changed again as has the ownership. S&W is no longer british owned. Also the attorney genral has stated that he will not hold them to their earlier agreement with the past admin. That should change many peoples minds about them .
 
this is a little off of subject but since it has been mentioned a million times in this post could someone post a link or something explaining the S&W politics that they disagree with. I'll be looking for a handgun soon. I don't have a problem boycotting a product for a good reason but I want to make sure that I'm not just following the herd. I'm pretty new to the firearms market so pardon my ignorance.
 
Boycott S&W before they erode our freedoms worse than they already have.
 
Gentlemen, it is apparent that there are many who have strong opinions against Smith & Wesson's politics, however, we are talking about knives, not guns. The Smith & Wesson name is licensed, therefore all the knives marketed by Taylor Cutlery are not manufactured by Smith & Wesson Corp. In fact, the knives are most likely made by the same Taiwanese factories that manufacture knives for CRKT, Timberline, Gigand, etc...

Does that mean that if the Magnesium folder had a Timberline logo on it instead of the Smith & Wesson name, it's okay to buy it, but since it carries the S&W logo it isn't? Look at the Timbeline Discovery and the S&W Magnesium folder. They're made by the same manufacturer.

Now, I am not a gun collector, so I cannot offer an opinion regarding the gun company Smith & Wesson. But, let me ask how many of you guys own firearms from the old Soviet Union or Red China?
Talk about politics? Why would you then buy a weapon manufactured in a communist country whose intent was to rid the world of all us capitalist dogs?

With sincere affection,
El Cid :p
 
I'm kinda on the fence here. I love their revolvers, - hate their automatics. I also feel deep resentment over their capitulation to the Clinton administration. With that said, I know of numerous officers on my department who carry their "SWAT" line. In a nutshell, they're garbage !! After minimal use and a couple of years carry, the knife loosens to the point that the blades wobble. The clothing clips ain't worth a damn neither. One of my buddies paid $80 for one of their automatics and never used on anything more sinister that a manilla envelope. The knife literally shook itself apart from the repeated opening !!
 
I like the Smith and Wessons.
The HRT Magnesium is my EDC.
Don't let the haters sway your decisions on these knives.
 
Their knives seem to be in the same kind of quality range as CRKT and they are priced pretty well. Overall I think that they offer good value. I quite like the HRT Magnesium Handled folder designed by Darrel Ralph.
 
el cid,

"Does that mean that if the Magnesium folder had a Timberline logo on it instead of the Smith & Wesson name, it's okay to buy it, but since it carries the S&W logo it isn't? "

EXACTLY. Now you've got it.

My issue (at least in this case)is not with the quality, the designer, or the country of origin - it is with the name imprinted on the knife.

Why is that hard to understand? Look, Taylor paid a lot of money to license the S&W name. Why? Why not just say, "This is the new DDR design from Taylor Cutlery"? Because they are hoping to ride on the coattails of S&W's "goodwill" and famous name built in the firearms industry. It's called "branding". Now, as an educated consumer, S&W has NO goodwill for me. So, for those hoping to profit from S&W's good name, they will lose sales to me because S&W has no good name with me. Simple economics. You can't have it both ways - boycott products they actually manufacture, but buy products that they license the name to ??? How hypocritical is that?? The net effect in both cases is adding to S&W's bottom line - either through sales of their products or licensing fees. Truth be told, I like the looks of some of the new S&W's and I wish DDR had chosen another partner to make his design. If someone is dumping a used one cheap in a for sale forum, I might take it, but I won't buy from a dealer and add to their sales figures.

For anyone who wants the WHOLE S&W story, go over to the Legal & Political section at www.thefiringline.com and start digging.
 
More BS goes on behind closed doors than I really care to know about :barf: . Truth is, I've owned a S&W mod. 19 357 for 30 yrs. and it has served me well. I've bought several Swat 2000B's for resale/raffles at my gunclub. QC was consistently excellent and each was very sharp OOTB - at around $20 a pop! I can't sing these praises for a couple of the more PC manufacturers. Taylor Cutlery is offering a fine product for a fair price, and if the S&W logo helps them sell knives, they're getting what they PAID for. JMO.
 
I suppose there's another aspect to this that I hadn't considered until now.

The underlying goal of the Clinton administration's anti-gun stance, the Bradys and the Brady Bill, anti-gun supporters, etc. is to drive the gun manufacturers out of business. Period. S&W did what they thought they had to at the time to remain in the business of manufacturing firearms. In reality it almost cost them their business, in part because they alienated their private customers. Now that they have come around, we're still punishing them. This can't be helping their bottom line, and we may just be pushing them even closer to closing up. I don't know.

My point is, is it possible that in our zeal to punish the "traitor", we have aided the cause of the "enemy"? If S&W goes out of business, haven't we just acted as the anti-gun folks' pawns?

Catch-22?

-Al-
 
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