Will Schrade be coming home?

bt93

bt93

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May 12, 2015
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Over on Knife News and TTAK there's news that Smith and Wesson is buying out Taylor Brands. While the author at TTAK doesn't think S&W will bring the manufacturing back state side, I want to be optimistic. It would be just a matter of packing up the tooling and shipping it from China. Anyway here's looking to buying an American made Schrade soon.
 
Doubtful. Why would they? From what I can tell, the Schrade fixed blades (not sure about the folders) are pretty popular, and are pretty reasonably priced. If made in the US, labor costs alone would drive up the prices to a point where most customers have (or think they have) "outgrown" Schrade. I don't see a US-made product line competing very successfully with the likes of Becker or Esee if priced the same, if for no other reason than reputation. Something similar to the Buck/TOPS or Emerson/Kershaw collaborations might do fairly well, but any move to US production will definitely bump prices up, which I think would defeat the very purpose of Schrade's existence.
 
Inazone said:
Doubtful. Why would they? From what I can tell, the Schrade fixed blades (not sure about the folders) are pretty popular, and are pretty reasonably priced. If made in the US, labor costs alone would drive up the prices to a point where most customers have (or think they have) "outgrown" Schrade. I don't see a US-made product line competing very successfully with the likes of Becker or Esee if priced the same, if for no other reason than reputation. Something similar to the Buck/TOPS or Emerson/Kershaw collaborations might do fairly well, but any move to US production will definitely bump prices up, which I think would defeat the very purpose of Schrade's existence.
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I don't see Schrades being any more expensive than Buck knives. You can pick up a Buck 110 for not much and I'm sure manufacturing the folding hunter is more expensive than fixed blades. I know a lot of the Schrade knives can be had for in the 20 dollar range and their traditional knives are stupid cheap in price, but I doubt a mild price raise for a 'Made in USA' tag would hurt them.
 
I think the general price increase would be substantial which would price them out of their current market. If I were to drop $50 on a fixed blade, Becker's are hard to beat. Schrade has a reputation for being on the low end. It would take time, planning, and lots of PR before it could work out well.
 
Finding a site, filing environmental impact reports (and waiting years for approval), municipal and state permits, filing Govt paperwork to get tools/CAD/CNC etc stateside, hiring staff, etc. Not as easy as it looks. And Domestic labor costs would make prices skyrocket.
 
Very unlikely that the S&W owned Taylor Brands will change their business model. They have no manufacturing capability at the moment.
 
bt93 said:
It would be just a matter of packing up the tooling and shipping it from China.
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Yeah...just throw the stuff in the trunk of the car and drive it over. :rolleyes:

They bought the other company because it makes money. Most likely they will not mess with that, and wont change a thing, even branding.
 
I have to agree that it's unlikely that they'll bring everything back to the states, but if S&W chooses to use their present distribution that they have for their firearms, then I think it might be possible to move some of it Stateside to attract the patriotic crowd. Time will tell but I don't think it would be that big of a problem for a manufacturer that's presently experiencing record sales and profits.
 
85 Million doesn't seem like a lot of money for a successful company. But I believe the Taylor Brands model is the same as Frost Cutlery which is have it manufactured overseas and ship to US. Probably box it here, and distribute to retailers. So, all they really have other than the trademarks is a warehouse or two.
 
22-rimfire said:
85 Million doesn't seem like a lot of money for a successful company. But I believe the Taylor Brands model is the same as Frost Cutlery which is have it manufactured overseas and ship to US. Probably box it here, and distribute to retailers. So, all they really have other than the trademarks is a warehouse or two.
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I was thinking the same thing, but when you look how inexpensive the knives are. A Schrade Trapper is only $7.50, then maybe Taylore wasn't all that. Lots of knives sold just not much money made. Bring the manufacture of that Trapper back to the states and sell it for $15 and I bet it'll sell well in gun shops and Walmart.
 
bt93 said:
I was thinking the same thing, but when you look how inexpensive the knives are. A Schrade Trapper is only $7.50, then maybe Taylore wasn't all that. Lots of knives sold just not much money made. Bring the manufacture of that Trapper back to the states and sell it for $15 and I bet it'll sell well in gun shops and Walmart.
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No way it would only be $15 if made in the USA.

