Two Cheezeburgerz and a large SNARK

[zzyzzogeton]

Thanks for the tip ZZ, ill look into it. Never tries stevia before that i remember.

on another note.... It irks me when people talk so much crap about products just because they are made or come from china and other countries.. I understand wanting to support the US, and US businesses and i understand having issues with low quality or cheaply made products but thats not always the case. Some people act like JUST because its a chinese made product its automatically a bad product and they have never given it a chance. If people want to hate that much they need to throw away their cell phones, TVs, cars, HOUSE and all because somewhere in there is products made from china, japan, mexico, etc.

End rant.

I'm right there with you. Personally, I'm not overly concerned with where a product is made. People in other countries gotta eat too and no country can be totally self sufficient, or at least they're better off economically if they aren't. I don't know how many times I've had to defend the Ka-Bar knives made in Taiwan like the Heavy Warthog or LHB. They think it's physically impossible to get a good product out of any country other than the US.

I forget where I read it, but in an interview with some Chinese manufacturing bigwig, he was asked about Chinese quality, etc... His reply was that China was very capable of making high-quality stuff.

(Note: the following is my remembered perception of what reported that the guy said in the interview - not my opinion)

His attitude was that the "problem" was US buyers are getting what the US companies are willing to pay for.

E.G., cheap crap shows up in Wally World (note - the article listed several US companies mentioned by the Chinese guy, but WW is the only one I remember) because people don't want to pay a lot, so Wally World only buys cheaply made stuff to hold the price down for the US buyer. That leads to the perception that China only makes crap.

So the options are:

China only makes crap and the guy was blowing smoke
China makes good stuff but we don't see it because we (the US in general) want cheap and that's what is in the stores
China makes good stuff but because we (me & other BFites) are cheap and only go to cheap stores so we don't see the good stuff that shows up in high end stores and therefore China onl makes cheap crap as far as we know.

Take your pick - perception is reality

 

[worldwood]

I have been to Asia. Not china specifically but South Korea and Japan.

When i was in South Korea (~2005-2006) the cell phones seemed way more advanced and better quality than the ones from the states. They were all watching TVs on their phones long before it was affordable for the normal person to do so here, i had one of the cheapest prepaid cell phones i could find and it still had a universal TV remote built in, Internet, and everything.

When you walked through some of the larger cities it just felt like technology wise they were far ahead of us. Huge clear screens on the sides of many of buildings, bullet trains, even the elevators seemed quicker and you could barely notice they moved. None of that weird feelings and squeaky sounds you often get here. Going up the Seoul tower was quick and you couldnt believe how fast it was going and how high up you were actually until you got out on the top and everyone was quite impressed.

Its my opinion they do have quality products. I had a hand built computer there that would rival anything i had seen here and it only cost me around 400 bucks, i sold my 750 dollar computer i brought from the states immediately for 300 bucks and it was only several months old because it just wasnt anywhere near as good as the one i got there.. my surround sound was spectacular. Pretty much all the electronics just seemed better.

Maybe we as Americans dont want to spend the money to import the more quality items, but that doesnt mean all products from other countries are crap. Im a proud American and i supported my country with honor, I joined up knowing there was a good chance of deployments into really nasty areas and did so without reservation. So im not knocking the US in any way, but some people are just so gung ho thinking Americans are best at everything and do everything better than other countries when its just not always the case.

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

They do have the capacity to make quality products. However, quality CONTROL is another thing entirely. There's certainly good stuff out there, but the thing is, "Made in the USA" tends to mean "Built with pride and to high standards." The same tends to be true of German and Japanese products in my experience. "Made In China," on the other hand, could mean anything. You could get something great, or something terrible. I think that's the difference. It's not that all things made in China are crap. But it is a crap shoot, if you know what I mean.

 

[worldwood]

People asked me what id use the mini hatchet for.....

Blinded it with the Fenix PD35, then while still alive I took a single guillotine swing and off goes the head.

Before anyone thinks i was being cruel to an annoying fly... It was no more cruel than a fly swatter. If anything he was being cruel to me by not leaving when i asked him nicely to get out of my house LMAO


Edit: To be completely honest i tried this several times during the last couple days, but they kept flying off before i got the little sucker!! Its easy to blind them with such a bright light, but movement too close to them makes them try and get away so i had to be quick about it.

 

[bigghoss]

In on twenty-two. How about you?

 

[worldwood]

In on twenty-two. How about you?

Just watchin TV at 5:02!

 

[james terrio]

As Daizee and WW said...

"They are not scientific test because it would take 2 identical knives with the same geometry and perfected HT on both to accurately compare them"

How does 1095VC compare to 52100? Is the edge retention on 52100 noticeably better than 1095? How 'bout O1? How does it compare to 52100?

In my humble opinion, 52100 > O1 > 1095. That's assuming they all have the same geometry, overall hardness, and optimal HT. (Obviously 1095 @ 62Rc will smoke 52100 @ 56Rc for pure edge retention.) But the differences are subtle. The fact is, they can all make excellent blades :thumbup:

I'm trying to decide firmly between 3V and 52100...

