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

Even if there is little talk about Buck, the Buck Ranger probably is the most popular knife in Germany because many people own one. Every biker I know for example carries a Buck 110 or owned one at some time.

As Quiet Storm said, Benchmade and Spyderco get al lot of attention from German knife enthusiasts. Microtech was once widely popular among this crowd, too, but seems to be on a downswing right now. Many feel that the quality of their products has dropped somewhat yet prices remain high.

Busse, Swamprat and Strider have dedicated followers in Germany, too.

Most of this impressions I gathered form the German knifeforum 'Messerforum', where Spyderco, Benchmade, Microtech, Strider and Busse have their own boards.
 
quinque voces said:
Even if there is little talk about Buck, the Buck Ranger probably is the most popular knife in Germany because many people one one.
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Well, if what the averega person carries is the litmus test here, the Buck 110 is certainly even more popular in the US than in Germany.

quinque voces said:
Microtech was once widely popular among this crowd, too, but seems to be on a downswing right now.
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Same in the US. If you look around on this board, you'll still find a lot less discussion on MTs then at Messerforum (taking into account that BFC has a lot more members of course).

quinque voces said:
Most of this impressions I gathered form the German knifeforum 'Messerforum', where Spyderco, Benchmade, Microtech, Strider and Busse have their own boards.
Click to expand...

Doesn't necessarily mean that they're more popular, just that someone who represents the company or is a recognized expert on a particular brand was willing to tackle the task of moderating a manufacturer-specific forum.
 
Quiet Storm said:
Doesn't necessarily mean that they're more popular, just that someone who represents the company or is a recognized expert on a particular brand was willing to tackle the task of moderating a manufacturer-specific forum.
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Absolutely true. But having a manufacturer-specific forum helps to get public attention, to spread information and to promote a brand (Sal for example is doing a great job in promoting Spyderco to the benefit of all).

Although a knife forum only reaches a small group of potential customers they will pass the information to their friends and colleagues when asked for advice - not a bad start for gaining popularity.
 
Point taken, especially since I'm the one who advocated using collectors' favorites as the main criterion.
 
In Poland, IMO CRKT M21 is the most popular knife. I guess every second user of polish forums has it :) Greetings to you all by the way :)
 
I'm not sure what they sell in europe, but here in Japan I see Buck,Gerber,and spyderco the most. I think almost all knivestores here have them. What I can tell you for sure is that American Brand knives have the largest share in this country. There's a knivestore in my neighbor sell all kind of American knives like Ryan,Microtech,Strider,Coldsteel,Warren Thomas, MOD,and on and on. I bought my first Microtech there last week. "Burnknives" may not be as popular here in Japan,but I saw them on the website and they are beautiful.
 
It seems that Spyderco/Byrd and Benchmade are most popular in Germany,
and some CRKT knives are also quite popular.

The prices for knives made in USA and/or made by US knife companies are
much higher in Germany than in the USA, usually almost double price.

Andy
 
Hi.
I live in Spain.
Here the first choose for most people are spanish knives, like ARCOS (for kitchen knives)
and traditional folders. They are medium to high quality and very well priced.
Many people use french OPINEL folders, as well, for the same reason.
Just a few, looking for very specific things, buy american and nordic brands, very
expensive for us (because of our average salary much lower than yours and taxes).

Some years ago, Swiss VICTORINOX tools were very popular, they were the first to arrive to the
shop windows. But now, the most common and desired brand is LEATHERMAN.

To sum up, we just buy abroad what we can't find here, but most people don't need to have
the latest state-of-the-art knife.
 
As mentioned before by other Europeans, Spyderco is probably the most sold knife in Finland too. There's really a very few knife stores here, but I guess the one that stocks spyderco sells pretty well (There MUST be more than one Spydie-stocking vendor here... I know only one).

Leathermans are pretty common, and since carrying a blade in public places is strictly forbidden (some still have some sort of a knive with them), multi-tools are quite neutral. And more often than not one needs the pliers more than the knife. Not much American outdoors-knives that I've seen, people take pride in Finnish puukkos and use them and a hatchet when in the woods.

I guess the biggest reason for lack of American knives is the long tradition of puukko, and the second reason is high prices that are almost twofold or even threefold compared to prices overseas, mainly due to EU and taxes...
 
The Australian scene has been pretty well covered by other posts. Up until recently, I would say that Schrade had a major presence in Australian knife shops/gunshops and sports stores - the Old Timer pocket knives and stockman's knives had always been very popular. The 'new' Schrades don't seem to have the same market presence. Whether this is to do with marketing or buyer resistance I don't know.

Where I live Bucks, Gerbers, Benchmade, SOG, ka-Bar and Cold Steel can be found although the range is often limited. Spyderco and Leatherman are probably the most commonly encountered of the American brands and I think this is more supply rather than demand driven. Both brands are very well marketed here.

It seems from posts from other countries that Spyderco and Leatherman are also marketed more aggressively in other places as well. One of the intriguing things re Spyderco is their availability in purist bushwalking/backpacking stores. They are usually the only knives you see in addition to SAKS and multitools. I have been told that the very early Spydercos were popular amongst serious climbers because of the one handed opening feature and the brand association has stuck. Like SAKS they seem to have developed a 'respectability' amongst those who are not really into knives.
 
ive seen a busse form in german, and i know they market in europe with models not generally available in the us. but i dont have firsthand experience in seeing them over there, just what ive read on the net.
 
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