I knew the was a reason why I hate Vice grips

[Wood Doctor]

I always believed that the 3rd-world nations would bring us to their levels, instead of the other way around. We are beginning to drive scooters; they are not buying Cadillacs.

Note how many restaurants are feeding us 3rd-world food?--Add them up in the phone book some time: Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Viet Namese, Indian, Afghani, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Mongolian, etc. It's becoming a bit disturbing.

 

[belgian]

Wish it would happen that way but I doubt it, we are a throw away society and people will buy what is cheapest. Not saying everyone is, I would rather buy a Stihl or old Gravely or anything that has better build quality any day, but 99.99 percent won't.

That's the sad truth, I suppose. To stay with chainsaws, how many have bought an aftermarket P/C kit made in Taiwan or China instead of an original one ? Many I guess... yes, I am guilty too. Why's that ?

Price/quality ratio will always remain a decisive factor for the greater part of our purchases. And the way the economy is going, it's gonna be even having a greater impact in the future. The chinese products will get better in quality over time, no doubt about it. I just hope their workers will want more money too one day.

 

[lesorubcheek]

Price/quality ratio will always remain a decisive factor for the greater part of our purchases. And the way the economy is going, it's gonna be even having a greater impact in the future. The chinese products will get better in quality over time, no doubt about it.

Yep. Knee in the curve of price/quality, that's the sweet spot. The difficult part is determing true quality. Seeing the price is easy.

Dan

 

[046]

thank YOU!

not exactly point for point... but this is basically what I've posting for quite sometime...

not anti business but certainly anti-MEGA business... or multinationals, these are folks who have the resources to gobble up sound American companies... knowing full well all the jobs along with the mfg to the lowest cost location... usually south America or Asia.

they absolutely don't care about what happens to small town America. these multinational are most interested in products that have an established brand name. which dominates their particular niche.

Vise-grips is among the latest causalities... there's been others under the radar...

if trade duties were put into place for goods that took away American jobs... this practice would stop in a hurry.

This greed thing that is the driving force behind what's now made Vice-Grips the latest in a continuing stream of businesses abandoning U.S. manufacturing plants is having a profound effect on the nature of the U.S. economy, and it's really terrifying.

Fifty years ago, even twenty years ago, our economy was based to a large extent on our ability to manufacture things for sale. Today, Wall Street and laws put in place by the s--theads in Washington provide huge financial rewards to the greedy executives who make these decisions to move overseas, thereby robbing Americans of their jobs. Private investors get rich because the stock prices go up because the product costs go down, and they don't give a rat's you know what about the consequences to the American workforce, as long as their wallets are getting stuffed.

And so, we had a manufacturing-based economy, and we've now transitioned to a largely finance based economy. The frightening part of this is that manufacturing provides stability (even if the economies of some of the countries we sell to become weak, others are still strong, and even if we have to sell our manufactured products for less, we still have something to sell), but a finance-based economy is a house of cards in comparison. It has no supporting structure. If the stock markets fall, we have no stable backing to help weather the storm.

Hold on tight, boys. Put some money in the bank and figure out what you're going to do if the house of cards collapses.

The alternative is for the U.S. to reinvest, innovate, and retake a leadership position. Problem is, it ain't gonna' happen with the laws in place. Fingers crossed for better days ahead, once we get rid of the moron!

And oh, by the way, would spend $18 on the U.S. tool over the $14 Chinese tool every time. Won't set foot in a Harbor Freight, won't even look at their ads. Etc.

 

[kevin j]

go to irwin website and voice your opinions. I did.

I do that almost anytime aI see a formerly good product changed to poor or cheaper or to china. and also, when there is a good usa product, let the mfr know you notice and it affected the buying choice.

wer are doing it to ourselves with the emphasis on greed and cheapest price.

I never set foot in walmart or sams club.
I know my actions won't make much dent, but I have to start somewhere. and sleep better.

k

 

[Fastcast]

Hold on tight, boys. Put some money in the bank and figure out what you're going to do if the house of cards collapses.

This pretty much sums it up....Other than maybe the bank part.

This Country really is becoming a house of cards and the Top Hats could care less. They've got theirs and to hell with you, me and the Country.

Take up your right to the 2nd Amendment, have your savings in gold or strong currencies Yen / Swiss francs, boycott multinational corporate products and US news papers, stop watching tv, buy your food from local farmers markets and your other supplies from small businesses. Join constitutional groups. We have to JOIN together, to take our Country back.....The Top Hats love the liberal/conservative divide!

