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A look at China Made Knives

With all the negative discussion about Chinese-made knives, I wanted to add my two cents based on actual experience, not rumors and second hand information.
I am comparing my three newest knives- Buck Trio ($16), Rough Rider Mini Canoe ($9) and Imperial Sodbuster ($8).
Steel- Buck is 420 ss, rough rider is 440 ss, while imperial is 440. The Buck and the Rough Rider came hair shaving sharp out of the box, while Imperial was paper shaving and almost hair shaving sharp.Edge-- Buck and Rough Rider
Walk and talk- all three are tight and crisp. Edge-- none
Fit and finish- the Buck and the Imperial back springs are a fraction of a millimeter off on the back spring, the Rough Rider is completely flush. Edge-- Rough Rider
Cosmetics- Rough Rider shield printed off center, Buck shield perfectly flush, Imperial is slightly raised. Edge-- Buck
Other features-- prefer "toothy" nail knick of Rough Rider, Rough Rider tang stamp design nicest IMHO, Buck and Rough Rider clearly marked China on blade, Imperial is not (slightly misleading).
Warranty-- all three claim lifetime warranty. Edge-- none.
Price- Edge to Rough Rider and Imperial.
While I would happily carry all three as EDC, I would have to give the overall edge to Rough Rider, with Imperial coming in second place.
Thanks for following the rambling.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on December 11, 2013 at 20:58

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on December 11, 2013 at 21:00

Well said there Bobby and some good advice. I think we can always pass our experience on. That is great way to teach and learn

Permalink Reply by Bobby Horn on December 12, 2013 at 7:03

As I read over my review I see a slight mistake
I would buy the buck before the imperial.

Permalink Reply by Jason Oncedisturbed Riley on December 12, 2013 at 22:57

I have to agree that the Rough Rider's bring out a good knife with low price tag. We have a brand here is Australia that is also Chinese made / mass produced to a chain of out door stores called Anaconda, their homebrand knife is called "Tactical".

I have several different version of the brand from normal slip joints, liner lock and fixed blade all ranging from $11 - 45AUD and all of them are pretty good as well.

Will post up pics of all my "Tactical" branded knives when I get a chance. Some I believ I may have posted in my page but will post them here in 1 place.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on December 13, 2013 at 11:55

Bobby, I would guess its subjective or maybe after some time you might just like one vs, the other. I know I bought knives just because I needed to do something and after using for a while decided another knife was better.

If you are starting as a collector you might start one place and find your self going in a different direction after a while. And that's OK, sometimes its the best part and it will give you a foundation for the future!

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on June 25, 2014 at 17:56

I've got over 100 Rough Riders and about 5 Bucks (4 from China). I think you can tell which knife I prefer. Sorry to all the Buck fans but the brand really doesn't do anything for me. As for the Taylor Made Imperial/Schrade/etc, I won about a dozen of them. They're steel is said to be 400 Series! They really don't specify if it is 440 or not. I've been happy with it, however.

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