What's wrong with the knives made in China?

A place to discuss & share pictures of knives made in China.
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cody6268
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by cody6268 »

carrmillus wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:24 pm ......if I ever buy anything from china again, it will be by mistake!!!!............... ::tu:: ::tu:: ::tu:: .....................
I'm getting that way in the wake of this COVID mess; which they are pretty much entirely responsible for. My old phone (NEC Terrain) was made in China by a Japanese company. My new Kyocera (DuraForce Pro II) is made in Japan by a Japanese firm, and was cheaper than an iPhone which is entirely made in China. Finding electronics these days not made in China is pretty tough. I have 5-6 Chinese made knives in my EDC rotation, and will probably trade them off as soon as the flea market can finally be held again. There's a long list of inexpensive (which by my standards is anything under $20) knives made in the Czech Republic, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, and even right here in the USA that perform great. The lightweight handle knives Schrade and Camillus made have no collector interest; but are among my favorite EDCs. I paid $15 for a used SP-3; and $30 shipped for a new Medium Sierra.

Funny thing. Our new TV is made in Mexico--but BY A CHINESE COMPANY!!!! Irony in the simplest sense.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by carrmillus »

.......as JOHN WAYNE would say...."BUY HUHMERICUN"!!!............... ::tu:: ::tu:: ::tu:: .............
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by Ivoryman »

mrwatch wrote: Thu Dec 05, 2019 6:39 pm for blindhari and others. Diamond willow. I used a draw knife to strip the bark. rotary tool to clean out and boiled linseed oil finish. Hard to get as it grows in swamps.
Good show, got into making them myself, back in the 1980s and was told it only grew in Montana and China. Then a few years later my cousins in Canada showed me some, said it grew there too. So I grabbed some and make a few things. Nice wood, good colors, great contrast. Lots of people who saw them wanted one so most given away and were well recieved.


I noticed this comment on RR and was already convinced long before seeing this, but it's a symptom of the disease:




Yeah, except for its visual appeal, I am not too pleased with the RRR009...the nail nick placement is a relatively minor issue but just one more thing I don't like about it. I'm guessing it's probably the last Rough Ryder I will ever buy. They almost got me to change my opinion about China made knives (that aren't AG Russells) with their "Reserve" line, but this one strike against them is all it took to sour me on the brand (which, admittedly, I was hesitant to embrace right from the start; but, after this "Sway" fiasco I think I'm done with them for good.) JMO, YMMV :|

Anyway, I still have more USA made 07s that I haven't shown yet as well as a few on the way; so, I have no more time, interest or money to risk/waste on Chinese crap. ::huff::
Simia accipit quae vult.


There you have it, couldn't agree more, and won't go there anymore.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by bigshot »

I think Rough Ryders make some of the best knives available right now. In the past few weeks, I've bought over 40 of them. It's a wide variety of patterns and handles and the quality of them is remarkable. They lend themselves to being collected in a number of ways... you can collect just one particular pattern, or one series of handles, or you can pick and choose among all of it.

Of the 40+ knives I've got, just one of them has a problem that I don't like. The knife works ok, but the back springs aren't flush. I'm sending it back for a replacement. The rest are solid, free of gaps and aligned well to prevent blade rub. They all are well designed with nail nicks that are usable and firm opening that isn't so stiff it tears your fingernails off. For comparison, I've bought two Cases, one low end Sod Buster and a higher end stockman with stag handles. They look nice, but the Sod Buster has gaps all over the back springs, and the stockman is so stiff, I can only open it with folded paper. My Bucks don't have that problem, but comparing them to the Rough Ryder's, the only difference is the quality of the steel. They are both made as well.

In 20 or 30 years, if anyone is collecting traditional pocket knives at all, they'll be collecting Rough Ryders because they are readily available in a variety of colors and patterns and the cost is reasonable. That gives them room for collectors to pay more for them. Not that I'm recommending investing in them, mind you. I'm just saying that there is a huge appeal to these knives that won't go away.

I can understand the "Buy American" thing, and if that is important to you, then definitely avoid them. But they are better quality than comparable American made knives. There's no denying that. American knife makers need to step up their game and compete, not just focus on making fancy expensive knives that most people can't afford.
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Congratulations on funding the Chinese Communist Party.

Ken
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by bigshot »

Ha ha! The money I saved money on pocket knives I invested in American real estate! You have a pile of American pocket knives and pay rent!
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by gsmith7158 »

It's a shame that you find that funny. Perhaps you should do a little research and find out what the Chinese communist party is doing with the money you are providing them with.
------------------

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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by bigshot »

And you can do a little research and find out what the NRA did with the money you sent them. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... it-leaders
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by Ivoryman »

