Made in China, would you bet your Life?

Why is it that these kind of threads seem to turn into "Lets bash China" type of threads? It is obvious that no matter how much you "hate" Chinese made products, you use them EVERYDAY. You can not avoid it. Quick question, for those who say "If I can buy a USA made item I will over anything else." With that said, what brand of car do you drive? What brands does the USA make that people consider "Luxury."

The US is only several hundred of years old while China has sevearal thousand years under their belt. Many things that we see think one group or another came up with actually came from China first. To each their own though.

Do I think China makes the best products? No way, but they sure have come far from where they were before. It was already stated that if they wanted to, they could. But from a Business aspect, if you can make a greater profit from selling a lower quality product than say a super high end product. Why wouldnt you? Keep in mind that since China is pushing out so many things, it keeps its people employed.
 
I've used knives (or cars, or computers, or software, or toilet paper) that's made in the USA / Germany / Switzerland that I would not trust my life with.

So...
 
Daniel Dorn said:
Paul Chen, and Hanwei, otherwise, I agree. I'd bet my life on one of his "practical", or better blades.
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Just to clarify Paul Chen is Hanwei, Fred Chen is also a blade smith out of Singapore. I recently bought one of his excellent swords which has preformed quite well in my tameshigiri.
 
Chinese man said:
Why is it that these kind of threads seem to turn into "Lets bash China" type of threads? It is obvious that no matter how much you "hate" Chinese made products, you use them EVERYDAY. You can not avoid it. Quick question, for those who say "If I can buy a USA made item I will over anything else." With that said, what brand of car do you drive? What brands does the USA make that people consider "Luxury."

The US is only several hundred of years old while China has sevearal thousand years under their belt. Many things that we see think one group or another came up with actually came from China first. To each their own though.

Do I think China makes the best products? No way, but they sure have come far from where they were before. It was already stated that if they wanted to, they could. But from a Business aspect, if you can make a greater profit from selling a lower quality product than say a super high end product. Why wouldnt you? Keep in mind that since China is pushing out so many things, it keeps its people employed.
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I agree with what you are saying , bear in mind though this forum has it's share of knife 'snobs' like any other forum for a lifestyle/hobby/collection/etc.

The China bashing ? I think it is more geared towards China's government than the Chinese people themselves , I know I am no fan of communists, no matter thier origin.
 
lol to some of the comments.

Let me tell you something that happened in China during the "Cultural Revolution" (1966-1976): people tried to label everything "Capitalism" or "Socialism". Food, cars, movies and technologies... whatever they could find in their life. Because they refused to accept anything defined as "Capitalism", the country virtually degenerated 30 years during the 10 years political movement. Now Chinese realized how stupid they were. A car is nothing but a car, no matter where it comes from, and who made it. Whether it's "evil" or not depends on who drives it, and what it is used for.

So does a knife.

It's not a sound reasoning to refuse buying something from China just because it's labeled Communism.

btw, believe it or not, China is not a Communist country.
 
Danno4017 said:
I don't know about slave labour?
Poorly paid maybe but its relative, China is an emerging economy like India.
Years ago stuff made in Japan was laughed at, sound familiar?
You could send a high quality knife to a Chinese manufacturer and give them the specs and I would be surprised if you could tell the difference from the original.
Sure it would not cost $3.00 bucks but it would be closer to $3.00 than it would be to $400.00
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Well... they're not just an emerging economy anymore either. They're already the world's 3rd largest economy. In 30 years they're expected to surpass the US as the worlds biggest economic superpower.

I'm sure we have a lot of people who lived through the propaganda filled red scare years, and have the word communist ingrained into them as a bad word. China isnt strictly communist... they've adapted to be more socialist than communist by now.
 
Elen said:
I find nothing wrong with the Chinese. They can make quality stuff when they want to. Even so, I'd much rather bet my life on a Scandinavian made knife, preferably Finnish, of course. ;)
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A large amount of Marttiini knives ARE made in China!
Fiskars owns Gerber and they produce in Taiwan (none too well in my view)
 
Very hard to generalize about Chinese knives it seems.Lot of rubbish knocking about certainly, but credible and good blades too. My Paul Chen Sheffield folder is certainly worth having, some Böker Magnums are decent and even Rough Rider can offer rugged work blades: The large sodbuster with bone scales I use for garden work gets a lot of abuse, has a lock and cost 8 dollars.I'm not complaining there.
 
The Chinese don't make crap cause they don't no any better, they make EXACTLY what they are paid to make. If you don't like the quality, blame the corporations that contract the junk. The Chinese just provides the cheap labor.
 
I can understand the anti-communist position to a degree, but all too often I read posts from individuals who state that they will never buy a China-made knife either because A: China is a communist nation. Or B: because they think that anything made in China is junk. How do you justify that position typing on a keyboard that is most likely made in China? How do you pick up that Chinese made Nokia or Motorola cell phone to make a 911 call during an emergency when seconds count? If Chinese products are rubbish, how do let your small children play with Chinese made toys?

