hmmm...
30 or 40 years ago this discussion was sooooo much easier.
There were simply good knives and JUNK. Typically junk came by boat and the 'good stuff' was made a few states over. Customs, semi-customs, and hand mades were still pretty rare and you could name nationally recognized makers almost on one hand if I'm not mistaken.
Today? Whole 'nother ball game I think.
My grandfathers never lived to see the day when *anything* from Japan would have been acceptable, let alone Taiwan, China or India. Back in the day THEY would come to us (or perhaps the Germans) for anything of quality.
Now? One only need to look at what is produced in Seki City Japan or Taiwan to see that things have changed. And if you don't think the Chinese are catching up (and fast...) in the quality department I don't think you've been watching closely enough. The market has been opnened up and even 'respectable' companies like Benchmade are importing from them. I can't believe a company like Benchmade or Spyderco, or some of the other 'higher end' production companies would be risking thier reputations on 'junk'. Once failures started getting reported it would be all over. And, so far anyway, I haven't heard of that happening.
We all know we are choking on goods from overseas. Most of us don't like it one bit. But the fact is not everything being imported can be classified as junk no matter how much we hate where they are coming from.
Ok...with that out of the way we need to get back to some basic parameters of this discussion:
WHO needs the knife? (LEO, Military, construction worker, office worker?)
WHAT will they be using the knife for? (defense? cutting boxes? cigars? cutting people out of cars or helicopters?)
WHERE do they intend to use, keep, store, or display the knife? (at sea? in the air? at the office? on the street? in the woods?)
WHEN do they intend to carry the knife? (all day? sheath\fixed blade? only while hunting? too impress girls at the mall?)
WHY do they NEED a knife or WANT a knife? (seriously-are you gonna use it or admire it?)
HOW much can they afford? (are you a collector of rare and exotic things who drives a Mercedes or are you a plumber who drives an 18 year old truck?)
I submit that within those parameters you can find a quality blade to meet any need at any price point whether it's a Case, Benchmade, or a Sebenza.
30 or 40 years ago this discussion was sooooo much easier.
There were simply good knives and JUNK. Typically junk came by boat and the 'good stuff' was made a few states over. Customs, semi-customs, and hand mades were still pretty rare and you could name nationally recognized makers almost on one hand if I'm not mistaken.
Today? Whole 'nother ball game I think.
My grandfathers never lived to see the day when *anything* from Japan would have been acceptable, let alone Taiwan, China or India. Back in the day THEY would come to us (or perhaps the Germans) for anything of quality.
Now? One only need to look at what is produced in Seki City Japan or Taiwan to see that things have changed. And if you don't think the Chinese are catching up (and fast...) in the quality department I don't think you've been watching closely enough. The market has been opnened up and even 'respectable' companies like Benchmade are importing from them. I can't believe a company like Benchmade or Spyderco, or some of the other 'higher end' production companies would be risking thier reputations on 'junk'. Once failures started getting reported it would be all over. And, so far anyway, I haven't heard of that happening.
We all know we are choking on goods from overseas. Most of us don't like it one bit. But the fact is not everything being imported can be classified as junk no matter how much we hate where they are coming from.
Ok...with that out of the way we need to get back to some basic parameters of this discussion:
WHO needs the knife? (LEO, Military, construction worker, office worker?)
WHAT will they be using the knife for? (defense? cutting boxes? cigars? cutting people out of cars or helicopters?)
WHERE do they intend to use, keep, store, or display the knife? (at sea? in the air? at the office? on the street? in the woods?)
WHEN do they intend to carry the knife? (all day? sheath\fixed blade? only while hunting? too impress girls at the mall?)
WHY do they NEED a knife or WANT a knife? (seriously-are you gonna use it or admire it?)
HOW much can they afford? (are you a collector of rare and exotic things who drives a Mercedes or are you a plumber who drives an 18 year old truck?)
I submit that within those parameters you can find a quality blade to meet any need at any price point whether it's a Case, Benchmade, or a Sebenza.