Read a lot about graft and corruption in there regarding NRA officials. So good to know there is definitely not any of that in the CCP. :roll: And at least your article made no mention of officials raping and making dissappear the young female tennis stars of the country like the Chniese Communist party is currently doing. Victims of Larry Nassar and Jeffery Epstein have their day in court, and a system to redress it. Not in China. At least we can critisize our government and not disappear or be silenced. And nice of the CCP to do their organ harvesting from prisoners, or re-education forced labor camps confinement that are going on in Uyghur for religious groups the authorities don't like, not to mention all the copyright theft and infringement going on over there on US products. I"ll take NRA abuses any day over authoritarian, tyrannical dictatorship idiocracy communist governments. Your results may vary.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by jmh58 »

bigshot wrote: Sun Nov 21, 2021 7:48 pm And you can do a little research and find out what the NRA did with the money you sent them. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... it-leaders
And as I read that the Antis started coming thru.. ::td:: ::hmm::
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by treefarmer »

I would not place much confidence in the accuracy of issues reported by the liberal Guardian news.
They slant today's news just the way all the other liberal media wants their readers or viewers to hear it.
Global warming, gun control read on and be informed. ::barf::
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Wondering what the NRA has to do with the topic of funding the Chicoms (aside from changing the subject)? ::shrug::

Ken
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by bigshot »

I'm wondering why someone who has some sort of political aversion to country that takes up a big chunk of a continent comes into a forum about Chinese knives and talks about Communism instead of Chinese knives. Do you have any Chinese knives? Do you have any interesting info to share about them? If not, why don't you go talk in a thread where you have something pertinent to add.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by treefarmer »

bigshot,
The reason you read things that are contrary to lots of modern thinking is a thing called Patriotism.
Read back through this thread about China made knives and there are several patriotic responses.
You are a fairly new member at AAPK and you will find a lot of patriotism within these pages of knife related issues.
You'll also find lots of folks on here are not tuned in to the woke society of today.
The evils of Communism are not real to the woke society, they apparently are not familiar with the end result.
Your suggestion for Patriots to take their opinions else where doesn't set well in my camp!
Treefarmer

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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by bigshot »

What right do you have to claim to be more patriotic than me? Do I have to agree with your politics to be patriotic? That doesn't sound like Democracy to me. Go to a thread where you can contribute something about knives. I'm interested in knives, not your prejudices.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by fergusontd »

::hmm:: Lets keep politics out of this forum. It's about Chinese knives, good or bad they are cheap if you just want something to use in your pocket. ftd
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by edge213 »

bigshot wrote: Sun Nov 21, 2021 7:48 pm And you can do a little research and find out what the NRA did with the money you sent them. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... it-leaders

This article is nothing but anti gun propaganda. ::dang::
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by bigshot »

fergusontd wrote: Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:17 am ::hmm:: Lets keep politics out of this forum. It's about Chinese knives, good or bad they are cheap if you just want something to use in your pocket. ftd
Thank you. There's no reason for people who don't even own any Chinese made knives to come in here and thread crap. Let's keep it to discussion of the knives. People should discuss things they know about, not things they have no interest in.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by marinaio61 »

I own 3 China made knives; two Buck folders and an RR canoe. The Bucks are acceptable for their price point, the canoe is a piece of crap. I think the difference is in the level of oversight by the contracting company, Buck cares SMKW does not. When I tried to contact SMKW I got crickets, no response what so ever. Since I don't own any of the new RRR knives and never will, I can't say anything about their quality. Historically there are so many glowing reports about the older RR knives I can only assume SMKW relaxed their oversight on the old lines as thy brought the new RRR line in. I have since switched all my foreign knife purchases to European manufacturers exclusively.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by Dinadan »

I agree that it is best to keep politics out of this forum. There are soo many places on line to talk politics. I think it is even more important to keep personal attacks, direct or insinuated, out of AAPK. There are plenty of other places on line for those, also.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by cbay »

marinaio61 wrote: Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:46 am . Historically there are so many glowing reports about the older RR knives I can only assume SMKW relaxed their oversight on the old lines as thy brought the new RRR line in.
You may be right. I bought a rather large collection of older RRs and they are nearly all top notch. The other recent ones are more hit or miss. Whether the older collection was culled I do not know however.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by fergusontd »

::hmm:: Neighbor bought a 303 Buck at Walmart thinking it was a USA made Buck. He was disappointed to find it was Chinese. He showed me the knife and I seen that it was a decent made knife. I believe that all Chinese made Buck knives are made to USA specs. ftd
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

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My post that said buying Chinese knives is funding the Chinese Communist government was/is intended in response to the title of this thread - “What’s wrong with knives made in China”.

It seems to have touched a nerve with at least one member but that wasn’t the intention. (However my post asking what the NRA has to do with it was in fact directed to the member who brought it up.)

Since it was asked, I own two recently made Chinese pocket knives. One is a Rough Ryder. The other one I have carried and used and found to be a reasonably good user but with poor edge-holding capability. Both were gifts from AAPK members. However I have carefully examined many Chinese-made knives - after a lifetime of using knives and fifty plus years accumulating and collecting them, I don’t have to own them to make an informed opinion. An opinion with which some will disagree - this thread is already full of such posts. The more expensive ones (such as those made for and sold by A.G. Russell and others) are for the most part quality cutlery. Lower priced Chinese-made knives (including RR) are for the most part poorly finished. IMHO the hafting is reminiscent of lower priced mid-20th century German and Japanese products.

