Cheap China junk for prepping

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hiwall

hiwall

Awesome Friend
Neighbor
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
4,205
Location
White Mountians AZ
Hah, you thought this was going to be China product bashing but its not.
Everyone is on a budget, whether their monthly budget is $10 or 1 million dollars. There are many ways to extend your budget and on this site we have all thrown in many ideas.
But most people do not look at China products as something we should buy. Some think all China stuff is total junk (and some is) or some do not want to support a communist regime (and rightfully so) and some just want to buy American to help support our own country. All three of these are very valid reasons not to buy items from China.
But some people are poor and have to try and stretch every dollar to the breaking point just to survive now, let alone to try and get ready for some possible disaster scenario. One way to do that is to buy very cheaply from China.
If anyone decides to try this, you DO have to be cautious. Some stuff IS junk but honestly China has improved their manufacturing capabilities to the point where it can match our own capabilities in many cases. And you can buy some products at very low prices. Ebay has countless China products. Shipped directly from China to you. Shipping is slow at about a month or so. But Ebay does a lot to protect you and will force the seller to issue you a refund if you have a valid issue. Ebay also tries hard to make sure any brand name item is indeed the true product. Most products have free shipping (but make sure you check before ordering).

Another company is Wish. This site is ALL China stuff. This site commonly sells items branded in common household names that are NOT real. That does not make the items bad just that you have to know that you are Not getting that real brand name item. All items get charged additional shipping. This company has few protections for the buyer.
What items to buy? That is completely up to you. I have bought cheap China items from both of these companies (but very very few from Wish). So far I have not been burnt. But I am am very careful about what I buy. In most cases I only buy very inexpensive items so if the item is total junk I am only out a tiny amount of money and it doesn't hurt me financially to any real degree.
The list of possible prepping items on either website is almost endless (think thousands of items). As an example I bought a bunch of small compasses at 8 cents apiece. They all seem to work fine. I bought them just to give away to kids at gun shows/prepping shows that I might get a table at in the future but could be used now or saved as barter items in a future end-of-the-world scenario. Many of these cheap items would be highly sought after for trade items if things ever did go bad.
I know some people take this farther and actually buy large items and do the whole drop-ship thing and work through the customs issues. That is beyond what I have ever done or ever plan on doing. I am just putting this out there your consideration. You might want to check a few items on a site like Ebay and maybe invest a dollar or two and see for yourself if you are satisfied with your received product. Remember to go slow, check reviews (which I don't have much faith in), and try only very low cost items to start.
 
While I purchase at the best price I can get I'll pay more for quality. I buy as little from China as possible for all the above reasons plus there are numerous cases of poisonous items being sold here. Some examples are poisoned sheetrock that required replacing as it sickened the homeowners, poison being absorbed through the skin of little girls from the contaminated metal in the children's jewelry, contaminants in human and pet food from being grown in human waste or chemicals in the processing or packaging.

I keep buying from China at a bare minimum and the wife agrees with me on this.
 
The real questions to be asked is : How can they make, bag, tag, box, ship and deliver the Lanyard for $1.00? A letter (snail mail) will cost almost 50 cents, so what is the secret of getting it delivered here from China for less? What mail rate are the Chinese companies paying and who is subsidizing these rates? Want to bet the American tax payer is picking up the tab somewhere along the line? Being Mr. Cheapo, I really do love a bargain and many items from China are bargains but I am not under any delusions that we are not paying a hidden cost to cut our own manufacturing throats. JMHO
 
The Lazy L said:
Remember when the stuff from Japan was junk? Then the junk from South Korea?
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Yes I do. Now it is hard to find anything made in America and sometimes that is from another nation.
When I worked on assembly line at GM Lakewood Plant in 1973-4 anyone dare drive into parking lot with a foreign car and there was trouble.
One day somebody came in yelling whos the sob driving the Toyota. I didn't have time to see what the outcome was.
 
