Kissing Crane (China) knives?

Did you guys ever stop to think that there is a connection between buying knives from China and the closing of Schrade and Camillus and Case laying people off?

There is.
 
destiny said:
Did you guys ever stop to think that there is a connection between buying knives from China and the closing of Schrade and Camillus and Case laying people off?

There is.
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Since you are new, I will explain. We have rehashed that issue 400,000 times. Discussion further is not welcomed.
 
I just bought one on the for sale forum not realizing that it was made in China! :o I should have known at that price it was too good to be true!

Nevertheless, I'm entirely satisfied with the knife. The quality and fit and finish of the one I have is a step up from the Rough Riders and Steel Warriers I've seen. The stag is great, no noticable gaps, everything is lined up and centered, and the polish on the bolsters is impressive. Plus the edge grind on mine almost looked like it was done on an Edge Pro. All politics aside, the Chinese have figured out how to make high quality slipjoints.

U.S.-made knives will always dominate my collection, but you can't dismiss these Kissing Cranes as "junk."
 
Fit & finish is good on the Kissing Cranes. The steel is 'tinny' somehow. I have found that to be the case with the Taylor brand Schrades and Rough Riders. All are of Chinese origins. I think this is fine if one is using them for their intended market...as cheap beater knives that are good for scraping paint and as throw away pry bars. This may sound like a back handed compliment and I guess maybe it is, but seriously, there is a place in the market for this type of knife. There always has been. They will sharpen to hair cutting sharp, but it takes longer than Case or German Eye. The flip side is German Eye which has fair fit and finish but excellent steel that easily sharpens to a razors edge.
 
I agree that they sharpen to hair cutting sharp But it takes only a miniute to do it. I have a rough rider I have been cutting 9/10 oz leather with for almost three years, I sharpen it often as I like my knives sharp. Virtually no blade loss and a hair popping edge at all times. I've bought and sold 100s of RR knives and they all come sharp, are easy to sharpen and the fit and finish are better than Many Case knives i have. I believe the same shop in China is building many of the labels, some Marbles folders look identical and the Chief line looks like the same factory also makes them. Has anyone seen the new RR line with filed back springs, quite amazing.

Regards

Robin
 
somniloquist said:
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......

....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.
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Hmmm. Gluing a shield into a stag scale with cardboard behind it to compensate for improperly-milled slot depth sure doesn't sound like something Case would do to me. :p That right there sounds like the very definition of "shoddy craftsmanship".
 
Pipeman said:
I agree that they sharpen to hair cutting sharp But it takes only a miniute to do it. I have a rough rider I have been cutting 9/10 oz leather with for almost three years, I sharpen it often as I like my knives sharp. Virtually no blade loss and a hair popping edge at all times. I've bought and sold 100s of RR knives and they all come sharp, are easy to sharpen and the fit and finish are better than Many Case knives i have. I believe the same shop in China is building many of the labels, some Marbles folders look identical and the Chief line looks like the same factory also makes them. Has anyone seen the new RR line with filed back springs, quite amazing.

Regards

Robin
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I would not call Kissing Cranes bad knives. I remember seeing a head to head match up in a recent magazine article between an old Schrade Sharp Finger and the new production Taylor version. Basically very comparable in quality and cutting ability. I'm sure part of it is a mental block on my part of embracing the made in China part of the equation. However, that wasn't the original question, which was directly towards the quality of current Kissing Crane knives, period.
 
moonwilson said:
Hmmm. Gluing a shield into a stag scale with cardboard behind it to compensate for improperly-milled slot depth sure doesn't sound like something Case would do to me. :p That right there sounds like the very definition of "shoddy craftsmanship".
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I don't mean to start an argument, but let me tell you another anecdote about a slip joint of mine. I recently bought a Case small stockman with mammoth bark scales. I have never owned anything using this material and I was really excited to have such a novel and interesting handle for my knife. I found a good deal on one so I bought it. I paid nearly a hundred bucks for it and it was marked down from over two hundred.

When the knife arrived, I was pretty shocked to find the ivory had chipped in two places around each of the pivot pins. I don't mean cracked, I mean chipped; there were bits of the ivory missing. I understand that it is a natural material and probably fragile and difficult to work with. What I understand less is how a two hundred dollar knife like this one made it past QC and into my hands looking like that.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a rant against Case, I have a number of them and I really like their product and all the wonderful patterns they produce. Two anecdotal examples seems to me like a very poor test sample for evidence. All I'm trying to say is mistakes happen and nothing is perfect, especially with hand finished products like these.

