Some love for Kershaw's made in China models

The latest generations are indeed very strong:

A/O's:
Compound
Drone
Tremor
Asset
Burst
RJ I & II
Brawler

Manual:
Vapor III
3100 Series in Wood & Bone
Squaw Creek & Indian Ford in Pearl & CF

Good Stuff coming for Blade as well.
 
I have the clash model. It's a really great knife and it's super fast opening. The Chinese steel holds an edge better than I thought it would and it's easy to resharpen.

One of the best values on the market.
 
Andrew G. said:
I have the clash model. It's a really great knife and it's super fast opening. The Chinese steel holds an edge better than I thought it would and it's easy to resharpen.

One of the best values on the market.
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Agreed. I picked one up in January and it has been impressive. I also got a Spyderco Persistence that is one stout, well built knife for its country of origin.

Never thought I'd even own Chinese made knives but these two are very nice for what they cost. I consider them entry level knives and if they can get potential knife nuts hooked for decent price then its all good. Maybe first time buyers will move up to the US made stuff when their funds allow.

Kinda like a Chevy Aveo made by Daewoo in Korea. It isn't a top-of-the-line car but GM uses it to build brand loyalty. When the young buyer on a budget is impressed with the quality and service, maybe he/she will move up to a Cadillac later.
 
This particular forum is for the knives.

That means leaving out the economics and politics.

It would be wise to keep that in mind.
 
I'm also a big fan of Kershaw - I'm also a big fan of Rough Rider Knives made in China - here is a pic of one of my favorite RR knives - China is making some of the finest knives in the world right now - Tom
666_500_csupload_29142659.jpg
 
I agree. I have a Kershaw Scamp, A G10 framelock, and the quality is excellent. I bought it for 22 dollars shipped, and I have no complaints. It's just as good as, if not better than my US made Buck Vantage Select.
 
Looks like Kershaw has some nicer Chinese offerings now. The new ones do look pretty nice for the price. But since knives are one of the few things I still have a choice in as far as country of origin is concerned, I think I'll mostly stick with the American and Japanese blades.
 
I have a made in China Kershaw Oso Sweet that is absolutely excellent. Despite being made in China, the lockup is strong, the centering is good, and the fit and finish are wonderful. Honestly the edge grind was better than on some USA made lower priced Kershaws. While I will buy USA made knives for higher end production models or whenever a high quality USA made option is a similar price to a foreign option, I have nothing against foreign manufacturing anymore. Kershaw and Spyderco's outsourced models made me feel that way. Just my 2 cents.
 
I figure the Chinese have been making blades a few thousand years longer than Americans .....they should be ok at it by now.
 
I'm very pleased with my Chill. One goofy thing I noticed is that several times when accidentally dropped on the floor, the blade would open about half way.

Timberweasel- I sanded off the bead blasted finish and put a satin finish on it with 800 wet/dry abrasive. It only took a few minutes.

ric
 
:barf: You can have all you want but not for me.

iandh said:
The blade grind quality and fit/finish of this Chill pictured, equals (and possibly surpasses) the quality of USA Kershaws I've owned. I've gotten a USA made Kershaw that I was less than impressed with for the price, TBH, after having seen what kind of quality I can get in the $20 Chinese counterpart.

I have a sneaking suspicion that if you had never seen this knife before, and were not familiar with the model or its origins, it could be laser engraved with "USA" instead of "China", and you would be none the wiser.

You can't get any better than perfect production quality, and that is what the above pictured knife is close to reaching.

I'm just being honest here. I eat, sleep, and breathe precision. It's what I do. I am confident in saying that the production quality of the knife shown above is on par with just about ANY knife I've seen.


edit: Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm not trying to crap on yours, but I have a really hard time imagining how the quality of the above knife could possibly improve, only by moving to a factory in a different geographical location.

I can say that my Chinese Kershaw Chill is absolutely, 100% equal in quality to my USA Kershaw Skyline, the only real difference being the blade steel used (frankly, I think the Chill actually holds an edge better). If someone would like to contest this, that is perfectly acceptable, but I would love for specific reasons to be posted why they think the Chinese models are inferior in build quality. Pictures would be superb if possible. I've posted my pictures, and I think they demonstrate very clearly just how well made this knife is.

From what I've seen, they are equal. *I've only seen a few examples though.* It is entirely possible that earlier models were not of this high quality. Based upon my somewhat limited experience in the quality of the China models vs. the USA models I've seen though, I'd have to say anyone debating the quality is having trouble seeing past the COO.
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Phydeaux said:
I'm very pleased with my Chill. One goofy thing I noticed is that several times when accidentally dropped on the floor, the blade would open about half way.

Timberweasel- I sanded off the bead blasted finish and put a satin finish on it with 800 wet/dry abrasive. It only took a few minutes.

ric
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That'll happen with most folders, especially flippers.
 
mmarkh said:
:barf: You can have all you want but not for me.
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If your view is that biased, why did you even bother responding to a thread wth "Love for China" in the title?

I have some futher comments to make, but we can leave that for another forum per Moderator's request.

Tom Hudson said:
I'm also a big fan of Kershaw - I'm also a big fan of Rough Rider Knives made in China - here is a pic of one of my favorite RR knives - China is making some of the finest knives in the world right now - Tom
666_500_csupload_29142659.jpg
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I've noticed those as well, they're very nice.
 
they look good for the money i never thought id buy a chinese knife but i might get one for my son . if he looses it not out much
 
I have an OD-2 that is very well put together, so I agree with the OP that the Chinese quality is really coming up. It is no surprise. The same thing happened here in the USA a long time ago.

Time was that USA goods were inferior to European manufactures, but this changed in the 1800's. In the 20th century after the second world war, the Japanese went through the same thing, then the Taiwanese, and now the Chinese. Clever people are everywhere, and when a country decides to get serious about quality manufacturing, they get better at it.
 
GaryXD said:
I just ordered a Tremor. Should be here Saturday. I'm anxious to check it out.
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My Chinese Tremor seems pretty decent. Large knife. Feels good in the hand. Seems to be stout. At first I noticed the blade wasn't centered and some side to side blade play when locked. After a little bit of snugging of the pivot screw everything seems perfect, and it still opens easily.
 
I'm not doubting the quality of these MIC knives but I'm concerned that once kershaw sees the profit from these they might eventually crossover their higher dollar models to make more of a profit. I'm not talking about just manufacturing maybe they start with the packaging, Then maybe just the pocket clips and screws, then maybe just assembling them there, and then before you know it, more and more is done there and less and less is Made in America. I understand these are high value knives and they still have plenty of high quality products, I just hope this doesn't influence them to make more profit with their other modelsby outsourcing. think about Leathermen, parts (I believe the files and pliers) are made in mexico and europe to cut cost of production but it never cut down cost for customers. They still maintained the same prices.
 
Jrsdrums said:
I'm not doubting the quality of these MIC knives but I'm concerned that once kershaw sees the profit from these they might eventually crossover their higher dollar models to make more of a profit. I'm not talking about just manufacturing maybe they start with the packaging, Then maybe just the pocket clips and screws, then maybe just assembling them there, and then before you know it, more and more is done there and less and less is Made in America. I understand these are high value knives and they still have plenty of high quality products, I just hope this doesn't influence them to make more profit with their other modelsby outsourcing. think about Leathermen, parts (I believe the files and pliers) are made in mexico and europe to cut cost of production but it never cut down cost for customers. They still maintained the same prices.
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They won't. Over 75% of everything is still US-made -- including clips, screws, boxes, etc.
 
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