Which American knives are the most popular outside of the US?

B

Billmanweh

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Sep 5, 2002
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I'm curious which American made knives seem to be the most sought after outside of the US? Is it the ones that seem to have a cult-like following here, like the Striders, Emersons, Mad Dogs, etc? Or maybe something else?
 
Hummm, sorry to told you that but there is not really "US popular Knife" outside US, as in every country, people use locally made knives...
So in France, people use mostly Opinel or Laguiole etc...
For the "Knive nuts" like us, popular US knives are often Spydercos, as you could see them often in movies and they are quite cheap (compared to strider ...).
 
Well, I guess I was thinking more in terms of high-end, "knife nut" type of knives. I should have been more clear.
 
The only knifes from the US in the Netherlands and Europe are probably folders. I think its the good old Buck hunting folder or a Leatherman multitool. Europe is more for the SAK, Opinel and if you look around you will find some Mora types or even real ‘’Pokuus’’. The big survival blade is not done here. Around here a knife more a thing for basic cutting EDC stuff and if you are going into the woods you take a saw or small axe.

But if someone is looking for a good folder it’s probably a Spyderco. Some basic, small and lite model like a Delica. And very well US made!
 
As an American living in the heart of Europe, I can concur. There really is no huge following for American knives. I do see a lot of Leatherman tools in the better knife shops I go to. And sometimes you'll see a Buck 110 and 112 for sale (for obscenely high prices, I might add). You'll also see a good deal of Spydercos, but I don't know if you count those as American or not (since the vast majority are manufactured in Asia).

In day-to-day life, mostly you see SAKs or some sort of single-blade folder (mostly knockoffs but you'll see some Spydies, Bokers, "Harley-Davidson" and the like).
 
When I was in France, most of the American knives that I saw in shops were Spydercos. They were NOT inexpensive. I will say that I sure wish that I could find a US store that stocks a lot of cool European knives. I had no idea of what is available over there--what a nice variety of great stuff.
 
In Hungarian knife forums there are a quite few followers of Strider knives, but Spydercos are present in the highest number.
 
Well, in consideration of the biggest German knife message board, the Messerforum, the most popular American brands seem to be Benchmade and Spyderco. Microtech is pretty polpular too. But I don't think a board full of knife-nuts is representative for the German mass market. :D
 
Over here in Australia, Spyderco, Leatherman and CRKT are the most available from knife and outdoors stores.

Strider, Emmerson etc. are fairly well known but not so easy to get hold of.
 
Is the prevelance of Spydercos and the scarcity of other American knives a result of Spyderco (like, do they advertise a lot and actively seek distributers) or a result of the peoples' preferences. What I mean is, for example, do French people dislike Benchmades so they don't sell there, or is it because Benchmade doesn't actively distribute there?
 
personnaly, as a french guy, i prefer Benchmade to Spydie, but i am not really representative :D
If we do not account the 10 french knives nuts who are in this forum; i'll say that we, as french, buy mostly Spyderco because :
1) usually cheaper than BM
2) The design is find more often in movies (Spydie police, etc..)

But it's true that the most sell US brand is clearly "leatherman":D
 
I agree with Asura, Spydercos and Leathermans & Columbia river are sold the most to the general public in Australia. Leathermans are very well regarded for their quality. For the stores that carry Benchmade, Emerson, SOG & Cold Steel there is not much of a selection and anything made in the USA is very expensive here. Never seen a Strider for sale in a bricks and mortar store, not even a Buck Strider. US made knives & multitools are seen as very good quality but the price is nowhere near Chinese made products. If China ever learns about quality control I think it will be the deathnell for US manufacturing. I'm starting to see better made Chinese knives, but its only some of them.
Regards
Pinpoint
 
If you go to a knife shop in Argentina the only knife brand with some models to choose from is Buck. Spydercos and Cold Steel knives were imported by dealers a while ago, and it's been a while since any new stuff has arrived. I'm pretty sure I cleaned up most of the plain edge Spydercos that gun/knife shops had left in downtown Buenos Aires. The only ones left are serrated models which I don't care for.

The Buck distributor is the only one who keeps bringing stuff every month.

At knife and gun shows, however, I've ran into knife knuts like myself with Spyderco and Benchmade collections, but we order them from the States.
 
Don't forget but for years most of CRKT and many if not most of Spydercos are not American-made knives, but Asian. Also now true of Buck and Benchmade, not sure of Leatherman and Emerson. An Asian knife is an Asian knife no matter what the brand name. Don't get me wrong, being an Asian knife is not a negative, it's just not an American-made knife.
 
I guess I was just wondering which American brands were most sought after in other parts of the world.
 
I'm employed by a German company in their US office.

A few years ago a German colleague located at the main office in Germany asked me to purchase a knife and ship it to him. He specifically asked for a Spyderco knife and I think it was an Endura. Well whichever model back then that had a molded plastic pocket clip not a metal removable one.

He wasn't interested in any other brand or recomendations, only Spyderco.
 
Greetings everyone!

I don't have much to contribute. All I know is, Spyderco has a few models made specifically for strict European countries. I think it is great that Spyderco has stepped up to the needs of our fellow knife lovers there.
I always see European posts late at night here on these forums. I don't have any idea what they are saying, but I see many posts regarding Spyderco and I see pics of Spydercos.
 
I work at Knivesandtools.com, a webshop situated in the Netherlands.
Based on sales of American brands we sell Spyderco the most in the Netherlands, as well as in the rest of Europe.
It's the value for money thing that does the trick over here.:D
Other American knives that are in high demand are Microtech and MOD.
Various other brands like Chris Reeve, Cold Steel, Columbia River, SOG and Buck sell reasonable.
Strider is wanted by a select few, but difficult to obtain, same goes for William Henry.
From the European brands we sell very many Fallkniven, Forge de Laguiole, Opinel, and various kitchenknife brands like Zwilling Henckels and Wusthof.
These last two brands sell also especially well to our American based customers.
 
In Israel, you see many more Spydercos than Benchmades.
Looking at price comparisons, I think that Spyderco prices in Israel are closer to their prices in the US. I find that Benchmades are more marked-up. I don't know if this is because of the distributors or what. It would not surprise me one bit to know that Sal insists on prices kept down to where folks can afford them, and choosing his distributors according to this policy. Maybe Sal can join in on this.

It is certainly NOT because of marketing--you never see ANY knife advertising in Israel.
 
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