America, used to be engineering-led. Seeing “Made in USA” most often meant you were holding something that was engineered to work and to last. Exceptions to this were rare.
The economist-led America of today? Well, I’ve got a modern “made in usa” through hole socket set in the garage with a shattered 13mm socket. I could tell from the second I lifted the first socket they had saved some cash on the materials.
Policy type discussions today aren’t fundamentally based on whether something is physically possible or whether a thing would be desirable - discussions today are inevitably founded on cost, they will often touch on other subjects for sure but the one lens that cannot be discarded is the cost one.
It’s ok. I’ve collected a few nick nacks from NASA’s glorious days to keep me cheered up.
As an European consumer I became wary of US products. Very often you will find that what is delivered doesn't quite live up to what was advertised, sometimes it is just the more expensive version of the exact same thing you would find on Aliexpress. Sometimes it is a bit like getting a McDonalds burger and comparing it to their product picture.
And even if it is a genuine design I always wonder if customer satisfaction or the shareholder value is more important when push comes to shove. As I had expensive things that should last a lifetime fail only to find out that it was just a metal case around the same plastic crap you'd find in a product one magnitude cheaper.
Not to say that this affects all areas, certain specialized equipment from the US is still top notch, e.g. SoundDevices with their audio recorders or similar equipment.
Not to say that this isn't also a trend found in products from elsewhere. The way I see it "Made in $X" doesn't mean a lot anymore. E.g. it could mean that top engineers from $X designed a product that is manufactured with the tightest tolerances on the best machines in a way that it lasts forever, or it could mean that a underpaid engineer was pressed by beancounters to replace the last metal piece with a plastic one and it has been injection molded by a subcontractor that does that as a high-volume, low-margin filler job they only take to fill the gaps in their production schedule.
Made in the US or Made in Germany doesn't mean anything at all, because bean counters extracted the value connected to that trust over the past decades. Now there is no trust left to extract.
"Made in Japan" won't have the same issue because culturally Japanese people will always buy a Japanese products even if there's a cheaper alternative. Visit Tokyo & count how many people drive Hyundai. "Made in US" doesn't have the same local advocacy because it's driven by different market dynamics (Consumerism & Immigration). Japanese work culture still cares for craftsman ship but they have fallen behind in advance tech compared to other nations like Taiwan & Korea.
You should look at some USA made pocket knives. American manufacturing is still alive, well and expensive. Three Rivers Manufacturing, Chris Reeves Knives, Oz Machine Co, American Bladeworks, Koenig Knives and others are doing the best machining using the best materials with the finest engineering anywhere in the world.
I cant even think of any swiss knife manufacturers except for Victorinox. They are cute and handy but not even in the same world as the knife manufacturers mentioned above. For instance the SAK in my pocket currently has ever so slight side-to-side blade play from the factory and the file has over time created a small scratch on the side of the blade. Both these kinds of faults would get you a brand new knife and profuse apology from the likes of Koenig or TRM.
Dont get me wrong swiss army knives are great but they cant hold a candle to American manufacturers.
> I cant even think of any swiss knife manufacturers except for Victorinox.
The term "Swiss Army Knife" is trademarked by Victorinox. There used to be another manufacturer (Wenger), but they got bought by Victorinox and the brand disappeared in 2013.
Not that Spyderco are bad, as they do make quality knives. but after switching to Benchmade … I would highly recommend Benchmade over nearly anything else.
Try a Three Rivers Manufacturing Shadow. Same lock as a Benchmade but better quality control and IMO a superior design as far as ergonomics and practicality go than anything currently on offer from Benchmade. I love my Benchmades but when compared to TRM they almost always end up looking like a worse value proposition.
Yeah, but they have social healthcare, so I guess they weep all the way to their four+ weeks of paid vacation in their beautiful alpine landscape with drinking-water-quality lakes. It probably crushes their souls that the US landed on the moon over half a century ago.
On a more serious note, it crushes my soul to see that US citizens, given all the US dystopian problems still cling to old (and granted: impressive!) victories, while there seems to be not a scintilla of optimism for the challenges ahead.
