I was doing my usual evening trolling the internet for knives. New & old companies and knives. I spend some time on YouTube look at Ebay, BladeForums and other forums. I like to keep up on whats new and all the new knife reviews. It hit me like a ton of bricks a few moments ago. The Chinese have taken over the knife business. Even when we would like to think that we are buying from American companies most of their volume is in the budget lines which are all made in China, Taiwan, Japan etc. the competition is fierce and they are winning. From the cheapest clones, Ganzo's and Sanrenmu's to the higher end like Reate, Rike, WE, Kizer etc. and everywhere in between such as Real Steel, Ruike and the value lines done by the higher end companies Like the Vanguard line from Kizer, WE has the G-10 Linerlock series. etc.
And I again have not mentioned the American companies such as Spyderco, ColdSteel, Kershaw who is in fact owned by an Asian company Kai USA. I am not sure if they are Chinese or Japanese but it doesn't make a difference because the are not American companies. Not to mention ZT is proud to produce their knives in the U.S. The are also owned by KAI. USA. After we taught them how to make good knives and that Americans will pay for quality if they can get the same quality eventually most people will. I cannot believe how many companies are cropping up. I know that they were smart enough not to throw away the cheap knife so they opened new companies and produced higher quality knives. Now the bad news, they have upped the ante and have improved the quality of their cheap knives too. From what I have seen you can get a decent quality EDC knife for $10-15 shipped. It might need a little adjustment but that happens on the US made knives. I am an avid Spyderco collector among others and I must say that the Taiwanese knives are often times equal to or better than Golden Colorado. At least the profits are going to an American company. Our whole thing about buying American was to support American companies but also because we made a superior product. Not anymore.
They have caught up to our quality standards and passed them. Keep in mind that no one
is twisting our arms to buy them but we are buying them anyway. A $200.00 quality knife for $150. They also came up with the Idea of nice packaging. I had recently bought a
ZT 0562cf M390 and a ZT 0452 cf. As you well know these were not cheap. I couldn't wait for them to come well I got them and one needed immediate pivot adjustment and oiling and the other had to go to ZT because the knife that is supposed to have the best action of all time has a detent that is so hard that it put a detent in my index finger. I called the up and they said to me that they will check it and see if it falls into theirs specs or not. I wanted too say Listen jackass I am the one that spent the money on this knife an I also own over 100 knives and I think I know what a stiff detent feels like but I behaved because otherwise it will fall between the cracks and take longer than the usual 4-6 weeks. They received it on Aug 4th and it still has not been checked in. I think that these companies have their heads stuck up their ass and can't see the light. We used to say that the Chinese, well they read the writing on the wall and are opening up repair/replacement. I had 2 knives that one had bad bearings and the other needed a detent adjustment, The bad bearing knife was replaced and the even asked me what color I wanted. The detent was adjusted only because they did not have a spare new one, they have been sold out for weeks. I was also told that if I was unhappy with It I could exchange it in late September when the next batch comes in. Both were back in my hands in less than 2 weeks. They also gave me progress reports and a tracking # without me asking.
If you are not well to do so that you can buy only American knives and want a knife that is good value for a reasonable price you will no doubt be buying a Chinese product whether through a Chinese company or from an American company
I am sorry to say that the writing is no longer on the wall it is here..
And I again have not mentioned the American companies such as Spyderco, ColdSteel, Kershaw who is in fact owned by an Asian company Kai USA. I am not sure if they are Chinese or Japanese but it doesn't make a difference because the are not American companies. Not to mention ZT is proud to produce their knives in the U.S. The are also owned by KAI. USA. After we taught them how to make good knives and that Americans will pay for quality if they can get the same quality eventually most people will. I cannot believe how many companies are cropping up. I know that they were smart enough not to throw away the cheap knife so they opened new companies and produced higher quality knives. Now the bad news, they have upped the ante and have improved the quality of their cheap knives too. From what I have seen you can get a decent quality EDC knife for $10-15 shipped. It might need a little adjustment but that happens on the US made knives. I am an avid Spyderco collector among others and I must say that the Taiwanese knives are often times equal to or better than Golden Colorado. At least the profits are going to an American company. Our whole thing about buying American was to support American companies but also because we made a superior product. Not anymore.
They have caught up to our quality standards and passed them. Keep in mind that no one
is twisting our arms to buy them but we are buying them anyway. A $200.00 quality knife for $150. They also came up with the Idea of nice packaging. I had recently bought a
ZT 0562cf M390 and a ZT 0452 cf. As you well know these were not cheap. I couldn't wait for them to come well I got them and one needed immediate pivot adjustment and oiling and the other had to go to ZT because the knife that is supposed to have the best action of all time has a detent that is so hard that it put a detent in my index finger. I called the up and they said to me that they will check it and see if it falls into theirs specs or not. I wanted too say Listen jackass I am the one that spent the money on this knife an I also own over 100 knives and I think I know what a stiff detent feels like but I behaved because otherwise it will fall between the cracks and take longer than the usual 4-6 weeks. They received it on Aug 4th and it still has not been checked in. I think that these companies have their heads stuck up their ass and can't see the light. We used to say that the Chinese, well they read the writing on the wall and are opening up repair/replacement. I had 2 knives that one had bad bearings and the other needed a detent adjustment, The bad bearing knife was replaced and the even asked me what color I wanted. The detent was adjusted only because they did not have a spare new one, they have been sold out for weeks. I was also told that if I was unhappy with It I could exchange it in late September when the next batch comes in. Both were back in my hands in less than 2 weeks. They also gave me progress reports and a tracking # without me asking.
If you are not well to do so that you can buy only American knives and want a knife that is good value for a reasonable price you will no doubt be buying a Chinese product whether through a Chinese company or from an American company
I am sorry to say that the writing is no longer on the wall it is here..
