Country of origin??

[LDB]

In what order would the countries of origin be ranked from best quality product downward? I'm sure the minimum acceptable standards are high for all product but I'm one of those old time guys who thinks made in U.S.A. means something and means the best product. Any/all opinions are welcomed and solicited.

[Ankerson]

Quality can be had from a lot of different Counties as long as QC is high.

I don't have much faith in most USA Corps these days for a variety of reasons, most due to greed and cutting corners etc along with what they are doing to their employees. I really despise most USA Corps for the way they operate and their business practices etc.

Spyderco is great though. :spyder:

[The Deacon]

If we're confining this discussion to Spyderco knives, IMHO the best ones right now seem to be coming out of Taiwan. Materials are all first rate. Steel, in fact, is US made CPM S30V. Fit and finish is better than 95% of what's coming out of Japan. My only regret it that there are no midlock models among them yet.

A few of the Japanese models would come next, mostly the ones made for Spyderco by Moki. Those would be followed by some of the models made in Golden, followed by an interweaving of the rest of the Japanese and Golden built models.

I'd rate the ones produced in Chinese at the low end of the scale. They're decently made and excellent values for their price points, but they're a notch below those made elsewhere in terms of materials and, in at least some cases, workmanship.

[LDB]

Yes, QC is important and I presume for Spyderco it is high both in requirements and priority. That said, I wonder if the mandatory levels are exceeded and if so by which manufacturers for Spyderco.

The second reply came before I got this posted. That's the sort of information I was looking for. Thanks for the replies and please keep them coming.

[unit]

My opinion is that attempting to correlate color to quality would be about as meaningful.

Simply put, there is no hard correlation between what makes a knife wonderful and where it comes from (beyond opinion). USA produces some fantastic stuff...and some garbage. The same can probably be said for Taiwan, China, and others.

Now, if we start to talk about only recent offerings from Spyderco, I would amend my statement to exclude the word "garbage" but my point is the same (no particular country of origin holds the monopoly on quality)

[2cha]

Country of origin doesn't matter so much for quality except "everything else" and then China. Even the quality on the Byrd knives is fine. For me, it's about where I want my money to go--or, preferably, to stay--I believe in voting with my wallet.

[LDB]

Recent Spyderco knives are the subject in question. Yes, there can be everything from junk to as close to perfect as humanly possible produced in any country depending on what is under discussion. My curiosity is Spyderco knives and I'd suspect some are better than others, a premise supported by the post by TheDeacon.

[TBob]

I have recent Spydies from Golden, CO, Seki, Japan, and Taichung, Taiwan, and I would rate them all at equal, outstanding quality. No country has a lock on quality - it comes from skill, dedication, and diligence, not the color of your passport. In my experience, the Spyderco partners in Seki and Taichung produce top-notch quality, as does the factory in USA, Earth. They wouldn't be making Spydies if they weren't the best.

Then there's the PRC. In my general experience, quality from the PRC lives near the bottom of the world pile. However, Sal, Eric, and their team carefully picked their partner in the PRC and work closely with them to bring them up to standards. The success of the Byrd series speaks for itself. At their price point, they do fine. Spyderco did what they had to do to offer bargain knives at reasonable quality, but I'm sure that their mentorship continues.

[Water Bug]

Seems to me since Sal, Eric, and the Spyderco Crew are involved in the overall process of a Spyderco knife's design, marterials, manufacturing, and choice of partners that the country of origin, when it comes to quality, matters not. The quality is going to be good in a :spyder: no matter where it's built because that's what Sal wants for his customers.

The integrity of the company's leadership is what ultimately determines the quality of the end product. Sal and crew have proven time and time again they'll stand by their products and make good those occasional problems that make it through in spite of their best efforts.

[LDB]

I never doubted there were standards that must be met. My question was whether any one manufacturer might go farther above and beyond than the rest. If so, I'd like to focus on those offerings.

[catamount]

I never doubted there were standards that must be met. My question was whether any one manufacturer might go farther above and beyond than the rest. If so, I'd like to focus on those offerings.

The Taiwanese maker of the Sage, Chokwe, Bradley and Terzuola Slipit (blades now being marked Taichung Taiwan, previously just Taiwan), and Moki in Japan, maker of the Caly series, Persian series, Kris, JD Smith, Barong, Khukuri, Zowada et al (blades marked Japan, not Seki City Japan) are two that stand out in a field of excellence.

