Kissing Crane (China) knives?

somniloquist

somniloquist

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Hi folks,

I just picked up a Kissing Crane large stockman with stag scales for 25 bucks. It seemed like a pretty good deal to me. Does anyone know much about these knives? I'd be curious to learn more. Thanks!
 
cotdt,

I sent you a PM. I'm not sure if I can post a link to a store on here and didn't want to take a chance.
 
KISSING CRANE - MADE IN CHINA

German cutlery manufacturer Kissing Crane moves to FULL Chinese manufacture. Yes another one bites the dust. It's hard to say how long before the Made in China Kissing Crane knives were already out there but now it's official. Some GERMAN Kissing Crane still exist with the round shield. Stilettos were already made in Italy as well as a few others. Before Made in Italy was not on the Stilettos, now it is! It is sad to see a German Co. go to China. Kissing Crane is distributed in the USA by United Cutlery, a company heavily in Chinese cutlery.

To complicate things even further, Germany has no country of origin laws, so things can get dicey when it comes to German cutlery. For years, unscrupulous manufacturers and importers have had cheap knives made for them, then imported them into Germany. They then stamp "Germany" on them, and sell them domestically or send them around the world. The key phrase here being "unscrupulous" makers or importers. Update: No factories make knives in Germany, they are all made in the European Union using German Design.

http://reviews.ebay.com/KISSING-CRANE-MADE-IN-CHINA_W0QQugidZ10000000004435273

This is from the AG Russell website:

Kissing Crane™ Small Toothpick – Ram’s HornHome Kissing Crane™ Small Toothpick – Ram’s Horn - (HAL-KC9115RH) $13.95
Qty: Type Folder
Blade Clip Point
Blade Length 2-3/4″
Blade Steel 440A
Rockwell 55-57
Lock Slip Joint
Bolsters Nickel Silver
Liners Brass
Pattern Toothpick
Handle Rams Horn
Closed Length 3-1/2″
Weight 1.5 oz
Origin China
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What you are buying for these terrific prices are pocketknives made the “old fashioned way”, with nickel silver bolsters, caps and inlays, brass liners, good solid 440A equivalent stainless blades hardened to 55-57 Rc. and genuine European Stag handle scales with the Kissing Crane™ logo inlay. The quality is unbelievable at these prices. Made in China.

http://www.agrussell.com/kissing-crane-small-toothpick-rams-horn/p/HAL-KC9115RH/
 
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Let's not get sidetracked into a discussion of the pros and cons of Asian manufactured knives (once again).

If you can shed further light on the OP's question, fair enough. If not, let's move on.
 
I own quite a few of the Kissing Crane knives from China and I was astounded at the quality for the money. They are estheticly better than many of the Case and Schrade knives that I own.

I have no idea how they steel will hold up over the long haul, but they come razor sharp out of the box. I also love the blade shape of the large and medium size trappers.
 
Does anybody know if the blades are stainless or carbon? I haven't received the knife yet and I'm curious. I've looked at a few pictures of the knife online and it does seem pretty nice for the price.
 
440A Stainless Steel. I have heard and read good things about Kissing Crane Cina made .

RKH
 
Hi,

I don't own any of the new kissing Cranes myself, but I've looked at 3 examples. They looked well made. I did not ask what the owners payed for them, but they seemed happy with them as users.

dalee
 
Thanks for all the input everyone, I'll let you know my thoughts when the knife arrives!
 
I imagine that one factory in China could make several different brands of knives.....like Queen does here?? I would bet so.
 
If I remember correctly, United Cutlery folded a couple of years back. The current Kissing Crane knives come from Hallmark Cutlery http://www.hallmarkcutlery.com/
I thought I read something a week or two back that said the folks running Hallmark are former United Cutlery folks who wanted to stay in the knife business. The fact that A.G. Russell is carrying them tells me they are probably fairly well made.

I don't guarantee those facts are correct, as my memory is notoriously inaccurate, but hopefully someone else will straighten out any parts I may have gotten wrong.
 
I have the swayback jack in yeller compa, and have been using it daily for 2 months at work. hate to say it but is on par or better than most Case knives I rotate at the job site. plus no big deal to replace if something should happen to it. also have a Chief brand copperhead also made by Hallmark, great fit and finish. I believe there was a story on the company a couple issues ago in Blade
 
So this one arrived yesterday and I have to say that it is really nice. I agree with previous posters that say it is on par with anything Case makes these days. The blades are quite sharp with a nice snap. The bolsters are polished, the liners are brass and the stag on my particular one is very nice.

My one gripe was that the shield had fallen out of the scale somehow in transit. It has a bunch of cardboard behind it, presumably to make it stick out of the thick stag scales at the correct height. I wasn't too impressed but then I remembered this was a 25 dollar knife and just crazy glued it back on. Overall, I'm very pleased with this knife and I intend to buy more of them. They are an excellent value and worth checking out!
 
Not to hi-jack the thread, but to get a better idea of their F&F & overall quality, how do they compare to Rough Riders?

I ask because of the obvious comparisons, I think. Both made in China, offered at low prices, good to very good quality (It seems), & the same 440A steel (Not great, but not that bad, either).

I've had a few RRs, but no Kissing Cranes, so am curious about them, too.
 
I have a Rough Rider Sunfish pattern stashed away in a drawer. It's definitely not my favourite knife but it's not bad. Since I only own one example from each brand, please take my comments with a grain of salt. That said, I find the Kissing Crane to be superior. The fit and finish seems a bit better, in particular the tolerances around the liners and back spring. The blades on the Crane seem to have a bit more snap as well. There are no drastic differences, but given the two examples I have here, I'd take the Kissing Crane. That's just my opinion though. I'm sure you could be happy with either.
 
RKH said:
440A Stainless Steel. I have heard and read good things about Kissing Crane Cina made .

RKH
Click to expand...

It probably isn't 440a but the Chinese equivalent- 8Cr14MoV. Roughly the same, not identical. Chinese factories, according to some reports I've seen, will sub in Chinese equivalents for materials- a Chinese steel with similar makeup to 440a, for example.
 
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