Knives Made in China thoughts?

It sure get's old asking people to keep the discussion centered on knives, not politics, not society norms.

Maybe I just need to quit asking and infract accordingly.
 
I have a CRKT Razel Stubby folder that is made in China. So far I like it. Seems pretty well made and holds an edge.

Today, I bought a $13 Frost Cutlery (FC) folder in the Sunfish pattern. Checked through a number of different ones and figured I would give one a try. The fit and finish is actually quite good. Have not bought a FC china-blade in about 5 years. Things seemed to have improved a lot. I am going to give it a work out.
 
Bastid said:
It sure get's old asking people to keep the discussion centered on knives, not politics, not society norms.

Maybe I just need to quit asking and infract accordingly.
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I know what your saying - Problem is we have a lot of stuff going on in the world today - it's very difficult not to bring politics into a thread - Lot's of folks are hurting and people are concerned about that - Like I said before - us older guy's have been through all this in the late 70's early 80's with Japan - If someone drove a car built in Japan they had to park it inside at night to keep someone from cutting the tires or tossing a rock through the windshield - Folks were called Jap Lovers! I'll never forget - during this time period I was selling Chevy's for a living - our manager told us one morning at a sales meeting that Toyota was just a fade :eek:
 
With so many things being made on China now, I am not completely put off by a Chinese knife.

Cheap is cheap and poor quality is poor quality, no matter where it's made.
 
Bastid said:
It sure get's old asking people to keep the discussion centered on knives, not politics, not society norms.

Maybe I just need to quit asking and infract accordingly.
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What The Man said.

I disagree Tom Hudson ( and mean no offense ) , it is easy to not bring anything other than the discussion of these knives into a thread , if you stick to the knives... I do not understand why folks who have Zero interest in the mentioned knives in this thread , have to spout their ten cents and ruin it for those who are interested. ( if these knives do not suit you for whatever reason , simply don't read it - is your life that boring that you feel impelled to comment anyway ? )
This seems to be an all too common occurence , no matter the threads/OP's original intent.

That said , let's get back to the original subject :)

I discovered Rough Rider a few years back , for the money they are pretty hard to beat and easily compete with some American offerings ,especially if you take into account the rough and tumble condition Bear & Sons slipjoints usually arrive in.
Another company though Ruko , puts out very shoddy knives from the two that I bought out of sheer curiosity. Those I would steer clear of.

I did buy a Navy flipper model , with a nice recurve , all steel construction whose only sin of 'borrowing' was Spyderco's 'SpyderHole' , the knife itself is very heavily stonewashed and quite lovely in appearance , all in all I consider it a good buy for $14.

One of the brands - I think Bee - made a knife that was a freebie if you bought a certain Fenix LED model a few years back , it was quite a decent folder in it's own right and made a nice gift to a buddy of mine.

I think the best thing Chinese manufacturers can do at this point is to make original designs and not 'borrow' anything from established companies in our sphere of the planet , they would gather much more respect that way.

Ehem :D

Respectfully , Tostig
 
If people prefer to buy locally made goods (when possible, not for computers and cameras for example), then it is possible. Yes, it will nearly always cost more than something made in far away, but then perhaps one can buy less goods for the same money, and use them longer. For example, use 1 Manix 2 until it is totally worn instead of a few SRMs.
Personally, I love to try out knives made in all corners of the world.

It's also interesting that real backlash against SRM etc often comes simply because it's specifically made in China, not because it's made elsewhere. For example, I never read about someone not wanting to buy an Opinel, SAK, Mcusta, Fallkniven, Mora, etc because they're made abroad. You could even argue that buying a Tenacious brings more money to an American producer than buying a Fallkniven...
 
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of course its always good to buy local and stuff made in the place to live to boost your own economy. like here in maui hawaii i try to buy everything local as much as possible to try to sustain our little island :) that said i have received a kershaw oso sweet and the quality is great and the fit and finish are awesome for a china made knife. so as far a quality issues i dont think its a problem if the quality controls are well looked at.
 
Tostig said:
What The Man said.


I think the best thing Chinese manufacturers can do at this point is to make original designs and not 'borrow' anything from established companies in our sphere of the planet , they would gather much more respect that way.

Ehem :D

Respectfully , Tostig
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While this might be true, and I'm sure over time they will, companies like SRM get a lot more backlash over it simply because they're a chinese company. EX: Boker, a brand I like a lot, has a DIRECT knock off of the Case Sodbuster. Dozens of companies all over the world copied the Buck 110. It happens.

Anyone who confuses a SRM 710 with a Sebenza simply needs to learn more about knives.

My opinion of the 710? $10 damned well spent. It's worth a lot more.
 
Of course USA quality is superior to China made items, with certain things that is. However, when you're given the opportunity to buy a tool at a fraction of the cost of a USA tool, that functions at a slightly poorer level, I'm willing to give less money for lesser quality. It does pain me to not support US production, but things are just so damn expensive, especially for a college kid!
 
