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Made in China!

I've read many discussions about your favorite USA made knives. I thought I'd take a shot at Favorite made in China knives.

Here is my top 10.

1) Rough Rider. For price and selection you just can't beat them. The 440 Razor sharp is pretty good for an EDC

2) Raging Bull. About the only place you can get them is from Garry Yokum, the guy who owns the TM. He has an eBAy store. You can find them by searching ZIX on ebay. Lots of pretty swirly plastic and built in the same factory as Rough Riders. Same 440 Stainless

3) Colt. Pretty good and a little better finish that a Rough Rider but it is the same steel for a higher price.

4) Boker Magnum. These are really some of the best I've come across. Limited variety however. Most often 440 or Titanium coated 440

5) Cattleman's Cutlery. I've really been surprised by the quality even if the steel is 3CR13

6) Marbles. Again similar in quality to Rough Riders seeing it is a an SMKW brand but the price is slightly higher. But they offer some unique patterns not made by others.

7) Ocoee River. Yep. It is Jim Frost TM but it is better than the FROST branded knives. Also uses 440 and they have some really nice shields Also 440 Steel. A little higher priced than Rough Riders

8) Steel Warrior. Other than those stupid Rockwell tested stickers, these knives are pretty decent. But a little over priced compared to Rough Riders.

9) U.S. Classic. The brand is now defunct and they got a bad rap because of their Salt Creek, Kentucky tang stamp but these are surprisingly good knives similar to the quality of a Rough Rider. Also uses 440 SS.

10) Schrade (Taylor Brands) I wish they were more upfront with the type of steel. 400 Series is a little sketchy if you ask me.

Brands I'd be hard pressed to recommend based on personal experience:

Sarge

Pride USA

SuperKnife

Frost (the actual ones marked Frost not any knife in Jim Frost family of brands)

Double Warrior (not the Frost Steel Warriors just the Frost "Double Warriors")

Any one else have a a few favorite made in China Brands or Made in Chinas you avoid like the plague. (China made knife haters need not reply unless they actually have a China made knife they would recommend to use or collect!)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael D. on July 3, 2014 at 15:59

Always carry my knife in my front right pocket. Even if it has a clip it's still carried deep in the pocket. I use my knife for cutting rubber hoses, ropes, felt, oranges, apples, boxes, cardboard, envelopes, tape, grass, weeds and cigars among other things.

The handles from the Kissing Crane showed they were pinned but they were just glued. The Ka Ba kept falling apart - the screws would keep coming out. Glue/loctite defeated the purpose of the knife - to flick it open with one hand.

I'm experimenting with carrying an odd knife and will report on its durability in a few weeks. If it holds out I think you'll be surprised!

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on July 3, 2014 at 17:13

Michael, It sounds like you give the knives a good work out but nothing that I would construe as abuse (unless the rubber hoses are for radiators or are extremely thick and you have to baton your way through a six inch think hemp line!)

Really surprised to hear the problems with the Ka-Bar and the Buck.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on July 3, 2014 at 17:30

Tobias, the list would be a heck of alot shorter if you named the companies still manufacturing solely In the USA---Buck, Gerber,Winchester, etc-. Most,if not all their knives made im China- The bigger question, what brands are still USA from startt to fiinish ?? These days, it is easier to find China rather than USA knives~~~~Sad.but true ~~

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on July 3, 2014 at 17:49

Buck claims that 95% of their knives are currently made in the United States. You would be surprised at how many knife USA knife companies were making knives overseas BEFORE the whole China conundrum began. Camillus made knives in Germany, Poland, and Ireland. Imperial made plenty of stuff in Ireland. Case took a shot at making knives in Germany.

No doubt a lot of companies jumped on the China Band Wagon and still more of them went bankrupt, and had their TM bought by someone who moved the production to China. Camillus was in the process of moving the Camco line of knives to China in an effort to stay afloat when it went belly up! Too bad they made the move as late as they did. Those Camco Work Horse knives with the PRC tang stamp are really good knives! As good if not better than the Camco made in America or Ireland! Maybe if they had managed to move that production a little sooner they could have weathered the storm and still been around today. Instead the factory closed and people lost their jobs!

The same happened to many other famous knives brands that are now owned primarily by three knife moguls - Taylor Brands, Jim Frost, and Kevin Pipes.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on July 3, 2014 at 18:09

Case imported knives stamped Case *German Import- Inox-Sologen- back in the JIm Parker days 1979-1981- Not a successful foray for Case into the import market- Just did some research for a another member today- Those knives in certain patterns werel imited to 125 knives- Who has not at least tried this overseas manufacture, company wise ??

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on July 3, 2014 at 18:21

And Case recently tried the tek-X line of Tactical knives. Not sure what happened with those. But it is these flops that might some day be big collector items. I saw a Case German Import on eBay but the cash ain't flowing right now!

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 3, 2014 at 20:21

For China I would have to say RR and CRKT. As for knives being made in other countries? That has always happened, one of the most successful I can think of off the top of my head is Fight N Rooster. Frank Buster had them made in Germany, they sold well, used well and held value, even today. I saw Sterling recently announced he will be working toward bringing the line back. I asked him about Germany not long ago and he said the import duty was so high and the value of the dollar so low, he may search for other options.

Tobias, I believe that Case actually still has the Tec X line, but they are exclusive to the knives in the Harley line?

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Permalink Reply by Ricky L McConnell on July 14, 2014 at 18:39

I bought a Colt fixed blade from SMKW for my dad, the quality is real good and the knife was good and sharp.

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Permalink Reply by peter force on July 14, 2014 at 23:29

HEY JAN! ...hey if you look at my posta bit back.. you will see WE BOTH AGREE ON THE SAME @ BRANDS!!...LOL... RR and CRKT...LOL..

also if f-rooster were to bring the line back UP..-if out of GERMANY like originals then im buying..and as long as new stamp was used...

also JAN i do have a TEC-X catalog .i wrote CASE directly to get it-i thought i posted a pic of it but didnt- as it was no where onine-and its 2013-i guess a simple call would suffice to see if they dropped it or whatever.

take care!

Jan Carter said:

For China I would have to say RR and CRKT. As for knives being made in other countries? That has always happened, one of the most successful I can think of off the top of my head is Fight N Rooster. Frank Buster had them made in Germany, they sold well, used well and held value, even today. I saw Sterling recently announced he will be working toward bringing the line back. I asked him about Germany not long ago and he said the import duty was so high and the value of the dollar so low, he may search for other options.

Tobias, I believe that Case actually still has the Tec X line, but they are exclusive to the knives in the Harley line?