The crappy Chinese knife that just won't quit

China used to produce a lot of badly forged endwrenches and other tools, as seen in Harbor Freight. I think "Harbor Freight" is what comes to mind, when people look at tools (knives or whatever) marked "CHINA".

I don't think it's a racial thing, I think it's a shoddy tools thing.
I have more than a few Chinese tools, some of which are OK, a few are perfectly good, and some of which are so bad, they sloppily fit on inch pattern bolts. Oh well. The price was right.

My Chinese mfd shortwave radio purchased at Radio Shack is a pretty good design, with excellent build quality. I've been so hard on it, I've almost worn all the numbers and letters off the face, and have slightly melted the backside from placing it a little too close to campfires. It just runs and runs. The Chinese get some things very right.

I particularly miss their excellent AK ammo.
 
Erasmus said:
China used to produce a lot of badly forged endwrenches and other tools, as seen in Harbor Freight. I think "Harbor Freight" is what comes to mind, when people look at tools (knives or whatever) marked "CHINA".

I don't think it's a racial thing, I think it's a shoddy tools thing.
I have more than a few Chinese tools, some of which are OK, a few are perfectly good, and some of which are so bad, they sloppily fit on inch pattern bolts. Oh well. The price was right.

My Chinese mfd shortwave radio purchased at Radio Shack is a pretty good design, with excellent build quality. I've been so hard on it, I've almost worn all the numbers and letters off the face, and have slightly melted the backside from placing it a little too close to campfires. It just runs and runs. The Chinese get some things very right.

I particularly miss their excellent AK ammo.
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I think that for some, it is a shoddy tools thing. Yet others make it quite clear that their issue is more with the people, labor, or government.
 
When it comes to cars the big T just lies and covers safety issues so people think they are buying a quality product for less. :)

I'm betting the half billion dollar fines still won't be enough to stop them.

I guess the sales pitch from the big T is much the same as someone posting a picture of a new knife trying to make people believe it has been through hell and back.

Funny thing is some people believe both.
 
I've been involved with some overseas sourcing of product and ALOT depends on what the customer wants to spend.

To flow with this discussion the "customer" is S&W, Boker, Spyderco, etc. They go to a Chinese manufacturing company and give the specifications of what they want and a price point they need to hit. As many have mentioned almost any country has the capabilities to make a knife that is great quality or less than great, again depending on what they are being paid for. US companies can specify steel type, tolerances, failure rates, quality inspections, etc. In turn the manufacturer (China in this example) quotes a price.

Company X may pay a little more for some quality control and the few bad apples get thrown out so they can bring a nice consistent $25 knife to market in the US and worldwide. Company Y may choose to skip the quality control, use a less expensive steel and the costs that go with it so they bring their knife to market at $10 each with some of them not having the fit and finish equal to the $25 knife. That is what the company chose to pay, that is not a bad reflection on the chinese.

Short Version: US Companies get what they pay for. I speculate the OP got a good one.
 
I'd like to weigh in on a bit of a tangent in this post with a question that has come to mind many times over the past few years. First off, I'm not a real big supporter of "Global" knives. I've always believed that you get what you pay for. With that said, I do think over the past 5 years or so, some "globals" (with the exception of Pakistan) have improved with better materials and quality control. My question is more along the lines of the American economy and what the massive influx of "global" knives has done to knife manufactures in the U.S. I may take some heat for this, but I find it very disturbing that once great American knife names are now being produced overseas under the same names. I understand the need of some companys to do this to stay competitive in the market, but isn't that all part of the same point? Why should companys like Buck, Gerber and a long list of others have to stoop to having knives made overseas in order to compete in the American cutlery market. Simple, because too many of us are buying cheaper "globally" made knives. Again, I don't want to offend anyone, but I personally am digusted with the idea that Schrade and many others are able to benefit from the trademarks that were long established as fine cutlery, MADE IN AMERICA. And whether a "globally" built knife is a quality piece or not, I can't find my way into supporting them in any case. BUY AMERICAN, before we all have to resort to buying Case knives made in China. WB2
 
perhaps i might get a ration of crap but.the pep boys sheffield folders aint bad.10 dollars. they arent the great but they get the job done.
ducking for cover.
fried
 
Knives have always been made all over the world.The USA is not the only country that produces quality products.Where was your TV or computer made?Many USA corporations have plants in China that make the products the world buys.Knives are made off shore because of the very cheap labor.The savings is passed on to you.Are all knives made in China quality, no but I have bought knives made here that had to be returned because of poor quality control.When China is no longer a good deal for making knives cheaply then another country will be the new off shore home for knife makers. It is the way it is.
 
