How Many Here Have Had Good Luck With Chinese / Pakistani, Etc. Knives ??

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billt460

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Feb 24, 2015
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I have found them to be nowhere near as bad as so many claim them to be. I actually have some that hold an edge far better than some of the much more expensive, American made knives I have. For example, I purchased several months back, a few of the ceramic kitchen knives from Harbor Freight, (Chi-Com Freight). They all hold an edge just as good, if not better than a $100.00 Kyocera Ceramic knife we bought a few years back. They wanted more just to sharpen the Kyocera, then the Harbor Freight ceramic knife costs out the door! Some of these products are simply overpriced..... By a LOT!
 
1. Knives made in Pakistan: You can spot these from a mile away (damascus blade, brass bolster, and a sheep's hoof handle, anyone?), and there are many "makers" in the states who try to pass them off as their own hand-made customs. It's pathetic on their part, but I don't have any real experience with the knives themselves. My experience has been limited to what I purchased (with money earned from washing cars) as a kid out of Bud K's catalog (good times).

2. Knives made in China: China is a huge country, and the knives coming out of here run the gamut from awful to incredible. When you have an American company going to a Chinese factory and saying "make us 10,000 of this knife for $1 a piece," you end up with shitty knives. On the other end of the spectrum, you have independent knife companies run by really talented, experienced people putting out stuff that rivals the best production knives in the US (Reate, Kizer, Stedemon, etc.). In between, you have companies like Ganzo and Sanrenmu, which (to my understanding) have been making fairly high quality but budget-oriented knives for American companies for quite some time.

3. Ceramic knives: This is something I don't know much about. I have no idea whether an expensive Kyocera ceramic knife is really worth more than a budget ceramic knife made in China.
 
What Brancron said, except he left out Real Steel which is, I feel, filling a real market niche (or maybe he was lumping them in with SRM, which I think is the parent company).

Honestly, I think it's entirely possible to get a great knife from probably just about any country on the planet IF you have the knowledge of what to look for and, sometimes, the ability to buy local.

Buying a Pakistani knife on eBay? You're likely getting tourist crap, but that area of the world has been making all kinds of blades for a long, long time and I'd be shocked if there weren't any number of very skilled Pakistani knife makers. I just don't know any of them.
 
Rough Rider, Colt, and Marbles traditional knives are dang good knives, and made in China. The Buck 371 and 389 I have are great knives, too.
So far, no complaints with the Cold Steel "G.I. Tanto" I have, it was made in China, according to the tang stamp and packaging.

As others have stated, any knife conpany can make a high quality knife, regardless of what country they are located in. Rough Rider has a reputation for being razor sharp out of the box, and for excellent fit and finish; comparable to Case, in fact. The company that owns the Rough Rider brand (along with the Colt and Marbles brands, as far as I know) Buck, Cold Steel, CutCo/Ka-Bar, Ontario, and other American companies that have products (not just knives) made in China or any other country, tell the factory what level of quality they want , and they are willing to pay to get that level of quality, and they reject product that does not meet their specifications.

"Made in USA" is, sadly, is no longer a guarantee of high quality. The USA is just as capable of manufacturing (in house) crap that even a dirt poor 3rd or 4th world peasant would reject as not worth the 1/2 cent price, as producing (in house) products fit for royalty.
 
I have some Rough Riders and Bokers that were made in China. Good knives for the price, no problems with them.
 
You cant just lump China and Pakistan together. Just like you cant lump Pakistan and Japan together. Two different places with two entirely different knife industries.
 


I have had good luck with my Spyderco Persistence made in China. Came super sharp, locks up tight, blade centered up good, and ready to split atoms.
 
So my buddy and I have a weird tradition of sending each other really crazy looking Damascus steel knives about twice a year or so. Usually accompanied by some local beer. Most if not all are made in Pakistan. I have to say, some of them are actually pretty well made and come razor sharp. This was the latest sent to me. I also just received one that's heading his way.

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A huge majority have, by now, had positive experiences with Chinese knives, swords, etc. Some of the most sophisticated goods now come out of China. You can buy junk from China, but you can buy junk from America.

Pakistani knives sold in the US appear to be lower quality hand made items produced in a cottage industry. Pakistan has modern parts, but much of the country is pre-industrial, and importers are leveraging that kind of village blacksmith skillset and low wages to create very inexpensive damascus. That doesn't mean it is complete crap, just that the steel and HT aren't going to be in accordance with any sort of industry spec. Considering how inexpensive some sources of western damascus blades are (Alabama Damascus, for one), the Pakistani stuff doesn't appear to be a great value. YMMV.


Look for articles about the guns of Khyber Pass, if you want to be amazed by third world steel work in action.
 
In my experience Chinese knives are better than Pakistani knives.
The rough rider factory and all the brands it produces ( likely colt steel warrior..ect ) are very high value knives for those who want to try a pattern out.
And Pakistan just makes completely super sloppy garbage.
The finish is wavy,there are burrs between tang and handle, full tangs are often actually just stubby tangs with a steel facade tack welded on ,rat tail tangs are often pencil thin and tack welded on, blades on them are often crooked, their sheaths are paper thin goat leather with fat foam spacers for a welt to make them look stout, and they often arrive stinky and with their belt loops about to tear off and stitches already coming out.
Not to mention the fact that the word Pakistan is just printed on the blade, so when it wears off people find them at yardsales after just a few years and they wil think it's some valuable antique.
There's also the fact that it's easy to buff off if some shady person wants to try to pass it of as a handmade custom.

As far as the HF. Ceramic knives goes, my only experience with them is the ones my mom bought that had flat edges near the tips, so while it makes me a little hesitant to buy one I probably still would after opening the package and checking it out.
 
