Buying American goods vs other country's stuff

[Chuckman]

There's a thread on here about buying certain products because they are American made with American-sourced materials. Some healthy dialogue in that thread. Given that this is a gun forum (and so much more!), I wanted to give a nod to some discussions in another forum regarding tactical gear.

Plate carriers which are made overseas.

I recently bought an Arbor Arms plate carrier. Nothing fancy, just their Minuteman. I sprung for their simple elastic cummerbund and also a molle / g-hook placard and got the price up to around $170 or so, but I'm very pleased with the purchase. The carrier is well-made and fits great, but it...

www.m4carbine.net

I am pi$$ed off and don't know what to do about it

I am on record, as saying none of us should buy Holosun due to the whole made in China thing. Yesterday I was shooting with a guy and he has a Holosun 507 on his Glock. I shot it, my RMR pales next to the 507. 507 glass is a lot crisper, I love the green dot. I love the dot in the big circle...

www.m4carbine.net

Do you have a favorite soft-shell jacket?

I have an older, issued Patagonia/Ready One L5 which I quite like. It’s in the sage green color USAF used after Woodland camo went away. I’d like something similar in tan or brown if I could find it. Was thinking Crye at first but they don’t offer either color, plus soft-shell isn’t really...

www.m4carbine.net

The guys there run as deep as we do, and they go from one end of the extreme to the other (like we do). If we want to have a running thread on US-made tactical stuff that's probably not a bad idea. I know people make purchase decisions based on where stuff is made, etc., and it might help to inform consumers.

 

[JBoyette]

Tactical American made gear? Well, well you have stepped in my world now.

So many levels in this discussion.

The business market compared to the consumer market are very different. A lot of people's perceptions of "how it is" does not match reality.

Pricing strategy is just one of the few touch points people think about when it comes to American made gear.

But, we have many other points of interest if one really wants to know the process of it all.

 

[Chuckman]

Tactical American made gear? Well, well you have stepped in my world now.

So many levels to discussion. Pricing strategy is just one of the few touch points people think about when it comes to American made gear.

In a perfect world I would buy all US-made everything, but you are 100% correct in so many levels: how much do you use said gear? Is it for-real duty, fun, competition, etc? Do you look at price and/or quality? Are you buy once/cry once? It's all a continuum.

 

[chiefjason]

The leather I currently use is made in America. As in the tannery is in Pennsylvania. The other two I have used have been American companies with tanneries in Mexico. The main reason I switched was CS and quality though. Bad news is that both have gone done some in this current environment. luckily my sales rep came back, but the company is way behind on some lines and stopped others. Then the demand on leather has pushed the overall quality down. Either that or the workforce turnover has. Regardless, it's noticeable.

One of my favorite tool companies is S Korean. Asians make some amazing leather working gear and Sinabrooks is no exception. And it's high end price and quality.

Never gave it much thought but all the molds are made in the US. Unfortunately all the aluminum mold makers are gone now.

 

[Moylan]

I don't know anything at all about the world of international business. I know that much of the stuff that we more or less need for daily living tends to be Chinese-made, and it's not practical for me to try to boycott Chinese goods. I also know I can get an RMR for not a whole lot more than I'd pay for a dot made by our enemies the Chinese, and I'm willing to pay that extra money. I don't have some kind of strict principle, just a general tendency: buy American when it's practical, even at some cost in terms of money or convenience. It's a sliding scale.

I don't look down my nose at people whose scales slide differently. My son has a holosun on his carry gun.

 

[HMP]

London Bridge Tactical is made here

 

[kcult]

I don't mind paying for quality, but I won't shy away from something made in Bangladesh, either.

The way I see it, if it's sitting on a shelf in the US, somewhere along the chain, an American is going to make a little money off it.

 

[LTC Don]

As far as the Pacific Rim, anyplace except The CCP if possible. The thing to remember is the CCP gets something out of every purchase. I remember when Firefly first came on, Chinese was the spoken language for a number of episodes.