If things keep going the same way the Chinese will eventually be complaining about the poorly made American knives. :barf:
 
ac1d0v3r1d3 said:
If things keep going the same way the Chinese will eventually be complaining about the poorly made American knives. :barf:
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i think the american youth have no pride in work ethics. i got a unemployed friend who claims he would pick tomatos if he had too. obviously full of crapola...what happened.are we getting lazy?.why are we standing still in a world thats turning but thats a different topic:confused:
fried
 
ac1d0v3r1d3 said:
I have a knife like that. It's a fury tanto with a cord wrapped handle and a "saw" back. It was the only fixed blade I owned when i was a teenager. I've thrown it, chopped down a trees, battoned a ton before I even knew it was called battoning. And of course it was always the only fixed blade in camp, so I couldn't even tell you what other people have done to it. The original handle wrap fell off when I was throwing it a lot. I found out that you can get the butt to stick if you throw it hard enough. :) I believe I bought it for $7.95 out of an Atlanta Cutlery catalog.

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Hey I had one of those! I paid $10 for it, and it broke in half the first time I threw it at a tree. ....I'm guessing that you must've gotten lucky and got one with a better heat treat! lol!
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Bry, Maybe YOU got UN-lucky? :)

kit, yeah I think that any small-ish knife should be able to be thrown. It's when knives get larger that I think you give up that ability a lot of the time.
 
Just what is it about this Chinese knife thing that gets people so fired up? I’m afraid that I just don’t quite understand what it is that causes, what I would hope are otherwise rational people, to start foaming at the mouth, and spewing what I consider nonsense.

It’s a knife, folks; that’s all it is. The same people who own — and praise the quality of — Chinese televisions and electronics (and other goods) condemn all Chinese knives as junk, period. And this is based on . . . nothing: nothing at all, as far as I can tell. That’s right; most of these rabid “China only produces junk” people have never even tried the knives in question. Most don’t even bother trying to justify their response.

Makes no sense to me, but what do I know. They must have some reason for the strong emotions they invest in putting down something they have no first hand knowledge of, right? Well, one would hope so.

I’m somewhat amazed that many of these people praise knives produced in China for American companies, considering them a real bargain, but describe knives of equal quality produced by Chinese companies under their own name brand as trash. The same companies, with the same capabilities, using the same materials, may be producing both knives, but the Chinese brand is considered junk. Why is that? Do these detractors somehow think that the manufacturer deliberately produces good quality for an American company, but then deliberately produces garbage for their own house brand? Does that make any sense to anyone? I doubt it, but some people seem to think that it happens like that: go figure.

Some of these people object on the grounds the the Chinese knives are a rip-off of good American designs — and in some cases they’re right . . . but in many cases they’re not. Not all Chinese knives are knockoffs. No one thinks that blatant copying is an okay thing, but many of the Chinese knives seem to be original designs, as near as I can tell. I find it odd that so many people seem to dismiss American manufacturers copying each other as “just business,” yet if a Chinese knife bears even a superficial resemblance to an American design then, Holy Smokes, Batman, the world is coming to an end. Does that make any sense to you?

Like many of you, I prefer to buy American brands, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in the current wave of Chinese knives from manufacturers like Sanrenmu. I want to see for myself if the quality really is as described. By all accounts, these are good, quality knives, at an incredible price point. I want to see for myself, like a rational person should, rather than dismissing them out of hand as “Chinese junk” without even trying them out.

If they really are good quality knives, then they’re good quality knives, no matter where they’re made. If they really are good quality knives at their price point, then it begs the question of why American companies can’t do it, too?

People seem to be fine with knives produced in almost any country other than China, and I have to wonder why? For some reason a $10 Mora or Opinel is a good knife, but a $10 Sanrenmu isn’t? Why?

Help me understand.
 
kitkat52 said:
Any knife should be able to pass the knife throw at tree test?
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If it's a solid, full tang, no scales, thick tipped chunk of steel..... then yes, it should more than hold up to being thrown at a tree. Especially if that's what you bought it for in the first place. :)
 
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