Remington Cutlery...

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I receive a lot of ads from a lot of different companies, selling anything, guns to medical supplies.

I'm being bombarded with Remington ads, pushing all their products.

Most recently I received an ad about all their knife products, which they are so proud.

Problem is... There's nothing Remington about them, other than the licensed Remington logo. Best I can tell, they're all Chinese. I've seen some of their products up close, and they really are marvelous to look at, but I continue to have a problem with a ( used to be) respectable brand outsourcing their products. I know they're not alone. Buck, S&W, Kershaw, Browning, Schrade, and many others, they all have some or all of their products made in Asia.

This is a knife I'd like to have. I almost hit "buy now". Then I came to my senses.

Screenshot 2023-01-25 at 12-42-35 Buy Remington Hunter Fixed Caping for USD 56.95 Remington.png
 
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Joined
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If Remington ever manufactured knives themselves, it was long ago. For many years before Remington branded knives were made in China, I believe they were made by Schrade and/or Camillus in the USA. I think I have a couple of those Made in USA contract Remington folders.

Was sad to see Schrade/Old Timer/Uncle Henry and Camillus close up several years back. Most people weren't willing to pay more for those USA knives than what was available for less from China.
 

Ride1949

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Schrade is still in business.


And you can still buy Old Timer here.

I've purchased both Schrade and Old Timer knives recently. Very nice, but they were both imported.
 

Ride1949

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Not all of them.
From the Schrade link.
Alpha class.


Two more in the Beta class. (The top two are USA made)



I'm pretty sure all the Old Timer/Uncle Henry are foreign made though. I bought this Old Timer (discontinued now) at Knife Country a couple years ago. It's been pretty good and it'salways in my pocket.
IMG_20220716_131306~6.jpg
 
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Thats interesting. Looks like American Outdoor Brands division of Smith & Wesson has contracted with Benchmade and/or Bear & Son for at least some of those models.

Edit: Added Bear & Son to Benchmade as a possible manufacturer.
 
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Ride1949

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Kershaw (now Kershaw Kia?) still has a pretty good selection of USA made knives, but you pay dearly for them.

 
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BULL'S-EYE

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There's no three words that disappoint me more than MADE IN CHINA...Especially on so many things that were once commonly made right here. But, the fact is that most manufacturers have abandoned the US workforce for higher profitability reasons (basically, foreign slave wages) and sadly, also a total lack of work ethic by a disturbingly large percentage of American workers, who still demand high wages to stand around and complain about anything and everything imaginable... Right here in the United States. Couple that with the fact that most consumers have been conditioned to cheap throwaway goods, and would rather pay $20 for a foreign made blade in a plastic clamshell at Walmart, than say $75 to a few hundred for a higher quality US made blade. I myself own a number of both kinds, the cheaper foreign blade tend to be my throw around beaters, while the more expensive US made tend to be get more pampered, or just put away and not used at all.
 

shoot to thrill

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There's no three words that disappoint me more than MADE IN CHINA...Especially on so many things that were once commonly made right here. But, the fact is that most manufacturers have abandoned the US workforce for higher profitability reasons (basically, foreign slave wages) and sadly, also a total lack of work ethic by a disturbingly large percentage of American workers, who still demand high wages to stand around and complain about anything and everything imaginable... Right here in the United States. Couple that with the fact that most consumers have been conditioned to cheap throwaway goods, and would rather pay $20 for a foreign made blade in a plastic clamshell at Walmart, than say $75 to a few hundred for a higher quality US made blade. I myself own a number of both kinds, the cheaper foreign blade tend to be my throw around beaters, while the more expensive US made tend to be get more pampered, or just put away and not used at all.
I have bought copycat knives off DH Gate and one was a copy of a $150 spyderco with SV30 steel for $40 bucks. it is exactly like the spyderco and I know the steel is real cause even a new diamond stone hardly does anything to it. very hard to dull and sharpen
 
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These knives were made in the USA, but the manufacturing facilities where they were made closed when the companies went bankrupt.

IMG_1960ms.jpg


Left:
A Schrade Tough Tool made by Imperial Schrade.

Top to bottom:
An Uncle Henry made by Imperial Schrade
A Remington made by Camillus
A Kamp King marked Imperial
A Camillus Trapper
A Kabar, US maker unknown, perhaps Camillus

At the time the Uncle Henry knife above was made, Imperial Schrade made both Uncle Henry and Old Timer knives, many of which shared the same patterns. The Old Timers used carbon steel blades with medium brown "sawed" Delrin handles, whereas the Uncle Henrys used stainless steel for the blades and sported imitation bone handles made of Delrin. The Uncle Henrys also had an one year replacement guarantee if the knife was lost!

