Taiwan by the Numbers

[5.56]

Sometimes when people make outlandish comments the responses are equally as vibrant and outlandish. Being hot-headed is part of humanity sadly.

It is a hot topic, but I'm glad to see more and more are taking note.
No hard feelings Blerv. :)

[Blerv]

Good God!

Ok ok everyone. Next person to say "racist" loses.

Seriously, I attacked NASCAR which has nothing to do with a certain word beginning with the letter "R". I also attacked Larry The Cable Guy because he's rich for some unknown reason.

For the record, I can attack the living **** out of NASCAR because it's completely stupid. It's my opinion of turning one direction for half a day straight and thanking Gatorade for a win. Maybe that makes me NASCARist?

Now you know why I've tacked up 1200 posts in a year. It's frightening to me too...

[RIOT]

what all this boils down to Spyderco is what works great without defects/problems and sells.

i still back Spyderco up for building quality knives 100%, they are the best hands down.

the Cat & Chicago are discontinued because the quality wasnt to Spydercos liking for us the consumers.

[5.56]

The problem with discrimination is you can't debate it with logic. If you try eyes just glaze over.

I wonder if people would accept Taiwan if they had a Nascar entry. Worked for Toyota :) .

Gitterdunn!

Don't mess with Nascar! J/k, I know nothing about Nascar. :p :D

I think the bold type above is where the "R" word popped up from.

But I get your point now, we are all good.

[Blerv]

Don't mess with Nascar! J/k, I know nothing about Nascar. :p :D

I think the bold type above is where the "R" word popped up from.

But I get your point now, we are all good.

Duly noted and humbled. Apologies to all for that one.

It's good to have convictions and also filters. I definitely need to work on the later one.

[nathan310]

The Sage series have the best f&f I've seen in that price range. I would gladly take a knife from the makers of the Sages than any Japanese or American Spydie any day. They appear to take great pride in their work and pay close attention to the details.

[SolidState]

Good God!

Maybe that makes me NASCARist?

No, that makes you a RACE-ist..... :rolleyes:

[RIOT]

:confused:

[BW_BW]

No, that makes you a RACE-ist..... :rolleyes:

I have to admit, I got a good chuckle out of that...

[Jim Malone]

lets hope :spyder: starts to add a sticker on their blades with the country of origin like Cold steel machetes, and just engraves the bug on the blade. A little white spirit and it's gone... :D

[SonnyD]

lets hope :spyder: starts to add a sticker on their blades with the country of origin like Cold steel machetes, and just engraves the bug on the blade. A little white spirit and it's gone... :D

Now that sounds like a good idea. I'd rather it say nothing on the blade.
I know that most countries around the world if given the training and
equipment can produce quality products. I've found it very hard to find
anyone other then some people here that are proud to see China, Taiwan,
Korea, or Viet Nam, or a couple of hundred other places stamped on a product. I've got products from all of those places that are very good, but
they still don't inspire Pride of Ownership. It could be a 1000 dollar knife,
with one of those places stamped on the blade and It still wouldn't be what
I drew attention to when showing it off.
That isn't comming from any Racist or other leanings, it's just a fact.
Someone mentioned Japan, look how long it's taken for people to think
of them for building quality products. In other areas, quite a few people
turn there noses down to Japan made products.
I have quite a few hobbies, one of them is Watch collecting. I have quite a
few Seikos mixed in with my Swiss and German watches, and there are still
other collectors that turn their noses down. I have a 3000 dollar Seiko, which
is no where near there most expensive watch, but most people see it, see
Seiko, see Japan movt, and think it's just another 100 dollar dime store Seiko. It doesn't bother me a lot because I know how good a watch it is
and it's build quality is up there with any watch I own. Again, a lot of people wouldn't think of buying one.
I'm just saying these things because it's taken Japan quite a long time to be where they are at, and I think it's going to be a long time for these other countries too, if ever. More and more people are getting frustrated with not being able to find things made in the USA. I sell auto parts, we have a crap load of stuff made in China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Pakistan.......you name it. I don't think a day goes by when a customer doesn't say, "gee, can't I get
anything made in America anymore?"
I'm a bit of a knife "flipper".....People for the most part that I know won't
pay 200 dollars up for a Tawain knife, stupid or not. It's hard enough to get them to buy a Japanese knife.
One of the reasons I really like My Native, and the BM's I own is that Made in USA on it.
I'm not super super Patriotic, but I'm still pretty picky of where my products come from.
How much more would it cost to have the Sage made in Japan as apposed to Taiwan?
I like the sticker on the blade idea, good idea.
Regards Sonny

[dsmegst]

This has been an interesting can of worms. I personally happen to like the Cat/Chicago and I'm a bit sad that it wasn't a success. There was a lot of promise in a reasonably priced knife with premium materials. A little elbow grease was all one needed to turn these knives into something akin to the Sage 1.

