When it's not exactly Made in the USA - Hoback

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Quiet said:
Agreed. This means that there are people out there right now who bought a knife that they believed was a product made here in America that was outsourced to somewhere else, made, sent here, and then sold to them under the idea that this company makes knives in America. They’ve probably shown it off with pride at it being American made, but is actually made (probably) in China. Big oof right there.
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Literally me with my Kwaiback I purchased close to 5 years ago. I bought and happily touted it as American made in the majority of my Bladeforums posts, IG posts and in person when people asked me about my knife. You think I’d ever pay $650+ for a China made knife?! HELL NO! I’m genuinely upset and disappointed.
 
shinyedges said:
And this folks, is why transparency matters. Had people not pushed for transparency he would still be selling Chinese knives as USA made.

And people are confused as to why transparency matters? Where ya at now? Right. Silence.
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LOL they're all over the knife sites defending him by saying things like "It's OK because other makers use Chinese screws" or "You're posting that on your Chinese iPhone"
 
Hyesouljah said:
Literally me with my Kwaiback I purchased close to 5 years ago. I bought and happily touted it as American made in the majority of my Bladeforums posts, IG posts and in person when people asked me about my knife. You think I’d ever pay $650+ for a China made knife?! HELL NO! I’m genuinely upset and disappointed.
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Careful.. member you are quoting doesn’t know for a fact the knives are “made in China”. We don’t know anything about where the knives are made or what materials are made where. Why fill in the blanks with “China” just because the info is missing? It’s a big fat assumption.
 
RBB2 said:
LOL they're all over the knife sites defending him by saying things like "It's OK because other makers use Chinese screws" or "You're posting that on your Chinese iPhone"
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Are they wrong? They’re calling out the double-standard. Why is Jake Hoback more worthy of scrutiny than anyone else?

As I’ve posted in this thread before, “over 50%” is the standard for “USA made”. NEARLY EVERYONE does it. They maximize overseas sourcing to get as close to 50% as they can just so they can say it. All industries are doing the same thing.

Why is Hoback the one people want to “cancel” over it? Because he’s sassy in an email? Please.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
Careful.. member you are quoting doesn’t know for a fact the knives are “made in China”. We don’t know anything about where the knives are made or what materials are made where. Why fill in the blanks with “China” just because the info is missing? It’s a big fat assumption.
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I would’ve never paid $650+ knowingly for a knife if I knew it was made anywhere but in the USA. Is that better now? Since Jake can’t tell us where his knives are made and he’s let us assume this whole time they were Made in the USA I think I can just assume now they’re made in China.
 
RBB2 said:
LOL they're all over the knife sites defending him by saying things like "It's OK because other makers use Chinese screws" or "You're posting that on your Chinese iPhone"
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Right. They'll literally defend anyone or anything. Really everyone should be on the same page about getting the truth.
 
Hyesouljah said:
I would’ve never paid $650+ knowingly for a knife if I knew it was made anywhere but in the USA. Is that better now? Since Jake can’t tell us where his knives are made and he’s let us assume this whole time they were Made in the USA I think I can just assume now they’re made in China.
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Don't take this guy's bait. Waste of time. Still defending a fraud.
 
Some of his knives are ZERO percent made in the USA. Zero. How in the flying hell does that compare to using Chinese hardware like other companies? It doesn't. He profited from false advertising. And lied about "trying to tell the dealers" right. Jordan from dlt was the one who got his knives on dlt and called that out right here. Lies. Yet the same people just love to argue to defend anyone regardless of the facts. 🤦‍♂️
 
Paratrooper06 said:
Careful.. member you are quoting doesn’t know for a fact the knives are “made in China”. We don’t know anything about where the knives are made or what materials are made where. Why fill in the blanks with “China” just because the info is missing? It’s a big fat assumption.
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Paratrooper06 said:
Are they wrong? They’re calling out the double-standard. Why is Jake Hoback more worthy of scrutiny than anyone else?

As I’ve posted in this thread before, “over 50%” is the standard for “USA made”. NEARLY EVERYONE does it. They maximize overseas sourcing to get as close to 50% as they can just so they can say it. All industries are doing the same thing.

Why is Hoback the one people want to “cancel” over it? Because he’s sassy in an email? Please.
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Because he's now twice in a row flat out refused to provide any details. Lots of other companies sell knives designed by them and made on contract in China or elsewhere. They are by all accounts excellent knives and sell out very quickly. But they don't get to charge as premium of a price. Vero, Boos, Chavez, etc. Or there are companies that make knives in difference places, such as Spyderco, but you know up front what your're getting, and the prices reflect the origins. The issue is transparency and being intentionally misleading. If he'd have said from the outset that this model is made for us by Reate, and this one we make in house, and this one we have the scales machined by a US shop then we assemble the knife in house, and so on, there would be nothing to complain about. But apparently he can't or won't do that. So it's only fair that we have to assume that his answer would be whatever our personal "worst" would be. If that's not the case, he is free to come out and give us the true info any time.
 
Hyesouljah said:
I would’ve never paid $650+ knowingly for a knife if I knew it was made anywhere but in the USA. Is that better now? Since Jake can’t tell us where his knives are made and he’s let us assume this whole time they were Made in the USA I think I can just assume now they’re made in China.
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If it’s 50.1% made in USA, it’s “Made in USA”. If he doesn’t say “made in USA”, it’s anyone’s guess.

