Who's the biggest knife maker?

[Thomas Linton]

Biggest knife or biggest maker? If the second, weight or height?

 

[Warhammer4real]

If you look at it as a whole, Vic and Fiskars are probably right at the top

 

[Chris Pierce]

I would like to know who is the biggest of the Big 3. Spyderco, Benchmade or Kershaw/ZT? (not counting KAI/Shun) Leaving out, Victorinox, Gerber, Boker etc etc

 

[Random Dan]

I remember hearing somewhere that Benchmade is the biggest knife manufacturer for the $100-$500 price range (or something like that, I don't remember exactly).

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I would like to know who is the biggest of the Big 3. Spyderco, Benchmade or Kershaw/ZT? (not counting KAI/Shun) Leaving out, Victorinox, Gerber, Boker etc etc

If don't know if you CAN segregate the KAI corporate to just Kershaw and ZT. I'm not sure that throwing Shun in there would matter much anyway since it seems (keyword: seems) like they are a small entity. At least to me, but then I wouldn't have posted this thread in the first place if I actually knew anything.

I think it's safe to say Benchmade is a bigger company than Spyderco. Where that leaves KAI is an interesting question.

 

[CWL]

If don't know if you CAN segregate the KAI corporate to just Kershaw and ZT. I'm not sure that throwing Shun in there would matter much anyway since it seems (keyword: seems) like they are a small entity. At least to me, but then I wouldn't have posted this thread in the first place if I actually knew anything.

I think it's safe to say Benchmade is a bigger company than Spyderco. Where that leaves KAI is an interesting question.

FYI, KAI Group manufactures and sells a line of around 10,000 cutlery & tools products worldwide.

I'd bet that they sell more Shun knives than they do ZTs or Kershaws. Ever walk into a Department store or Kitchen store and see how many models of Shun knives are on the wall next to the Wustoff and Henkels? Pretty amazing success when Shun has only been around 10 years.

 

[goodeyesniper]

I'd be surprised if Victorinox didn't sell the most knives world wide.

 

[Alann45]

Interesting question. I'm sure someone will drop by with a definitive answer.

Assuming we're talking production vs. employees,
I'd agree Victorinox has to be darn close to the top with Case up there too.
I'd think Kershaw (Kai) would be up there.
Considering how they market, Gerber is likely pretty high on the list too.

Biggest knife or biggest maker? If the second, weight or height?

Biggest maker (modder really) I've met is Michael Prater (Painted Pony). I'm a pretty big guy and he dwarfed me.
Gentleman has to be one of the highest volume modders too, man he and his guys put out a LOT of stuff (and darn attractive stuff too).

 

[Goosey]

No one's mentioned Buck, but I see tons of Bucks in every single Walmart, and most places knives are sold, so they must be pretty big as well.

 

[mcrow]

No one's mentioned Buck, but I see tons of Bucks in every single Walmart, and most places knives are sold, so they must be pretty big as well.

I was thinking Buck as well but then I think Buck is a lot more popular in the US than the rest of the world.

 

[Goosey]

I was thinking Buck as well but then I think Buck is a lot more popular in the US than the rest of the world.

Good point. I wonder how big Opinel is...

 

[CWL]

If anyone can find another knife maker that makes more than ~100,000 knives per day like Victorinox, I'd like to see it.

 

[cncpro11]

if anyone can find another knife maker that makes more than ~100,000 knives per day like victorinox, i'd like to see it.

dang!

 

[outdooredge]

Victorinox handsdown.

Here's their 2006 daily production from Wiki:

There is probaby some superfactory in China making more than that, but those knives will be generic junk that gets sold under hundreds of names and brands globally.

Somewhere in China (far far away) there is a factory much bigger than victorinox.

 

[Whitedog]

Considering the number of knives turned out it could be Opinel. Who knows?

 

[hank_rearden]

cutco is bigger than spyderco, benchmade and kershaw put together.

 

[offroadcmpr]

Alcas is the parent company of both Cutco and Ka Bar.

It gets more complicated than that.
Alcas renamed itself to Cutco Corporation. Cutco corporation owns Ka-bar, Vector Marketing(the people who sell cutco knives), and CUTCO Cutlery Corp(who actually produce CUTCO knives). So Alcas is Cutco, but then not at the same time...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutco

While they are are a well known company, I can't imagine them selling anywhere close to the amount of knives that Victorinox does. Unless things are changed they don't sell cheaper knives that will sell in higher volume. Too high of a price range for most people.

 

[offroadcmpr]

Here are some rough revenue numbers that I found.
CUTCO (vector Marketing) I assume this does not include Kabar:
http://vectormarketing.com/who-we-are/
Over $200 million a year

Victorinox:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...hift-focus-to-boardroom-from-battlefield.html
$530 million a year.

Buck Knives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Knives
$80 million a year

Benchmade:
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2005/05/16/story2.html?page=all
In 2004 it was estimated around 20$ million a year.

Opinel:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinel
12 million Euros. Or about $15.6 million.

Of course revenues don't really correspond to the actual number of knives sold. CUTCO or Benchmade have higher price knives, while Opinel or Victorinox have less expensive knives that sell in greater quantities.

 

[MattyLav]

I have to say Kai aswell

 

[din]

I think lynn thompson goes about 350-375, but jerry busse might give him a run for his money.