I was in Academy Sports and Outdoors today looking at knives (Rule 9). So I'm looking at a nice looking Winchester knife, brass and wood handle when I notice on the back of the package that it was Made In China! Whaaaaat? OK so the Winchester knife goes back on the rack and I keep looking. SOG knives - China. Camillus knives - China. Gerber knives - China. OMG not Gerber too. I did find one brand that proclaimed that it was Made In Taiwan of imported Japanese steel. Oh wait, here are the Smith & Wesson knives, now we are talking. I pick up the package looking for that Made in USA label. WRONG The S&W knives were Made In China, too. I finally found and bought two Buck knives that proudly had the Stars and Stripes actually on the front of the package along with Made In USA on the back. By golly, I may not have a choice in some things that are Chinese made but when I can, I'm going to buy USA made.
</end rant>

CW

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Kershaw is made in the US

SOME, but not all, KABAR knives are still made in USA.

Bekeart

Unfortunatly there are a few Kershaws made in China as well, usually you can find the ones made here though. Just gotta pay attention.

Glad you found two made in USA Buck knives because some of them are also made in................you guessed it...............China.

Case also makes knifes in the US and in China. Browning has Chinese knifes and Japanese knifes. My wife wanted to buy me a knive for Christmas, she ended up buying me a German made barlow. I started a small collection about a year ago, it's not easy to avoid all the Chinese knifes.

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

I try to adhere to Rule 9 except when the TSA is involved.
My Buck 110 and it's baby brother 503 are both USA made and I carry them proudly.

I'm afraid to get started on Case. That looks like it could be one expensive compulsion!

I bought a Gerber knife a few years ago and then noticed it was made in China. They still make their good knives in the US and I believe they are marked "Gerber USA" on the blades. I gave the Gerber to my daughter and bought a Buck, made in Idaho.

My Benchmade is made in the USA.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Some Henkels Twinworks are made in China, but mine are made in Spain!?

I saw some Kershaw knives but what they had didn't reach out and grab me or the ones they did have were the Chinese made. I noticed that some of the Buck knives said they were assembled in the US of USA made and imported parts but I didn't see any Bucks that were from China. The Case knives were USA made but weren't what I was looking for. They had some Victornox that were, of course, Swiss made. I ended up with a larger Buck for daily use and a much smaller, mini Buck Lite for times when I don't want a big knife bulging my slacks.

CW

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Having just done a lot of research on Henckels knives prior to getting my wife a new chef's knife for Christmas, a real Twin will be made in Germany. It's their lower cost "International" line that's made in Spain and their even cheaper economy line is produced in Asia. You've got to do a lot of digging and fine print-reading to determine what's what nowadays.

It's amazing to me that damn near everything is made in China!! Try to buy the new light bulbs that are not made in China. I have heard that some are made here, but I have not found any yet. Obama is always looking for jobs, he shoud try China, that's where they have gone, and not likely to return.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

I've got a Boker MkIII fighting knife repro. I bought it because I like that style knife and wanted to use it for a fishing knife without having to mess up one of my real collectible MkIII's. I think it's the only Chinese or Pakistani knife I own.

My wok is US made...but it makes horrible Kung pao chicken.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

Schrade too. The better ones are made in China with materials that are supplied and overseen by the US company; at least that's what I've heard. I have a Kershaw Outcast that My Wife got me that has made in China, but it is a very nice knife. If I were going to buy a "civil unrest" knife, and cost was not a large factor, I would buy a Grayman knife. Add .com and check them out, but they ain't cheap. Flapjack.

I was in an Academy store here in Louisiana. Checked out the knife section, winchester knife-made in china, gerber knife-also made in china.
Least amount of time spent in that store since it was built. Something of a record for me. Frank

Glad to know someone agrees with me. What really bothered me the most were the Winchester and S&W knives made in China. I really expected better from something with S&W at least.

CW

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I had about 4 case knives and it was becoming a compulsion until the proper medication was applied in the correct dose. That medication was a frying pan skillfully applied to the side of the head and repreat at the compulsion became strong again. Only took about three treatments and I was ready to give up the idea of collecting Case Knives.

CW

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Hah, yep, I came to the same realization about the knives a year or two ago, and felt the same disappointment, but was not surprised. My knife collection consists mostly of Bucks, and some of them are from the 1970's and still have the factory edge, which will shave your arm.

Many of the major guitar manufacturers have offshore manufacturing also. Good old Fender guitars, an American original, now has instruments Made in Japan and Made in Mexico, and a prospective purchaser / collector has to know serial numbers for USA, Japan, and Mex. Who knows if / when a Chinese Fender will come into existence. A made in Mex Fender is about half the price of an American made one, and is nearly identical, visually. Many of the companies make instruments in Korea too.

