Import vs. Quality

A

amorican

Joined
Oct 10, 2006
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hey everyone.

In your opinion, do you think it's possible for an import knife company to put out acceptable quality knives? Obviously the steel grade and handles are available overseas.

Is it more a state of mind, or can these import companies honestly compete if they put in the time and effort into building a high quality brand??
 
Of course they can compete. There are a ton of great knives made overseas. Fallkniven, Helle, Frosts, Spyderco's Japanese-made knives and Byrd line, SOG, some of Cold Steel's line, the list goes on and on. Knives aren't exactly a new tool invented in North America ;).
 
Definitely yes. In fact Japanese kitchen knives are preferred by many over German or US knives.
 
Joseph Opinel started his company in 1890, as did Charles Elsner with Victorinox. Fiskars has been around since the late 1600's making puuko's and sissors. They must make good stuff to have lasted that long.

Back in the early 80's I had a couple of Al Mar knives. Top notch stuff from Japan even then.
 
It's also possible to produce crap in the US. I support US companies, but the quality and integrity of the company is more important to me. If all were equal, I'd support American made stuff anyday.
 
I think the important distinction here is the difference between foreign imports and outsourced products.
Foreign companies just exist in other countries, as they have since their begining (generally speaking)
Outsourced products may not have the same quaility, because generally in outsourcing, the thought is "this needs to be cheaper, go find someone who will do that" and this thought process is not condusive to high quality.
 
depends-if its chinese imho its made as cheap as can be for maximum profit -poor oversight i think is the big problem,just look at the toy recalls recently-


japan is for great quality and craftsmanship for the most part from years of doing knives on a major scale-

the others are in between i guess-some good some bad
 
xxguitarist said:
I think the important distinction here is the difference between foreign imports and outsourced products.
Foreign companies just exist in other countries, as they have since their begining (generally speaking)
Outsourced products may not have the same quaility, because generally in outsourcing, the thought is "this needs to be cheaper, go find someone who will do that" and this thought process is not condusive to high quality.
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Any knife may have lower quality. Any quality measurement system can be put in place in any country. There are places where for lower than U.S. wages the workers have engineering degrees. My opinion is that "Made in USA" for knives is primarily a marketing device.

The only thing you cannot do from overseas is deliver it quicker.
 
rosconey2 said:
depends-if its chinese imho its made as cheap as can be for maximum profit -poor oversight i think is the big problem,just look at the toy recalls recently-


japan is for great quality and craftsmanship for the most part from years of doing knives on a major scale-

the others are in between i guess-some good some bad
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You might want to go check out byrd knives and fenix flashlights.
 
Tiger Dude said:
Any knife may have lower quality. Any quality measurement system can be put in place in any country. There are places where for lower than U.S. wages the workers have engineering degrees. My opinion is that "Made in USA" for knives is primarily a marketing device.

The only thing you cannot do from overseas is deliver it quicker.
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agreed, you will notice i made no solid statements, just generalizations, including a word that allowed for exceptions.
 
rosconey2 said:
depends-if its chinese imho its made as cheap as can be for maximum profit -poor oversight i think is the big problem,just look at the toy recalls recently-
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That is a gross oversimplification. Some Chinese-made folders fall into the junk category. Others are pretty darn good.

I have a Chinese Buck. The fit and finish are good and heat treat on the 440A was quite good judging by the hardness (58). Been lots of good reports on the Byrd knives. There have also been good reports on some other Chinese-made knives.

Not all Chinese-made blades are "cheap as can be".
 
My main everyday carry knives are both made in China. Kershaw vapor and a Buck Iceman . I like em both and the quality is top notch. So i guess china can do as good as America. I think it depends on what brand you chose.
 
For some reason, the Chinese tend towards blades of 420J2, 420, and 440A, the last being the defacto steel of most medium grade knives. The Chinese, however, generally aren't yet into AUS8 and higher.

