Gerber Knife Recall

[davidjinks]

Gerber Istant Knife

Not sure if anyone uses this type of knife here but I figured I'd pass along the information.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12163.html

[Icculus]

I understand why it's being recalled but there's something ironic about a knife being recalled for a laceration hazard.

[davidjinks]

Kinda like lighters being recalled for fires...

I thought it was amusing myself.



I understand why it's being recalled but there's something ironic about a knife being recalled for a laceration hazard.

[Eurodriver]

Gerber manufactures its knives in China? :(

[ChicagoTex]

Most major knife manufacturers sell different price classes of knives made in different places (for example, Spyderco sells knives made in China, Japan, and Golden, CO, Kershaw, Gerber, and Buck all have some US models and some Chinese models, etc). In general, the $20-$50 knives you see in blister packs at sporting goods stores are almost always made in China, regardless of brand.

[ucrt]

...
...almost always made in China, regardless of brand.

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That is "China, Texas" ...right? Just west of Beaumont? ;)


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[ChicagoTex]

That is "China, Texas" ...right? Just west of Beaumont?

I wish. I remember trying to convince Sal Glesser back in the early 2000's not to expand Spyderco's foreign-made lines. At the time, I was optimistic that buyers like myself would be willing to fork over the extra cash for US made models. While he conceded that he certainly wanted to and "should" (under ideal circumstances) be able to keep it mostly in country, he wasn't confident that that would be the right direction for the company.

At the time, of course, I was a 17 year old shithead who thought he knew how the world worked, and Mr. Glesser obviously made the correct and realistic choice for his company, but I gotta give the man credit for at least taking my argument, steeped in naievete as it was, seriously.

Great guy, great company, great knives. It's just a shame to me that the majority of American knife buyers seriously think more than $30 for a knife is unreasonable, and so many good companies have had to go at least partially foreign to capture that market.

As for myself, I don't buy nearly as many knives as I used to, but when I do, I continue to try to buy quality American.

[ucrt]

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About 25-30 years ago, I used to sell knives on construction jobs and a gun show every now and then. I can remember getting Parker Knives with "Parker Cutlery; Chattanooga, Tn." stamped on the front and "Made in Japan" printed in "grease" on the backside. A single rub of your thumb and "Japan" would wipe off.

You were kind of a cheapskate to have a Japanese made knife back then but actually, they were pretty well made. The real skank at the time was a Pakistani knife. Now a Japanese made knife is well thought of??

Man, things have sure taken a turn for the worse when we are having to give asylum to a blind guy living in the country of our largest trade-partner.
I guess it's all "OK"... IF enough money is involved... :confused:

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[ChicagoTex]

You were kind of a cheapskate to have a Japanese made knife back then but actually, they were pretty well made. The real skank at the time was a Pakistani knife. Now a Japanese made knife is well thought of??

Seki City in the Gifu prefecture has a manufacturing network that produces high end knives for some very reputable companies (Al Mar, Spyderco, higher end Cold Steel, etc), Japanese production knives produced outside of the Seki manufacturing community are generally of substantially less quality. So the Japanese knives well thought of are really specifically Seki City Japanese.

I haven't seen a Pakistani blade in quite some time, but every single one I've ever encountered was absolute garbage. Nowadays the crappier knives are coming out of China and Taiwan, but there are also some very respectable knives coming out of both of those countries aswell (Chinese Spydercos, Kershaws, and Bucks are all above average and Taiwanese blades from companies like CRKT and the now defunct Outdoor Edge are also very respectable). In short, country of origin is no longer a particularly reliable indicator of quality or lack thereof and it instead comes down to who, specifically, manufactured the knife.

[ucrt]

...
...So the Japanese knives well thought of are really specifically Seki City Japanese.

I haven't seen a Pakistani blade in quite some time, but every single one I've ever encountered was absolute garbage. ...
....

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I remember Al Mar being almost the exclusive Seki City knife company way back then. I think they had an inside track or something because Al Mars were the first quality knives I remember being from Japan.

When my oldest son was about 4-5, I bought a Paki knife that I was going to cut the point off and dull for him to carry. I figured he'd lose it pretty quick, so I'd start off with a cheap one. I took a pair of Side Cutters and put the blade tip of the Paki knife in them to cut off a 1/4" or so. I was worried about the piece of blade I was cutting off ricocheting in my Shop, so I went outside to make the cut. As I squeezed the pliers, it was like I cut a piece of copper...no temper at all.
You're right, they were trash. Know what's funny, my son still has that piece of kaa-kaa knife. :)

But maybe it's just me...

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[ChicagoTex]

Clearly your son understood how to take care of his stuff, that's always a good thing.

It is funny though how some of the crappiest knives are the ones that seem to endure the most. I've got a Schrade carbon steel stockman knocking around in one of my tool boxes - it turns out that even with total neglect the blade would only corrode so far. On the flipside I have a loosey-goosey cheap chinese bali-song knocking around that a friend gave to me for sharpening a couple of his higher end knives. I took the already ultra dull blade and just ground it off a little more to turn it into a dedicated trainer. I still give it a whirl from time to time at home even though I was compelled to sell my Benchmade 42 when I moved to Texas because apparently in this state a bali-song in my left pocket is waaay more dangerous than the 9mm Walther PPS in my right pocket.:rolleyes: