Made in America

I

illumination

Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
125
It is depressing...more and more blades seem to be made overseas. I'm willing to pay more for the "USA" stamp on the blade; unfortunately it seems most of America won't.

Which companies still make most of there blades here? I noticed that many Benchmades used to be made in the US, but lately I have noticed the photos on the website no longer have the "USA" on the blade (have they expanded outsourcing). It seems that many of Spyderco's knives are made in Japan. Likewise, many of Buck's cheaper blades are made in Taiwan (kudos for making others here though). And forget Gerber, etc.
 
The vast majority of Buck, Spyderco, and Kershaw knives are made in the US. And they can be had for very cheap, too.

Or are you looking for a company that only makes knives in the US and doesn't outsource anything?
 
Thanks. I had just noticed that on a knife i really liked (Benchmade Apparition), many of what seemed to be older pictures had a "USA" under the Benchmade logo while the more recent pictures did not have the "USA" (i.e., did Benchmade recently start outsourcing?). I figure if I am spending north of $100 bucks on a blade, it should be made here. (If I want a $10 piece of crap, then I guess it might as well be made in China.) I then started looking more closely at the manufacturers websites and noticed few said anything about where they made their knives.

I guess we really live in a global economy. Kershaw is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kai Cutlery, a Japanese company. (To be clear, I don't have anything against foreign manufacturers, I'd just like to know what I am getting.)

Do knifemakers have to put the country of manufacture anywhere on the knife (usu. blade)? I guess even that's somewhat useless information - I am sure there are tons of companies make all of the parts overseas and just assemble here.
 
The Apparition is USA made...a handful of Benchmades entry level models are outsourced, and can be found in red boxes...

the quality of the Apparition like all Benchmades is top notch, usa made, and a great buy,,,

try the Benchmade you wont regret it
 
When it comes to Spyderco, I actually prefer the Seki models over the Golden knives. Oh sure, when a certain design that's only available from the Golden plant comes along that I've just "gotta have", I don't hesitate. But when overall quality is concerned the Seki stuff wins hands down and I get WAY more jazzed over them. Those guys are simply light years ahead. American workers need to start cranking out that kind of quality.

That, in itself, would go a long ways toward bringing our manufacturing power back home. Pride in workmanship and attention to detail.
 
We just had a long thread last month on made in US blades.

Knives imported from outside the US have to have the country of origin on them. No country of origin means made in the US.
 
Makes you wonder why more companies don't advertise "Made in the US".

As for the comment on Seki...I know they make good stuff. I've used some of their blades.

I'd be surprised though if US manufacturers couldn't make equal quality here. (Probably would cost more though.)

Toyota's made here have equal to better reliability than Toyota's made elsewhere. The problem with the American cars is the design, process flow, etc. Yes, I know, this is a knife forum. Sorry!
 
I wonder...is there a bias against asian products?

I know plenty of guys who love their Swiss Army knives, and they love their European firearms, and their German cars, and their Italian motorcycles--but give them something made in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, or (God forbid) China and it's a different story altogether.

The crappiest knife that I've seen lately was made in Ireland.
They sell them at the local hardware store.

Allen.
 
Perhaps for some, but not for me. When I said "Made in America", I didn't mean "Not Made in Asia". I wasn't looking for a Swiss, German (or for that matter, Irish) made knife. I'm sure many are great. I was just looking for something made here.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Knives imported from outside the US have to have the country of origin on them. No country of origin means made in the US.
Click to expand...

Some companies are slipping around this though, so it's not a fixed in stone rule. Smith & Wesson is importing Chinese made traditional slipjoints that only have a clear with black print plastic sticker on the blade that says "China", once they are in the country, the sticker is peeled off.
 
allenC said:
I wonder...is there a bias against asian products?

I know plenty of guys who love their Swiss Army knives, and they love their European firearms, and their German cars, and their Italian motorcycles--but give them something made in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, or (God forbid) China and it's a different story altogether.

The crappiest knife that I've seen lately was made in Ireland.
They sell them at the local hardware store.

Allen.
Click to expand...

This is so true!

I like to buy American, and have European stuff, but I think there is a very big bias against asian products. I admit I have this bias and I've been cought short a few times because of it. Untill 1990 I refused to buy an asian vehicle. But in 1988 I bought my last U.S. truck and it was the third bad vehicle in a row among lots of very mediocre cars from all the big three. In 1990 I went for a Toyota because all my coworkers who had them never had problems. Well I never had a car towed back to the dealer again. In 12 years and 147,000 miles it never let me down. I was a valuble leason. When I needed a new truck I never gave a thought to anything but a Toyota.

Some of the recent stuff I've seen coming out of China shows noticable improvement in fit and finish and overall quality. China is going to be a major player in all fields and we better get used to it. We used to be biased against Japanese products, but now Honda Accords and Toyota Camrays are the most popular selling cars in the U.S. Ten years from now you will love your China made knife, car or whatever because it will be a good product at a fair price. When I'm on the skeet range my Japanese Browning works great. But I'm old enough to remember when we used to joke about "made in Japan", and the've come a long way baby!
 