A number of years ago when I started adding on to our home I wanted a miter saw but name brands were definitely out of my budget and I ended up with a Harbor Freight 12" saw for just over $100 and it's paid for itself many times over, the only thing I've had to do is a bit of body English on the angle setting to make a true square cut but it has saved a lot of time on floor joist, studs and rafter cuts and it's still working after all the years of use. Thing is, that anymore there isn't a whole lot of things that we buy, even brand name auto parts, that aren't made in China or some other far eastern country, so sad in far too many ways. I remember Obama's "Shovel ready" projects, one of the first things out here in Oregon was highway bridge repair, yeah, guess who got one of the first contracts? A Chinese outfit. I don't think they even have metal shop in schools any more and kids probably think welding is obsolete in the computer age, so who do we get to do all the shovel ready stuff if young people don't even know which end of a shovel should be used?
 
At one point there was talk of running a submarine pipeline from Alaska, the Unuk River, to CA. They decided that this wasn't such a grand idea after the cost was figure out.
 
So many things are made in China now and not even made at all in the USA. I would much rather buy USA products and I still do when I can. The pistol lying next to this computer was made in Arizona. But my Kindle lying next to it was made in China.
When I thought I would try a reflex/holo sight on one of my guns I bought a $20 one from China because I wasn't sure it was something I would like at all. I did like it and that $20 one worked and still works just fine. I even bought another for a different gun. I did not buy the $300 to $400 USA made one though I'm sure it is made better.
It is Always "buyer beware" when you buy anything no matter where it is made. I just posted this so people might think about another buying venue to try. Especially for trade items to store for later.
 
There are good bargains from China and as stated by Hiwall, it is a case of buyer beware. I will only buy items from china if I can use paypal or through Amazon or Ebay or a combination of the selling sites and payment. Paypal makes it easy to deal with a less than reputable sellers. Had one Chinese company try a bait and switch. When I did not bite and tried to cancel the order they claimed it could not be canceled. Filed dispute with PayPal and the the seller suddenly discovered they could cancel the order and did, all within a 45 minute time frame.. Not all is junk and not all is good but all is worth investigating.
 
For "Mission Critical" I prefer to get from a reliable source (Ham Radio=Icom / Yaesu/ kenwood). For knock around/everyday Baofeng is good, with the reliable as the backup. Guns the same way. Some "off brand shotguns" to send out but the backstops are Remington / Mossberg. Carry firearms are all usa made, mostly from arizona :).

All my machine tools are from china. accuracy is the responsibility of the machinist, they do as well as any of the older machine tools on the market. you want .0001" accuracy, you pay for it, you want something that works, you use what you have :)
 
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We have purchased quite a bit of prepping gear and other things from China that were very well made.

One example is MTM back pack brush cutter (Chinese knock off of Stihl) but we purchased it from a company in Sydney Australia selling it and I have to say with a metal head fitted to it you cannot kill it apart from the pull mechanism which wears out on most. This seller also sells all the spare parts as well and at $159 vs $800 for a Stihl it is well worth the money.

Another thing that is good is the Chinese combat military canvas leather boots and they are brilliantly comfortable and cushioned and wear well for around $35 - $37 per pair vs $189 a pair here in a name brand. Also good are their ferrocerium flint rod lighters that last and last too and are super cheap for around $3.80 odd although we bought a stack at $1 ea which here in Australia we pay around $20 ea for and the waterproof/windproof matches for just over $1 for 20 matches in a waterproof container.

Things from my experience not to try are their gas jet lighters they are sadly very badly made and work intermittently for 1 tank of gas.

Thought I would say that yes a lot of the smaller prepping gear is pretty good from China and cost effective too as @hiwall suggested.
 
Caribou said:
I don't care if the Chinese glow in the dark, I don't want to.
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I still live here!!! They can glow in 243 days please......

As someone who lives in "China" I can confirm a lot of the things made here are 200% crap.
But...there are some good finds here if you look. There are these little solar powered rechargeable led lantern things that I have had for a few years now. Cheap to buy but have lasted me for 3 years so far. They even charge your phone/ipad! But a lot of the things are junk and will only last a year or two.

Now the locally produced products, like teas, some fabrics, bags and cheap leather boots, bags and such are ok. Huawei phones are decent quality and a lot cheaper than other smartphones...

But most is crap.

My wife's father is bringing business to and from Qingdao / Shantung area, the fruits and farms and even wine and seafood from that area are not to be looked down on. They are pushing for organic and non corrupted / fake items hard now.
This new president isn't messing around with corruption, jail or a bullet depending on the crime.
I think in a few more years, things will be getting better quality wise much like Japan and Korea products.
 
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