Though those manufacturing facilities closed, there are still some multi-blade pocket knives being made in the USA. And it seems even more single lockblade folders and fixed blade knives are made here, by custom and semi-custom knifemakers and Bladesmiths as well as larger manufacturing companies.
 

shoot to thrill

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I bought a few of those knives off smoky mountain made in china and are excellent knives at a cheap price. I am tired of hearing the slave labor in China being China has brought over 500 million people out of poverty and into the middle class while the west is trying to put 500 million into poverty in US and Europe. Chinas goal in 10 years is to add 200 million more people into the middle class. slaves aint in the middle class
 
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I think the gun and knife industries are riddled with companies that outsource and relabel products trying to make a buck on brand-loyal buyers. This has been happening for decades. I noticed it when inventorying my dad's knife collection I inherited and doing a little research on them. Then companies, or their product lines, go under and get sold to foreign investors and you know what happens next. I find it funny that Vortex and so many other brands puts their name on tripods, for example, that are all made in the same factory in China. (Guessing ditto for optics.). But it's also hard not to enjoy a product (regardless of where it's made) that's of good design, well made of quality raw materials, and costs a fourth of the price as the product it was a copy of. But I do take issue with the copying of patents and undercutting the price - that's not right. When it comes to knives, though, I think more often than not for budget-friendly things, the type of steel used seems to be more dependent on geography and what steels may be more abundant in that location. I have Rough Riders built better than some of my Swiss Army knives that cost more, but both have inferior steel than my Buck USA S30V and Spyderco USA. My USA-made Old Timers are great, but I have a Chinese-made canoe model OT that's also pretty cool. My old Japanese-made blades are not something to write home about, but now they can be very expensive and high quality. I also have some Chinese-made knives that are downright unsafe,… and I've even thrown many in the trash! So in my experience, the quality of the knife can be a moving target depending on a lot of factors. I'd like to think if it's handmade with pride to support a family that it's a more righteous investment. But honestly, the way a lot of folks are these days, we would be short-sighted to think that the USA has a monopoly on that type of work ethic. When you visit other places in this world, you can discover that in many places, people are really the same. As for that good-looking "Remington" branded imported knife, it might be worth the price if the steel is good. (I forgot what steel it was made of.). If you want it cheaper, you can get it new on EBay for $39 with free shipping and free returns.

Edit: sorry for the long post!
 
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Buck tried having a few knives made in China. They weren't well received so while a few are still made there, it's a very limited number. There are still people out there that price is everything, and regardless of how small, they are still a piece of the market.

I have a fair number of Bucks and all are made in USA.
 

shoot to thrill

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Buck tried having a few knives made in China. They weren't well received so while a few are still made there, it's a very limited number. There are still people out there that price is everything, and regardless of how small, they are still a piece of the market.

I have a fair number of Bucks and all are made in USA.
bucks main steel is 420HC. it is a cheap steel and barely adequate. I have cheap Chinese knives with 440A steel and the steel is much better
 
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Pretty much Bud K specials with Remington on them. You pretty much can't trust any of the old names like you could years ago. I remember when Boker meant super hard semi brittle blades that held an edge if you had something hard enough to sharpen it. If you tried to do anything but cut they would break like glass. Bucks were more of a utility tool that could stand up to abuse. Leatherman steel is probably the finest I have experienced. With a strop or buffer finish it will curl fingerprints.
 
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protoolman

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My main American made knives are all carbon steel. One Russell green River from the 1800s and several 1930s to 1950s Marble's from Gladstone MI. Those are my hunting knives.
Now pocket knives my great uncle's spent real money in the 1940s to 1960s and bought German Bokers or various Sheffield steel knives from England or Solingen steel from Germany. Bucks have been criticized for using cheap steel my whole life with me being the 3rd generation. Stainless steel is horrible in any knife as far as I'm concerned. My scuba diving knife is my only one I can think of. My great uncle's never much used a USA pocket knife but foreign meant German ,English or even Spanish steel as they were considered superior to US steel. Oddly AG Russell was once asked about the finest hunting knives mass produced in the USA and he said vintage Marble's knives were potentially the Sharpest and would hold an edge longer than most, which is my experience.
 
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Interesting the disdain by some folks of some knives, including Buck, because they use cheap steel. 🤔 .

I guess I just don't know enough to know better. I have hunted and fished most of my life. I have field dressed, skinned, deboned more deer, etc., than I can count, using run of the mill American made knives, often stainless, and I have yet to find such a knife not up to the task.

My earliest hunting knife, which I still have but only occasionally use, is an old Western. Pre-stainless, and now severely stained and pitted, it doesn't cut any better than my latter-day stainless knives.

I'll continue to use my inferior Buck, Gerber, Kershaw, etc., and more, knives, being blissfully ignorant and happy. :)
 
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