Importance of Morals&Ethics in buying knives?

[Juha Perttula]

I am engineer and I have learned that it is nearly impossible to make a good product if you treat your workers badly. So, buying good quality knives is generally ethic solution.

 

[marcinek]

I am engineer and I have learned that it is nearly impossible to make a good product if you treat your workers badly. So, buying good quality knives is generally ethic solution.

But, we have all seen many examples of bad guys who make good knives.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

There is no need to compromise and choose the least reprehensible company when buying a knife.

There are numerous honest makers putting out amazing work at every price point.

There have never been this many outstanding choices available to knife buyers.

 

[marcinek]

But, we have all seen many examples of bad guys who make good knives.

It's kinda like "If a cloner could make a "Sebenza" up to Sebenza specs at half the price, would you buy it?" question.

Moral question, not practical.

 

[Phixt]

Scratch the morals and ethics.

The male ego leads to the belief it somehow had a hand in the design of the Chevy/Ford, the manufacturing of the Spydie/Benchmade, the function of the AK vs AR, the winning and losing of one's favorite professional sports team, and the result is endless chest pounding. The true sum of 'Fanboys'.

 

[Lapedog]

I think most people tend to apply stronger criteria to the things they buy that mean the most to them. Most people here are passionate about knives. Do we care as much about the ethics involved in who made our toilet paper? Probably not.

Ask the dudes who’ve been jail about government toilet paper and you’ll find out they they’re serious about their TP. Lol

For real though there are some knives that are so desireable that people give the maker a pass on bad behaviour. Not to name names but people claiming military background they don’t have seems to have no problem selling high priced knives even to people who find the behaviour reprehensive. I know the feeling where you detest the maker but love the knife. IMHO a sincere apology and atonement would go a long way.

What I find almost worse is makers who treat their customers badly. Things like non communication really show a lack of respect for their clients. Unfortunately alot of talented makers are terrible business men.

I understand no one is perfect and most people if you could watch a replay of their whole life you would find some disgusting things they have done. That is in no way to make excuses or give a pass. I’m just saying I have to weigh it on a case to case basis.

How much do I desire the knife compared to how much I dislike the maker’s actions. There are car manufacturers with extremely vile histories stemming back to ww2 and yet I see many people who are the decendants of their victims driving that very car.

It is always going to be a sticky point how much we separate the product from the manufacturer. People unfortunately seem to often be willing to compromise their positions based on how much they desire the item.

 

[sXePhenomenal]

Your dollar is a powerful thing and I will not spend a cent of my money with shady people or companies that do things I don’t agree with or like.

 

[marcinek]

Scratch the morals and ethics.

The male ego leads to the belief it somehow had a hand in the design of the Chevy/Ford, the manufacturing of the Spydie/Benchmade, the function of the AK vs AR, the winning and losing of one's favorite professional sports team, and the result is endless chest pounding. The true sum of 'Fanboys'.

Great. Now we are not only talking about specific makers, but fellow members.

Time to get out.

 

[NorthernSouthpaw]

I usually put more "moral" stock into a decision when buying custom than production. I figure there are many nice people as well as uber dicks that can work for a specific company. Whether they be the CEO, Marketing manager, sales rep, or shipping dept. So pinning my bias on an entire brand because one of those people is a scoundrel is a bit presumptuous in my opinion. Especially if said company is USA made. In the custom world it's the exact opposite. Without going into specifics, I'll say If the maker is a jackass or is all over TGBU I invest elsewhere.

 

[Zuluninja]

I think that the problem lies in what makes the bulk of knife sales. It's not us knuts. If it were only us, a lot of brands and makers would have disappeared by now. The bulk of the clientele is made by people who just buy a knife because it looks cool, they saw it on a show/movie/internet, and don't care about the background. A small percentage of those buyers might get curious enough to wander someplace like here and search about their purchases, get educated and make better decisions.