Did anyone specifically tell you where the knife was made? Then why would you assume said knife was made in the USA?
 
The U.S. produces zero titanium, with the majority coming from China and Russia. What does that do to "USA made" knives which contain Titanium?
 
Paratrooper06 said:
Careful.. member you are quoting doesn’t know for a fact the knives are “made in China”. We don’t know anything about where the knives are made or what materials are made where. Why fill in the blanks with “China” just because the info is missing? It’s a big fat assumption.
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As he will not mention the country, one can only assume it is China. I'm not sure any other country has an oem capability, I could be wrong, where else could it be?
 
RBB2 said:
Because he's now twice in a row flat out refused to provide any details. Lots of other companies sell knives designed by them and made on contract in China or elsewhere. They are by all accounts excellent knives and sell out very quickly. But they don't get to charge as premium of a price. Vero, Boos, Chavez, etc. Or there are companies that make knives in difference places, such as Spyderco, but you know up front what your're getting, and the prices reflect the origins. The issue is transparency and being intentionally misleading. If he'd have said from the outset that this model is made for us by Reate, and this one we make in house, and this one we have the scales machined by a US shop then we assemble the knife in house, and so on, there would be nothing to complain about. But apparently he can't or won't do that. So it's only fair that we have to assume that his answer would be whatever our personal "worst" would be. If that's not the case, he is free to come out and give us the true info any time.
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Sorry but the outrage is overblown. Most people here bashing Hoback probably don’t even own one of his knives. “Lack of transparency” is a buying decision, not a reason to demand distributors stop carrying his product.. which would be a shame, because as I said earlier there are many other manufacturers that will tell you to pound sand if you ask where they get all their parts.
 
RBB2 said:
Because he's now twice in a row flat out refused to provide any details. Lots of other companies sell knives designed by them and made on contract in China or elsewhere. They are by all accounts excellent knives and sell out very quickly. But they don't get to charge as premium of a price. Vero, Boos, Chavez, etc. Or there are companies that make knives in difference places, such as Spyderco, but you know up front what your're getting, and the prices reflect the origins. The issue is transparency and being intentionally misleading. If he'd have said from the outset that this model is made for us by Reate, and this one we make in house, and this one we have the scales machined by a US shop then we assemble the knife in house, and so on, there would be nothing to complain about. But apparently he can't or won't do that. So it's only fair that we have to assume that his answer would be whatever our personal "worst" would be. If that's not the case, he is free to come out and give us the true info any time.
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Would people spend the money on his knives had he been honest? I wouldn't have. When I bought this I had no clue Jake hoback was a fraud. I darn sure wouldn't have paid 260 for a who knows where the hell made little fixed blade.

Screenshot_20220303-180506_Gallery.jpg

The audacity to put scripture on a knife and be a bold face liar.
 
Yo Mama said:
As he will not mention the country, one can only assume it is China. I'm not sure any other country has an oem capability, I could be wrong, where else could it be?
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Could be anywhere. Italy? Eastern Europe? China would be most profitable, but since we haven’t been told that, I won’t make the assumption.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
Sorry but the outrage is overblown. Most people here bashing Hoback probably don’t even own one of his knives. “Lack of transparency” is a buying decision, not a reason to demand distributors stop carrying his product.. which would be a shame, because as I said earlier there are many other manufacturers that will tell you to pound sand if you ask where they get all their parts.
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No, it's not. And whether someone owns one of the knives or not is irrelevant and a strawman argument. He's refusing to give even the info I stated above. This is basic information that every other knife company gives out freely, and that the consumer has every right to expect. And the new video saying some knives are made both here and there is absolutely not helping him. Sorry, I'm not paying the same amount for a knife made by Reate as I would for one made in a small shop in Idaho. Both because I know the costs are vastly different, and given the choice I will pay a reasonably higher amount to support American workers.
 
I feel that I should clarify my own personal stance on this situation. For me personally, I am not nearly as concerned where things like screws or the materials themselves are made. I know that the US doesn’t make all the things required for knife making (or else availability is low). However, if a knife maker says his knives are made here, I personally draw the line at whole knife parts and blades being made overseas and then shipped here so the “maker” can Lego them together, slap a “Made right’chere in the You Ess of Aye, cuz MURKA!” sticker on it and claim it’s an American made knife. An American didn’t fabricate those slabs, or grind that blade, or do anything other than slap a box of ready made parts together. If that is the case, I kinda lose respect for the maker because I know why they’ve done what they did. Took something that is fairly important to some of us, and turned it into a marketing gimmick in order to sell knives.

To me; that’s right up there with trumping up a big military career in order to make people think that maker’s knives confer super spec-ops SWAT/SEAL ranger bravo HOOAH super powers on the buyer. Marketing is the worst.
 
RBB2 said:
No, it's not. And whether someone owns one of the knives or not is irrelevant and a strawman argument. He's refusing to give even the info I stated above. This is basic information that every other knife company gives out freely, and that the consumer has every right to expect. And the new video saying some knives are made both here and there is absolutely not helping him. Sorry, I'm not paying the same amount for a knife made by Reate as I would for one made in a small shop in Idaho. Both because I know the costs are vastly different, and given the choice I will pay a reasonably higher amount to support American workers.
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So where does your witch-hunt end? We going after Benchmade and Spyderco next? Any knife that says “Golden, CO” better be made completely in Golden, CO and not have Chinese screws in it or we will have to raise hell.
 
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