Boycott the New Taylor/Schrade Knives!!!

[greg531mi]

As reported on the Blade Forum, Taylor, an importer of Chinese knives, bought Schrade's name, after buying Schrade's bank notes forcing them into bankrupty, to put Schrade's name on their imported knive's. This is after Walmart dropped most of Schrade's knife line.
This is the reason I do not shop at Walmart, nor will buy Taylor knives.
When will the bleeding of American manufacturers end?

 

[Shootcraps]

When will the bleeding of American manufacturers end?

When everybody stops shopping at Walmart. :banghead:

Walmart IS the Devil. Along with George Lucas.

 

[Devonai]

Do the Chinese-made knives make the cut? If not, then we have a reason to complain. If they're every bit as good as the originals, then who cares?

BTW, how can you hate Lucas for the last two movies, but love him for the first three? I'm just curious.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Schrade wasn't the most spectacular stuff out there, but they were good solid knives for the money and a good way for the "average" knife user to buy a knife for the prices they're usually willing to pay without getting ripped off.

Taylor Knives are known for low-quality and knock-offs. Most of those crappy Smith and Wesson knives, including the ones that seem to flatter Darrel Ralph more by imitating him than by crediting him, are made by Taylor.

Time will tell, but I don't trust Taylor and I doubt this will prove to be a step up.

 

[sm]

Schrade was one of the "names" one grew up with in my day. Though not the most expensive or considered "the best" - they worked , if they didn't , or one broke, customer service was fast and no charge.

Stockman' s , Sharpfinger's, Trapper's...etc., yeah I will miss the old line.

I was always a CASE knife fella, still am. Yep I used a Schrade sometimes for fear of losing my Case knives...

 

[c_yeager]

So, i should boycott a maker of crappy Chinese knives because they drove a maker of crappy American knives out of business? How about I just boycott crappy knives in general?

 

[Shootcraps]

BTW, how can you hate Lucas for the last two movies, but love him for the first three? I'm just curious.

The first three were so good. They had good, simple plots that ran through them and they were all cohesive. The acting was also very good. He only began to run out of steam halfway through Jedi when he introduced those stupid Ewoks.

The last two don't make any sense at all. It's very hard to relate the two sets of movies. Casting is horrible. Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson? Horrible choices. I was happy when Darth Maul whacked Neeson at the end. As well as the age differences between Anakin and Ahmidala. Tons of other things as well. It seems that he spent 200 million dollars on special effects and 50 thousand on a script.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Don Gwinn]

So, i should boycott a maker of crappy Chinese knives because they drove a maker of crappy American knives out of business?

Generally, when you start a post with "So," it means that you are about to summarize what has been said so far to make sure you understand it.
Except that nobody in this thread said that Schrade made crappy knives. I assume that's your personal opinion; if so, feel free to tell us why.

Personally, I liked the Schrade line for the price. I've got a little carbon Old-Timer two blade in front of me right now that's wicked sharp and small enough to carry without noticing it for any length of time you'd want to name. It's not fancy, but it wasn't meant to be.

 

[MrMurphy]

I don't consider four years to be an age difference (20 vs 24 I think they were supposed to be in the last one) considering I know a 33 yr old guy married happily to a 42 yr old woman.



As to the Chinese knives, I'm no fan of them, but one I bought and gave to a friend worked in self defense just fine. For a $10 knife, better than I expected.

 

[ACP230]

I've never seen a knife made in mainland China that was worth the Tannerite to blow it to perdition!

Some of them look OK, but they lose their scales and the blades won't hold an edge. Sometimes they won't take an edge either.

 

[c_yeager]

Generally, when you start a post with "So," it means that you are about to summarize what has been said so far to make sure you understand it.

No actually my use of the word "so" was to summarize MY opinion on it. You see thats kinda what this board is for. Does one need to cite sources for their opinion now? If you want to know why I think this then the answer is that every Shrade I have owned (3) has been low quality crap that wasnt woth even the paltry price. Of course I don't have any Chinese knives to compare them to so perhaps its relative.