Gerber made pretty good knives once, but the Chinese doing many of their knives are just dreadful. S&W quality is nip and tuck, with sme knives being quite good, others being somewhat less than good, and many that are junk. Yet a bad Gerber is almost always worse, IMHO, than a bad S&W.
 
Given two craftsmen, of any nation, and two managers that both demand quality, the knife will be the same whether made in Tibet, Mongolia, Switzerland or the USA.

I totally agree that "made in USA" is primarily a marketing gimmick, which is virtually meaningless.

Look at some low cost American made knives and you'll know what I mean.

I prefer to buy American whenever possible. Bark River is a good example of high quality, reasonable cost, good service, and pure American.:)

OTOH, they dont make folders, so I'm stuck looking elsewhere. Benchmade is mostly American made, but not 100 percent. Yet ALL of their knives are well made. (although I'm not too thrilled about some of the really cheap steel in some of their blades.)
 
Confederate said:
For some reason, the Chinese tend towards blades of 420J2, 420, and 440A, the last being the defacto steel of most medium grade knives. The Chinese, however, generally aren't yet into AUS8 and higher.
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Almost true. The steels that Spyderco uses for the Byrd knives and that Benchmade uses for the Vex are Chinese steels. Both of them have compositions and performance quite similar to AUS8.

I've not seen Powder metallurgy steels or tool steels on Chinese blades yet.
 
Recently I bought Spyderco Volpe, made in Italy by Fox. This knife has the one of best fit and finish out 40+ Spydercos, Kershaws, and BMs I ever owned.
 
When you say "acceptable quality knives", do you mean acceptable - quality knives or acceptable quality - knives?

If your talking about acceptable quality in any range (not just high end knives), I suggest you look at the Buck Mayo Cutback on sale at BPS for $12.88. Perfect fit and finish, zero blade play, and made in China. I was going to use it for my garage knife but after closer examination, I think I'm going to take it hunting with me this weekend and use it to unzip a few squirrels.
 
Tracker2 said:
If your talking about acceptable quality in any range (not just high end knives), I suggest you look at the Buck Mayo Cutback on sale at BPS for $12.88. Perfect fit and finish, zero blade play, and made in China. I was going to use it for my garage knife but after closer examination, I think I'm going to take it hunting with me this weekend and use it to unzip a few squirrels.
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Excellent knife I edc mine and it is now just needing sharpening after almost a year of use. I have used it a lot.
 
I just recently got back from a long visit to Taiwan. I worked 10 hour days in their factory helping them to produce "American quality" liner-locks and frame locks for both 5.11 and Blade-Tech. Every aspect of the knife from clip movement to edge angle, radius ramp, detent,etc....and their quality is outstanding. Nothing like China! But, they charge a lot more for this type of quality. I still say USA is a bit better though, just cost much more due to labor costs.
 
amorican said:
hey everyone.

In your opinion, do you think it's possible for an import knife company to put out acceptable quality knives? Obviously the steel grade and handles are available overseas.

Is it more a state of mind, or can these import companies honestly compete if they put in the time and effort into building a high quality brand??
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand the question. But assuming you mean by "import knife company" such a knife company that manufactures knives outside the USA and imports their knives for sale in the US market, then yes, obviously they can put out very high quality knives. I should think we all know that people in Europe and Asia were making quality knives back in the day when there wasn't a single white or black man in America. The skill hasn't disappeared anywhere. Knowing this, it should also be obvious that American companies that outsource their production outside America can still put out quality knives - but only if they don't cut down too much on the costs, because production isn't free anywhere. Ka-Bar is a good example. I've never noticed any difference between the quality of their products made in the USA and in Taiwan. The heavy bowies made in Taiwan, for example, are very tough and ridiculously inexpensive. Excessive patriotism aside, I can't even begin to grasp why anyone would think only their country is capable of producing quality. :confused: Anyway, there are of course differences, and just because someone is capable of producing quality doesn't mean they will, or do produce it.
 
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