Yep tell me about it. I was in the Walmart last hunting season looking in the knife case. I saw a nice GERBER folding hunter. The price was right . I should have said to myself that's too cheap for a GERBER.An yway when I was opening up the box I saw those words Made In China.I have a couple of KERSHAWS all US made I think their still made in the US.By the way that Kershaw doesn't hold an edge for beans.

I carry a carbon steel yelloow handle case trapper, best pocket knife made!, good price too

A Trapper style is my favorite knife. Case and Cammilus are excellent and economical.

Buck has a new factory here in N. Idaho. 1-208-262-0500.

Hard to beat a case xx, some buck knives are still made here. Queen, schatt morgan, all good.My favorites are, case mid folding hunter, buck 112,110, schatt morgan mountain man folder.That is to just name a few I have kicking around.

Mike

Lots of good knives still made in the U.S.  I used to live in Olean, NY home of Ka-Bar.  Case, Camillus, Queen, Schatt Morgan etc... all up there too.  I just picked-up a Schatt Morgan Barlow a few weeks ago ... very nice.

O.K... So let's say I spend $150 on a custom trapper w/ a stagg handle... What's the best metal for the blade??   I would like to have one that holds a razor edge and keeps it..... Don't really mind about how long it'll take me to sharpen, cause I'll do it at the house.....

Ats-34 is good steel and usually holds a good edge for awhile. One of my friends is a full time knife maker and this is all he usually uses, customers seem to really like it.

QuoteOriginally posted by bentpole:
Yep tell me about it. I was in the Walmart last hunting season looking in the knife case. I saw a nice GERBER folding hunter. The price was right . I should have said to myself that's too cheap for a GERBER.An yway when I was opening up the box I saw those words Made In China.I have a couple of KERSHAWS all US made I think their still made in the US.By the way that Kershaw doesn't hold an edge for beans.

Yep Kershaw is made in the USA. Mine holds a edge really good and I do lots of cutting.

I know this isn't a folder, but I have had my eyes on one of these for a while:
http://www.sursumknife.com/ProKnives.html

The Compact Hunter's Companion knife comes with stag scales for $130.

QuoteOriginally posted by John Scifres:
 Spyderco are US Made.   While they only have a few true hunting knives, they are sharp and made in the USA..

Mine says Seki Japan on the blade... May want to check...

I have to put in my vote for Knives of Alaska. Best knives I've ever owned...bar none. 100% American made.      

QuoteOriginally posted by String Cutter:
O.K... So let's say I spend $150 on a custom trapper w/ a stagg handle... What's the best metal for the blade??   I would like to have one that holds a razor edge and keeps it..... Don't really mind about how long it'll take me to sharpen, cause I'll do it at the house.....

Crucible s30v is supposed to be the "best" knife steel these days.  I also like 01 and D2 tool steel as well as nicely made Damascus.

Any of those steels, if they are properly tempered and heat treated  should make a great blade.

I don't buy off the shelf knives anymore, as I've found several knife makers on #bay that will make knifes exactly the way I want them.

Best of luck.

Try cumberland knife works on e-bay stores. They have lots of queen and other knives(trappers) made in the US. You can spend as much as your heart desires.

Mike

I forgot to add ATS-34, D2, you can't go wrong with either. Very good steels, D2 is almost classified as stainless and ATS-34 is just into the stainless cat.

Mike

I just bought a new Spyderco military.Box and blade both state made in Golden CO. USA.I have others that are made in Japan.I was suprised to see USA, anyone know whats up? Maybe the Gerry act?

cASE, mOOREMAKER FROM tEXAS, eMERSON KNIVES (THE BEST i OWN)...ALL ,,USA MADE...  

I've got to throw my support to the Knives of Alaska company too.  I have a number of their knives and find the D-2 steel to really hold an edge well.  The little Cub bear is as fine a caping knife as I've ever seen, the Brown bear is more knife than anyone could ever need (although I believe they need to put a gut hook on the Brown Bear) and the Jaeger Muskrat combo is tough to beat.  That light hunter combo is perfect for me.  I like two knives combo is one sheath.   Well made products that deserve a look from Americans wanting to buy American.

http://www.benchmade.com/

Not sure if they have a stag handled model available, but they are high quality knives, and they don't come cheap.

check out this website. You can probably pick up a knife here and there is a section on knife steels to help you figure out what you want for the blade. ATS34 is a nice metal and hold up pretty well. I think VG10 is a little better for stainless and D2 is a good choice for non. Here is the site:

http://www.agrussell.com/