Triton
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2000
- Messages
- 35,958
In another thread featuring some new Medford knives supposedly made for the "working man"
Sam Wilson
asked a question I thought worth answering even though that thread was closed for unrelated reasons.
Are these knives made in the U.S.A.? If so, how much do you think it takes to charge to have an actual decent profit to make it worth going to the trouble of producing high quality knives like this?
To answer the question, I'm sure that the low end SOGs, Spydercos etc that I referenced are undoubtedly made in China with lower end materials using under paid labor. (by Western standards).
I further, am well aware that hiring American workers with our labor requirements and regulations costs substantially more.
In short there is no such thing as a free lunch. If things are cheaper there is typically a reason. I should also note that there is no greater critic of buying Chinese knives than yours truly.
That said your average electrician /carpenter /mechanic / plumber cares as little about where, how, or what his knife is made as he does about where his coffee maker or toaster is made. He doesn't care about high quality knives at all. He uses his knife to do a pile of things that would have many of us here collectively clutching our pearls in horror. When his knife breaks from abuse he buys another cheap knife and moves on. His knife is more likely to come from a blister pack than a box, but if it did come from a box I am betting he didn't save the box.
Sam Wilson
asked a question I thought worth answering even though that thread was closed for unrelated reasons.Are these knives made in the U.S.A.? If so, how much do you think it takes to charge to have an actual decent profit to make it worth going to the trouble of producing high quality knives like this?
To answer the question, I'm sure that the low end SOGs, Spydercos etc that I referenced are undoubtedly made in China with lower end materials using under paid labor. (by Western standards).
I further, am well aware that hiring American workers with our labor requirements and regulations costs substantially more.
In short there is no such thing as a free lunch. If things are cheaper there is typically a reason. I should also note that there is no greater critic of buying Chinese knives than yours truly.
That said your average electrician /carpenter /mechanic / plumber cares as little about where, how, or what his knife is made as he does about where his coffee maker or toaster is made. He doesn't care about high quality knives at all. He uses his knife to do a pile of things that would have many of us here collectively clutching our pearls in horror. When his knife breaks from abuse he buys another cheap knife and moves on. His knife is more likely to come from a blister pack than a box, but if it did come from a box I am betting he didn't save the box.
