#195613 - 02/11/10 11:39 AM
Notice what is happening in the knife world?
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/28/10
Posts: 1174
Loc: MN, Land O' Lakes & Rivers ...
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We are losing legacy cutlers at an alarming rate. Just in the last few years, we lost Marbles, Western, Schrade and Camillus. Buck is importing some of it's knives from China, as is Boker, Remington, Browning. Ericksson and Frost of Mora have merged to form Mora of Sweden. Victorinox and Wenger have merged. Boker now owns Opinel. Some Pumas are now made in China. Don't get me wrong, some Chinese knives are of first-rate quality, but I'm concerned the USA and Europe are losing the ability to manufacture quality sporting/militar blades.
_________________________
The man got the powr but the byrd got the wyng
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#195614 - 02/11/10 12:05 PM
Re: Notice what is happening in the knife world?
[Re: Byrd_Huntr]
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Enthusiast
Registered: 02/14/08
Posts: 301
Loc: Croton on Hudson, NY
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Well, cutlery firms are going through the same consolidations that other manufacturers are going through. Not a surprise.
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#195633 - 02/11/10 03:08 PM
Re: Notice what is happening in the knife world?
[Re: GauchoViejo]
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Rapscallion
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4020
Loc: Anchorage AK
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and to the sound of applause...
It was only a matter of time until the east would develop their technology and metallurgy en masse such that they could put out a pretty good product at a greatly discounted price and take away the market share. Most people will settle for good over great if they can see a huge value for money disparity. A $50 knife nowadays will do 95% of what a $350 knife will do, and so on. There just aren't enough of us aficionados around to provide the sort of business these traditional companies once enjoyed, and so since they didn't keep up with modern manufacturing trends (for whatever reason), they, like the big three automakers, cannot stay up with new production.
Quality doesn't equal expensive. If you can get close to what your contemporaries are doing and do so while passing on a huge savings to the consumer, you will overtake your competitors. Close being relative, most people who buy knives aren't terribly critical, and will buy really sharp junk because they can buy it with the change in their pocket. Since the vast majority don't rely on knives like they used to, it is a little foolhardy to expect them to spend double for something that, in their mind, is no better than what they bought at the flea market or Walmart.
You want a great knife? Go to a limited production/custom knife maker like Busse or Ontario or Benchmade. You want good, pick one out of hundreds of bulk knife makers these days.
_________________________
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
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#195637 - 02/11/10 03:39 PM
Re: Notice what is happening in the knife world?
[Re: benjammin]
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Veteran
Registered: 07/23/08
Posts: 1502
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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One of favorite knifes is a custom made buffalo skinner made by a man in Montana. I also grew up in the PNW and Gerber and SOG are both there, at least manufacturing was.
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Don't just survive. Thrive.
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#195661 - 02/11/10 07:26 PM
Re: Notice what is happening in the knife world?
[Re: Byrd_Huntr]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 01/28/01
Posts: 2207
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We are losing legacy cutlers at an alarming rate. Just in the last few years, we lost Marbles, Western, Schrade and Camillus. Buck is importing some of it's knives from China, as is Boker, Remington, Browning. Ericksson and Frost of Mora have merged to form Mora of Sweden. Victorinox and Wenger have merged. Boker now owns Opinel. Some Pumas are now made in China. Don't get me wrong, some Chinese knives are of first-rate quality, but I'm concerned the USA and Europe are losing the ability to manufacture quality sporting/militar blades. Just to correct a few facts: While Buck moved a number of its lines overseas, in many cases offering the same models at different price points, one US made, one China-made, they have been moving the majority of that back to the U.S. this past year with a goal to move most of it back. Victorinox and Wenger are not "merged" Victorinox's owner bought Wenger rather than allow it to be sold to a non-Swiss company. They are operated as separate companies and still compete against one another. Not saying that a common owner doesn't mean influence over some issues, but they are definitely not "merged." Also, Benchmade has stepped back from China for their namesake brand which is now entirely U.S. made, any imports do not go under the Benchmade brand anymore, and even those have been cut back.
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#195662 - 02/11/10 07:29 PM
Re: Notice what is happening in the knife world?
[Re: comms]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 01/28/01
Posts: 2207
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I also grew up in the PNW and Gerber and SOG are both there, at least manufacturing was. Gerber still manufactures some few of their products, mostly those sold into the military, in the U.S., but the majority are made in Asia. All of SOG's knives are manufactured overseas and have been for many years. Premium lines are manufactured in Japan and now some in Taiwan, as I recall. Their lower end lines added in the past couple years to break into the mass market are all made in China.
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#195665 - 02/11/10 08:05 PM
Re: Notice what is happening in the knife world?
[Re: Doug_Ritter]
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Addict
Registered: 11/24/05
Posts: 478
Loc: Orange Beach, AL
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Thanks for the information Doug. That's good information to have.
_________________________
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother." -Theodore Roosevelt
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#195673 - 02/11/10 09:55 PM
Re: Notice what is happening in the knife world?
[Re: 7point82]
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Addict
Registered: 01/04/06
Posts: 586
Loc: 20mi east of San Diego
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For a lot of years I have been going to a local Knife maker. There knives are made from old files and can be found in all types of blade shape. For a US maker try ANZA Knife. at www.anzaknives.com
_________________________
Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved
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