skates NOT made in china

[Chadd 916]

wonder why so much China bashing when other countries labor seem much worse, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc come to mind...

personally, i dont care where it is made, as long as the price is good and quality is acceptable.

The conditions in those countries shouldn't be acceptable to us either, but the public has a short attention span and can only handle so much injustice at once. My preference is to purchase from companies that pay their workers a livable wage and treat them well. Sweatshops should never be considered acceptable.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Good point. Not much difference in price on top of the line high end retail and the custom or VH route by the time all is said and done though. Especially with MAP pricing.

Okay, mass production. :)

[jimmy 194]

wonder why so much China bashing when other countries labor seem much worse, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc come to mind...

personally, i dont care where it is made, as long as the price is good and quality is acceptable.

That is the issue though, the quality is not what it use to be. People only focus on price now-a-days, that's why stores like Harbor freight can thrive, despite pretty much selling all chinese made junk.. The Chinese junk has also infiltrated into one of my other hobbies, and the story is the same, compared to the US, German and Japanese made products that the Chinese "cloned", (a) you are lucky if it works out of the box, and (b) extremely lucky if it lasts 3 months.

[bunnyman666 445]

There is Chinese junk, and there are high quality items made in China. Junk is junk no matter where it is made. Since I have toured a few factories in China (admittedly not hockey factories), there are places that make well-made things with modern factories, and there are junk merchants that have extremely dangerous factories (the agents wouldn't let me see some first-hand). Taiwan and Japan actually have great factories.

As far as the focus on price- it is simple: money doesn't buy a whole lot these days. In 2000, a gallon of Petrol in the U.S. was under $2.00. Now, we in the U.S. cheer when it gets below $3.00. When the price of energy has literally doubled or tripled and wages have remained relatively the same, you had BETTER believe we're all watching our pennies. Don't get me started on the price of food these days...

My wife is finally back to making marginally more money than she did in 2003 (she was made redundant when she refused a wage concession). I haven't raised my rates officially since 2009. Yes, price is VERY important...

I want manufacturing to come back to North America. I think it can be done if the playing field is levelled. How it can be done is up to debate, and I am not about to engage in a political debate over that.

[AIREAYE 248]

That is the issue though, the quality is not what it use to be. People only focus on price now-a-days, that's why stores like Harbor freight can thrive, despite pretty much selling all chinese made junk.. The Chinese junk has also infiltrated into one of my other hobbies, and the story is the same, compared to the US, German and Japanese made products that the Chinese "cloned", (a) you are lucky if it works out of the box, and (b) extremely lucky if it lasts 3 months.

This is the paradigm that is so pervasive. bunnyman nailed it in his first paragraph. That is what needs to shift.

[chippa13 1844]

wonder why so much China bashing when other countries labor seem much worse, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc come to mind...

personally, i dont care where it is made, as long as the price is good and quality is acceptable.

Considering that the majority of overseas hockey manufacturing is done in China, it makes sense the discussion would center around China. When Pakistan gets heavy into skate or stick production then we'll include them in the conversation.

[Chadd 916]

Considering that the majority of overseas hockey manufacturing is done in China, it makes sense the discussion would center around China. When Pakistan gets heavy into skate or stick production then we'll include them in the conversation.

I've seen some gloves from Pakistan, but that is about all so far

[bunnyman666 445]

My TPS gloves are made in the Phillipines. The Phillipines actually has a fairly long history making foot wear and other textiles, dating back to the '80s with Nike.

[Chadd 916]

My TPS gloves are made in the Phillipines. The Phillipines actually has a fairly long history making foot wear and other textiles, dating back to the '80s with Nike.

That factory has done some really nice work over the years

[bunnyman666 445]

That factory has done some really nice work over the years

I would put those TPS response r10 gloves up with any Canadian made gloves made over the last ten years.

[Monty22 821]

That factory has done some really nice work over the years

Agreed, I've owned and seen some very nice TPS gloves retail and custom from there.

[shafted 6]

Considering that the majority of overseas hockey manufacturing is done in China, it makes sense the discussion would center around China. When Pakistan gets heavy into skate or stick production then we'll include them in the conversation.

Most of my Bauer protective gear is made in Thailand. Just saying.

[deej 19]

I would put those TPS response r10 gloves up with any Canadian made gloves made over the last ten years.

My R8's are still going strong.