Wow, 86 pages. I’m late to the party and probably can’t contribute anything meaningful. I’ll comment anyway since that probably applies to most Internet traffic. It’s going to be a bit rambling.
I have enjoyed the few Hobacks I own, especially the Sumo. This revelation has certainly diminished my pride of ownership. Generally, I don’t mind if a knife is made overseas if it’s of good quality but I definitely like knowing where it’s made, especially if the source is potentially using much cheaper labor. Spyderco’s Taichung knives are a good example. Those seem to be their best-made models and I own several. However, I typically limit what I’ll spend on a knife not made in the US to about $250 and reserve what I consider premium pricing for the US-made stuff. That threshold is completely arbitrary, just where my gut tells me to draw the line. With that said, I don’t know that I’d have purchased any of the Hobacks I own if I’d known this, especially the Sumo at full retail. I would not knowingly pay $550 for a knife made in China. The Sumo didn’t just use parts made in China, it was made in China according to Hoback. I’d have probably bought at $250 because I really like the design. I got pretty good deals on all the others so those purchases don’t sting as much.
I do feel a little duped despite the origin information being on Hoback’s website. The fact that it only appears to have been added recently (around mid 2021) is a little troubling. I even referenced Hoback stuff when I reviewed the Grimsmo Norseman, stating that I felt Hoback offered a lot more bang for the buck. While I still feel the Norseman is overpriced I would likely not have included the Hoback as an alternative if I’d know they were made or used parts made with cheaper overseas labor. I know Grimsmo is made in Canada but I don’t think it falls in the same category as stuff made in China. That’s the only non-US made knife that comes to mind as breaking my $250 threshold but I got it at about half retail.
For me, the most telling hit against Hoback in this is USA Made Blade. I think it’s pretty well known that Scott sells only US-made stuff (in so much as “American Made” can be applied to an item); that’s their shtick. It’s hard for me to believe that Hoback wasn’t aware of this and at some level or at some time there was an omission of country of origin information at least. Scott’s business is one of the best in the industry. Of course, I’m not privy to communications between them so that’s just speculation.
In hindsight, this should have been obvious. As others have stated, the Sumo does have the look of some knives made in China. I actually liked that though. Many of those knives visually appeal to me but I’m not willing to pay their prices for a product made in China. When Hoback released the Sumo I was excited to get something with a fresh look that was made in the US. I’m a little embarrassed and ashamed that I made that leap in logic instead of seeing what was really going on. I never would have guessed they’d be $550 and made in China though apparently some China-made stuff does get that high. Also, it was difficult to get a Sumo early on. I would have expected more adequate supply from Chinese production. Another indicator that something changed is that the Sumo had a completely different fit/finish than my Kwaiback (US-made as far as I can tell). Some fine details were a little more rough on the Kwaiback. The Sumo had a cleaner look. It’s similar to how the Taichung Spydercos generally have a cleaner fit/finish than the ones that come from Golden, CO. Regardless, there were some red flags that I overlooked and I feel dumb for it.
Another consideration is that I’ve had great service from Hoback. They even cut a ramp for the detent ball into the blade tang of my MK Ultra at my request for no charge. This made it so much easier to close. That was really above and beyond in my opinion. They didn’t have to do that at all, let alone free of charge.
D Rocket Designs is another maker that comes to mind in this situation. It’s a little different in that no retailers would state where the products were made. He responded to me via social media stating basically what Hoback said, that materials were sourced from many places. I even felt a little duped by that because while it was never stated that the items were US-made, it seemed like there was a concerted effort to refrain from making the origin information readily available. I definitely felt the products were overpriced for having a dubious origin of parts or manufacture.
Anyway, that was a lot of words that have surely been stated elsewhere in this thread in some way. At the end of the day this information will definitely affect my decision to purchase Hoback products in the future. I would expect secondary prices to take a serious hit.
Here are some photos just because I like sharing photos.
