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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Made in the USA
- Thread starter Popsickle
- Start date
ScooterG
You mean Ireland? Yeah, it’s mine.
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- Mar 15, 2016
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How long of a list do you want?
Spyderco
Benchmade
Hinderer
Kershaw
Zero Tolerance
Buck
Ferber
Chris Reeves
Millet
Spartan
Hoback
Olamic (maybe?)
Houge
Case
GEC
Emerson
RMJ
Cold Steel on occasion
Winkler
Busse
Bark River
LT Wright
Esse
Demko
Microtech
Guardian Tactical
Gavco
Strider
Ferrum Forge
Southern Grind
Carothers and about 427 others from the Makers section of the forum.
Spyderco
Benchmade
Hinderer
Kershaw
Zero Tolerance
Buck
Ferber
Chris Reeves
Millet
Spartan
Hoback
Olamic (maybe?)
Houge
Case
GEC
Emerson
RMJ
Cold Steel on occasion
Winkler
Busse
Bark River
LT Wright
Esse
Demko
Microtech
Guardian Tactical
Gavco
Strider
Ferrum Forge
Southern Grind
Carothers and about 427 others from the Makers section of the forum.
Last edited:
JBC6650
BANNED
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- Jul 19, 2008
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- 499
The large brands all have some USA made models. Go check out the Knife Center search tool, they have a category for assembled in the US and then one for USA meaning made in the USA. Some companies freely admit assembled in the US, like much of SOGs line, most are honest about origin, except Quartermaster they are just lying scum.
I imagine some parts are sourced internationally, screws, standoffs etc. Unless the company makes everything in house.
I imagine some parts are sourced internationally, screws, standoffs etc. Unless the company makes everything in house.
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- Oct 17, 2015
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- 11,466
What reports?
Still have to be careful with some Bucks. The vast majority are USA made, and I mean vast majority. But I have encountered their traditional series made in China will h 420j2 steel in the wild with Made in USA boxes which they are not.
Off hand these at the traditional knives which start with 37 like 371 and such. Should also include some of their holiday tins. And I'm not sure if there is anything really besides that.
Off hand these at the traditional knives which start with 37 like 371 and such. Should also include some of their holiday tins. And I'm not sure if there is anything really besides that.
I'll add some of my favorites: Holt Bladeworks, Koenig Knives, and Three Rivers Manufacturing
If I’ve heard correctly, Olamic has parts produced in Italy, then assembles, finishes, and does the art work in CA. That’s not a knock. I love Olamic as a company, and I love my Wayfarer 247.
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I’ve read that Kershaw/ZT are assembled in the US when they state they are made in the USA. I tested the waters with the subject to see how this would go before I posted. A passing comment on another companies Instagram talking about ZT made in the USA, and they commented that they were assembled. I’m not knocking any company that does this, simply curious.
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There are strict rules in place for what can be legally be called "made in USA" vs. "assembled in USA of domestic and foreign components". A non-knife example of this would be Seymour Manufacturing's long-handled hand tools. They own O.P. Link Handle Co. and produce all of their own handles domestically. They forge their own shovels, and can label those as USA-made, but forks (digging forks, hay forks, cultivators, etc.) they import the heads for from China, and have to label the combination of fork head and handle as "assembled in the USA of domestic and foreign components".
There's also the categories of "assembled in USA" where the product is all foreign-sourced, but put together in the USA to create the final marketable product. Lastly you have products labeled as "designed in the USA, made in ______" or "distributed by" followed by a US company address.
However, a lot of this kind of breakdown can be a little difficult to decide squarely, because what if a company buys screws for their knives that are made in the USA using steel sourced from Europe or Asia? Or the screw company buys their steel from a US mill, but stainless steel uses chromium, which is mostly mined in Kazakhstan, South Africa, India, Albania, and Turkey, and what if they got their iron from Australia, which currently produces roughly 18 times as much iron ore as the US? So the materials can be completely foreign, but then smelted into steel in the US, used to make screws in the US, that go into a knife being assembled in the US. Nevertheless, that raw material came out of the ground in a different nation(s). Even quantifying labor is difficult. Do you do it by machine/man hours, or do you do it by steps/stages involved?
