Benchmade
Oregon City, 1988 — a family-owned American knife company that will sharpen your knife for the rest of its life, and whose signature lock is now out of patent.
Kershaw
Tualatin, Oregon, 1974 — a Japanese-owned American knife house that says outright its knives are made in three countries, and builds over a million a year in one building.
Pete Kershaw started the company in Lake Oswego, Oregon in late 1974; today it is a brand of Kai USA Ltd., part of the Kai Group of Japan, alongside Zero Tolerance and Shun. The Tualatin plant runs 55,000 square feet and, by Kai's own account, produces over a million Zero Tolerance and Kershaw knives a year with more than 300 local employees. Kershaw's value is the assisted-opening folder at a working price, and its honesty is worth noting: the company states in its own FAQ that Kershaw knives are made in the United States, Japan and China, rather than leaving buyers to guess from an Oregon address.
- 1M+Kershaw and Zero Tolerance knives built each year in Tualatin, per Kai
- 300+Local people employed at the Tualatin facility
- 3Countries Kershaw states its knives are made in — US, Japan, China
What we'd reach for
- LeekThe assisted-opening folder that defined the brand for a generation of buyers — slim, fast, and cheap enough to actually use.
- BlurThe larger, grippier everyday workhorse. The one that survives a job site rather than a desk drawer.
- SkylineThe manual folder enthusiasts point to when arguing Kershaw punches above its price. US-built.
- Launch seriesKershaw's automatic line — sold subject to Kai USA's federal eligibility acknowledgment, and subject to state law on top of that.
- Zero ToleranceThe sister brand, not a Kershaw line — higher spec, and Kai says all ZT knives are built in Tualatin.
- SharpenersThe maintenance end, and the reason a cheap folder stays useful.
More in Field & pursuits
All brands →The nearest neighbors on the shelf — same categories first, same department after that.
Bushnell
1948 — the binocular most Americans looked through first, now three owners deep in four years and still the honest answer under two hundred dollars.
Garmin
1989 — two engineers named the company after themselves, and thirty-six years later it is the reason a search party knows where you are.
Hawke Optics
Suffolk, England — a family optics house that grew out of a garage, sells serious glass at unserious prices, and does not tell you where it's made.