When the Bushcraft issue surfaced, the forum immediately jumped aboard to support Spyderco by buying up the 2nds in the space of a few days. The Cat/Chicago thing seems to have taken a different turn and it makes me wonder why...

[dbcad]

This thread has turned into a pretty good conversation. Good conversations can get heated, as long as the heat doesn't get high enough to eclipse sound reasoning. This medium (chat) can be challenging one.

Most of my :spyder: 's are from Japan. 2 are from Italy, and 2 from Taiwan and one from Golden. All are wonderful in my opinion and rival or best the competing companies in terms of quality, materials (mostly best), and style. I chose to purchase :spyder: because of quality, usefulness, and price. In my mind the :spyder: 's have been the best choice for me.

I would like to see more :spyder: 's made in the US too. Because of trade laws, foreign and domestic, and currency values :spyder: has to find it's makers where they can in order to make a profit and continue to serve their vision and cutomers. I remain true to Spyderco because it seems wherever they go quality and workmanship are a priority. In addition I have yet to see a variety of products from another manufacturer as intriguing, wide ranging and imaginative all using high quality materials and workmanship. There is a love of the product here. That's where I'll stay.

Charlie

[SteelDragon]

What's with the Nascar hate in this thread, granted I just popped in and read the last page. No other sporting activity in the US comes close to the support Nascar places on our Military and for me that means Nascar rocks!

Spyderco is also an outstanding Military supporter and that's what got me started in this crazy knife lifestyle I now live :)

So how's the weather in Taiwan or how are those numbers coming along :cool: Sorry it's been a long Monday....

[jzmtl]

You know, sometimes it's only when you take a knife apart, you really appreciate the workmanship went into it. Just reassembled my Gayle Bradley, and man that was nicely done. The blade was riding on a bushing, with two screws holding it from either side of the scale instead of the usual D-bolt and a screw. The pillars actually insert into holes in liner instead of simply sandwiched between liners. One end is D shaped to fit into the D shaped hole on front liner, so they stay in place instead of spinning with the screw. That happened on my military with the pillar inside spacer so I couldn't disassemble it.

In one word, wow!

[LorenzoL]

lets hope :spyder: starts to add a sticker on their blades with the country of origin like Cold steel machetes, and just engraves the bug on the blade. A little white spirit and it's gone... :D

I don't agree, for most knowledgeable Spyderco buyers the Taiwan logo is synonymous with quality.
It is funny how many here put Taiwan in the same bag as China and even Vietnam.
First of all, Taiwan has been an ally of the U.S. since all the way back when it split from communist mainland China. Boycotting Taiwan-made goods is actually playing in favor of communist China.
Second, Taiwan is far from being the backward country that many here seem to believe it is. It is the leading maker of semiconductors in the world and all major tech companies like Intel have production facilities on the island.

[damfan]

You know, sometimes it's only when you take a knife apart, you really appreciate the workmanship went into it. Just reassembled my Gayle Bradley, and man that was nicely done. The blade was riding on a bushing, with two screws holding it from either side of the scale instead of the usual D-bolt and a screw. The pillars actually insert into holes in liner instead of simply sandwiched between liners. One end is D shaped to fit into the D shaped hole on front liner, so they stay in place instead of spinning with the screw. That happened on my military with the pillar inside spacer so I couldn't disassemble it.

In one word, wow!

Hey, thanks for this "inside" info - I was wondering just how deeply the quality obvious from the outside ran, and you just confirmed it.

The Gayle Bradley is an AWESOME piece.

The irritating or scarey thing about this thread is how so many seem to be comfortable extrapolating from a very very small sample space to sweeping generalizations.

"I have not seen any bad ones, so it must be good."

"I have seen one/two/many so they must all be bad."

?!?

I'm relatively new here so I'll keep my peace, but having manufacturing and production experience since the 1980's, having advised on QC issues both from the consumer standpoint and from the manufacturer's standpoint (and from OEM client design houses' standpoint) for a few decades, I find it interesting that "image" and pre-conceptions are often more important in these sorts of discussions than statistics and "facts."

[jzmtl]

First of all, Taiwan has been an ally of the U.S. since all the way back when it split from communist mainland China.

Well, not really an ally, more like "enemy of my enemy is my friend".

[LorenzoL]

Well, not really an ally, more like "enemy of my enemy is my friend".

On what basis are you making this bold geopolitical statement?

[jzmtl]

On what basis are you making this bold geopolitical statement?

On the basis of lived there for many years and know many people from there.