But wait a minute, we have an election in a couple of months and boy how things are really going to "change".

Mindless liberals and conservatives really believe one of these two puppet/idiots (to the Top Hats) are going to save this country and bring some real "change". :bang:

The system is rigged people....WAKE UP....My prediction, gas will be somewhere between $2.50 and $2.75 gallon by election day so everyone forgets how bad it has been.....:censored:

GO BACK TO SLEEP......EVERYTHING IS FINE.....IT HAS TO BE, THEY SAY SO ON THE TV.

 

[Taxmantoo]

So true, it's tough times in America. With my job in jeopardy, which it is, I needed to buy a micrometer the other day and had a choice. I was at the tool shop and had a choice, the USA made one for 56$ or a china model for 24$. I asked the store guy which one was better and he said they were exactly the same, just where they were made. I won't say which one I bought, but which would you choose?

Well, if you needed it right then, you had to buy something...
I think the guys who buy from flea markets and garage sales have the right idea, even if they aren't doing much for the economy when they buy used.

Being a tool nut, I'm unlikely to find a situation where I need a micrometer I don't have, mainly because I went nuts on fleabay about ten years ago.
Bought up a bunch of Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, Lufkin, Central Tool, etc, inside and outside mics, cleaned and calibrated them, and ended up reselling the extras after I kept the most accurate ones. I think the most I ever paid for an outside micrometer was $15, and that was a 4" Browne and Sharpe. My Lufkin 0-6" inside mic kit was about $20-30 and in mint condition.
I did pay $56 for a Starrett 0-6" outside mic in a fitted case. I got rid of it a month later because it was a lot less convenient than having individual micrometers in each size.

 

[Locoweed]

It's amazing to me. 50 years ago or so the Japanese learned that cheap junk was not the way to go. Now they are know for quality products. Now it's America's turn to learn the lesson I guess.

 

[046]

get a clue.... irwin (rubbermaid) doesn't give a rats ass.... what you or I think! what they care about is .... if people will continue to buy their products after moving all the jobs overseas... and what penalties (shipping costs?) bringing product backing into USA.

and don't count on quality going down... they shipped the identical equipment to china to make vise-grips. we are not talking about knockoffs.... but the owner of the brand with all the original technologies.

again... if there was an import duty bringing back goods connected with a loss of jobs... this practice with stop in a hurry!

there's a group of folks on AS that repeatably support multi-nationals like Oil companies, etc....

Multi-nationals operate in hundreds of countries with budgets size of small countries. they are on another scale size wise. they are killing profits of American companies ... large, medium and small.... these companies are the life blood of America and provide most of the jobs in America. our American companies need to make a profit and stay healthy to provide jobs of Americans...

could care less what happens to multi-nationals.... as they could give a rats ass of what happens to Americans.

go to irwin website and voice your opinions. I did.

I do that almost anytime aI see a formerly good product changed to poor or cheaper or to china. and also, when there is a good usa product, let the mfr know you notice and it affected the buying choice.

wer are doing it to ourselves with the emphasis on greed and cheapest price.

I never set foot in walmart or sams club.
I know my actions won't make much dent, but I have to start somewhere. and sleep better.

k

 

[BaldSawRunner]

I think the Waltons were actually ChiCom agents who started the ultimate infiltration of America, which is only now being belatedly noticed.

Thats the splash from the cover of my next book.

Actually, Sam Walton did try to do something to keep some jobs in the U.S. I rember the old Wal Mart promotion of "Made in the USA". Shortly after he died though, that was quietly swept under the rug, and that was when the sell-out of America began. I think Sam Walton understood that if stuff was made here, in small town manufacturing facilities, and the like, those people would spend $$$ at his stores.

Now, Wal-mart has all of this anti- walmart sentiment to deal with (and rightly so, imho)

 

[teacherman]

Craftsman makes a good line of Vice-Grip like pliers. I assume they are still manufactured in the USA.

Don't bet on it.

 

[propliner]

Went to buy a set of new side cutters today. I had a choice between a Chinese built $6 pair or a pair of $22 Channel Lock made-in-U.S.A. brand. I'm proud to say that I'm already over the initial shock of paying that much and that seeing those nice, perfectly made set of baby blue cutters in my toolbox reassures me that they will probably be there until I am in the grave and that I have done my part to keep the jobs HERE.

I support the domestic economy and you should too. It only makes sense. Don't send our jobs overseas.