Hickory n steel said:
In my experience Chinese knives are better than Pakistani knives.
The rough rider factory and all the brands it produces ( likely colt steel warrior..ect ) are very high value knives for those who want to try a pattern out.
And Pakistan just makes completely super sloppy garbage.
The finish is wavy,there are burrs between tang and handle, full tangs are often actually just stubby tangs with a steel facade tack welded on ,rat tail tangs are often pencil thin and tack welded on, blades on them are often crooked, their sheaths are paper thin goat leather with fat foam spacers for a welt to make them look stout, and they often arrive stinky and with their belt loops about to tear off and stitches already coming out.
Not to mention the fact that the word Pakistan is just printed on the blade, so when it wears off people find them at yardsales after just a few years and they wil think it's some valuable antique.
There's also the fact that it's easy to buff off if some shady person wants to try to pass it of as a handmade custom.

As far as the HF. Ceramic knives goes, my only experience with them is the ones my mom bought that had flat edges near the tips, so while it makes me a little hesitant to buy one I probably still would after opening the package and checking it out.
Click to expand...


Not defending Pakistan knives in general as you have some great points. But, the F&F on the knife I linked above really surprised me. Clean smooth edges, straight blade and came with a really heavy nice leather sheath. The sheath is on par with anything from Condor. I'm guessing it's has a thin stick tang but I'm also not really going to ever use this knife for much so not a concern. I would never depend on this knife for anything important but I would wager it would hold up pretty well. Edge retention is a whole other story.
 
brancron said:
1. Knives made in Pakistan: You can spot these from a mile away
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And from what I've been reading, sometimes you can SMELL them from a mile away too :D. I keep reading how knives from Pakistan STINK (as in- smell really bad).


As far as knives made in China, I have a few Chinese-made switchblades that really impressed me quality-wise, especially for the price. And I'm very fond of them.
 
killgar said:
And from what I've been reading, sometimes you can SMELL them from a mile away too :D. I keep reading how knives from Pakistan STINK (as in- smell really bad).


As far as knives made in China, I have a few Chinese-made switchblades that really impressed me quality-wise, especially for the price. And I'm very fond of them.
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The funny part is the fact that America is responsible for the good knives coming out of China.
If we hadn't started to outsource knives, they wouldn't have known what quality control is.
We've had them controlling quality on outsourced knives for long enough that they started to realize
" you know what this quality control thing is pretty easy, maybe we can use it on other stuff too"

I think buck is responsible for rough rider, because if they hadn't established a Chinese factory for their slipjoints they wouldn't know how to make them properly.
 
Hickory n steel said:
The funny part is the fact that America is responsible for the good knives coming out of China.
If we hadn't started to outsource knives, they wouldn't have known what quality control is.
Click to expand...

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China is, and has been, more than capable of making whatever will sell at whatever level of quality. Once the rest of the world became willing to buy higher end knives from China, they became glad to make them.

Its not a matter of us going over there and teaching them what quality control means.

Its a matter of us being willing to buy quality items from them. That's the driver.
 
It is far less about the country the knives are made in and more about who is making the knives, IE the company or custom maker. In general, trusted companies that stand behind their product make better knives than companies that don't stand behind their product. The level of quality of a product is dictated by the company not the country.
 
billt460 said:
I have found them to be nowhere near as bad as so many claim them to be. I actually have some that hold an edge far better than some of the much more expensive, American made knives I have. For example, I purchased several months back, a few of the ceramic kitchen knives from Harbor Freight, (Chi-Com Freight). They all hold an edge just as good, if not better than a $100.00 Kyocera Ceramic knife we bought a few years back. They wanted more just to sharpen the Kyocera, then the Harbor Freight ceramic knife costs out the door! Some of these products are simply overpriced..... By a LOT!
Click to expand...


I dont care for pakistani knives but that is only because I have not seen the quality rise to a level i am happy with. I am however a huge fan of higher end chinese knives. I usually go for the lesser known brands and buy them before they take off and raise prices. But as of now 98% of my collection are high end chinese knives.
 
You need to have trust in a brand when you buy knives
It can be made of 440A and stamped Elmax
It could be advertised as 60 HRC but have a crappy HT
I prefer to stick with reputable makers

I have worked in China and there are many people who have no problem to lie and cheat to make a quick buck
 
Hickory n steel said:
The funny part is the fact that America is responsible for the good knives coming out of China.
If we hadn't started to outsource knives, they wouldn't have known what quality control is.
We've had them controlling quality on outsourced knives for long enough that they started to realize
" you know what this quality control thing is pretty easy, maybe we can use it on other stuff too"

I think buck is responsible for rough rider, because if they hadn't established a Chinese factory for their slipjoints they wouldn't know how to make them properly.
Click to expand...

That is a rumor started by americans to help promote american sales. Problem is most US based companies were not utilizing china for anything but cheap lower quality knives. They did not make the leap to titanium and high end steels as well as impeccable finishing and machining techniques from what we were outsourcing to them. China has been making killer products in many areas for a number of years. I suspect the real reason we didnt see a market for high end chinese knives was because they didnt know there was a demand.


Revolverrodger said:
You need to have trust in a brand when you buy knives
It can be made of 440A and stamped Elmax
It could be advertised as 60 HRC but have a crappy HT
I prefer to stick with reputable makers

I have worked in China and there are many people who have no problem to lie and cheat to make a quick buck
Click to expand...

Americans lie all the time. Even well known high end companies. I highly doubt todd begg would utilize reate to make his steel craft series if they were liars and cheats. In fact kizer proved it was an american custom maker who was the deceitful one in their business venture. And really its insulting to pigeon hole an entire country. Let alone the most populated one on earth.
 
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