Chinese Wonder Knives?

Jason Wolf said:
I grew up in the 90s where every goddamn thing that wasn't food was Chinese made and every one of those things broke after a month. I have this VERY strong prejudice that China made= cheap.
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I grew up in the post-WWII 50's when "Made in Japan" meant the same thing. Times have changed.

"Premium" knives made by Chinese and Taiwanese (they're not the same) are of equal quality to anything made n the US. In fact, US manufacturers (like Spyderco, Kershaw and CRKT) contract w/Chinese and Taiwanese factories to make some of their knives.

As with anything else, caveat emptor but if you are looking to buy (politics aside) a knife made in China WE, Kiser, Artisan Cutlery, Real Steal and the like, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I own over 330 knives and one of my favorites based on its design, quality of construction/materials and lower cost is the Real Steel Megalodon which is one of the few knives that I actually carry.

I'm also a big fan of the lower cost Artisan Cutlery D2 knives (the Waistline is my favorite among these) which are a bargain (given what you get) in the $40-60 range; they make higher premium steel knives for a higher cost but they interest me less given the competition.
 
danbot said:
You should stop buying American. :thumbsup:
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Doubt that was meant as a thoughtful response, but more of a wise crack. But... I realized after reading your post, I have! I never actually thought about it and it never occurred to me.

My last knives purchased have been three Cold Steel knives, two Kershaw knives, one A.G. Russell, a Spyderco, and a CRKT gifted to a friend. NONE of them made in America. The Spyderco and AGR knives were of particularly excellent quality.

Food for thought on my part, no doubt.

Robert
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

I don’t have experience with WE and Kizer unfortunately, but so far I have positive experiences with the Spyderco Resilience. If the rest of Spyderco’s Tenacious line are similarly good, you may want to check that out too. You get a decent knife and you still support Spyderco.

Pros:
- good lockup (no bladeplay)
- good factory edge

Cons:
- lacking fit and finish
- veeery slight curve on the blade spine
 
Kizer, WE and Reate produce high end knives. MAXACE is also good. Realsteel, QSP and Civivi (WE knives' budget brand) are also excellent for the money.

My personal problem is that IMHO all these companies have a portfolio that is too big and too generic. I like some of their knives but for me they usually lack "personality" - anything that makes them special or stand out. This and the fact that long term support is questionable have made me a bit reluctant. Since the money I can spend on knives is limited and there are so many beautiful knives from the US and Europe (Italy) I haven't bought a lot chinese knives and probably also won't in the future.

Having said that I had a Kizer Zipslip Ti that was great and I am a bit intrigued by the WE925.
 
WE and Reate will give any American made knife a run for its money. Excellent build quality and companies that stand behind their product! Which is hard to say for some US knife companies!!
If you haven’t tried a WE or Reate you are truly MISSING OUT!

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I don't have any knives from the top brands, like Kizer, but have one each from Tangram and QSP. I have used them mich, but QC and construction is amazing for the under $30 I paid shipped. I have a Cold Steel Gurkha Khukuri that was made in China and it's great. Nowadays, I do feel dirty when I hit the "purchase" button.
 
Those high end export knives were really cheap at first but they've increased the prices dramatically. I know Communist China has really high taxes.
China's tax revenue came to 11.05 trillion yuan (1.8 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2013, up 9.8 percent over 2012.[1][2] The 2017 World Bank "Doing Business" rankings estimated that China's total tax rate for corporations was 68% as a percentage of profits through direct and indirect tax.
 
Knife content: I have a couple of old RR's in a drawer somewhere.

Some issues are beyond knives, cell phones, bang for the buck and how little one can get by paying for something (and I took Econ courses). After everything we know about that regime, even before the big 19 gift to the world, I cannot believe this topic is being debated.
 
DrRollinstein said:
Can we sticky one of these threads? There is a new one every week at this point.

Yes, the new age, hyper futuristic chinese knives are good and worth the money. A ton of them outstrip most american knives in quality.
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The answer is NO, because such threads need to show up in the active GKD area on a regular basis so that some people can go political and/or bash the whole nation of Chinese people.
 
sgt1372 said:
I grew up in the post-WWII 50's when "Made in Japan" meant the same thing. Times have changed.

"Premium" knives made by Chinese and Taiwanese (they're not the same) are of equal quality to anything made n the US. In fact, US manufacturers (like Spyderco, Kershaw and CRKT) contract w/Chinese and Taiwanese factories to make some of their knives.

As with anything else, caveat emptor but if you are looking to buy (politics aside) a knife made in China WE, Kiser, Artisan Cutlery, Real Steal and the like, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I own over 330 knives and one of my favorites based on its design, quality of construction/materials and lower cost is the Real Steel Megalodon which is one of the few knives that I actually carry.

I'm also a big fan of the lower cost Artisan Cutlery D2 knives (the Waistline is my favorite among these) which are a bargain (given what you get) in the $40-60 range; they make higher premium steel knives for a higher cost but they interest me less given the competition.
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This was definitely the most helpful post so far, thank you very much sir!
 
sharp_edge said:
The answer is NO, because such threads need to show up in the active GKD area on a regular basis so that some people can go political and/or bash the whole nation of Chinese people.
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Right, because it would be wrong to bash a country, who keeps its people enslaved on communism, is one of the top thieves of intellectual property, is actively working to undermine the U.S. At home and abroad and looks increasingly like it is responsible for the current pandemic at best through negligence and possibly worse. :rolleyes:
 
This constant comparison to 1950/60s Japan is not relevant. It was relevant 20 years ago when only junk level knives from China were being imported. As I said before, "cheapness" is no longer an issue with MIC knives. But one would need to follow the news and global affairs to understand this.
 
