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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on December 25, 2012 at 0:06

I'm backwards.....but everybody knows that! LOL! I uased to be a "I don't care where it's made" kinda guy. I still am to some extent. As I get more moss growing on my south side I feel better about buying U.S. knives. And the more I learn about China everyday, the more I agree with some others around here......China is an evil empire.

It's a personal thing, and we each have to make decide for ourselves weather things like that bother us or not. I have a bunch of RRs so I'll be the last one to criticize someone for buying for buying Chinese made knives. But, I will buy very few in the future. 

Plus, I've found that as nice as the Chinese made knives are, I like my U.S. made knives better. Enough so, that I feel better spending the extra drachmas to get them. 

The above is just my opinion and feelings, for what it's worth....maybe 2¢.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 25, 2012 at 7:44

This is such a personal decision.  We also would only buy USA for many years but in the past few years have ventured out to those made in other countries.  Not too many Chinese made but I buy RR for my son, he likes them and they use well for him. I have heard people say many times that they buy USA for the quality.  We have many German built knives with excellent quality!  

One of the reasons we began with GEC is because they purchase their steel and bone and anything else they can here in the USA.  This is a small way to support the economy here at home.

So we do buy elsewhere, just not the majority of what we buy

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Permalink Reply by Brad T. on December 25, 2012 at 21:29

I have bought a couple years ago, not recently. Primarily USA and Western European. But, I see a lot Chinese imports and their quality is getting better, but their prices are creeping up at the same time.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on December 27, 2012 at 17:56

I don't really care where a knife is made as they manufacture knives all over the world.  What I base my decision on is does the knife function as intended. Anything else is just so much emotion, which if that is your thing then buy On that basis.  I look for reviews by users, who are more knowledgeable than me and if they buy a knife and like it for some of the reasons I might, then I buy with confidence, regardless of where it was made. I have bought knives that came from someones shop in the garage, but I bought them because they functioned for the purpose intended.

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Permalink Reply by johnny twoshoes on December 27, 2012 at 18:16

This is a hard subject to discuss without politics getting involved, but I love all the answers so far.

I buy mostly American made knives, it's been a long time since I bought and paid money for a foreign made knife and that includes the knife making greats like, Germany, Switzerland, France, ect. ect. ect.

As long as a knife functions as a knife is supposed to, it shouldn't be over looked as an option when choosing a pocket knife. But, one must compare qualities when collecting, or buying for value. I have a few chinese knives that would make great user knives, but I have more than a few American Made knives that make great users.

If given the choice I will only buy American made.

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Permalink Reply by Thorvan Patten JR. on December 27, 2012 at 18:36

  I think alot depends on the brand and there quality control. I too have a Buck made in China (more than one) and it seems to be a very well made knife. I guess you never know until you use them.

 

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on December 27, 2012 at 20:57

There are a lot of excellent knives that have been produced in company's outside the USA.

I just prefer the American made ones because they melded in our history.

American Steel...American work..Pride in the Product !

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Permalink Reply by Steven Matthew on December 27, 2012 at 21:50

I buy American as much as I can. Saying that I have got some real good knives that had been produced over seas. My yello-jacket from Camullis, for one. My new Gerber, also, were Christmas gifts from my wife. Had I only bought USA I would have missed out on these very nice knives. Support of my America is very important to me and always will be.
In my job I deal in USA, Mexico, China, and many other nations for our goods. I have many customers that do not like the idea that we carry imports. That being said, many many people in this country benefit from these imports....from freighting goods, to the warehouse, to the workers and so forth.
This is not a political statement, just what I see in my job.
I just sit and think about all the knives that were more then able to perform their duties for me that I left on the shelf just because of where they were made.

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 31, 2012 at 17:04

I would like to buy exclusively American but I can't.  So many things are no longer even made in this country.  Especially electronics, many invented in this country but no longer made here.  We are losing and have lost so much of our manufacturing base in this country.  And those are the best jobs.  I confess, I have many chinese made knives.  Many of the knives in my collection are souvenirs of places I have visited.  Those types of knives are almost always chinese made.  I like Case knives because they are all American made.  I have three in my collection which I have recently posted pictures of.  I also have a mini blackhorn and a caliber which I carry.  I plan to try to purchase more Case knives and put Americans to work.

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Permalink Reply by Brad T. on December 31, 2012 at 23:20

I hope to have further input later in the week, as some Rough Riders I ordered should be arriving. But it bothers being repeated that some factories have strict QC standards that are comparable with the USA. Just beware of the factory rejects that always make it out onto the market by unscrupulous online sellers. Remember, you get what you pay for.

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Permalink Reply by Steven Matthew on January 1, 2013 at 0:26

Case has a line of knives produced in China now. Not sure what it's called or when it started but i would like to know how they hold up, if anyone on the site has one.

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on January 1, 2013 at 2:13

I may be the odd duck out in this discussion so far in the fact that I'm the only one living outside of the US? (At least....I didn't see anyone so far not living in the US...I may be misstaken).

I live in a country that has virtually NO cutlery industry. So for me the idea of buying stuff that comes from where I live is already out of the question.

I've seen some reactions to the extent of "**** is an evil country".

Although I kind of understand the sentiment I don't agree with it in general. My thoughts on that are that the government of that country might be evil. But that doesn't mean that the company producing it is. Companies the world over are run by people who're simply trying to make a living. Often doing what they love. Does this mean that I don't think someone should have that right simply because they happen to live in a country whose policies I don't agree with? People don't really choose where they're born and where they start they buisiness. You could go into that saying "yeah but by paying taxes there they're supporting the government." and so on and so on. And yes, that might be true. But for me I'm not supporting a government I'm supporting a company. (Or a custom maker) Besides often the makers/companies are fighting as much against the restrictions of their government as supporting it.

As an example I'd like to cite a custom maker in mainland china who has been venturing out on the american forums every now and again. People would really like to buy his stuff...(I know I would) but the government is preventing him from selling outside of China. (don't know the specifics just know it's true)

For me it's about the buisiness I'm supporting. Not the country. Certain buisinesses I don't trust and so they'll never see any of MY money. Others I have no problem with or like enough to buy more from than I otherwise would.

In short, I couldn't care less about what country a company is located in. As long as I like their designs and the way they do buisiness I'll try to support them.

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