Taylor Knives are known for low-quality and knock-offs. Most of those crappy Smith and Wesson knives, including the ones that seem to flatter Darrel Ralph more by imitating him than by crediting him, are made by Taylor.

Since your the one who asked why don't you justify your OWN statement here?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

As reported on the Blade Forum, Taylor, an importer of Chinese knives, bought Schrade's name, after buying Schrade's bank notes forcing them into bankrupty, to put Schrade's name on their imported knive's. This is after Walmart dropped most of Schrade's knife line. This is the reason I do not shop at Walmart, nor will buy Taylor knives.
When will the bleeding of American manufacturers end?

Let me get this straight. Based on something you read on another forum and not based on any real or known information, you have stopped shopping at WalMart and won't buy a particular brand of knives. Is that right?

That is a amazing. So Shrade is now supposedly an inferior product, if I am understanding this, and Walmart has dropped this inferior product from sale. So why the boycott of Walmart?

When will the bleeding of American manufactures end? Probably about the time that the general populace understands world economy. American manufactures have some real competition problems in the global economy. We have high wages per worker and so the bottomline cost of our products runs higher than for many products produced elsewhere. In many cases, we have old toolings. Japan has been producing steel at such a reduced price that they can produce it and ship it half way around the world for less than what some American companies can do.

Of course some wil argue, sometimes factually and sometimes not, that American products are better quality. That is fine, but the quality of the product does not necessarily mean market or market share will be maintained. The market may not want higher quality and higher priced items. The market may be satisfied with something less expensive and sometimes of less quality, sometimes not.

This aspect of what the market will bear really comes through when we read of people's gun buying decisions. Not everyone wants, needs, or can afford a top of the line Les Baer 1911, beautifully put together, accurate, and expensive. For a couple of grand less, some settle for a Glock, not nearly as pretty, but reliable. Some settle for a NAA mini revolver. Some settle for a Kel-Tec P32, something I consider to be about as close as you come to a disposable pistol.

 

[joab]

Schrades aren't crappy for what they are. A good mumbly peg/pen knife.
I have several now and have always had at least one, usually on me. I used to by about one a year

I believe the problem was that they did not keep up with the times and produce more tacticalish go to war type knives that every one seems to want these days.

One of their ad mottos is "Knives Like Granddad's". I buy them because they remind me of my granddad, who gave me my first knife, a well worn Old Timer with one broken blade.
Not everyone wants their grandad's knife though especially when there are better designs that costs more, which as we all know means that they are better.

Wal-Mart quit selling them because they didn't sell.
After I found out they were going under I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few 100 Anniversity models. I spoke to the sporting goods manager who told me that they were put on clearance for $10 and still didn't sell until the announcement that they were gone. I have seen other promotionals sit for years . I bought my DU tin box model after seeing it put out in the after Christmas bin for the second or third year.

It's sad that they are gone but weak marketing and poor patronage did it as much as Wlly backing out on them.

I already have a box full of CheapChina knives for cutting fertilizer bags and punching the bottom of chem jugs and other such scud work, So I don't need anymore.

Case will fill the void, although at twice the price

 

[Don Gwinn]

Yeager, no problem. No, you are not required to cite sources, but just as you have the right not to give your reasons, I do have the right to ask what they are.

To support my allegation that S&W/Taylor do/did knockoffs:

Darrel Ralph and David from Outdoor Edge discuss the impact of S&W's ripoff of the "Krait" neck knife:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123268&highlight=S&W+knockoff

Now, it's true that Darrel and S&W/Taylor eventually made some collaboration pieces, and that's nice and all, but it doesn't excuse Taylor in my mind.