In terms of pure edge-holding/abrasion-resistance, 3V will have the advantage over 52100 if all other factors are equal. That's what the vanadium carbides are for. For raw toughness, I tend to think they're so close that most people couldn't tell much in anything resembling normal use, even hard use. 3V's also a helluva lot more corrosion-resistant. (I notice you asked about patina on 3V in a different thread... if you want your knife to develop a sort of random patina over time, 3V's not the right choice for you.)

Very good point, daizee! I never really thought about it that way.... I didn't really think that there was that much difference between 57 RC and 61 RC...

Rockwell values don't "travel" in a strictly linear fashion, it's more of a curve that starts to level out as values get higher. The difference in practical use between 50 and 52Rc is pretty wide; the difference between 61 and 62 is not so much. The difference between 57 and 61 is definitely noticeable and important. Every steel has one or two "sweet spots" of highest overall edge-stability - which includes both hardness (resistance to deformation) and toughness (resistance to breakage).

This next batch of 3V and Elmax blades will be run at 60-61 instead of 58-59, so I'll try to do some comparisons between them and the last batches.

 

[worldwood]

Missed you around yesterday James. You know you cant be leaving us unattended for so long

Love to get your opinions on grinding belts when you have time, started a thread in the appropriate place to not keep using up the snark thread.

 

[granitestateofmind]

Anyone who lurves their iPhone is carrying Chinese quality. Just saying.

 

[rkmoore]

Good morning Beckerheads. Early start for me. Wife's got coffee on and something on the stove, don't smell like bacon though. Y'all have a good one.

 

[daizee]

Anyone who lurves their iPhone is carrying Chinese quality. Just saying.

iphones aren't cheap.


You may not care about where something is made, but I sure as hell care if my job is sent overseas. (nevermind the obvious joke)
There is an economic multiplier effect when buying from your neighbors.

 

[james terrio]

Missed you around yesterday James. You know you cant be leaving us unattended for so long

Thanks, but if you rascals start relying on me for any sort of guidance, you've got serious problems

I responded to your thread in ST about belts. Hope it helps some.

Anyone who lurves their iPhone is carrying Chinese quality. Just saying.

They're also supporting some remarkably fouled-up business, labor and environmental practices on both sides of that particular pond... so there's that. Mind you, I'm typing this on a PC that I'm pretty sure was made almost entirely in China, so I'm not getting on any moral high horse. But when given a chance, I really do prefer to support companies that are at least sort-of allies to me, my working-class brethren and my country's best long-term economic interests.

 

[TMHunt]

Hey Dubz, watch your mailbox towards the end of the week. Got a batch of licorice cookies headin your way.

 

[The Warrior]

Hey Dubz, watch your mailbox towards the end of the week. Got a batch of licorice cookies headin your way.

Nice!

 

[Chameleonbear]

The phone I carry is made in Canada. Of mostly chinese components I'm sure. My car ACTUALLY was made in Detroit (It's a Pontiac). Again probably of mostly chinese components. My computer I'm sure is chinese... Maybe Japanese, it's a Toshiba.

That said, the knives I carry are US made, the guns I carried were US made. I try to buy US made when I can. I also try to avoid Wal-Mart like the plague. I just don't care for the quality that they sell there, plus I'd rather go to a local shoppe to get my stuff than some big box store.

 

[worldwood]

James that picture is hilarious. I had to save that one!!

 

[granitestateofmind]

They're also supporting some remarkably fouled-up business, labor and environmental practices on both sides of that particular pond... so there's that. Mind you, I'm typing this on a PC that I'm pretty sure was made almost entirely in China, so I'm not getting on any moral high horse. But when given a chance, I really do prefer to support companies that are at least sort-of allies to me, my working-class brethren and my country's best long-term economic interests.

I don't disagree, I was just pointing out on the quality issue there are high quality items coming out of China, too. This was the same perception of Japanese goods several decades ago. Without getting political, I think we in the US have asked for cheap stuff, for the most part....whether to our detriment or not I don't know. I try to buy US made when possible....including our VW made here by Americans (for German uberlords ). And my budget's pretty thin, so I'm not above participating in "global economies" tho I would prefer not to.

Perfect pic, JT.

 

[worldwood]

Man the fred rowe bubble jig looks pretty sweet!! I may have to look into getting one in the next few months... First i want to try free hand though.

 

[james terrio]

I don't disagree, I was just pointing out on the quality issue there are high quality items coming out of China, too.

No question about that.

No question that consumers in the US have at least partially dug our own hole with the "demanding more cheaper crap constantly" thing, either. Everyone hates Wally World (and crack dealers too, for that matter), but whose fault is it really... if no one bought their junk, they wouldn't exist

Beyond that, like you said... it gets pretty political and this ain't the place for that

 

[TBL]

Morning Snark!

Yesterday I went to the inlaw's place and got drunk in a hammock. :thumbup: Gave myself a breathalyser before leaving the house (the wife is my DD when I drink with her parents) just because I was curious and blew a .09

My brother in law tossed me one of these when I was there too. Interesting little blade, would work for a few things in a pinch.

I really want to get him a nice knife as a little thank you for all the stuff he does for us. Only problem is that he is really particular about his tools (like we all are). Think I'm going to have to convince him to visit the one premium knife dealer we have around here and have him handle a bunch of knives and see which one he really likes.