The fact of the matter is that rubbish can be made in any country (as has already been stated in this thread). I too have seen junk made in Germany, Spain, the UK, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan and even the good ol' US of A. Just because a knife or any item is made in China doesn't make it junk. Rather than bashing a nation as a whole, why don't we get more specific with the product? Would you trust your fingers with a $12 import from the BudK catalogue or a Chinese made Benchmade Vex? How about a Byrd Cara Cara?

It seems to me that not too long ago people where bashing knives made in Taiwan. After all, nothing but cheap and inferior knockoffs came from Taiwan, remember? What now? Those same folks who used to bash Taiwanese knives now own a CRKT M16 or a Benchmade Monochrome or a Böker Subcom. To me, mainland China is no different. Yes, there are still cheaply made Chinese products that can truly be classified as junk, but they're no different than junk produced in any other country. Look at your cell phone, mp3 player, digital camera, or your athletic shoes, office equipment at work, the medical equipment at your local hospital or doctor's office, take a look at all of your children's toys that are made in China and ask yourself whether or not they were worth buying. I bet a lot of people would be surprised at how many Chinese made items they use daily and are probably not even aware of it.
 
Living in Taiwan, I have seen several knives made in China, but some of them, I will not bet my life on.

In my opinion, you could trust the BM red class knives or Spyderco byrd...the BM and Spyderco will do the QC. But don't trust the brand comes from China too much. The price decide the quality, even in the lower price market.

Hanwei is good, but as far as I know, Paul Chen was born and trained in Taiwan.

What knives will I bet my life on? It's those knives I carry everyday, of course. Let me see... non of them made in China. I will trust CRK sebenza( always with me), Camillus edc and S&W rescue knife ( always put in my car), but I will not trust Sanrenmu.

BTW, please do not count Taiwan as a part of China... they put 900 missiles and aim at us now.
 
Wow, this has been so fun. I really appriciate all the input from real knife people. Just so you know, I didn't start this thread because I have some thing against China or it's politics. I just don't like crappy knives. I know that every country makes crappy knives, and a lot of countries make good knives, but I do not think that every country makes great knives.
I am not interested in where my seat belt is manufactured, I don't think that just because a counrty has the ability to reproduce sophisticated electronics that it has the ability to reproduce excellant knives. They are two very different things. I understand that China may have made metal cutting tools before many other countries. I am not interested in who made the first knife. I am interested in where I can buy a great knife today. I like to buy knives that stir my heart. Part of what stirs my heart beyound superficial appearance is Excellant craftmanship.
If I could get a $1000 Ken Onion original for $500 made in China, I would do it. I don't want a good knife for the money, I want a great knife and damn the cost. As for seat belt, I don't need a great seat belt.
 
my Taiwanese made Spyderco "S" and Salsa are very well made folders....as are my Bladetech MLEK Lite / Mouse Lite.....
I've got lots of Byrds .... made in China.....the quality of the build is not on par with the "S" or Salsa but the byrds IMO are on the same "level" of quality as the Bladetech's mentioned above....
All are very reliable folders which will probably outlast my lifetime... ;)
 
I am a Chinese. Here is what I think about the question: if there is a need, there is a deed.

Inside China, there are not as many high end knife collectors as in US. Guess this is why no top brand knife makers from China.

Outside China, people import knives from China mainly for the price sake, but high end knives earn your heart not by the price but for the quality.

I believe once the market of high quality knives thrives in China, you will soon see top brands from there. It won't be a long time.

at last, I respect everyone's political point of view towards China, even though I may not agree with you:). Many of you hear China from the media propaganda, that's the second-hand information. You are welcome to visit the the country to see it by yourself! You will find China fascinating and believe it's not accidental that it is one of the most successful and the most long-lasting cultures in the world. I am sure you will think differently after your trip. :) And, Olympics, yes! it will be held in China next year. You will have a good chance to know the country. I bet you will feel the country friendly, modern, energetic and full of hope! :).

Now come back to your own interest. China has a l~ong~ history. If you benefit anything from Japanese or Korean culture, you will benefit A LOT MORE from Chinese culture. It is still a "virgin soil" for most of you, which means the earlier you start to explore it, the better you will benefit from it.

So please don't hate China before you really know it :). US is the most successful country in the world because it has a culture of tolerance, open-mind and assimilation. So does China.
 
Thought provoking thread. China can design, fabricate and deliver on numerous levels. It all depends on how much money you'd like to fork over. China is on the move.
 
Once again, it's not about China (or any other foreign nation, for that matter). It's about America and American industry. Why buy foreign when there is absolutely no shortage of affordable good quality knives being produced here? Many products we use every day are imported partly because there is simply no alternative reasonable choice. Those industries have already lost the race because overseas competition can copy, import technique, import technology, and use someone else's R&D for virtually free. I'll keep my money circulating in the US whenever I have a reasonable choice. Foreign nation industry can produce anything of any quality that the US can, but not necessarily from scratch.

Who pays the R&D for modern medicine that serves the entire world, then is exported so cheap that we can then import it again and still pay less than buying it locally? The whole concept of international industrial competition has become a farce.

The source of a knife has absolutely no bearing on the quality. Quality is born from materials, technology, training, and pride. The level of quality is dictated by the market.
 
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