I feel that 5 cents worth of glue to supplant the cost of a 25 dollar knife I really like is acceptable. I didn't expect much from the knife and maybe that's why I liked it so much; it delivered well beyond my expectations. I don't know much about slip joints but in my opinion I think KC knives are pretty darn nice for the money.You may not agree and that is perfectly fine. Vive la difference! It's nice to hear other people's opinions and that is why I am here. To each his own...
 
popedandy said:
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.
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That is correct, Kissing Cranes is distributed by the Halls... who used to own United before it folded. United has been resurrected and is now owned by the same guy who owns BudK (Clint Kadel).
 
somniloquist said:
I don't mean to start an argument, but let me tell you another anecdote about a slip joint of mine. I recently bought a Case small stockman with mammoth bark scales. I have never owned anything using this material and I was really excited to have such a novel and interesting handle for my knife. I found a good deal on one so I bought it. I paid nearly a hundred bucks for it and it was marked down from over two hundred.

When the knife arrived, I was pretty shocked to find the ivory had chipped in two places around each of the pivot pins. I don't mean cracked, I mean chipped; there were bits of the ivory missing. I understand that it is a natural material and probably fragile and difficult to work with. What I understand less is how a two hundred dollar knife like this one made it past QC and into my hands looking like that.
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I would send that Case back! You probably still can. Cases are warranted against that kind of stuff. The mammoth ivory is stabilized and shouldn't be cracking like that. I bet if you send that in they'll take care of you.
 
moonwilson said:
I would send that Case back! You probably still can. Cases are warranted against that kind of stuff. The mammoth ivory is stabilized and shouldn't be cracking like that. I bet if you send that in they'll take care of you.
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I thought about it, but the problem is living in Canada and worrying about shipping and possibly getting dinged on customs fees a second time. I'll probably just keep it.
 
I have an older kissing crane with stag handles, it does not have a round shield though as mentioned earlier? Main blade has a faded etching that reads premium quality hand forged with the kissing crane's on both sides of etching. The main blade has the tang stamp of the kissing cranes on one side and Robt Klaas Solingen Germany on the side. The second blade has the kissing crane tang stamp and what looks like 2025 XI. I have always assumed it is a German made knife.....does it sound like it to you guys too? I'm pretty confident we've had it since the 70's, and the knife itself may acutally be older than that? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
I bought a Kissing Crane trapper-Germany. I carried it once, and decided to gift it in a lurch. The recipient loved it. It had black composite scales. I found out that within a year's time, the scales fell off. I was not supposed to know. My mother in law thought it would hurt my feelings. I quickly bought a Case Swayback Jack in CV with chestnut bone to replace it. I won''t buy any more Kissing Cranes German or Chinese.
 
Hello,
I’m new to traditional folders and was wondering what the overall quality of Kissing Crane brand? Fit and finish? I’m currently looking at a mini trapper in ram horn handle.
Thank you in advance
 
somniloquist said:
My one gripe was that the shield had fallen out of the scale somehow in transit.
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same thing happened a few years ago when i bought a small toothpick:mad: neat little knife but the edge came really fat and never could really get the darn thing as sharp as the rough riders we have in the house. Swore off the brand after that! Ive had better experience with the rough rider brand!
Guess they really need to work on the shield problem:)
if ya like it, enjoy it and use the hell outta it:thumbup:
ivan
p.s. for a while i actually started using it as a pipe tamper, worked pretty well:thumbup:
 
I have a full size trapper in stag and it cost me 25 bucks. I'm no expert on traditionals, but I personally don't think you are going to find anything nicer for the kind of money Kissing cranes cost. I have a large stockman, swayback jack, trapper and small lockback (all stag) and I feel they are about as nice as the Case knives I have that were made in the last decade or so. They're cheap, so buy one and see for yourself!
 
i carry a kissing crane med stockman most of the time and it's always seemed fine to me. about as good a knife as you can expect for $14. mine is marked china so there's no deception at all. The fit and finish is reasonably good. in one corner of one side of the fake pearl scales there is a tiny gap of about half a fingernail width (really small you couldn't fit a sheet of copier paper in it) and the spay is a hair to close to the liner it looks like it should rub but doesn't feel like it does on opening or closing and the blade shows no rubmarks.
pick one up and try it out. it's half the price or less that the best price you can find on a comparable case. if you're not happy just give it to some young boy scout nearby, or a coworker who doesn't normally carry a knife.
 
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