The best example of US-made to look at is Buck. Buck's knives are all specifically designed to be easy to manufacture, and even then a small jack knife like a 309 runs in the low 20's on eBay and for almost $30 on a normal online store. A full size trapper would be in the 30's if US-made.
 
No idea, I would suggest waiting to see what happens. However, in the spirit of predicting the future, I foresee in my crystal ball several outcomes:

1. Nothing changes except ownership, and they keep making the same things they are making now.
2. S&W decides they want to focus on their own brand name and product lines and sells off the rights to the Schrade/OT/UH/Imperial brands to someone else.
3. S&W decides to just retire the non-S&W brand names but retain ownership of them.
4. S&W decides to make a major foray into the knife market and builds up all of the brands with new products and greatly improved QA.

I will let you decide how likely you think any of my predictions are.
 
jc57 said:
No idea, I would suggest waiting to see what happens. However, in the spirit of predicting the future, I foresee in my crystal ball several outcomes:

1. Nothing changes except ownership, and they keep making the same things they are making now.
2. S&W decides they want to focus on their own brand name and product lines and sells off the rights to the Schrade/OT/UH/Imperial brands to someone else.
3. S&W decides to just retire the non-S&W brand names but retain ownership of them.
4. S&W decides to make a major foray into the knife market and builds up all of the brands with new products and greatly improved QA.

I will let you decide how likely you think any of my predictions are.
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Boom.

Greater market position, strength and visibility, ergo the brand, through the absorption of two average but shrinking inevitably. Pretty common structuring scheme in today's very competitive market. Both each already have a large footprint, quality aside.

I say yes that. Farewell, Shrade.
 
bt93 said:
It would be just a matter of packing up the tooling and shipping it from China.
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That is a bit of an oversimplification, don't you think?

S&W commission crap. If they bought schrade, why would that change?
 
knarfeng said:
No way it would only be $15 if made in the USA.

The best example of US-made to look at is Buck. Buck's knives are all specifically designed to be easy to manufacture, and even then a small jack knife like a 309 runs in the low 20's on eBay and for almost $30 on a normal online store. A full size trapper would be in the 30's if US-made.
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In my country, the cheapest Buck (the Bantam) costs almost 2.5x as much as a Schrade SCH10X series or S&W.CK4XX series.And yet they use better steel (7cr17 and 8cr13mov) than the Buck (420hc). I own two Buck Bantams and while they are decently made, the cost for the both of them can be used to purchase at least four or five Schrades or S&Ws with better steel.

If they bring manufacturing back to the US, I'm dropping Taylor from my list of to-buy knives because they no longer appeal to me on pricing, even if I fancy their designs.
 
Etna said:
In my country, the cheapest Buck (the Bantam) costs almost 2.5x as much as a Schrade SCH10X series or S&W.CK4XX series.And yet they use better steel (7cr17 and 8cr13mov) than the Buck (420hc). I own two Buck Bantams and while they are decently made, the cost for the both of them can be used to purchase at least four or five Schrades or S&Ws with better steel.

If they bring manufacturing back to the US, I'm dropping Taylor from my list of to-buy knives because they no longer appeal to me on pricing, even if I fancy their designs.
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A key phrase is "In my country". If all you want is the cheapest knife made wherever then there are lots of different options. I'll take buck 420 made by the company with its name on the blade over some unknown OEM steel with a bought and paid for random company name on it. Sometimes those things are important to folks. If it is not to you? Fine. But don't make it out like all things are equal to everyone just because you say so.
 
I doubt that any china based operations would cease immediately, if ever.
Don't we all hope for cheaper statesside goods though...
 
I'm thinking the consensus here is probably right, S&W will leave mfr over in China. I just hope we're wrong.
 
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