I agree with everything what you said and I am glad that you like Native5.The Deacon wrote:Where do the best hard use knives come from - Golden. In a real SHTF moment I'd grab for my C95 Manix and Chinook 3 before heading for the hills.
Where do the knives with the most consistently excellent fit and finish come from - Taiwan. More specifically, from Taichung. Spyderco's maker there most definitely deserves all the praise they get.
Where do almost all my favorite knives come from - Japan. May just be luck of the draw. May be that, at least until recently, they were the best at midlocks. Either way, it's where the Stretch, Kiwi, Schempp Persian, micarta Jester, and all the Kitchen Sharps, hail from. But Taichung has already broken that monopoly on my pocket space with the Chaparral and Golden may be poised to do so as well with Native V.
I was looking for the Poll numbers
Golden, CO USA 29
Seki, Japan 13
Taichung, Taiwan 40
and one thought stroked my mind: Japanese made knives lost their leading position. First Spydercos were made in Japan. For many years Spyderco were made in Japan only. And they were good, very good. I remember time, when "made in Japan" was synonym of perfection. Many of my favorite Spydercos were made in Japan, but most of them discontinued, only Calys left. But lately I am reading more and more comments about sticky lock. I owned 5 Caly3, which I bought years ago, none of them had sticky lock. Also after success of Sage1 it looks like more and more new models moving to Taichung and not Japan. Is this reflection of the drop in quality of Japanese made knives. Also I remember Sal's comment about Navaja, that Taichung maker was the only one who took the job. This is in today's economy, to turn job down, when companies ready to cut their profits and do anything to get a job?
Probably we will never know, what is going on, but this is sad picture, at least for me.