I saw a link here for some Smith &Wesson knives that were marked down to just $3 or so.
I bought two of them. They only sent one, and it was defective. The blade was very loose and would open in your pocket. These SW sale knives are defective returns and factory rejects.
Beware.
I “stocked up”, and every single knife I got so far (waiting for the last ones to be sent which were “temporarily unavailable” for about a month ’til I got an email from them) have been top-notch.
All of them opened smoothly and easily, nothing loose or wiggly, except the “stonewash” ones I got were a bit tight and felt a bit “gritty” when you’d push sideways when opening/closing, so I might have to chance stripping ’em down, cleaning, relubing, etc., to try to improve the action.
The old S&W knives were really nice when they were made in the US, and collector items today. Especially the Blackie Collins designs. Now, they are about the cheapest of chinese knives you can find
I mean, Encores went to crap after SW bought them.
And now SW dropped them entirely. Granted, custom barrels and 3rd party stocks were better, but who’s going to pick up the receiver license?
Yup kinda my point, if the name actually represented made in America quality, the knives would be more like $300’s and you could hand one down to your grandchild. Tree-dorrah knife is just a sharp piece of landfill that Americans should cringe at as another iconic US brand name is being abused by someone who bought some rights to peddle $3 eastern made trash. You should check out Zippo’s latest survival axe made in China, wouldn’t sustain 1 day of use. We remember Zippo for making fluid lighters that out lasted religion. It needs to stop. I’m sick of seeing great iconic USA companies that took a century of hard work to build a world class reputation being flushed down the toilet for short term gain.
Companies can’t afford to compete in a global economy and pay a living wage. A friend of mine worked in factory . His company sent the machinery and him along with it to China. He basically taught them how to replace him. All kinds of iconic company names have been reduced to selling their reputation. Shoes, clothing, appliances, you name it. On the plus side, prices have come down on a lot of products to help offset the wage depression in this country and the quality of Chinese products is not always inferior. Time marches on.
Whenever I walk into a retail shop or business I make it my first question to ask whether a product I am looking at was manufactured in the US. It used to be… about 20%. Nowadays, closer to zero. The few products we create is basic food (ie milk, wheat,…) and a few cars are still made in the US (although a LOT of parts are shipped and only assembled here).
It’s food also, most apple juice, frozen fish, shrimp, canned mushrooms and oranges come from China. Other can goods, fruits, vegetables, tomato sauce etc along with some processed chicken, are increasingly coming from China as well.
Many vitamins and pharmaceuticals come from China too, including most antibiotics and vitamin C.
Often grown in soils with very high lead content etc… I’m not sure at what point we should continue supporting foreign regimes that seek to see our demise. The USD is what’s made the people’s liberation army as strong as it is. Trump was turning things around and slowing the one way flow of $$$
I’m wary of getting too far off topic but that flow has been going on for a long time. I still see people in the hobby knocking Chinese manufacturers or people who buy Chinese knives. As if those decisions make a difference… People upset about trade imbalances and outsourcing need to look to their own government. That government, with help from establishment-types on both sides of the aisle, have created this economic landscape over the course of several decades with everything from NAFTA to high taxes and strict regulations.
I just saw an article today that “millennials” are approaching 40 with only 80% the wealth their parents had at that age. Well, the Federal Reserve keeps printing money. The government keeps throwing money away. Most of what we buy is made overseas. This is not a surprise and it is not an accident.
Of course, those details are all just “fake news” and anyone discussing it is probably racist, sexist, a “denier” of something or otherwise retrograde. So let’s all stop being doubleplusungood and get back to discussing EDC gear.