No, not companies like Artisan, REATE, Kizer, WE, Kansept, Bestech, QSP, Flying Fish, Kunwu, Real Steel, or Ganzo or any Chinese manufacturer found on Blade HQ, Knife Center, Knives Ship Free, DLT Trading and their equivalent well respected USA internet retailers with a reputation to protect.
I'm just focusing on what we can get from Ali, dhgate, and even Amazon.
I've been following the Chinese clone knife manufacturers and Chinese manufacturers (and some of these respected companies may have started as clone makers) for almost 20 years.
Today we find the respected Chinese knife manufacturers making knives of completely respectable to the the highest reliable quality and materials and producing their own designs, or teaming with custom knife makers to produce designs licensed from them or even for the custom maker's "mid tech" brands.
BUT all of the above is explained to discuss the other companies found on Ali, dhgate, or Amazon (WISH isn't even part of the discussion since that's below gutter level stuff).
Even being part of Chinese knife discussion groups that advocate for clones as a bargain compared to "pricey" mainstream manufacturer knives, I have found it difficult to get reliable information about what "store" or manufacturer on Ali-gate-zon to fully trust at times. Predictably, if the dealer/maker is selling a type of knife that is of their own design (even if you can see elements of mainstream designs in it) it will be breaking the $100 threshold for good to great folders.
I've gotten some of these non-knockoff knives and my opinion is that these companies are working their way into the "daylight' with the same QC, materials, engineering, and design independence as the best of US, Europe, Japan, and the top Chinese known manufacturers. They're a bargain for what you're getting in quality, form, and function and will eventually enter the mainstream market at higher prices.
OTOH, when we focus on 'bargains' in knockoffs, it is risky because there are no assurances on quality, materials, engineering, or even function. That should be no surprise. Knowing the risk and trying to minimize it is part of participating in the pro clone groups I noted. Still, the Ali-gate-zon retailers don't always have the same quality and a lot of discussion goes on about which are consistent in selling the best made of the clones. I am currently sending an order back on of those highly recommended sellers because the locks were so poorly made that they were unsafe. This is after having gotten an example to examine and found the quality to be surprisingly good. This was inspired by Buck's 110, like so many USA made inspired knives, but not exactly clones. The example was just a bit smaller, in G10, used S30V steel, and had been made as an auto release with a traditional back lock. It made me wonder if Buck shouldn't make their own version of the Chinese knife.
Then the problem occurred when I ordered the same knife from the same seller again. Same bound in tape packaging with an excess of bubble wrap in the box, but this time the knives were in cheap leather sheaths and most were sprung open poking through the plastic sleeves and their synthetic bags. They also wouldn't reliably lock closed because the sere buttons were so poorly made that they kept releasing the blades to open unpredictably. Completely unsafe to carry or even handle. The sere buttons didn't even have the same quality appearance as the first example. I opened a conversation with the "store" and they were very polite and asked me to start the dispute process and they'd approve the return at no cost with a full refund (we'll see). What I didn't get a response to was the unsafe quality failure of the knives (even when I posted a video and pictures showing the unreliable locks/seres).
So, if you're buying off of Ali-gate-zon for a "great deal" on a clone of a trusted knife manufacturer, be warned that you may end up having paid for some unreliable knife of unknowable materials (in spite of the claims) even if you put in the time and effort to follow the discussion groups that are trying to identify the trustworthy sellers. The folks on the groups have no problem opening a dispute and returning bad product and posting about it, but they also tout sellers they like.
Caveat Emptor.
I'm just focusing on what we can get from Ali, dhgate, and even Amazon.
I've been following the Chinese clone knife manufacturers and Chinese manufacturers (and some of these respected companies may have started as clone makers) for almost 20 years.
Today we find the respected Chinese knife manufacturers making knives of completely respectable to the the highest reliable quality and materials and producing their own designs, or teaming with custom knife makers to produce designs licensed from them or even for the custom maker's "mid tech" brands.
BUT all of the above is explained to discuss the other companies found on Ali, dhgate, or Amazon (WISH isn't even part of the discussion since that's below gutter level stuff).
Even being part of Chinese knife discussion groups that advocate for clones as a bargain compared to "pricey" mainstream manufacturer knives, I have found it difficult to get reliable information about what "store" or manufacturer on Ali-gate-zon to fully trust at times. Predictably, if the dealer/maker is selling a type of knife that is of their own design (even if you can see elements of mainstream designs in it) it will be breaking the $100 threshold for good to great folders.
I've gotten some of these non-knockoff knives and my opinion is that these companies are working their way into the "daylight' with the same QC, materials, engineering, and design independence as the best of US, Europe, Japan, and the top Chinese known manufacturers. They're a bargain for what you're getting in quality, form, and function and will eventually enter the mainstream market at higher prices.
OTOH, when we focus on 'bargains' in knockoffs, it is risky because there are no assurances on quality, materials, engineering, or even function. That should be no surprise. Knowing the risk and trying to minimize it is part of participating in the pro clone groups I noted. Still, the Ali-gate-zon retailers don't always have the same quality and a lot of discussion goes on about which are consistent in selling the best made of the clones. I am currently sending an order back on of those highly recommended sellers because the locks were so poorly made that they were unsafe. This is after having gotten an example to examine and found the quality to be surprisingly good. This was inspired by Buck's 110, like so many USA made inspired knives, but not exactly clones. The example was just a bit smaller, in G10, used S30V steel, and had been made as an auto release with a traditional back lock. It made me wonder if Buck shouldn't make their own version of the Chinese knife.
Then the problem occurred when I ordered the same knife from the same seller again. Same bound in tape packaging with an excess of bubble wrap in the box, but this time the knives were in cheap leather sheaths and most were sprung open poking through the plastic sleeves and their synthetic bags. They also wouldn't reliably lock closed because the sere buttons were so poorly made that they kept releasing the blades to open unpredictably. Completely unsafe to carry or even handle. The sere buttons didn't even have the same quality appearance as the first example. I opened a conversation with the "store" and they were very polite and asked me to start the dispute process and they'd approve the return at no cost with a full refund (we'll see). What I didn't get a response to was the unsafe quality failure of the knives (even when I posted a video and pictures showing the unreliable locks/seres).
So, if you're buying off of Ali-gate-zon for a "great deal" on a clone of a trusted knife manufacturer, be warned that you may end up having paid for some unreliable knife of unknowable materials (in spite of the claims) even if you put in the time and effort to follow the discussion groups that are trying to identify the trustworthy sellers. The folks on the groups have no problem opening a dispute and returning bad product and posting about it, but they also tout sellers they like.
Caveat Emptor.
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