Triton said:
Right, because it would be wrong to bash a country, who keeps its people enslaved on communism, is one of the top thieves of intellectual property, is actively working to undermine the U.S. At home and abroad and looks increasingly like it is responsible for the current pandemic at best through negligence and possibly worse. :rolleyes:
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The CCP also harvests organs by force from political prisoners.
 
Once upon time, "made in Japan" meant garbage too. Chinese manufacturing has come a long way. Sure, there is still garbage being made, including as OEM for well-known brands. The difference is that there is so much quality emerging at different price levels. I'm a budget guy and recent trends have been good for me. Starting down in the $20-range, there is Kubey, QSP, Sanrenmu, Ruike, Kizer's Tangram sub-brand, and more making surprisingly decent knives. Climbing up towards $50, you've got Artisan's CJRB sub-brand, WE's Civivi sub-brand, and some awesome budget entries from Bestech and Kizer. I've had good experiences with a lot of them now.

Look, there are obviously political and economic issues involved here. It's easy to jump on any one of them. The problem is that if you start digging into these issues, you'll find that the night really is dark and full of terrors. The long-term economic and regulatory policies in some of our countries can matter a lot more than our individual purchases. Companies in one country may have outsourced to another country. There could be any number of deals going on behind the scenes. Companies may be making donations to political organizations that significantly impact other areas of our lives. I'm all for working to make the world a better place but that work has to be meaningful. Choosing a knife based on country of origin does magnificently little. Meanwhile, we've all got some fantastic choices at excellent prices for all our EDC needs.
 
Chronovore said:
Look, there are obviously political and economic issues involved here. It's easy to jump on any one of them. The problem is that if you start digging into these issues, you'll find that the night really is dark and full of terrors. The long-term economic and regulatory policies in some of our countries can matter a lot more than our individual purchases. Companies in one country may have outsourced to another country. There could be any number of deals going on behind the scenes. Companies may be making donations to political organizations that significantly impact other areas of our lives. I'm all for working to make the world a better place but that work has to be meaningful. Choosing a knife based on country of origin does magnificently little. Meanwhile, we've all got some fantastic choices at excellent prices for all our EDC needs.
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I do not necessarily disagree with the gist of this portion of the post. Let's be real here the iPad I am typing away on was probably made in China or has Chinese sourced parts. There is no American made version, if there were, I would buy it. Nor are the chicoms going to notice that I did not purchase a Chinese made knife, my economic voice is quite small in the grand scheme of things. Having said that, as previously mentioned, my knife spending unlike much of my spending is completely discretionary and there are quality U.S. Made alternatives. To me, the cost of buying a Chinese knife is greater than just the dollars and cents. There are real costs to my country. How much are you willing to pay?
 
Triton said:
I do not necessarily disagree with the gist of this portion of the post. Let's be real here the iPad I am typing away on was probably made in China or has Chinese sourced parts. There is no American made version, if there were, I would buy it. Nor are the chicoms going to notice that I did not purchase a Chinese made knife, my economic voice is quite small in the grand scheme of things. Having said that, as previously mentioned, my knife spending unlike much of my spending is completely discretionary and there are quality U.S. Made alternatives. To me, the cost of buying a Chinese knife is greater than just the dollars and cents. There are real costs to my country. How much are you willing to pay?
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That's the question. How much does the American equivalent of a Civivi cost? When I take that difference and weigh it versus my family budget, how much more enjoyment I'd actually get out of that equivalent, and what other things I could do with that difference, that's one side of the equation. The other side is how much positive change that decision actually could create relative to some of the issues that get brought up with this topic. Obviously, the scales are tipped pretty heavily for me.

Now, here is another question. Let's say you take that difference and do something with it that makes a much larger difference. For instance, you could donate to groups working for economic or regulatory change with long-term benefits. (For instance, addressing some of the reasons why a significant difference exists in the first place.) Considering the donations that a particular American company made to a group that has been dedicated to deleting part of the American Bill of Rights, which I take to be much more concretely dangerous than any of the economic issues under discussion here, you could donate to groups working to protect and restore our rights. Setting aside the political issues or their impact, you could invest the difference in a way that supports American workers. You don't have to be a stock mogul. You could just throw it in the jar where you're saving up for custom work from one of your fellow countrymen. In my estimation, any of these actions will be vastly more helpful.
 
Chronovore said:
Considering the donations that a particular American company made to a group that has been dedicated to deleting part of the American Bill of Rights, which I take to be much more concretely dangerous than any of the economic issues under discussion here, you could donate to groups working to protect and restore our rights.
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I think I know who you're talking about, but in case not would you spell it out?
 
The quality of the builds persay, they are in fact on par with what you would find in (many) American made knives, however when you look at that "half the price" monetary figure, and realize Chinese workers make less then 1/10 what American workers make, you gotta seriously ask yourself where is that additional money going, and is really worth the savings at the consumer end?

If you can justify it and stomach that additional unseen "cost", have at it, they do make some fine knives at reasonable prices for the consumer... Me personally, I can't justify it and continue to sleep well at night, and I've worked to hard and too long to where I can sleep well at night again to risk jeopardizing that peace of mind....
 
Thats an old paradigm, while I dont buy them because my collection leans toward other side, but they make great knives, I’ve handled a few besides Spyderco and they are really nice fit and finish
 
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