JP

Two of my Benchmade folders were made in the USA, while one, the first I bought, was made in China. They no longer offer that cheaper red box series. They are not bad knives for the price, which came way down when Benchmade orphaned them, but they do not approach the quality of the US-made knives.

A few made in USA
Dick

I bought a Buck Folding Hunter the first year it was in production. Not only was it made in the USA, the blade was high carbon steel (not stainless). It both takes a better edge than the later versions, it sharpens more easily and it holds the edge longer. Between wearings I put it in my nightstand drawer and it shows no rust.

Think about it.
They can make an item in china, ship it across the Pacific and sell it herecheaper than can be if it was made in the United States. Like it or not-we are in a global economy amigos-the sooner we deal with it as opposed to ranting about it, the better off we will be. It be what it be-we can't control the fact that China uses labor at pennies on the dollar compared to what we pay-hell to them it's a great living!! GO back and look at that thread about the 30's factory assembly lines-the US used to do this-we evolved and now we don't do it any more-we let other countries do it. We are in the tail end of a natural democratic progression-we are in the fat and lazy sector which is right before the get taken over by another country sector, and the progression starts all over again.
We're screwed and we did it to ourselves. Period.

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Cajun

Just because we " did it to ourselves " doesn't mean we have to accept it .

I bought my son and daughter Buck knives for Xmas - specifically because they are made in the USA .

I also didn't buy any Xmas paper this yeasr . I just used the glossy newspaper inserts . Surprisingly festive actually .

I told my kids " screw the Chinese " .

Small baby steps ..........


Regards ,
George

Winchester contracts with Blue Grass Cutlery for their high end pocket knives. Check out the Millenium Series at Smokey Mountain Knife works. They are U.S. made and beautifully handcrafted.

I didn't click on the "like" button on Caj's post because I couldn't bring myself to acknowledge I liked what was said (one of those deals where you agree but don't "like" the situation).........But he stated the truth. Like it or not, what Caj said hit the nail on the head.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Here are a few all made in the USA.

I collect knives and the ones above are old stock. Looking for a particular blade let me know I might have it. Peace.

Blade

Want to get a real kick out of the knife market? Go to AG Russell's web site. He has chinese knives for over $100.00 bucks a pop or at one time he did. All these years he's preached pro-American and American craftsmanship. I guess the all mighty dollar won out in the end.

There are usually a few US made Gerbers on the racks at Academy, but most are made in China, you can feel the difference. I saw some about 2 months ago, folders. The US made cost a good bit more but in my opinion worth it..
Steve W

What difference does it make? A handfull of US made knives won't make up for the zillions of Chinese made products sold every day by all the big box stores. It's way too late to go back now.

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I am a Syracuse native and after I got out of the Army in '69 and thru about '82 I lived in Camillus, NY. A great little town.
Anyhow, being raised in the area it was not unusual to "cut yer teeth" on Camillus blades...Cub scout knife, to boy scout knife, to many others. I currently own about 70 different models of Camillus Knives. These are not all pristine show pieces, a few are, but most are garage sale purchases, woods and beach finds, so they show their true character. I scout the knife displays at gun shows, and as often as not, I tell the people selling them they are way under-priced. I have bought some real bargains from folks who don't really know what they have...and if I don't buy it, I have no problem letting them know they could easily get 2 or 3 times what they're asking.
Camillus also did contract work for a lot of the other american manufacturers, along with their many advertising specials. KaBar, Buck, Ontario, Utica knife and others for example. They were some of the finest knives made for a lot of years.
The new owners are a blemish on the fine Camillus brand. A chinese made Camillus knife is an abomination in my book and I will never own one.

nuff said...

Boox

Bought a folding Buck for my son, this fall, and was surprised how tough it was to find one of the old ones in the leather pouch. Everything darn thing seems to be made in China these days. I guess we kinda of slipped off the track somewhere along.

I still have my old time Marbles, Kinfolk and Western Boulder knives and they still do the job. It`ll be a cold day in hell when one of them knives from China will sharpen up and hold an edge like these old gems. My 1916 pat. Marbles will still give me a decent shave if need be.

Rod

It makes a difference to the folks making Buck knives.

A lot.

Yep, what was it they said on ABC? If everyone spent just $64 additionally this holiday season on USA made goods, it would put 200,000 people to work. So let's see, this year I've bought two M/P 15-22s, a Henry and two Buck knives. I think I spent my $64 on USA made stuff.

CW

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Those old Camilus made Navy TL-29 folders with the blade and the screwdriver were tough old knives. We used them because the screwdriver blade was perfect for the quick disconnect on the aircraft cockpit boxes. I think I still have mine at the house in Jacksonville. Used to sharpen the knife blade in the squadron shop and then hone it on my boot. It took an edge that would last 40 forevers.

