Glen8Kershaw is owned by KAI international, a Japanese company. Almost all of their knives are made in China, and it's only been recently that they've started making knives in America again.
That having been said, ZT is owned by the same company, and all their knives are made in the USA. In fact, a lot of the designs are the same between the two, ZT's are just much better made with better materials
Morrowind542Interesting, they were started in Portland OR and still have their main office there I believe, most Oregonians still think of them as a local company... According to Wikipedia they were acquired by KAI in 1977, made their knives in Japan and opened their first and only USA factory in 1997 and it doesn't say when they started manufacturing in China, but that they produce from all 3 locations currently. The blade I have had from them the longest was made in USA, and I always thought that's where they made all their products. I notice they put CHINA on some blades but have seen some really inexpensive ones that did not seem to have this mark, do all blades from China have to have the CHINA marking? Or is it hit and miss as to whether it has this on the knife somewhere if made there?
Glen8I've only bought a few Kershaws, so I can't speak definitively, but all the ones I've bought have had China printed on the blade. On my Atmos, it's on the blade, but it's on the part that's hidden by the handle scales so you can't see it unless you take the knife apart.
Given that 90% of Kershaw's knives are made in China and that Made in America is a pretty significant marketing bullet point, I think it's safe to assume that any knife where you can't see a country of origin label was made in China
Morrowind542Thanks! Interestingly, the Damascus Kershaw for 85$ ('dividend' model, I believe...) that Massdrop has up, is made in the US according to offsite research I did, but I.saw no mention of it in the Massdrop listing, and don't remember seeing it on the blade either. I can't help but wonder if all Dividend models are US made or not...
That having been said, ZT is owned by the same company, and all their knives are made in the USA. In fact, a lot of the designs are the same between the two, ZT's are just much better made with better materials
Given that 90% of Kershaw's knives are made in China and that Made in America is a pretty significant marketing bullet point, I think it's safe to assume that any knife where you can't see a country of origin label was made in China