Looks like Brous is going to China

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Yo Mama said:
Kinda. Honestly I detest china made knives but I started the thread more as as a surprise that an American company is now going over to China where as Buck for example has made a concerted effort to limit their china production. Same with Kershaw where we are starting to see a good number of new usa offerings.

I have never had a Brous, but I think it would even make more sense if they were new designs being made in China but instead they decided to just copy the high-dollar versions. Even when Kershaw did the Emerson colab they were somewhat different.
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Wow. What a concept! Manufacture you own clones.
 
Pilsner said:
Being here since 2013 and with 7,000+ posts, I sorta think he’d have known that, but...
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I don't remember ever discussing Brous here outside of an "ugly knives" thread. I might have, like you say I've posted a lot, but I don't remember it. I've just never been interested in Brous knives enough to look into them that much. I must have missed the threads that have been referenced. The only time I have noticed them was on dealer's sites being advertised as Proudly made in the US, which is what brought me to this thread.

Come to think of it I think I did like one of his designs but never enough to pull the trigger.

Wait as I typed this I decided to try to find that knife on BladeHQ. It was the Sniper, and I decided not to buy one but I did trade into a Bionic once and was extremely underwhelmed.

whitty said:
Hypothetically that same person could then do a 70% off factory direct sale and throw all their dealers under the bus!
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Jeez!!! Well now I can see why he isn't held in high regard.

Also looking at BladeHQ those import knives sure look a lot like the non import ones :eek:
 
I only own one Brous, a first edition Silent Soldier Flipper.
Knifes that have a Sci-Fi or Reptilian looking design about them don't appeal to me at all, which some of his scales look like.
Jason is a great guy, talented maker and a very smart business Man.
By the way, there's a big difference between Taiwan and 'mainland China', a lot of great work comes out of Taiwan.

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halden.doerge said:
Talented makers know how to design functional sharpening choils.
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That should be the case, but the overwhelming majority of knives with a design that should have or could greatly benefit from a sharpening choil don't have one. Almost literally all brands, production to custom design have some to most of their knives that ought to have a sharpening choil.
 
chambelona59 said:
I only own one Brous, a first edition Silent Soldier Flipper.
Knifes that have a Sci-Fi or Reptilian looking design about them don't appeal to me at all, which some of his scales look like.
Jason is a great guy, talented maker and a very smart business Man.
By the way, there's a big difference between Taiwan and 'mainland China', a lot of great work comes out of Taiwan.

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Great guy? Seems from his action maybe great isnt the best word. Not saying he’s a bad guy either but some things are questionable.

First, cutting prices on his website to 7o% off takes business away from the retailers who have paid to stock his product. 70% off would bother me if I did buy his stuff because if he can sell them at that price why the hell was I paying so much before?

Comparing him to other companies like Spyderco and how they have china made lines doesn’t really make sense to me. Spyderco isnt a knife maker doing mid techs and customs. They’re a knife manufacturing company who offer many products, and have always been honest with their customers.

Producing the same knife but with cheap materials from china does cheapen his knife brand. Rick hinderer at least teamed up with kershaw for a made in china line. Wisely both parties designed new knives that just used the essense of some RHK, not a exact xm18 in 5cr13mocrap.
 
RaulDuke said:
I meant "knock-offs", as in they are knock-offs of his own designs, as they were originally manufactured with titanium, US-made D2 steel. Not, in that they were produced illicitly.

What makes the line undesirable to ME is not the fact that they're made in China, but that if I were to buy a Brous knife I'd go for one of his that is US-made and made with superior materials, i.e. titanium, carbon fiber, US-D2 steel. I have a couple. That's just because I'm a collector and want to spend money for a premium, US made knife.

I think it's a cool idea and follows in the footsteps of other great knife makers that have off-shored some, but not all of their manufacturing, allowing us the choice.
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That is understandable.

If his new line from China is made of superior materials, would you buy one?
 
I don't think Brous has ever presented any proof-positive of where and how his "USA made" knives are made. No work in progress shots, just knives being assembled from completed parts. If the fact that he can continue cutting prices on his "USA made" knives to ridiculous levels doesn't raise eyebrows about the costs involved in producing them, I don't know what would.

Beyond the country of origin debate, these specifically Chinese made Brous are an awful value at $89 in comparison to many upstart Chinese companies selling knives with better materials for $45 (Tuya, Besttech, Real Steel, etc).
 
The scales look to be plastic, which is a big turn off to me, as is the insistence on using D2 exclusively. Nothing wrong with D2, just not a steel I prefer.
 
Misanthropia said:
I don't think Brous has ever presented any proof-positive of where and how his "USA made" knives are made. No work in progress shots, just knives being assembled from completed parts. If the fact that he can continue cutting prices on his "USA made" knives to ridiculous levels doesn't raise eyebrows about the costs involved in producing them, I don't know what would.

Beyond the country of origin debate, these specifically Chinese made Brous are an awful value at $89 in comparison to many upstart Chinese companies selling knives with better materials for $45 (Tuya, Besttech, Real Steel, etc).
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Sadly, for people like me who use the correct dominant hand, Brous is one of the few options for knives using good steel, bearings, and flippers for under $100. The action will have to be really nice to compete with the Steel Will budget options, though.
 
The silver lining is that by contracting a Chinese company to make these knives for them, there is a chance that counterfeits of these designs won't be made because then it's Chinese counterfeiters stealing from Chinese companies and that is likely frowned upon over there.

If a knifemaker is dead set on making a line of Chinese made knives (the quality of these Chinese made knives, by the way, is exceptional) they should at least offer a design that is distinct and not at all similar to their hand made USA knives.
 
For me, that's good news. Nothing wrong in adding a cheaper line since his existing USA production will be still up. My situation is a very good example of what this helps with. I still remember the first time i saw the Mini-Division in satin finish...i was really impressed with the overall design, but it does cost a lot of money..even if the value meets the price (i never owned a Brous blade so i wouldn't know) it's still a lot of money. Considering that, first, i live outside the U.S. and, second, you never know if a knife is good for you unless you handle/use it, it would be a big gamble for me to pay for the knife/shipping/customs just to see if it's alright for me.
Enter Brous Chinese line! $70 to actually see if that design works well for me, and i even sell it for $30 less to get rid of it for the U.S. version, no problem. It's small price to pay in order to be more certain that my $400 won't go wasted.
 
I ordered a the Brous hoback collab and hadn’t heard of his stuff before then. I must say after reading this thread and the kut throat stuff I’m really bummed out. I could never afford a real hoback and this is as close as I could get to one :(

Hopefully that stuff that happened can be chalked up to being young and I hope he has matured since then.
 
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