JahRo225 said:
Of course USA quality is superior to China made items, with certain things that is. However, when you're given the opportunity to buy a tool at a fraction of the cost of a USA tool, that functions at a slightly poorer level, I'm willing to give less money for lesser quality. It does pain me to not support US production, but things are just so damn expensive, especially for a college kid!
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I know this is a political statement, but if US companies want to continue to be competitive, simply put, make better stuff and price it at a competitive level. This applies not only to knives, but cars, guns, electronics, etc. Expecting the consumer to buy American stuff simply because it says "Made is the USA" is simply no longer realistic.
 
This is a knife-production observation that I've made before: there are Chinese companies that blatantly produce counterfeit Spyderco and Benchmade and other knives. And there are Chinese companies that are the OEM manufacturers for companies based in the US and in Europe. Sanrenmu/Bee/Enlan/Navy/Ganzo market under their own names, and SRM (at least) has at times been an OEM supplier to Spyderco.

The fact that the Spydie-hole and the AXIS lock show up on SRM and other knives may not indicate piracy or improper copying or anything bad. It could simply reflect part of the deal between the US company and the Chinese supplier -- i.e., a reduced rate to produce knives in return for the license to use the US company's intellectual property. (Plus maybe an agreement not to market knives directly in the US and so compete with the US company's Chinese-made line.)
 
Anyway, here is a knife Ive had my eye on for a while, sorry for the large pic, but I saved the pic a while ago.

Ive read the inlays are by hand, and there is some file work on the ends, but not professional engraving. Its under $20 too shipped, with mailer, and box. It comes from the factory like in the picture.

Rough Rider Stoneworx

roughriderstoneworxpr.jpg
 
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Pay 20 bucks for that knife or you can buy a knife with the same style scales, same material, and same workmanship from Painted Pony or Crazy Horse for only 3, 4, 500 bucks?

Buck says that they will discontinue the China made knives but I'm not so sure that will happen. Once a company have a market in place it’s difficult to turn loose of those dollars.

Look back at Damascus blade knives - At one time there was a major Damascus dealer flying the US Flag - Made in the USA - Even wore USA flag shirts to all the major shows in the US & abroad - Guess where the Damascus blades were made - Pakistan - I been there when the shipments would come in & glued on the tang was a little shield that said made in Pakistan - well 5 seconds with a heat gun & the little shield fell off.

Today you can buy the same Damascus knife blanks, same patterns for penny’s on the dollar from what they were 20 years ago - The only difference is, honest vendors state where the blanks were really made.
 
Good quality cheaper, what is not to like about Chinese made knives? I have some Chinese SRMs, some US made Kershaws, a lot of Spydies of varying origin and a couple of Swedish moras. Quality is quality regardless of what country it was manufactured in. Anything else is just politics or opinions.
 
I bought a Rough Rider small stockman in order to try the pattern and see if I liked it. I did and have purchased three Case stockmans since. Nothing wrong with the RR, I just wanted a Case and now carry a medium stockman.

Yesterday I got three SRM knives in the mail just to try them since I have been reading some very polarizing posts concerning them. I bought two 763s, each with different scale material. I read really good things about the knives, so, I thought what the heck, they're only $14.50. They are decent knives but I really didn't care for them. I also bought one of the 710s. Really nice knife for the money. I think the lanyard hole is at the wrong end and wish I could flip the pocket clip, but it was only ten bucks and worth more than that.

I've had some of the Byrd knives and they were nice, and have a couple of Benchmade Red Box knives that are also nice. So, for me I have had pretty good luck with knives made in China. I still like to try and buy US made products when I can, though. Recently bought a JK Knives 3 Finger knife made right here in the good ol' US of A. Great little fixed blade.
 
Let me bring up again the problem of U.S. (or German, etc.) companies moving work to China. Other quality aside, Chinese steel seems to be adequate at best. What if a person who didn't read about or keep up on knives bought a Kissing Crane knife because they had had good quality steel in the past? Or a Schrade, or a Gerber, or a Buck depending on how long ago their last purchase was.
 
davek14 said:
Let me bring up again the problem of U.S. (or German, etc.) companies moving work to China. Other quality aside, Chinese steel seems to be adequate at best. What if a person who didn't read about or keep up on knives bought a Kissing Crane knife because they had had good quality steel in the past? Or a Schrade, or a Gerber, or a Buck depending on how long ago their last purchase was.
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There was a post on???? I forget - that the steel used in RR's is purchased from Japan - no idea if this is true or not? - this is the NET! But that could be true with RR & other brands if the knives were spec that way to the manufacture. Who knows - but I carry a RR often & find it holds an edge very well.
 
Tom Hudson said:
There was a post on???? I forget - that the steel used in RR's is purchased from Japan - no idea if this is true or not? - this is the NET! But that could be true with RR & other brands if the knives were spec that way to the manufacture. Who knows - but I carry a RR often & find it holds an edge very well.
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Same, there was a guy on here who field dressed a deer start to finish without resharpening using a rough rider knife. I'm quite fond of mine.
 
I have a couple of imported traditional Buck models and really have not found any issues with them after almost a year. I like the canoe model better than the stockman but it is not a quality issue just personal preference. I also have a framelock Mayo made in China no major issues with it except it took a little bit of work to get it as sharp as I would like. I am sure that with a large enough sample that one could find some defects. Smith And Wesson have some good quality blades made in China. I personally don't know much about Rough Rider and other brands.

IMHO most of these knivesw are a good value for the price.
 
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