- Joined
- Mar 16, 2005
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- 3,652
Sorry for the diversion.
My BM Vex (sorry Thomas) is a good EDC in this steel. I would expect the Kershaws to be equally good in cutting, etc. It makes a lot of sense to source a steel from the country of origin just because of the costs and logistics. Kershaw has picked a good steel, it even keeps the Spyderco Tenacious owners happy.
Building a knife with this steel and using G10 raises the bar of what is acceptable in an inexpensive knife. It also creates a foundation of what to expect from a US made knife. Most buyers here are knowledgeable enough to understand the cost differences in country of origin. A similar US made knife - including our standard of living - is acceptably higher.
In anything, I hope that knives like these will provide options to new buyers who will be able to enjoy better materials for the money. My concern has been that for the price point of about $45, many popular US made knives use 420h and FRN.
If the buyer can look at value - bang for the buck - he'll choose the better materials if all other things are equal.
Country of origin is sometime controversial, but only in the first decades of it's introduction. Having grown up during the Made in Japan era, I've seen the transition from products imported to exploit price, to a dominant high quality image. Much of that was not due to a plan by the makers, but by the American owned marketing and merchandising importers.
Kershaw, BM, or Spyderco isn't importing stuff for the local flea market, far from it. It's time to accept that Chinese goods are a significant part of our consumption because of the quality, not in spite of it.
Anybody who starts a post with, "sorry for the diversion," isn't!

This thread was never about knives made in China, so spare the lecture!:grumpy:
3G