Where It's Made

I prefer USA made and buy accordingly. I do own and carry a micarta mini dyad, but my zdp endua sits without much carry time at all.

I will go out of my way to purchase a USA made product, not just knives. I will also go out of my way to AVOID purchasing anything made in communist China.
 
I look at the knives,not the country but in the end Spyderco's an American brand and that money comes back here in terms of taxes and profits. Without getting too deep in the BS part of this topic... I cant fault a company for outsourcing as the problems lie with how things are here at home, small companies are forced to do things that was unimaginable years ago. Owning foreign brands like Sony, Rolex, and Nissan where the business is based elsewhere is probably more damaging but plenty of the same folks who wouldnt buy a Taiwan Spyderco would buy a Sony TV over a Westinghouse.
 
I try my best to buy USA only, but I bought my first Spyderco in the early 90's. An Endura made in Japan.
Swore I wouldn't do it again, but loved the Sage 1 when it made its debut at Blade, and had to get one.
I'm down to about 100 knives, and those 2 are my only non US models, and dought I'll ever buy another.

I understand why some won't buy a foreign model, and I also understand why some do.
I think that's up to the individual, and feel they shouldn't be harassed on their buying habits either way.

I've seen people here get upset at others for not buying foreign made knives, and a few times I've seen people get upset at people for buying foreign. That shouldn't happen, as all are free to make that choice. People's buying habits are none of my(or others) business.
 
I dont care where its made, USA, Taichung, Japan, they are all overseas for me and other international members probably.

As long as the quality is there.
 
I look at it this way. I would love if they did everything in USA. Lord knows we need to keep a many jobs here as possible. But I'm also a realist, and I realize that doing things like producing an inexpensive line of knives in China, or high quality yet competitively priced knives in Taichung keeps them productive enough to keep their American line cranking. Would we be able to have all the brilliant Golden made sprint runs if Spyderco hadn't stayed competitive with overseas models? Well, I don't have access to their books, nor a good mind for the intricacies of business and marketing, but I'm fairly certain they wouldn't be able to do all of it...

Now, you can choose to only buy American models, or not do business with them altogether. But if so, you might want to get rid of your cell phone, laptop, TV, microwave too...
 
goodeyesniper said:
I look at it this way. I would love if they did everything in USA. Lord knows we need to keep a many jobs here as possible. But I'm also a realist, and I realize that doing things like producing an inexpensive line of knives in China, or high quality yet competitively priced knives in Taichung keeps them productive enough to keep their American line cranking. Would we be able to have all the brilliant Golden made sprint runs if Spyderco hadn't stayed competitive with overseas models? Well, I don't have access to their books, nor a good mind for the intricacies of business and marketing, but I'm fairly certain they wouldn't be able to do all of it...

Now, you can choose to only buy American models, or not do business with them altogether. But if so, you might want to get rid of your cell phone, laptop, TV, microwave too...
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I'd go even further. None of the manufacturing jobs in Golden would even exist without the overseas models. From 1981 when Spyderco's fist model, the Worker, was introduced until 1990 every Spyderco knife was made in Japan and the profits from those knives were what financed Spyderco's Golden plant.
 
The southard was my game changer. Before that knife I didnt believe in the concept of a "high end" imported knife. I really thought that it was overpriced and I voiced my opinion as such. Honestly it was a big mistake to do that. As I wasnt into spydies and didnt know much about their current offerings. This led me not to understand the amazing quality they put into all their knives. Not just the usa models. And it may not be the case with all companies but it would seem that with spyderco they choose a plant to manufacture not based on cost but based on who can build the better product in a better time frame. The southard has turned me from a usa only guy to a "whoever makes it better" guy. IMHO it only means that the USA companies need to up their game. Because the southard is hard to beat. And yes Im pointing the finger at you bear mgc.
 
goodeyesniper said:
Now, you can choose to only buy American models, or not do business with them altogether. But if so, you might want to get rid of your cell phone, laptop, TV, microwave too...
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Why would they do that ??? Nothing wrong with some people wanting American knives, and statments like that one are uncalled for IMO.

I see people say this all the time, but you don't have much of a choice when it comes to those items. You do have a HUGE choice when it comes to knives. IMO we have more quality manufactors, and custom makers of knives than any country in the world.

I understand why some buy only US, and I also understand why some don't. But statements like that are just silly.
 