 

[Ash]

Odd about Walmart dropping Schrade. The local one here still has the Schrades on its display (as does every Walmart I have visited) and yet does not have any Schrades (save perhaps for one or two odd ones). That's 6 months after they folded. And, since both Winchester and Buck knives have suddenly appeared bearing the Schrade Uncle Henry look to them, I doubt the demand didn't exist. It wasn't Walmart. Just a changed demand for the product. Corporations stopped giving Schrade knives with their logo's stamped on them because of Airport security issues. Competition is great, and knives, like blue jeans, come in and out of fashon. Levi's are no longer the jeans to buy. Old Timers don't look sci-fi or aggressive enough for many current knife consumers. Tastes change.

Schrade knives are fine knives and one who poo-poos them doesn't use one. The steel is good and they hold an edge. They do not have the presteige that many might, but in the end, they have always worked very well. They are a fine utility knife that does the job nicely. I have other knives. My daily carry is a Wenger Tradesman because I not only need to cut things, but I also need screw drivers as well. I do have several Sharp Fingers, Uncle Henry's, and some Old Timers (both very old and much newer). They all work nicely and keep their edges. They lack snob appeal, but so what. In the end, it doesn't matter. Pakistan and China won out.

Ash

 

[scbair]

I'll treasure (and use!) the old, "Made in USA" Schrades I own. My first "quality" pocketknife was an early 70s mfg. "Schrade Walden" 3-blade stockman, of "Razor Blade Stainless" steel. It's almost worn out, now (loose blades, the clip & sheepfoot blades ground to slivers . . .), but I still carry it, sometimes.

I also own an old Uncle Henry M171 Pro Hunter, and it's a solid blade for deer season.

After learning of Schrade's closure, I purchased & salted away 3 Old Timers: a "Bearhead Trapper," a 3-blade stockman and a Sharpfinger. I figure I'm due for some grandkids in the not-too-distant future!

 

[hso]

Heavens!

Let's try to staighten some of this out.

Taylor Cutlery is not an "importer" of Chinese knives. Taylor has knives manufactured in China for them/him and the knives are shipped to Taylor Cutlery for sale. Just like Cold Steel and Spyderco has knives manufactured in Japan. Just like CRKT, CRKT, Timberline, etc. has knives manufactured in Taiwan.

Schrade has closed as a manufacturer and a company.

There are no Schrade knives being manufactured. None, zero. Home Depot/Lowes/Walmart/etc. have Schrade products on the shelves and in the warehouse, but when those are gone there won't be any more. If someone starts the company back up or starts to market knives under the Schrade name they will have to "sell" the former clients of Schrade on the new product.

Taylor didn't buy Schrade the "company" with it's assets (physical plant, machinery, raw inventory, and stock) and debts. He bought the rights to the name. He'll probably crank out product under that name like he cranks out S&W knives under the S&W name.

As to Stewart Taylor's business ethics, many people have a less than complementary opinon of them.

 

[joab]

Taylor didn't buy Schrade the "company" with it's assets (physical plant, machinery, raw inventory, and stock) and debts. He bought the rights to the name.

This is the same thing that Terminix did with Sears Pest Control a few years ago. The move put 1500 Americans out of work in Central Fla alone and nobody boycotted them.
It sucks and it pisses me off, but hso is right they're gone.

I probably won't be going out of my way to buy anymore Schrades in the future simply because they won't be Shrades except in name. Hopefully somebody will buy the tooling and buildings and start production again with the same old employees under a different name.

If that happens will we all go out of our way to support them and make sure they get a good start? And how long after that before we forget about them again?

I do own a S&W Cuttin' Horse it's a good knife for what it is. A $7 knife for cutting fert bags, skinning wires, and cleaning my nails

 

[hso]

Update from latest Blade.

Taylor bought all intellectual property including designs, names, drawings, etc. Taylor intends to have Schrade label knives manufactured in US, Germany, Italy, Japan, etc. They may be as good as the knives AG Russel has made for his company or they may range from crap to cream depending on what TC decides.

United/SMKW/Blueridge consortium bought all the available parts and intends to put them together.

Some of the newest grinding equipement was purchased by folks like Benchmade.