CW

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Nobody take a back seat to me when it comes to stick it to the Chinese. Nothing in my post says accept it. Problem is the $5.00 a day wages paid to the chinese is in their country a handsome wage allowing them what would be akin to a middle class existance in their home country. The reason that this is so, is because we in the US have gotten so fat & lazy & entitled that we borrow more than we can ever pay to buy stuff we MUST HAVE but don't need and are now wrapped up in a supercharged vortex of borrowing to build to sell to people who must borrow to buy. Auto industry is a great example. Does it make sense to pay people the equivalent of $70/hour when you include all the fringes to build a car to sell to people making $10/an hour??? We've gotten it all *** backwards in the name of chasing the American dream. Who's fault?? The government for putting in policies allowingh everyone to buy anything they need, the fat cats who make the stuff to sell to people who pay with government money, and all the rest of the ecomomy who services the fat cats. Everyone at the year end cocktail party points a finger and ckucks tut tut at the poor slob who lives in Section 8 housing on the government nickle bemoaning the fact that they are paying for it. They are, but they forget that they also have made a fortune buying these old houses, fixing them up and enrolling in the section 8 program and are getting a huge government check each month that pays them rent far and above what they could get in an open market.

Or the guy who got rich convincing the medicare people that those little scooters are a medical necessity.

Or the Doctors who do walk buy consults and charge $50 for it.

We are ALL guilty of sucking on the government tit in some way, myself included.

This economy and EVERYONE IN IT are so dependent on government intervention and nobody is willing to face down the gorilla in the room. Stop government spending and we will be in the streets fighting for our lives. I don't have any answers, but I suspect that just buying Buck knives made in the USA ain't gonna even come close to solving the problem. Nobody wants to solve the problem because we all owe our affluent lifestyles to it.

And the Piper is a coming to town.

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Think I'll stop before I stroke out.

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I gave mine away. My dad bought it in the 1920s and used it on a trap line until the draft board requested he play with then in WWII. So he carried it all over hell and back, then brought it home. Every hunting trip between the end of WWII and when he passed away in 1980 had him carrying that same knife. In all fairness it was soft steel. It would take a nice edge fast, but it wouldn't hold it all that long. You'd just need to touch it up.

So after heart surgery at the end of 2009 I took a good hard look at the stuff I'd accumulated. And decided I didn't need Dad's old knife any more. So I sent it to my oldest son. I think he's heard the stories and knows what it is. He's got a bunch of Dads old military photos and stuff, along with about half the guns. No reason for me to hoard it.

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Dick Burg

S&W doesn't make the knives currently sold under their logo. They have nothing to do with them besides selling the name. The current logo knives can be had for as little as five bucks at Dollar General. They're at best mediocre imports. The Chinese can actually make very good knives. I have one made up for some nation's military contract or another that has held up to a lot of chopping. Basically they'll make them to whatever specs, and pricepoint, is desired.

Some Benchmades are also made in China.

But there are many, many small time knife makers in the U.S. You can't shake a stick on most gun and outdoor forums without turning up someone making knives in their backyard. (And a Wok can be made into a good backyard forge curiously enough]

Not any more, AFAIK. Their red box line has been discontinued. They weren't bad knives, though, especially at the price. I bought several, kept one and made gifts of the rest.

You hit the nail on the head with this one!!!

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- Change it back -

Caj, as a political science major, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Robert Heinlein spoke of the Roman civilization destroying itself because the people found out they could vote themselves bread and circuses until the system broke down and so did Rome. Gee look around now. We've done it to ourselves.

My point was simply that, given a choice, I can and will buy American instead of foreign. If I buy a television or computer, I don't have much choice, it's going to be made in China. But if I buy a knife, it's going to be made in the US. If I buy an American Flag to fly in front of my house, it will be made by Annin, if I buy furniture for my house it's going to be from North Carolina or somewhere in the US. If I buy my grandson a baseball bat, it will be a Louisville Slugger made in the US. All I was saying in my rant was that I put the Chinese made knives back on the shelf and bought one made in America. Me buying two Buck knives made in Idaho won't make that much difference. But if I convince two people here to buy any knife (or whatever) made in the US and they convince two people and those convince two people, and so on, it will make a difference.

It was on the news here in Atlanta a couple of nights ago that foreign investors are coming into this area and buying up a lot of these empty neighborhoods that were started and then foreclosed on when the housing market crashed. So when and IF the economy does recover, some people around here may be buying their house from China, too.

I'll stop here also because I don't want this to go from an economic discussion into a political discussion.

CW

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