Made in the USA

[Eric Sedletzky]

You don't have to go to Wal-Mart. I don't. They don't carry the things I want.

You can get a good hair dryer in the price range that you mentioned and above at any Beauty Supply store. Whether it's made in the US or not I don't know. There's nothing special about an American worker sitting on a assembly line putting together a hair dryer. If it's a good design and it's selling for $75 and up it will be a good hair dryer regardless of where it's assembled.

Global trade has nothing to do with buying crap. That's your choice. If you quite buying crap you can eliminate China from your list of things to worry about for now anyway. I don't seem to have this problem at all.

Wrong.
There is cheap crap made in China, and expensive crap made in China.
It's all made in China and is crap.
I've been in the auto body collision repair business for years, I've owned a marine repair business for years, and have always done some sort of hand work. I have a lot of tools. Many of them power tools and air tools. I can tell you first hand that nothing as far as I've seen has been polluted as bad as the quality of tools in the last 20 years which most of has been sold out to China. The only tools I know of that have survived the Chinese assault on quality is Snap-On and Mac and maybe Matco tools and that is because they are still American made, unless they have finally sold out too. I don't know.
I've bought cheap polishers at Harbor Freight that were made in China. The record for break down for me is about 3 days for one. Most die in about 6 months. If you spend a little more you might get 2-3 years out of a DeWalt or similar but they are also China now. I have an old Soux polisher (sp) from the 60's or 70's that an old painter gave me and it's still running great. They were $300 back in "79 when I started in the trade but made in USA. Worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I love it when people get on the internet and yell at others who didn't buy something American....

and post it from their computer they bought which was made in Taiwan.

D'oh!

Tell me about it!
It makes me crazy!

I remember back in 1980 when my girlfriend worked at Hewlitt Packard up on the hill in Santa Rosa. I would go up to meet her for lunch. She worked in a section that assembled all the circuit boards then put them in an oven to fuse all the circuitry together. She was in high school and made $8 hr. as a part time worker. That was good money back then for a high school kid. They have since sent all that work away.
If they didn't then the computer I'm using now might just have been made in USA.

 

[boulderjohn]

1). Zeagle, most of their items are U.S. manufactured (some are not)
2). Diverite, again most of their items are U.S. manufactured (but some are not)

"Some" = many for the above two companies.

Since no one expanded on this...

I know that Dive Rite regulators are made in Taiwan. Sea Elite and Salvo (now defunct) come from the same factory there.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm not completely sure, but I think Atomic is mostly USA made.
I haven't read the whole thread so maybe someone has already mentioned this.

Maybe we need to get a Page entitled "What dive products are made in USA"
and all the companies that make stuff here or some of their stuff here can list it. People then would know what their buying and could pick and choose.

I'll bet it would be tough to put together a complete set of new dive gear to pull off a dive and have it all USA made. The only way possibly is partial vintage gear and cottage industry custom gear.

 

[cloudswinger]

How exactly is it green when cheap imported crap from China like hair dryers and other throw away products wind up in land fills. The stuff they used to make in the US years ago would outlast the junk they make today 5 to 1. I would gladly pay $50 or $75 for a really good hair dryer made in US if I knew it would last 15 years and you could buy parts for it when it did finally break down. The crap made in China now you can't even get parts for, when it breaks you throw the whole thing away and buy another one, and another one, and another one. I don't care that they're $14.95, it 's crap!!! And the sad part is we can't even buy a good one no matter how much we're willing to pay because they are no longer made here period, done, gone, finito.
Tell me how green is that.

Frankly, if you are green, you wouldn't be using a hair dryer. You'd let the hair dry naturally. Then
a)you're not wasting electricity both in use of the dryer and production,
b)don't have to own one, therefore not wasting production costs and fuel costs and all the other issues that come with buying the hair dryer.

My BC and reg both say made in the USA, but they're both 10 years old. The BC is Oceanic, and the reg is TUSA, which is a branch of a Japanese company. But my TUSA fins are made in Taiwan. My TUSA mask is not labeled as to where it was made. My shorty is made in the US. My dive agency is based out of Florida rather than California. Localism benefits locals.

 

[cloudswinger]

Global trade has nothing to do with buying crap. That's your choice. If you quite buying crap you can eliminate China from your list of things to worry about for now anyway. I don't seem to have this problem at all.

I seriously doubt that you don't buy things from China. Have you looked at your groceries? Do you eat anything with garlic? The majority of garlic used in the US is produced in China. Do you drink anything with apple juice? Ditto. The list goes on and on, and unless you are eating unprocessed, local only, home grown foods and organic meats, it's highly likely that some percentage of your food is coming from China. There was a woman who did a year where she consciously tried to not buy things made in China, and there was no way to get around the grocery problem because it's unlabeled. Completely. And all the pollutants that are floating around China get into our food chain.

 

[gcbryan]

I seriously doubt that you don't buy things from China. Have you looked at your groceries? Do you eat anything with garlic? The majority of garlic used in the US is produced in China. Do you drink anything with apple juice? Ditto. The list goes on and on, and unless you are eating unprocessed, local only, home grown foods and organic meats, it's highly likely that some percentage of your food is coming from China. There was a woman who did a year where she consciously tried to not buy things made in China, and there was no way to get around the grocery problem because it's unlabeled. Completely. And all the pollutants that are floating around China get into our food chain.

I didn't say that or even mean to imply that. I don't have a problem with China. I just said that I don't seem to have a problem with having to buy only crap. I manage to buy things that aren't crap (to me) or I wouldn't be buying them.

The person I was responding to said that they can't find any products that aren't crap. I merely said that if you are concerned with all things coming out of China just quit buying crap since a lot of things coming out of China are more cheaply made products (some aren't).

Personally, I don't think my TV set would somehow be better if only an American assembled it. If I can get a bright flashlight from China for $20 that doesn't bother me at all. The extra money will stay in my pocket or be spent locally. I love it when other countries insist that I keep more money in my pocket.

 

[Gilldiver]

There are many version of Made in the USA

Designed in the USA
Assembled in the USA
Made in the USA

Now define each

What you can find in many High end good "Made in China" is that they are only assembled in China from imported goods. We rent Chinese Labor only.

The Wife's HONDA Odyssey Mini-Van, is Designed in Japan and the US, Assembled in the US, and as far as I can find out only the transmission came from Japan. So, the Van is MORE US then my Dodge Dakota with a frame made in Mexico, engine from Japan, and who knows how much else from all over the world.

What you need to ask is What is the Domestic Content by both value and part count.

 

[sambolino44]

I don't have a very good understanding of economics, and I think most Americans lack a basic knowledge of economics. I work in manufacturing, and I'm often curious where and how stuff is made. I enjoy a spirited discussion like this one, however it bothers me that so few people really understand the consequences of their choices. I think most Americans don't appreciate how spoiled we are; we've come to think of luxury items as necessities.

When I think of the phrase "Made in USA", I think of it as shorthand for a product where the workers were probably not as badly exploited as might be the case otherwise.

I generally try to buy American, or at least put considerable weight on where it's made into the overall buying decision.