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I just wanted to see if anyone actually cares if a ski is made in china. Personally i don't have a problem with it. Yes conditions are poor but if they are working in the factories there has to be worse conditions sonewhere else as well as lower production costs and they can maximise their production posdibilty frontier.
I've heard that k2 has been able increase quality by going to China. This is because they can afford a much more stringent quality control process. So skis that might have made it through production in the states are rejected earlier in the process.
Ski manufacturing is like any other business, you want to lower costs.
Marker bindings moved out of Germany to an easterrn european country that I can't remember right now for the same reason.
If I were to buy local for the sake of buying local, I would go super local, skis made in state. For me I have looked at some barnboards and volition skis. Don't just buy in country, buy in state
For me it's how the ski rides that matters the most. I get buying locally but for skis when there is so much choice I want to get the best ski for my needs regardless of where it's made. If a ski rides well then it should not really matter where it's made.
But I am from the uk so don't have many options to buy uk made skis.
I want best built ski. I could care less if the ski was made here of there. Crap is crap. I want a ski I can trust when shit is on the line. If I have a choice between a bad product made here in the states or a ski built in a EU factory that has been building skis for generations..? That being said. I don't ski Chinese skis. There are some talented ski builders here in the states, EU has been the powerhouse for years, China well, I'm not saying that they can't build a quality ski, I'm just saying I would not ski it.
For park skis I don't care. I actually don't care at all. I ski Moments for powder, I like supporting a US company for a ski that will last a long time. For a park ski, I want something that is durable. I love Line, I will always support Line as they have been far more durable than anything else I have ever been on.
I wouldn't NOT buy skis from china, but I definitely really like the idea of my ON3Ps being US made. I feel like they were made by someone just like me--a skier who likes to build shit and who is an engineer. Idk why that matters, but I just think it is cool.
That's the way I am. Even though all my skis have been American made (save for my old dynastars which were made in Austria or France and I'm like 95% sure my recoils were made in the Seattle factory because they are pre-production), I wouldn't care about buying skis made in China as long as they are the skis that I want. Obviously American made is good, but it's not a deal breaker for me