This is like worshipping the flame, when you should carry on the fire. The spirit that made the moon landing possible is the opposite of what is displayed here.
2- I'm from Colorado, where there is also "drinking water quality
lakes" (ever seen a Coors can?)
3- No one is holding onto this victory, the challenges the US faces are no more or less dystopian than any other country.
I'm tired of people complaining about a country they barely know anything about. Go outside and meet your neighbors, stop watching doom and gloom YouTube videos all day.
Also: only suckers drink from a lake when there's a beautiful spring nearby, and only slightly farther down the valley, a Alp hostel, where you can get not only clean water, but also cold beer and a nut torte.
We have compulsory health insurance which is deducted from our pay slip. On top of that you have an extra insurance which is or not compulsory depending where you work.
We do have, however, a decent basic coverage for people who do not work, immigrants, ...
I was recently gifted a PST from somewhere around 1986 - 1989 Ive struggled to precisely date it. Its been carried a handful of times, retains its leather sheath and still has the shaving sharp factory edge.
Its beautiful and since you brought up Leatherman I shall boast. :)
I’ve abused and used a leatherman wave+ for 3 years now, and nothing on it has broken… and I’ve been super rough on it. Have you used their more expensive ones?
Boker makes good knives and German knives in general are known to be very high quality. The makers I mentioned earlier are in a different tier though and probably cost twice to 3x as much and have much tighter quality control and generally better/more expensive materials.
>America, used to be engineering-led. Seeing “Made in USA” most often meant you were holding something that was engineered to work and to last. Exceptions to this were rare.
This is evident from the textbooks that I used to read or some of the old manuals especially explaining science and engineering when I was young. While in my graduation I desperately wanted to come to the US to work in some of the top engineering companies. Unfortunately I couldn't and I now see a steady decline in engineering work. All I see is silly sw engineering. Manufacturing has become non existent. Some of the vintage electronics stuff the engineers pulled before is very inspiring. This same thing applied to British engineering which is synonymous to poor quality these days.
Was Tesla ever a car you wanted if you wanted quality, that is good fit and finish. Consistent gaps on panels. Suspension not breaking in regular use... You know absolute basics I get for fraction of the price from Koreans for example.
Recent Toyotas (Yaris, CH-R, RAV4) were listed among the most buggy cars in Europe... Mitsubishi is now openly selling rebadged Renaults that aren't known for their longevity either. Even luxury European brands are becoming cheapened - Mercedes is now selling cars with Dacia/Renault engines.
They are reliable, and yet they have snafus. For example, my Yaris came with a fuel tank that had a defective valve, and I had to trickle gas into it instead of fueling it normally. I basically had the trickle at 300 ml/s or so. The dealership replaced the whole tank for me under warranty as aygos and yarises now have monolithic plastic contraptions for their fuel tanks and you can’t just replace the inlet valve or what have they. It’s been solid and low maintenance since.
But the dealer acknowledged they had seen this as a somewhat systemic problem.
Then in winter, I had my HUD just shut off with no explanation. It came back a day later, worked ok since.
Then again, you need to treat the bottom of your car as soon as you buy it because it tends to corrode like mad. You don’t want your car to disintegrate on you in five years, do you?
I gather higher end models like RAV4 get more QC, and mine are mostly first world problems, but you can see repair-unfriendly and “just buy a new one” attitude creeping in.
Interesting. It seems to be the 2021 model specifically that is bad for the Yaris. 27.8% breakdown rate?! That seems crazy. Is the source data available anywhere?
The economist-led America of today? Well, I’ve got a modern “made in usa” through hole socket set in the garage with a shattered 13mm socket. I could tell from the second I lifted the first socket they had saved some cash on the materials.
Policy type discussions today aren’t fundamentally based on whether something is physically possible or whether a thing would be desirable - discussions today are inevitably founded on cost, they will often touch on other subjects for sure but the one lens that cannot be discarded is the cost one.
It’s ok. I’ve collected a few nick nacks from NASA’s glorious days to keep me cheered up.