Some have stated about Chinese knives “they’re made with 440 stainless steel so they must be as good as U.S. made knives.” First of all, generic “440 steel” isn’t very good regardless who uses it (if they said “440C” I’d be more impressed). That’s also assuming the Chinese are being truthful about their steel. Given their track record with recalls of so many products (including but not limited to those containing poisons), do you trust their claims about steel content? Lastly, in cutlery no steel is better than its heat treat and tempering. Given the mixed reviews the jury is still out on that as far as inexpensive Chinese knives - at best you can say it’s inconsistent. The one I have used and found lacking says simply “Stainless”.

You’ll get no quarrel from me regarding the largely deteriorated state of current U.S. made cutlery in general. Which I have often addressed on this forum. I seldom ever buy knives from on-line sources unless I know the seller and the product (such as several AAPK stores). I like to hand-select my knives from brick-and-mortar retailers, although there are none near me (not much is). :lol: I also like to find older U.S.-made knives from sources like flea markets, often at prices equal to or lower than Chinese knives, but with superior quality. The hunt is at least half the fun!

Ken
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If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.

When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.

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bigshot

Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by bigshot »

cbay wrote: Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:34 am
marinaio61 wrote: Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:46 am . Historically there are so many glowing reports about the older RR knives I can only assume SMKW relaxed their oversight on the old lines as thy brought the new RRR line in.
You may be right. I bought a rather large collection of older RRs and they are nearly all top notch. The other recent ones are more hit or miss. Whether the older collection was culled I do not know however.
I don't think that's the case. If anything, I think the Rough Ryders are getting a little better in quality, not worse. The Reserve line is a step up in fit and finish and steel type (D2). They're as good as any knife I've ever owned. Gorgeous knives.

I would imagine that the way it works is that the tooling for the various patterns stays the same. They just swap in different materials and handles. Over the past couple of months, I've ordered over three dozen Rough Ryder knives of all kinds, including the Rough Ryder Reserves. With only one exception, they have been absolutely perfect... no gaps, no alignment issues, good snap, sharp out of the box... the only problem I have found is that occasionally some are very dirty and require cleaning and lubricating before use.

The one bad one I got was a $10 Classic Carbon from the first release. I think that is 3 or 4 years old. It is perfectly functional, but the secondary blade doesn't have as firm a pull as I would like and the springs aren't flush. I'm sending it back because I plan to actually use it, and I want it to be solid from the start. I'm going to be posting reviews of the Rough Ryders I've got after the holiday. I'm cleaning them all up a batch at a time and there are two more orders that will be arriving next week. I'm interested to hear from other people who have Rough Ryders and use them. Glad to hear that the old ones were good quality too.
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Re: What's wrong with the knives made in China?

Post by edge213 »

Mumbleypeg wrote: Mon Nov 22, 2021 5:17 am My post that said buying Chinese knives is funding the Chinese Communist government was/is intended in response to the title of this thread - “What’s wrong with knives made in China”.

It seems to have touched a nerve with at least one member but that wasn’t the intention. (However my post asking what the NRA has to do with it was in fact directed to the member who brought it up.)

Since it was asked, I own two recently made Chinese pocket knives. One is a Rough Ryder. The other one I have carried and used and found to be a reasonably good user but with poor edge-holding capability. Both were gifts from AAPK members. However I have carefully examined many Chinese-made knives - after a lifetime of using knives and fifty plus years accumulating and collecting them, I don’t have to own them to make an informed opinion. An opinion with which some will disagree - this thread is already full of such posts. The more expensive ones (such as those made for and sold by A.G. Russell and others) are for the most part quality cutlery. Lower priced Chinese-made knives (including RR) are for the most part poorly finished. IMHO the hafting is reminiscent of lower priced mid-20th century German and Japanese products.

Some have stated about Chinese knives “they’re made with 440 stainless steel so they must be as good as U.S. made knives.” First of all, generic “440 steel” isn’t very good regardless who uses it (if they said “440C” I’d be more impressed). That’s also assuming the Chinese are being truthful about their steel. Given their track record with recalls of so many products (including but not limited to those containing poisons), do you trust their claims about steel content? Lastly, in cutlery no steel is better than its heat treat and tempering. Given the mixed reviews the jury is still out on that as far as inexpensive Chinese knives - at best you can say it’s inconsistent. The one I have used and found lacking says simply “Stainless”.

You’ll get no quarrel from me regarding the largely deteriorated state of current U.S. made cutlery in general. Which I have often addressed on this forum. I seldom ever buy knives from on-line sources unless I know the seller and the product (such as several AAPK stores). I like to hand-select my knives from brick-and-mortar retailers, although there are none near me (not much is). :lol: I also like to find older U.S.-made knives from sources like flea markets, often at prices equal to or lower than Chinese knives, but with superior quality. The hunt is at least half the fun!

Ken

Well said Ken ::tu:: ::tu::
David
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