New Spyderco Mule Team made in Taiwan?

[SURVIVE!]

Finally got the Niagara video together. I know there are a lot of opinions on the matter and I know that some people don't care where something comes from, as long as the quality is high and the price is good. I just feel, especially in this time of our Nation's history, that we can still do it as good or better than anyone out there. As long as I can get a high quality, American made product, proudly made by those who live and work in the communities around me, I'll go out of my way to support that. In this particular case, I believe Crucible can make a particle steel as good as I could get anywhere in the world and they were willing to produce what I needed. And these awesome, hard working folks at Niagara turned it into something amazing, to help me share my dream with others. I just see it as people helping people to work and make a living and dollars supporting our own economy.
[video=youtube;5989aB-kfJ4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5989aB-kfJ4#t=211[/video]

 

[Ankerson]

It's just an example that is often used because it's a quick dose of reality when someone says "BLEH! I hate Spyderco and Taiwan knives! Foreign Crap!". Comments we hear all too often. It's not a matter of not looking hard enough and the very folks who have an open mind to knives and other products made abroad (Italian shoes, German guns, whatever... infinite examples) have nothing against supporting our own US made goods whenever they can. It's the hypocrisy that gets people to to cite examples like the irony of saying "America YEAHHHHHHHH! I hate Spyderco for making foreign knives"... Such is the irony when practically everything else they own IS foreign... Example: Not giving a hoot where their fancy wristwatch is made from when there are American watchmakers if they so choose. Perhaps computers aren't the Godly perfect example but its the most direct... and it leaves it wide open to make one stop and think hey...Not only is my PC made somewhere else, but so is my TV, all of my clothes, my wife's purses, shoes, the cat tree my cat sleeps on, my fancy 60 inch TV... Yeah pick and choose, your point makes sense Deacon, you always do but people get tired of hypocrisy. Support US goods as much as we can, but dont me a damn hypocrite about it. "Screw Spyderco! Go BM and ZT, all USA BABY...WOOO!" Little do they know that ZT is a Japanese company and the founder of BM is Filipino and was heavily influenced by their traditional knives which got him to start his brand(Just cited to show that one way or another we are dealing with the world as a whole.) It's a global economy people, open your eyes. You want to buy US knives only? Go ahead, but don't be stupid about it and go to the forums to tell the world that the worse thing in mankind are foreign made knives.

There are a lot of Companies around the world that are tied in together one way or another and in a lot of different Countries around the world.

So yeah it is a Global Economy, much more so today than in the past.

I would like to see more products made in the US, but without the making the same mistakes the Companies made in the past as in lowering the quality of the products and driving themselves right out of business.

The US Companies did most of it to themselves all by themselves with their questionable business practices.

Sadly I think they will make the same mistakes all over again, greed and basic stupidity will kill them just like before and history will repeat itself again, they can't help it, it's just how they are....

Personally I am surprised there are as many left as there are now and the the US isn't a poor 3rd world country yet the way they operate.

So those who are pointing fingers need to point them right back at the US.

For a Country that has only really been around for 238 years they have made a lot of very serious mistakes ignoring history and the mistakes other Countries around the world have made and fixed over the thousands of year they have been around.

Now that is stupidity and arrogance....

 

[Sal Glesser]

Hi Jim,

Can't say "They", only "we".

We broke it. We can fix it. We're American's, we can do this!

sal

 

[Seilu]

Only knives made by American hands in America are worth my time. Anything foreign except for European, Canadian, and Australian made items are a joke and will never be on the same level as the goods that we proudly produce. It's not that the quality that matters, it's who produced it and where.

 

[salmonkiller]

Hi Jim,

Can't say "They", only "we".

We broke it. We can fix it. We're American's, we can do this!

sal

:thumbup:

 

[Stays Sharp]

Only knives made by American hands in America are worth my time. Anything foreign except for European, Canadian, and Australian made items are a joke and will never be on the same level as the goods that we proudly produce. It's not that the quality that matters, it's who produced it and where.

