In my experience, the Chinese do it better!

[BeyondTheBox]

I’ve owned lots of knives, with one categorical exception, a full custom. Frankly, I never care to own one either. I know they can be truly superb quality, but so can production.

Anyway, among all the knives I’ve owned, high end to low (German, British, Japanese, Chinese, South African, Swiss, Swedish, Finnish, Australian, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, the US and I’m sure a few I’m forgetting) the best quality in a value-for-money comparison have been Chinese and by a landslide (surprisingly followed by Spanish & Russian)!

There are, of course, obvious pitfalls that come with buying from China. Dodgy provenance is just the beginning and is topped off in the end with immoral business practices, but putting that aside, just comparing tit-for-tat products in a bang-4-buck head-2-head, the US doesn’t even come close. And it’s truly sad, but inevitable and the glaringly obvious result of said business practices.

Regardless, I’ve found a great appreciation for Chinese made knives because of this. I mean, what many don’t even know is how many knives sold by American companies are produced in China. Two of the most prolific production houses for other brands are Reate and Bestech. Known for their top notch quality in blades, heat treats, materials, equipment for manufacturing, and fit & finish. They truly are unrivaled!

Well enough of the blah-blah, here’s a few examples of my exquisite, mid to high end Chinese pieces…

[BeyondTheBox]

[BeyondTheBox]

[BeyondTheBox]

[BeyondTheBox]

[raccoon]

I exclusively like Kershaw assisted-openers with flippers.
Most of my favorite knives are made in China, but some are made in the U.S.
The Chinese knives that I like offer more bang for the buck than the American made knives, though I enjoy having both.

[sp5it]

Pity, that steel on that knifes blades is garbage.
Mike

[BeyondTheBox]

I’m sorry but that’s just not true.

Unless you’re talking about fakes, then yes of course, they’re all trash! Not just the blade, half of which aren’t even heat treated at all, the rest with bad heat treats. There you’d be right.

[Lightbringer]

I gotta post a pic of a knoife in front of a can of Billy Beer.

I still like me that PF “clone” from Gearbest. Smooooth, and flicks open like an AO with near-zero effort. And they were going for, what?, 7bux at the time?

Given how much punishment a knoife can go through, I can’t bring myself to spend more’n low 2-digits on one. Anything more would be in a glass case.

[BeyondTheBox]

Don’t blame you with the cheapos. Also really breaks ones heart to chip a blade or snap a tip off of a really nice knife. I honestly only carry my nicer knives to work, where i have zero need or use for a knife ever. I like to look at them while I’m bored. But for actual use, i always go to my cheapest knives. Like my Schrade Sodbuster…

[Mandrake50]

It would be great if you could include the names of the knives, and/or the manufacturer. There are some I would like to chase down, but have no clue where to start.

EDIT…NVM. I see what when hovering over the image it shows the name…
But this:
Bestech Knives Damascus Ball Lock Folding Knife BT2008A

I find is ~$193. I think I would buy a Spyderco or Zero Tolerance if spending that amount of money.
though I see that Bestech also has a bunch of less expensive knives
But it looks like a nice knife for a specific purpose… like replacing a box opener… But they are closer to $20 with a bunch of extra blades.

Anyway, those are some beautiful knives. Though given equal features, I am sure that I would go for made in Golden Colorado, USA, Earth

[Lightbringer]

I used to keep mine spotlessly clean, to the point I’d peel and eat a apple with it, halve my limes for limeade, etc. If I ever had to, say, cut open a box, it’d be scrubbed clean and then dried. Cheap as they were, I still baby them.

For down’n’dirty outdoorsy stuff, I have dedicated fixed-blades for that.

[Valynor]

Very nice collection!
If I had to pick one just by the looks it would be the WE Kitefin S35VN Light Wave.
Not even that expensive … what is the shipping like for these?

[zoulas]

Not one country on the planet can beat China for manufacturing.

Having said that, expect your Chinese product to have been manufactured in a sweat shop. This includes your made in California iPhone that is made by Foxconn in China.

Also, the Chinese have absolutely no sense of business ethics. They will copy anything and everything. Trademark or patents mean nothing.

Keep in mind Americans are the main cause of all this because they want to be able to buy a 65 inch TV for $300 and a new laptop for $200.

[BeyondTheBox]

Describe the ones in particular or which post and how far down in that post and I’ll tell you. I think if you quote the post or might give you the thumbnail info, which includes name and details from my phone…

[BeyondTheBox]

Usually if you spend at least $100 shipping is free.

[Mandrake50]

I also really like this one:
Lemifshe (Listed above as WUBU) JR9618
About $110. Supposedly M390 (???) I wonder though. That would need to be imported. Also wonder about the heat treatment.

But I like this one a bit better…same knife different scales and blade finish:

[BeyondTheBox]

I’ve seen them tested and yes it was M390. The problem is that they do a soft heat treat. M390 should be 59-61hrc, most the Chinese stuff comes in about high 57s to low 58s. This one was 57.7 if i recall.

[RichH]

Some lovely jewels there, thanks very much for taking the time to post and list the names. Absolutely love that TwoSuns TS123 with the lanyard on it.

[Mandrake50]

Yeah, they have been testing the newest heat treat of 20cv/m390 /204p blades from Spyderco at right at 62. Granted, something like the Paramilitary 2 in M390 is almost twice the price.