Never owned a a spyderco made in china, I will say this though, the ones I've owned that were made in taiwan have better F&F than the knives made in Golden, I may ruffle a few feathers with that one but that is just my observation after owning almost every spyderco knife they offer in the line up, I sold my southard to fund another purchase not because of any issues it had , just because I wanted another knife a lot more, my favoite spyderco is the gayle bradley it's f&f is amazing for the $150.00 bucks I payed for it.
 
I prefer to buy US made knives. I can only wish for Spyderco to produce more great designs in Golden. But life is life I have about the same amount of knives made in Japan as in Golden. Also I have couple from Taiwan and couple from Italy. My last purchase was Moonglow Native5 and before that was C54 Calypso.
 
Like marthinus, they're all foreign-made knives to me. As long as they're ethically sourced, so be it. With that in mind, my experience has been that Taichung makes the best Spydercos, followed by Golden and Seki. I have never owned any Chinese Spydies, so I can't comment on them. I will add that my most recent experiences with the Seki-made Spydercos has me feeling like they are either slipping in terms of F&F, or the Taichung and Golden knives are widening the F&F gap.
 
Not that the quality is bad, because it isn't. It is VERY good. But I would have spent a few more dollars to have my Gayle Bradley say made in Golden Colorado USA Earth than TAICHUNG TAIWAN. Just a personal preference. I like seeing it on my Manix2 and Native5.

But for some strange reason I don't care that my dragonfly's are made in japan.? I Don't buy the cheap Chinese knives.
 
Yeah, the Taichung knives are incredible. I'd say they are as good or better than the knives out of Golden! They really know what they are doing there. Also, the consistency is amazing.
 
I have them all and i agree that Taichung and Golden are on top. I love how people are like " I don't buy Cheap Chinese knives" or the like. What's the reasoning for that? IIRC people were saying that about Taiwan and Japan not too terribly long ago. I think goodeyesniper is spot on. I am not a huge fan of China manufacturing everything but you can be sure that if they didn't you wouldn't be able to afford that "fill in the tech product of choice". It's an American company. The profits come back here. At the price point you can't do much better that their "cheap Chinese offerings". People buy what they can afford or perhaps on BF more than they can afford, but the point is those "cheap Chinese knives" would provide your average person a lifetime of use with no problems.
 
neffarious said:
I have them all and i agree that Taichung and Golden are on top. I love how people are like " I don't buy Cheap Chinese knives" or the like. What's the reasoning for that? IIRC people were saying that about Taiwan and Japan not too terribly long ago. I think goodeyesniper is spot on. I am not a huge fan of China manufacturing everything but you can be sure that if they didn't you wouldn't be able to afford that "fill in the tech product of choice". It's an American company. The profits come back here. At the price point you can't do much better that their "cheap Chinese offerings". People buy what they can afford or perhaps on BF more than they can afford, but the point is those "cheap Chinese knives" would provide your average person a lifetime of use with no problems.
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Totally agree. Also, there's a very good reason why unemployment is so bad here in the US. And I can tell you it isn't entirely China's fault. Our government is doing its best to tax and regulate businesses to death. Many businesses have two choices: Either close down, or outsource.

The wealth in the US came from a relatively untaxed and unregulated market. Now that they are choking it to death, it's no wonder that all the jobs are disappearing.
 
The-Stig said:
Our government is doing its best to tax and regulate businesses to death. Many businesses have two choices: Either close down, or outsource.
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Don't bring Politics into this, but since you have I'll let you know that Corporate taxes are lower now than in our great years with Reagan, and Clinton. They also have way more tax loopholes now, so don't blame it on that.
 
I don't particularly care where it's made. It's Spyderco, I trust them, I'll buy the models I want regardless of where they are made. My first spyderco was a Japanese made Delica, and my favorite is the Techno, which is from Taichung.
 
Ken44 said:
Don't bring Politics into this, but since you have I'll let you know that Corporate taxes are lower now than in our great years with Reagan, and Clinton. They also have way more tax loopholes now, so don't blame it on that.
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I disagree. We could get into it, but I won't derail this topic. Although, if you ask me, this topic is inherently political, so arguing about politics is probably more relevant than talking about one's opinions on where knives are made.
 
I like both U.S. and Japan-made Spydies. I don't own any from Taiwan, though I"m certain they're excellent. However, the most I own are Japan-made, and I tend to carry and use them more, too, especially the Salt models.

Jim
 
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