As a general rule of thumb, if 60% or more of the work to turn a group of materials into the final product is done in the USA, you can consider it as USA-made. But, again, that's a rough ballpark, and the harder you scrutinize it the more it falls apart.
There's also the categories of "assembled in USA" where the product is all foreign-sourced, but put together in the USA to create the final marketable product. Lastly you have products labeled as "designed in the USA, made in ______" or "distributed by" followed by a US company address.
However, a lot of this kind of breakdown can be a little difficult to decide squarely, because what if a company buys screws for their knives that are made in the USA using steel sourced from Europe or Asia? Or the screw company buys their steel from a US mill, but stainless steel uses chromium, which is mostly mined in Kazakhstan, South Africa, India, Albania, and Turkey, and what if they got their iron from Australia, which currently produces roughly 18 times as much iron ore as the US? So the materials can be completely foreign, but then smelted into steel in the US, used to make screws in the US, that go into a knife being assembled in the US. Nevertheless, that raw material came out of the ground in a different nation(s). Even quantifying labor is difficult. Do you do it by machine/man hours, or do you do it by steps/stages involved?
As a general rule of thumb, if 60% or more of the work to turn a group of materials into the final product is done in the USA, you can consider it as USA-made. But, again, that's a rough ballpark, and the harder you scrutinize it the more it falls apart.
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I really appreciate the time you put into this response. Thank you
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That had to be Microtech's Instagram..... ZT is US made, I've seen it with my own eyes. Lasers cutting blades out, milling machines cutting CF and TI scales, robots and people grinding the blades. Stone washing and bead blasting done on site. Pivots and screws are even made in Tualatin.
Kai=Toyota
A fine Japanese company making great products world wide.
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Thank you for the clarification
Elegantly put, as usual.
In a global economy it becomes a complicated question. Say someone wants to "buy/support American." Suppose knife company X has their knives made in another county, but their business/office staff is in the US. Wouldn't not giving company X one's business hurt those American employees also?
I certainly understand wanting to exclusively support one's countrymen and women, but it's really not that simple at this point.
rexromic
Platinum Member
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Are you sure CRK is on your list.They use to outsource screws but now CRK is making their own.
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Elegantly put, as usual.
In a global economy it becomes a complicated question. Say someone wants to "buy/support American." Suppose knife company X has their knives made in another county, but their business/office staff is in the US. Wouldn't not giving company X one's business hurt those American employees also?
I certainly understand wanting to exclusively support one's countrymen and women, but it's really not that simple at this point.
Heck--most of the famous American axes of old, known the world over as an American icon of industry, were made using steel imported from England and iron imported from Sweden and Russia. It actually took a long time for domestically produced steel to become the norm in American edged tools due to false market perception of the imported materials being superior.
Elegantly put, as usual.
In a global economy it becomes a complicated question. Say someone wants to "buy/support American." Suppose knife company X has their knives made in another county, but their business/office staff is in the US. Wouldn't not giving company X one's business hurt those American employees also?
I certainly understand wanting to exclusively support one's countrymen and women, but it's really not that simple at this point.
I’ve considered breaking this down in a video as a first dip of the toe into YouTube, because it really is a nuanced subject in 2018. There are some amazing examples to work off now.
JuJu-
Gold Member
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- Jun 7, 2011
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- 4,943
I have to agree. It's crazy the misinformation put out there.
ZT is for sure made in tualatin, OR USA. So are a good chunk of the kershaws: Links, dividends, blurs, leeks etc... the ones made in China are clearly marked as so.
Cheers,
Justin
If I'm not mistaken, most of (or a good percentage of) the titanium comes from Russia.
In terms of materials (at least), it's virtually impossible (and IMO, pointless) to attempt to compartmentalize the world and have each and every ingredient that goes into any knife, let alone entire lines of knives, to be 100% of US origin.
Jim
In terms of materials (at least), it's virtually impossible (and IMO, pointless) to attempt to compartmentalize the world and have each and every ingredient that goes into any knife, let alone entire lines of knives, to be 100% of US origin.
Jim