So your position is based on pride, political, and geopolitical perhaps racial (judging from the places you stated) reasons while also suggesting that certain peoples are incapable of making the same level of goods simply because of where they are from BUT acknowledge that it's not the quality that matters so even if they did build it right, it's still a "joke" to you. Got it.

 

[Fanglekai]

Only knives made by American hands in America are worth my time. Anything foreign except for European, Canadian, and Australian made items are a joke and will never be on the same level as the goods that we proudly produce. It's not that the quality that matters, it's who produced it and where.

Japanese knives are a joke? LOL get real

 

[trevitrace]

I won't buy anything from what started as a British penal colony. Kidding, obviously.
I try and support local made anything any chance I get if it's of comparable quality. Off topic, clothing-wise it's much more expensive. Used to buy Arc'teryx, they moved shop overseas, Westcomb became an off-shoot made in Canada...made the switch. Hunting clothing I stick with Kuiu. For me, it boils down to a well made product, made by conscientious people. At any rate, I am grateful for the opportunity Spyderco provides by offering blades in steels I would otherwise not have a chance to try out.

Adam

 

[Ankerson]

Hi Jim,

Can't say "They", only "we".

We broke it. We can fix it. We're American's, we can do this!

sal

Hi Sal,

I really hope so.

Or it's going to be a really long hard road for the future generations.....

Jim

 

[James Y]

Only knives made by American hands in America are worth my time. Anything foreign except for European, Canadian, and Australian made items are a joke and will never be on the same level as the goods that we proudly produce. It's not that the quality that matters, it's who produced it and where.

Your statement is race-based, not fact-based. Personal preference is one thing; ignorance is another thing altogether.

Jim

 

[skyhorse]

Only knives made by American hands in America are worth my time. Anything foreign except for European, Canadian, and Australian made items are a joke and will never be on the same level as the goods that we proudly produce. It's not that the quality that matters, it's who produced it and where.

You're right,that's why Buck knives left California.

 

[skyhorse]

Hi Jim,

Can't say "They", only "we".

We broke it. We can fix it. We're American's, we can do this!

sal

I hope you're right,we could start with the Keystone Pipeline.

 

[The Deacon]

Just because it gets repeated a lot doesn't make it a valid point. There are some products where one's only choice is to buy something made elsewhere, or not own it at all. There are some where buying domestic is possible, but only at a huge premium. Then there are other products where one can choose between buying domestic or foreign at similar prices and levels of quality. For US consumers, computers fall into the first group, knives into the third. Anyone who doesn't see that is not looking very hard.

I'm confused,so by that logic if Chris Reeve had not moved to the USA his knives would not be as good?

If that's what you get out of my post, you are either so totally confused that there's no hope of ending your confusion, or you are just being intentionally obtuse. But, to humor you, I have no idea if remaining in the RSA would have increased, decreased, or had no effect on the quality of CRK knives, nor do I have any idea what effect, if any, it would have had on their price. OTOH, it may have made some folks in the USA decide not to purchase them simply because they were not made here. IMHO, that would have been their loss, as is ignoring Spydercos made outside the USA, but doing so is also their right.

 

[MJF]

These posts are always so shortsighted.

Spyderco is an American company which is currently at full production capacity in the US. The profits derived from the knives made elsewhere (and IMHO there are no shoddily made Spydercos, regardless of Country of Origin) come back to the US and are being used to increase production capacity here in the US. It's not like the Taiwanese manufacturer is receiving the bulk of profits from these products.

By refusing to purchase Taiwanese Spydercos, you are in fact not supporting an American Company, and you're slowing down the increase of Spydercos American production capabilities. Does this not seem short sighted to anyone else?

Look at the big picture, and I bet you'll see that Taiwanese Spydercos are probably helping US manufacturing much more than you realize.

