There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
"It's made in China" is not a good argument for why you think something is of lower quality.
Like...everything is made in China. Almost all of your electronics are made in China. And the good shit, too. Nintendo Switches, GPUs, smartphones, etc. It's an absurd argument that was out of date, like, 15 years ago.
Get over it. China can make good shit.
And just because it's Made in the USA doesn't mean it's actually good shit nor does it necessarily mean it's actually going to a worthy cause.
One poster on here made the comment that the gentleman that runs TUKK's should outsource and have his product made for $1 in China in order to be more profitable. I think a lot of folks are missing the point. The guy with TUKK's obviously takes a lot of pride in the fact that he hand makes every piece in his shop in Iowa. It's too bad more Americans don't feel the same way. This isn't a slight against the gentlemen today that are manufacturing their item here for sale on Massdrop in China. They simply have a different business model. One could argue for days about which is better or worse.
From what I see that has drawn the TUKK's version and the current FF or whatever it is together in a somewhat opposing challenge, in this ridiculous tome of a discussion on MD (which I'm adding to by the way), is not so much the "Made In China" argument as opposed to "Made In The U.S.", but the pricing of the two products relative to where they are each made. As I said in certain ways in an earlier post, if you can afford to spend $39.99 not including shipping from MD on a Chinese made item, why not just buy the U.S. one for $53 total from a guy that obviously takes pride in what he does and is trying to support his family along the way. And, BTW, I have no idea who this gentleman with TUKK's is, nor the gentlemen selling this current product on MD.
If the United States continues to outsource everything to China, we Americans will continue to see the decline of the U.S. in literally EVERYTHING, and have a lot more to worry about In the "big picture". It is far more complicated than just having "Get over it. China can make good shit [sic]."
With the way things are going with the overreach of the U.S.' imperialistic view in regards to China, et al., especially with China's claim over some backwater Islands in the South China sea, we may not be having anything made in the P.R.O.C. anymore if a shooting match starts.
Take care and Cheers!
I could also get into a larger discussion about the global economy and America's place in it (or rather, it's increasing irrelevance in it), but this is a discussion about knives, I don't want to get too far off-topic.
And yes, if you want to get into the discussion of whether a product is worth more because it is hand-made versus mass-produced, that's a legitimate discussion. But a lot of the posts I was seeing here was like "pssh, Chinese, what a rip-off," and frankly that doesn't just come off as simplistically dumb but also a little xenophobic. It's like people freaking out over MSG or expecting all Mexican food to be cheap, stop letting your unconscious expectations of cultural stereotypes dictate actual objective buying decisions.
Take care,
At this point a 'Made in the USA' badge only tells me that I need to find the shortcuts before I make a decision on the item. A price tag for a Kizer- or WE-built item usually comes with a lot more milling and machining work than what you would expect for their materials and cost. I like well-finished knives and gadgets, sloppy or excessively spartan knives do not appeal to me just because they were made in the U.S.
Then again, there are still U.S. companies like Piranha who make plenty respectable knives at a reasonable price for their materials and still pull off an aesthetic panache.
It bothers me to no end that the same crowd who likely uses an Ozark Trail, Kershaw, or CRKT folder as their work knife also spends their time haranguing against some of the best middle and upper range production knives available simply because they are built by a Chinese company. As if the $4 3cr13mov paint scraper with a point is somehow a better deal than a perfectly executed knife with a titanium handle and S35VN blade that costs $125.
The atavism of asininity requires us to endlessly explain to these burner accounts that high end goods cannot be compared to big box store cheapest-possible goods just because they are made in the same country. I've got to say that Jonas displays an enormous amount of patience and tact when he gets involved with those skirmishes, and he does it in long form too. It's impressive to someone like me, I end up making cutting statements more often than I should.
With that being said, my argument between the two knives has to do with origin and price, not whether one is a rip off of the other or not, or for that matter, another knife in general. To me saying that one knife (unless it has unique decorative qualities to it) is a copy of another knife is sort of splitting hairs. It's like saying frying pans are rip offs other frying pans. Of courser they are.
Unless you're looking at esoteric stuff, they all are simply, and relatively inexpensive "tools". The knives in question here are basically box cutters, not steak knives.
If hypocrisy and mud slinging is being done by "Brad", I completely understand, and support your reasoning for purchasing this one. There simply isn't room for that regardless of price and origin. Those things take care of themselves in time though.
Thanks
Man, I have truly enjoyed the civility amongst everyone in here regarding this back and forth debate for what amounts to be "box cutters"! I think we've all been in some news group discussion before that started out sane and civil on say, the subject of weedeaters or vitamins, etc. and before you know it, it has turned into a full blown character assault on the individual, their mother, sister you name it.
Thanks, rivy!