I have relatives that work in the steel industry. Its a real sour spot with them when topics like this come up. A lot of our steel industry is outsourced and Japan has a whopping part of it too. You just never know. I'm carrying a Made in USA knife now that has a Japanese made AUS8A blade. Truth is you can't much tell on a lot of that anymore.

Steve
 
I wonder...is there a bias against asian products?
Click to expand...
No Asian in general, just China. Speaking only for myself of course.

I've yet to be impressed or even satisfied with the quality of a Chinese knife. Worse yet, the knives aren't even truely Chinese - they're the result of American companies whoring their names to the lowest-cost producer.

CRKT has found decent-quality manufacturing in Tawain; I own several and am quite satisfied.

Some of the highest-quality knives are from Japan. I wouldn't hesitate to buy more.

But in the world of knife collecting/accumulating, buyers often limit the scope of their purchases. Some buy only customs, some only mall-ninja "tacticals", some only buy a certain brand or knives that originate in a certain country. That appears to be Illumination's situation; he never said anything derogatory about imported knives.

Agreed about the Irish knife quality too. The Schrade/Imperials made in Ireland weren't any better than the Chinese-Schrades.

Illumination,
There was a post recently listing all of the American brands of knives. I can't recreate the entire list from memory, but here are a few: Spyderco (some), Buck (most), Marbles (most or some), Bark River, Camillus, AG Russell (some), Queen/Schatt-Morgan, Case.

One brand that doesn't get mentioned much, an American original, all handmade, is Anza Knives. Great stuff. Pick one of their standard models, have a standard model customized, or have them make a true custom knife.

Best Wishes,
Bob
 
illumination said:
I'd be surprised though if US manufacturers couldn't make equal quality here. (Probably would cost more though.)
Click to expand...

It has to do with the price of importing steel. Spydercos made in Seki use what many would consider top of the line VG-10 steel which is produced in Japan. Why pay the high import costs for the steel when very capable manufacturers are right there?

The Japanese are highly capable knife makers and not in the same league as China. I'd consider my Kai made Kershaws and Seki made Spydercos to be as high quality of any of my higher end American made knives.

Of course, I prefer American made. But I don't have a problem with Japanese, Swiss or German knives if they're of high quality (Victorinox, Spyderco, Kershaw, Boker, et al). Hell, even Taiwan is ok in my book.
 
allenC said:
I wonder...is there a bias against asian products?

I know plenty of guys who love their Swiss Army knives, and they love their European firearms, and their German cars, and their Italian motorcycles--but give them something made in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, or (God forbid) China and it's a different story altogether.

The crappiest knife that I've seen lately was made in Ireland.
They sell them at the local hardware store.

Allen.
Click to expand...


Allen, you hit at least one nail on the head! Fact remains, if US companies were more competative(lower priced) with foreign manufacturers then more knives would be made in the US. I think everyone would love to see their knives made by a US employed person/company. BUT the Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Indian, etc all need work too, just like any other man from any country. So what's the big deal then? Unless it lay in our subconcious somewhere deep down that we "prefer" knives from certain countries only and why does it lay there? I know, we all want a strong economy and work force subsequently. Again, that is up to the lack of competative pricing of materials and most of all labor, thanks to our ever increasing standard of living. Our ever rising prices for RealEstate, a Gallon of Milk, a loaf of bread, a train ride. All rising, how can you blame a US company outsourcing at least occasionally? It's quickly becoming a country for the rich only. Unlike many countries where you have a surplus of people who would die for a job! The US has become an almost solely corporate power outsourcing EVERYTHING. From clothes to electronics to knives to cars to guitars. That's how we get into and earn favor on said countries. If we employ them then they have to deal with us. Usually on our terms (minus the human rights violations). So we and our associate countries become the boss of the world eventually.
 
What does it actually take for a knife to be considered made in the USA? I have seen lots of knives with ATS34 blades marked made in the USA. I was under the impression that all ATS 34 came from Japan, maybe I was wrong.
 
Hair said:
The vast majority of Buck, Spyderco, and Kershaw knives are made in the US. And they can be had for very cheap, too.

Or are you looking for a company that only makes knives in the US and doesn't outsource anything?
Click to expand...

Mmmh, vast majority? I don't think that is true for Spyderco. There are many Golden models, yes. The majority of their high end folders are made in Golden, CO but the vast majority of their knives produced are made in Japan.

And Kershaw....well Kershaw is owned in its entirety by a Japanese company, even though the management is completely american and they manufacture, I believe, mostly here aswell.
 
ATS 34 = Japanese
154 CM = American (version of ATS34)

154 CM is actually a couple bucks more expensive than ATS at certain steel dealers. Or it has been at times as the price of steel changes frequently enough. Go figure...:rolleyes:
 
Spyderco makes a fair portion of their knives overseas, namely in Japan, Seki city. The Endura and Delica were of high quality IMHO. My Native III made in Japan is of the same high quality as my Native made in America.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top