Poll, Two items simular in features and construction, which would you buy?

[Glenn]

Poll, Two items similar in features and construction, US vs Pacific rim, which would you buy?
There were 53 votes on this poll.

I only buy US made goods if they are available.
16 votes or 30.2%

US made if it were the same price as foreign made
10 votes or 18.9%

I would pay $120 for US made instead of $100 foreign item
7 votes or 13.2%

I would pay $150 for US made instead of $100 foreign item
6 votes or 11.3%

I would pay $110 for US made instead of $100 foreign item
5 votes or 9.4%

I would pay $130 for US made instead of $100 foreign item
4 votes or 7.5%

Foreign made if it were the same price as US made
3 votes or 5.7%

Double the price and I would still go with US made
2 votes or 3.8%



I know that you can not find two items of similar features and construction one made in US and the other foreign made. The foreign made is usually of less quality and is designed to sell for less. But if we could find two similar items with similar features and construction, which would you choose?

[ApprenticeMan]

I buy whatever is a quality be it US or foreign made. being either US made or foreign made does not guarentee quality on EITHER SIDE, so i feel it is necessary to mix and match. I don;t buy crud cause it is US made, nor do I buy crud cause it is foreign made.

[Bear]

Hi Sam and all,
I try to buy quality when it is something i will use alot- But then there is a lot of brands that used to be quality and now are nothing but crud. Most craftsman stuff has gone down the tubes. Most of their air tools are nothing but crud and not any better than HF air tools and they cost about 3 times as much so i have a bunch of hf air tools( because they get used but not nearly as much as other things we have). The reason pacific rim tools sell so well is not just the price but because unless you are buying snap-on or mac( there is a few others) you are not buying something that is much better than the cheap tools. Dewalt is starting to cheapen out since B&D bought them. that is why i'm looking for older wood and metal machinery to restore to use as it is much better quality than todays standards.


Sean

[RBrown]

Allot of it depends on what situation im in. When i was working on heavy trucks for a living i got snapon, cornwel, matco and other expensive tools to do my job to give you an exampe i payed i beleve about $400 for my 1/2 snapon impact gun did the job of a 3/4 gun. they held up better and did the job that needed to be done. I used those tools to make a living with so a payed the higer price for the best tools i could get. My blacksmith shop on the other hand is a hobby that only pays for its self some of the time. i have to take money out of my income to buy things for my shop instad of my shop paying for the tools. If my shop was full time and i had to rely on the tools to make a living with i would buy the best i could afford to buy to make my living with. cheep tools work but they dont always do the best job and they brake more offten. Having good quality tools will normaly mean you get the job done faster and better than with cheep tools.

[mcraigl]

That's a tough one Glenn. Japan turns out some fine tools. Mitutoyu calipers are as nice or very close to as nice as Starrett for instance. I'm using chinese angle grinders HF & Ryobi because I can afford to have 4 of them so I never have to change wheels unless they're worn out. All for the price of one US made one. My new Makita cordless drill will kick the pants off any made in america and it's made in Japan. 'Course it costs as much as any of the US ones too. Most of my handtools are US, and for those I'd pay quite a bit more. Be interesting to see what others think about this.

[Glenn]

My original thought was to follow up this poll with a duplicate poll only with the tool being from Europe, UK etc. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

[Bear]

i don't know about that craig. My DeWalt since i got the newer style of 18v batteries just keeps going, and going, and going- and i havent bogged it down yet.I 've had it nearly ten years and it was reconditioned to boot. I looked at the new dewalts and i am starting to see more plastic parts than before. Hitachi makes some decent lower priced cordless tools too.


Sean

[FredW]

I spent about 10 years as a union sheet metal worker and we thought there were no other tools than those made in the USA. I Remember bumper stickers that said You can't eat your import. We were always pro USA. Now if I want to buy an American car I buy a Toyota. We would only buy made in the USA sheets of steel at first then eventually buy Japanese because the quality was as good or better and at a much lower cost. We bought som Mexican steel once and it was the worst stuff we ever used. That was also the last time we bought it. Most of my fovorite tools are USA, but I have a lot of tools made all over the world. Very few Snap-on as I can only afford Craftsman some of the time (most are garage sale and auction tools). I have Hitachi, Dewalt, Black and Decker, Skil, Milwakee, and Makita power tools, oh, and some Chicago Electric (HF) and by far the best I have are the Hitachi, Milwakee, Makita followed closely by the Dewalt. Chicago Electric are pretty much throw aways.

Fred

[Mark Parkinson]

for me made in U.S. is foreign made but I do understand the idea I buy Canadian whenever I can, but quailty wins out over price every time with me. I have found some Asain (mostly Japan) import tools of better quaility than both Canadian and U.S. manufacture and in some cases the bonus was that the import was cheaper....go figure

[jayco]

I buy U. S. made tools when I can....and expect to pay a little more. But, I do buy foreign made tools,also.

Somehow, this poll reminds me of the 'Buy American' campaign of a few years ago.I think that movement pretty much ended when it was discovered that very few items were 100% U. S. made.

I do try to buy good tools........whether U. S. or foreign made.
Economics and world trade are vast subjects which I understand little about.

I do believe this however......that we vote with our dollars when we buy things.
If we buy good tools we encourage the manufacture of more good tools.
Same thing happens when we buy the cheap stuff.

James