The big deal about CRKT and Taiwan??

As you know, BOK, I also work in retail and I totally agree. Some people almost drop the knife when I say that its made in Taiwan. I try telling them that CRKT is an American company which manufactures in Taiwan and they have one of the best QC. The only thing they think is Taiwan = bad quality.
One of my favorites knives is the Apache. Its great. Have no complains about it.
 
It's just a bit of a misconception these days. It's sometimes tiresome trying to explain it to people. Non-knifeknut people can be very narrow minded.

I had a pretty good Giant ATX-850 mountain bike which was made in Taiwan and I paid a good $800 for it. Build was excellent though. Made in Taiwan meant nothing in terms of quality. It just meant that it was made more cost-efficent for me.
 
Yeah, its not just knives. I love clothing from HK, other parts of China, or Taiwan.
 
I think that there is "Taiwan made" and then there is "Taiwan made", meaning that it has to do with affiliations with US partners and quality control, in addition to the particular shop's prowess and management.

For example, I've smoked Cuban cigars that completely sucked.

I bought Taiwan-made "no brand" knives in the very beginning that were complete P'sOS. With literally no knife knowledge, I knew that they blew.

CRKT sells in a particular "market", meaning range of dollar value; they must know many of these buyers are still discriminating buyers within that market. So they probably deal with very sophisticated and well-managed Taiwanese production shops.
 
I like the designs of the CRKT line of knives but can't bring myself to buy one with AUS-6 or 8 steel. Several models I'd buy if they only raised their price a little and used better steel (and knock off the bead blast finishes as well)
 
I purchased an M-16 a few years ago because I liked
the design of the knife. Although I have to admit the
Taiwan thing did throw me off a little bit I decided
to give one a try. Unfortunately the liner lock failed
upon stress testing so I sent it back to the company.
They sent me a new one which I quickly traded. Maybe
my knife was a fluke, but I don't think I'll be
purchasing anymore knives made in Taiwan.
 
Originally posted by Bravado
Maybe my knife was a fluke, but I don't think I'll be purchasing anymore knives made in Taiwan.
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From forum reports, CRKT does have the highest instance of failing spine-whack tests.
But if you cross off entire countries every time you get a lemon, you won't find any more knives to buy. I've gotten lemons from every country that I've purchased knives from: Japan, Taiwan, etc, and trust me, even the invincible USA.
 
You'll find lemons everywhere for everything.
There are so many people who like Toyota Corollas, but I think my parent's Corolla is a damn lemon, after some extensive driving as a delivery driver.
I haven't have a M16 fail on me, but I've manage to get White Lightning on the locking surfaces of a Crawford/Kasper and that seems to make it fail easier. I cleaned it up and the problem disappears.
 
Believe me, overseas has no monopoly on cheapy knives. I still own some very low-quality pocketknives made in the USA by a somewhat name manufacturer I won't mention. With minimal use, the scales (which were poorly painted purple) began to fall off, and the blades develop an incredible amount of vertical and horizontal play. (I got them as a kid). If I were to only judge US knives by them, I would have written off all American-made knives as crap. The isolationist view really makes no sense. Also, just because something is made overseas, does NOT necessarily mean it's always made in a sweatshop with ultra-cheap slave labor. For example, the quality Japanese-made knives are not.
Jim
 
Being made in Taiwan dosn't bother me, I've just had several of their locks fail. If they step up the QC, I would buy from them again.
 
EZ: I never had problem with CRKT's QC, but I do have a problem with their warranty guys.
Still, I think they make good knives for the money.
 
Calyth: I had just the opposite experience, the QC was horrible, the warranty people were great. Their liner locks would fold up with very light pressure. Out of maybe 7 knives, only two or three locked up properly. I still think they have awesome designs though.
 
Whether or not to buy foreign made products is a difficult decision, I think. I remember when car manufacturers in the US started screaming when Americans began to buy Japanese cars. It wasn't that most people wanted to buy foreign made cars. The problem was that US car manufacturers were turning out terrible quality cars, and if you wanted a dependable vehicle, you had to buy foreign. I can't see anything wrong with buying an import if the American made product isn't worth a damn.

On the other hand, we certainly don't want American workers to have to compete with low wage workers in countries where people have far lower standards and expectations than us. The way things are going,
with jobs being exported, and Third World immigrants being imported, the US will eventually become a Third World country. I for one don't want to live in such a place.
 
FC Yuk,Bok,
I too work in a knife store,and often get the same reaction. However,since im so smooooth they wind up buying the knife anyway ;) :D :p
 
The US is not the factory of the world, and we shouldn't try to be if you believe in Capitalist theory. There really is no point fighting tooth and nail to keep low-tech manufacturing in the US. The manufacturing industry has terrible margins, give it another decade or two and it would be totally unprofitable. The general public is just not going to pay $200 for a knife. No amount of boycotting would change that.

America's real export is intellectual property. Patents, software, music, film, etc. We are the uncontested king of design. That's what's really making us rich. In my opinon, the best way for Americans to protect the US economy is to take advantage of low-cost imports, save more and send more kids to college. Our future lies in innovation.

If I were President :rolleyes:, I'd create a nation wide effort to get everyone higher education if they want it - the likes of which the world has never seen. It's a pity we only look ahead 4 years at a time.
 
Excellent post tallwingedgoat!

As many of you know I am now dealing with several China manufacturers and we are about to launch a brand new company in a matter of DAYS! China is where Taiwan was a few years ago and a couple of companies I have found actually can and do produce Taiwan quality RIGHT NOW. Are we better than Benchmade or Microtech? Hell no but nearly our entire line is below $50 and 80% is below $25! You will see some great designs very soon from us so stay tuned as I will announce it here first.

I have found out the trying to convince the Chinese that people here are willing to pay $25-$50 for a decent knife was hard to do as they have been in that >$10 market for a long time.

Anyone care to bitch about the quality of a Paul Chen sword? I doubt it.
 
If u got any pics of those knives, let us take a look.

I don't mind buying something made in china, or Tawain

Many knives, though they are made in the states or even Germany may not be as good as they are cracked up to be. Some may simply produce in those contries to take advatage of the attitude that only good things come out of Germany and the States.
 
The general public is just not going to pay $200 for a knife.
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I don't think it was price that turned alot of the public away from American made goods. It was the lack of quality. Too many American companies prefer to sell products with hype rather than quality.

Over the past twenty years, illegal immigration has destroyed the blue collar class in this country, greatly reducing real income. Now immigration is making inroads in professional occupations. I think more Americans could afford a $200 knife if we had protected our country and our jobs.
 
Personally, I've had no major complaints about my Taiwan-made knives. They do represent a great value considering the quality. Some of them even rival the craftsmanship of several American made knives. China on the other end, still lacks the QC that the Taiwan firms have. For example, with the exception of the Kershaw Vapor, it will be very hard to find a decent quality Chinese-made folder at a budget price. Perhaps that will change, but it will be up to the U.S. based production companies to place high QC standards on their Chinese manufacturers.
 
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