 

[skyhorse]

If that's what you get out of my post, you are either so totally confused that there's no hope of ending your confusion, or you are just being intentionally obtuse. But, to humor you, I have no idea if remaining in the RSA would have increased, decreased, or had no effect on the quality of CRK knives, nor do I have any idea what effect, if any, it would have had on their price. OTOH, it may have made some folks in the USA decide not to purchase them simply because they were not made here. IMHO, that would have been their loss, as is ignoring Spydercos made outside the USA, but doing so is also their right.

Along with rights comes responsibility,why on earth the OP would buy a knife made in Taiwan and then come here complaining about it is something only you seem to understand. Where that knife was made wasn't a secret!

 

[cujobob]

Only knives made by American hands in America are worth my time. Anything foreign except for European, Canadian, and Australian made items are a joke and will never be on the same level as the goods that we proudly produce. It's not that the quality that matters, it's who produced it and where.

This comes off incredibly racist to me... Taiwan is known for it's exceptional quality in making knives, that is why so many prefer Taiwanese Spydercos over their Golden counterparts. If you want to look at history, nearly every country has done awful, horrid things...there really isn't any understandable argument except that you believe certain countries make poor quality products. However, the facts say otherwise...Taiwan, Japan, and many other countries produce great cutlery...in many respects far better than does the United States. If you want to support an American company, than you should want it to put out great quality merchandise and stay in business while also employing Americans. Spyderco employs many Americans, the company pays U.S. taxes, by utilizing Taiwanese and Japanese labor, it's able to keep up with production levels AND save money which means it will stay in business longer and have more success. Taiwan's people make good wages, it is because of the value of the U.S. dollar that money is saved by employing people from there.

Do you want only your neighbors to have a good life or those a state over, as well? I think at some point you have to say, you're lucky for being in a place with so many opportunities and have already been fortunate enough, if hard working people in other nations are making products of incredible quality, let's all appreciate that work.

 

[The Deacon]

Along with rights comes responsibility,why on earth the OP would buy a knife made in Taiwan and then come here complaining about it is something only you seem to understand. Where that knife was made wasn't a secret!

In fairness to the OP, that's not quite true. Up to now, all the Mules that featured steel produced in the USA were manufactured in Golden. Spyderco made no mention, either in the post announcing the MT-18's price, specs, and release date, or in the online catalog description of it, that the MT-18 was an exception to that. Now you can say that assumption is the mother of all screw ups but, to me at least, expecting the MT-18 to have been made in Golden when there was absolutely no reason to think otherwise was not particularly unreasonable. Especially when you consider that as the result of prior threads on this and other forums where Spyderco has a presence, they have to be well aware that country of origin matters a lot to at least a few of their customers.

 

[skyhorse]

In fairness to the OP, that's not quite true. Up to now, all the Mules that featured steel produced in the USA were manufactured in Golden. Spyderco made no mention, either in the post announcing the MT-18's price, specs, and release date, or in the online catalog description of it, that the MT-18 was an exception to that. Now you can say that assumption is the mother of all screw ups but, to me at least, expecting the MT-18 to have been made in Golden when there was absolutely no reason to think otherwise was not particularly unreasonable. Especially when you consider that as the result of prior threads on this and other forums where Spyderco has a presence, they have to be well aware that country of origin matters a lot to at least a few of their customers.

Sorry Deacon but that dog don't hunt. I'm not buying it.

 

[nccole]

Sorry Deacon but that dog don't hunt. I'm not buying it.

Not that I care, because I prefer Taichung's quality actually, but I was fully expecting Golden on the tang as well. I was surprised, and Spyderco and crew surely knew it would cause a stink on the forums at the very least, esp. BF.

 

[skyhorse]

Spyderco Mule Team 13 (Elmax) ~ MT13P
Discontinued

click to enlarge


MSRP $64.95

length overall () blade length () blade steel ELMAX
length closed () cutting edge () weight ()
blade thickness () handle material N/A




Spyderco Mule Team 13 - Elmax

Spyderco’s thirteenth Mule Team Project installment uses Elmax steel produced by Böhler-Uddeholm Steel of Kapfenberg, Austria