Who wants more Chinese-made Spydies? I know I do.

The Deacon · #61

bh49 wrote:I believe MCM hit the nail. This is not about products. Try to see forest.

Also I understand comment that this is up to Spyderco to choose where to make knives and more models are coming, the topic of the thread was "Who want to see Chinese-made Spidies" I am certainly not. I like Tenacious design, but I have no intention to buy. I own US, Japanese, European and Taiwanese made :spyder:

To me, Roman, the "forest" here is the economic viability of Spyderco. I have no particular interest in the models made in China, and don't expect to anytime soon. But, if having them in the lineup to broaden Spyderco's customer base to include folks who would find Spyderco's other offerings too expensive to consider help keep Spyderco solvent, then I'm all for it.

You, of course, are free to spend your money as you see fit. I can even relate to your feelings, in the sense that, if Spyderco were to produce a knife in an Islamic country, I would not purchase it, no matter how close to my "ideal" design it was.

ChrisR · #62

Yeah, I think some people are forgetting that the profit for the China-made knives is going to support a fine US company. Sure the manufacturing abroad means that some money goes to a Chinese factory, rather than having them made in-house, but Spyderco's in-house manufacturing is probably running at capacity making higher-end product and having a budget end to their range is just common sense - especially in the current economic climate.

v8r · #63

I figure Sal knows what he is doing.Politics aside if it is a well made product that is being manufactured under the watchful eye of a American company then it is fine with me.I would love it if they could make all the models they sell here in the states, but the great majority of Americans want cheap unfortunately. I find this the case every day in my line of work.They want good ,but cheap. We all know most of the time good ain't cheap and cheap ain't good.Spyderco managed to bring a well made "Entry Level" knife to the market that just happened to be made in China so everyone could afford to have a decent knife. :)

Doc Pyres · #64

None for me, thank you.

chuck_roxas45 · #65

If this is one way that spyderco can finance the knives for us afis, then so be it. I bought a persistence and a tenacious and they do fulfill what I need them to do which just food related chores when I'm out of the house. They slice unbelievably well and are a hoot to sharpen to hair whittling sharpness. I don't use them for hard tasks so I don't foresee any problem except losing them or wearing them out which I don't think will be soon.

Redeye · #66

A definite 'no' from me.

For ethical and political reasons I don't own any Chinese-made knives, and I won't be buying any in the foreseeable future.

I've owned several Byrds in the past and been impressed by the quality, but that's irrelevant to the larger issues. I don't believe that we can 'put politics aside' when we spend our money, and I refuse to support China with mine when I could give that money to American or European workers.

Scottie3000 · #67

I wonder if anyone has any numbers on sales of different models, be it a Spyderco personality or just a shop owner. I would be willing to wager that models like the Delica, Endura, and Tenacious make up about 50% or more of the total Spydie sales. Models that we AFIs ask for (CF Stretch, Phoenix, Bradley, Rock Lobster, Sprint runs) probably make up less than 5%.

To me, Chinese models are not high on my buy list. I try to buy American when I can. If not, I try to avoid Chinese if I can. But, as they say "Build it and they will come."

5.56 · #68

I'm glad to see this topic is finally being discussed and not deflected with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. :D

I know Sal and Co read these threads, and in the past, the threads have influenced change. If I am reading this correctly, it would appear that a majority here don't seek out Chinese products. I am seeing the same reluctance with regards to Spyderco's largest competitor, which by the way, took note and dropped the Chinese line from their company named lines. :)

nozh2002 · #69

5.56 wrote:I'm glad to see this topic is finally being discussed and not deflected with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. :D

I know Sal and Co read these threads, and in the past, the threads have influenced change. If I am reading this correctly, it would appear that a majority here don't seek out Chinese products. I am seeing the same reluctance with regards to Spyderco's largest competitor, which by the way, took note and dropped the Chinese line from their company named lines. :)

I am trying to avoid products made in Communist China, but really like knives made in Taiwan.

So I do not want knife made in Chine even from Spyderco.

Communist Party of China for decades maintain unfair dollar exchange rate which make everything made in China competitive. In result anyone who play by rules may not ever win.

This way China steels jobs from US and other countries, making huge amount of money which they spend only buying things they can not make on their own - modern Russian weapons, like Sunburn battle group killer guided missiles, which armed with Chinese nuclear warheads make any battle group few hundreds miles near China bank or around Taiwan - fat sitting duck.

China communist government refuse even discuss this exchange rate issue. And US (unlike Japan) is so hooked up on this - can not do anything about it! So I try to contribute a little not buying things made in China - if possible, which is harder and harder to do...

Thanks, Vassili.

jzmtl · #70

5.56 wrote:I'm glad to see this topic is finally being discussed and not deflected with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. :D

I know Sal and Co read these threads, and in the past, the threads have influenced change. If I am reading this correctly, it would appear that a majority here don't seek out Chinese products. I am seeing the same reluctance with regards to Spyderco's largest competitor, which by the way, took note and dropped the Chinese line from their company named lines. :)

A couple squeaky gears doesn't constitute as majority, especially not on the whole consumer base.

And as far as the competitor is concerned, did you know they are still making the same models but simply under a different brand? I bet happened is the red line wasn't making as much money as they had hoped, so they moved the profitable models under the HK flag and put their spin doctors on it, which obviously worked on some people.