[TBob]

I never doubted there were standards that must be met. My question was whether any one manufacturer might go farther above and beyond than the rest. If so, I'd like to focus on those offerings.

In my experience, no. The fit and finish from Golden, Seki, and Taichung are equivalent in my experience. If I didn't read it on the blade, I couldn't tell where each on was made by examining them closely.

[00max00]

In my experience, no. The fit and finish from Golden, Seki, and Taichung are equivalent in my experience. If I didn't read it on the blade, I couldn't tell where each on was made by examining them closely.

+1.
I have no idea what's all the fuss about the Chinese made products, Taiwan or the Mainland. Quality-wise, no one is clearly superior to another, there might be a difference in price though. I believe that Spyderco has a standard QC policy for all of its contractors.

[jzmtl]

I have a couple of knives from taiwan and they are among the highest quality spydercos, easily on par with with stuff from Moki (which is regarded as best of Japan). In fact they are better than the last knife I have from Moki, a caly 3.5 with quite uneven scale bevel.

[TBob]

+1.
I have no idea what's all the fuss about the Chinese made products, Taiwan or the Mainland. Quality-wise, no one is clearly superior to another, there might be a difference in price though. I believe that Spyderco has a standard QC policy for all of its contractors.

I think the quality differentiation is with the knives from the PRC, not Taiwan. Taiwan has a well-developed technology and manufacturing base. I've visited some of their leading high-tech facilities and came away very impressed.

In contrast, the PRC in general makes poor, cheap imitations of stuff from the West out of junk material. Hang out in the knock-off forum here for a while or search around ebay to get an idea. A lot of the cheap stuff found in S. Korea and Singapore is made in the PRC and it has caused issues in those countries. In the case of Byrds, however, the Spyderco team set high standards and mentored that specific factory on how to achieve those standards. In my experience, Spyderco's parnership is an extraordinary case, though.

[ruger95]

The last thing I consider when purchasing a spyderco.

When I have to consider this, I'll follow some other
manufacturer.

[v8r]

I have a couple of knives from taiwan and they are among the highest quality spydercos, easily on par with with stuff from Moki (which is regarded as best of Japan). In fact they are better than the last knife I have from Moki, a caly 3.5 with quite uneven scale bevel.

I agree with this myself. I also have a few of the Byrd Ss models ( 2 Pelicans, Crossbill, And Flight) that have superb fit and finish (made in China). All of them seem a little tight at first until washed, oiled and broken in, but they all have zero blade play and are slick after these steps are taken. I have been very pleased with all of them. The Pelican is by far my favorite out of the series, and I hope they will sometime do a Wharnie Byrd based on it. It wouldn't take much change in the blade cutting program to tweak the tip.

[npueppke]

I say:

2. China
1. Everyplace Else

Not because I have a problem with manufacture in China, the quality just isn't quite the same as it is everywhere else (quality of hardware, G10, etc... maybe if Spyderco made a high-end knife in China it would be just as good as a knife made in Taiwan, but right now I'd consider Spyderco/Byrd to be comparable to Boker Plus, which is a notch below a 'real' spydie).

[bh49]

I never doubted there were standards that must be met. My question was whether any one manufacturer might go farther above and beyond than the rest. If so, I'd like to focus on those offerings.

During my spyderco addiction I bought over 100 blades. I consider two suppliers would go an extra step to deliver the product better than acceptable. I bought several knives from and each one of them exceeded my expectations.These are Fox, Italy and Taichung, Taiwan. Only once I bought defective knife: chunk of steel was missing on my Superhawk. Both Moki and Golden make good product, but I had knives, where I was somehow disappointed with fit and finish, especially considering price. I do not own any knives made in PRC, so I cannot comment.

[Ben_1323]

Is the Caly 3.5 definitely made by Moki? This quote from Sal makes it sound like it's a Seki model.

Thanx much Roger for the great shots and kind words. Thanx to Paul and others for additional shots for comparisons.

The design concept for this model began back in the mid 80's. The first proto ws made in Taiwan and the quality was not acceptable. We began working with another maker in Seki a little later and we wee able to get something we were satisfied with. We believed the design concept to be sound and we've been evolving the models since.

We've thought about bolstered models (mostly because some of our customers have been nagging us ). the maker is capable, cost could be up there. We'll show the proto when it comes in and they we (you and us) will make some decisions.

sal

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