HotSoup · #71

I'll definitely be picking up a Resilience, and so will some of my friends who are anticipating it.

Despite what the forumite majority may think, the numbers clearly show what the general public is buying.

If you have ever been on the YCS website you'll see that the Tenacious and Persistence have been the top sellers for a LONG time, not to mention that both models have some pretty 'influential' endorsements on youtube... but the bottom line is that they are excellent.

The Deacon · #72

jzmtl wrote:A couple squeaky gears doesn't constitute as majority, especially not on the whole consumer base.

True, very true. Common sense would suggest that the only valid reason for Spyderco to drop any, or all, of the models made in China from the lineup would be the same reasons they'd drop a model made in Taiwan, Japan, Golden, or anywhere else - poor sales or vendor issues. If the Chinese models are selling well and if, as I suspect, the type of buyers who frequent these forums are not the intended audience for them, then opinions voiced here, pro or con, are irrelevant. Or rather, the only opinions that would be relevant are those of people who have purchased one or more of them regarding their "value for the dollar". That "feedback", at least what of it I've read, has been overwhelmingly favorable.

StangBang · #73

I own one chinese knife, that is a Byrd Robin, and I actually love it. (It was a gift from my girlfriend so of course that plays into it) FTM it really is a great knife. VERY easy to sharpen and very sturdy. No blade play, and a centered blade. Mine is the SS version however.

I have wanted to try out other Byrd Models to see how they compare but so far, I end up doing what others have said, I save a little more and buy a higher end spydie. I LOVE my Para's and Manix 2's. I think the $70-$80 price range for the Standard 154 cm Manix 2 is one awesome deal on such a great knife. As others have said though some people don't want to spend that much.

For those who don't I do think the Persistance and Tenacious make great choices. I gifted one of my best friends a Persistance and I was impressed with it, especially for $30. I wouldn't have given it to him if it wasn't a quality product.

With that being said, I think the current offerings are great. We don't need any more really.

Think of it this way, if that same person isn't willing to spend $75+ on a single model I doubt they will buy every Chinese model available. (For the masses, not just the collectors) I think the current offerings provide a good selection to choose from.

MCM · #74

"Despite what the forumite majority may think, the numbers clearly show what the general public is buying"

I concur with this statement 100%.
Like everything else priced too good to be true.
There are 250+ for sale on the bay right now with a BIN price under $30.00

THG · #75

My friend has a Tenacious, and I just sharpened it a couple days ago. I LOVE the design. However, I won't get one for myself for two reasons:

1. I try not to buy Chinese products whenever possible (taking jobs, political reasons, etc.)

2. The quality is very noticeably lower than that of other Spyderco knives.

Other than that, I loved the feel and design of the knife. It's too bad that such a great design is produced in such a country... And don't give me any biggot/"closed-minded" crap, because my grandparents came from that country :) (and never looked back because it was NOT KIND TO THEM.)

jzmtl wrote:And as far as the competitor is concerned, did you know they are still making the same models but simply under a different brand? I bet happened is the red line wasn't making as much money as they had hoped, so they moved the profitable models under the HK flag and put their spin doctors on it, which obviously worked on some people.

Isn't that largely HK & HD's choice? I don't think BM told them that they HAVE TO produce Chinese knives. Unless BM owns HK and HD and I don't know about it.

5.56 · #76

MCM wrote:"Despite what the forumite majority may think, the numbers clearly show what the general public is buying"

Yeah because the general public is not informed. It's really sad. They don't care about what steel it has, or fit and finish, they just see price and Spyderco. And Spyderco is banking on that.

My father in law keeps asking me why his Gerber knife always needs sharpening. He thought all Gerber's were great knives. :rolleyes: Not informed.

And yes I know HK is BM's Chinese line now, I was just noting that they removed their name(BM) from all of the Chinese lines. Not a bad move.

carrot · #77

5.56 wrote:Yeah because the general public is not informed. It's really sad. They don't care about what steel it has, or fit and finish, they just see price and Spyderco. And Spyderco is banking on that.

You make it sound like a bad thing.

Not everyone wants or needs a super steel. Spyderco's 8cr is still better than a lot of steels found in knives of the same price range and offers good performance at low cost. And Spyderco's Chinese knives still have pretty good F&F.

What's important for Spyderco's growth is getting the Spyderco name out there and being recognized for the features that Spyderco truly excels at: usability, ergonomics and cutting performance.

Remember that not everybody is an afi and not everybody is willing to spend upwards of $50 and upwards of $100 on a knife. Some people just want a knife that cuts, and when they get a Spyderco they will come to the conclusion that the rest of us already have: that Spyderco makes great knives. Hopefully that conclusion will lead them to get an Edge-U-Cation, more Spyderco knives, and join the rest of us as afis of fine steels and fine F&F.

jzmtl · #78

THG wrote:
Isn't that largely HK & HD's choice? I don't think BM told them that they HAVE TO produce Chinese knives. Unless BM owns HK and HD and I don't know about it.

BM makes (and owns?) HK knives, I don't think the actual gun company has much input in the line, just like S&W.

5.56 · #79

carrot wrote:You make it sound like a bad thing.

Right.

Spyderco sharing profits with a non-allied communist country is not a good thing in my opinion.

The General · #80

I think a Spyderco made in an Islamic country would be great. Especially if it were an ethic design like the Persian.

I am all about equality and freedoms.