What things made in the US are considered high quality?

[msc545]

I would say hand tools, and electric guitars (Fender and Gibson! ), and medical drugs. I can't think of anything else that isn't made better by foreign companies. Can you?

I ask this because some people are always telling others to "buy American", but why should anyone be expected to buy cheap, substandard products that are overpriced and underperforming and break far too soon?

[katiesmuff]

It's actually sad to say but I'm not even sure about the hand tools as I sure saw a lot of different contractors in my restaurant after the hurricane damage last year and I could see most of the saws, drills etc were foreign made. Guitars I would know nothing about. I even tried to think of a car made totally in US.
Oop's did think of one Club Car golf carts and my golf clubs with are Cobra manufactured in California where I was able to watch clubs being made. Possibly Taylormade as well US made. Now I wonder what clubs trump has?

[dustybiker2]

I was just thinking how US bars of soap are half the size they used to be. Rattling around in now 2x the size boxes noticeably (especially noticed carrying them on motorcycle), when they used to stick inside. Toilet paper when on the holder is also obviously an inch narrower.
Better is just not something America is recognized for. Quality care and control is embarrassing. Cheap and low quality. Even food quality exceptions and allowed chemicals are off the charts compared safety of other countries.

[NathanDavis]

surprise surprise... a quite significant amount of the "US drugs" are actually manufactured in China as well...

and the same goes for some tools, and even some Fender and Gibson lines of guitars

so... I'll go with footballs instead, lol

[Staximus]

Airplanes and cars until the '70s

[msc545]

Good examples! I only wish it were still true.

[Staximus]

If I wasn't half blind I would probably be building an airplane right now

[msc545]

What plane would you choose to build?

[Staximus]

I don't know a lot about planes but I would build something with a very low stall speed

[msc545]

I'm not real familiar with kit planes and the like but I fly a Piper Warrior and I like it specifically because of the wing shape and the relatively low stall speed.

Do you fly?

[Staximus]

I do not, I don't think my vision is good enough

[msc545]

I'm sorry to hear that but I understand.

[Staximus]

Oh well, I'm going to build a 200+ mph car instead and take it to Bonneville

[msc545]

That sounds like a nice project and a good plan. What kind of car will you build?

[Staximus]

Not sure yet. Whatever it is, it's going to have a supercharged big block Chevy or turbo diesel engine in it. There are too many racing classes at Bonneville. Everything from 50cc mini bikes all the way up to rocket and jet powered streamliners that look like a missile and can almost break the sound barrier.

[msc545]

Nice! I would be interested in knowing what you finally decide to build. I love cars!

[Staximus]

My brother and I used to make moonshine so I kind of want to make an alcohol powered car. There are plenty of drag racing and sprint cars that run off of alcohol. Most people don't utilize alcohol's full potential as a fuel and don't run it at maximum compression. You have to leave 10% of the water in it. There's a common misconception in the automotive industry the alcohol has to be pure with no water content to run it in a car, which is completely false. Alcohol only has to be pure with no water content if you want to mix it with gasoline. Internal combustion engines ran off of alcohol way before they did it off of gasoline. The alcohol sure as hell wasn't 100%. The problem with alcohol as a fuel is it's really dangerous, especially during the day. It burns so clean that you can't see the flames in daylight if there's a fire. Your car could be on fire and you could be on fire and the only way they would know is when other stuff starts burning or from the heatwave distortion in the air.

[Staximus]

I'm not sure if there's even an engine block that can tolerate the abuse that I want to put on it by running it off of alcohol at 18 to 1 compression

[msc545]

That is very intersting - I had no idea this was possible. What sort of compression ratio is needed?

[msc545]

Yikes. If you can even find a head gasket and bolts and rods that will tolerate that...

[Staximus]

So i was looking at Sprint car alcohol engines that are 410 cubic inch aluminum blocks with steel cylinder sleeves and they run 17:1 compression all the time at 900 horsepower. No turbo or supercharger. They run the hell out of them and rebuild them every few races or sometimes every race. I'm not going to have that kind of money and am going with something much bigger and heavier because weight doesn't matter

[msc545]

Why would weight not matter?

[Staximus]

It's for Bonneville. They race on a salt flat (dry lake bed). You need weight for traction. I think you have 4 miles to get up to speed and 4 miles to slow down, depending on the class. The object is to get your hunk of junk going as fast as possible. They have guys out there doing over 400 mph in cars with supercharged and turbo big block V8's. They don't really look like cars, more like a missile on wheels.

[msc545]

Sounds fun! Also dangerous :)

[Staximus]

I'm not trying to go that fast, I don't think building a million dollar car is going to be in my budget haha

[msc545]

well... is there any such thing as "fast enough " ?

[Staximus]

Well sometimes you just have to settle for as fast as you can afford to go

[msc545]

yes, very true. I wish for faster all the time anyway.

[OneViewpoint]

• Domestic Reich Wing terrorists
• Guns
• Ammo
• Fake Christians
• Profits
• Poor people who vote for their own butt rape
• Mass shooters
• Crystal Meth
• Whiskey (actually excellent)
• Twinkies, Ho Ho's, Ding Dongs, Pork Rinds
• Traitors
• High school graduates who can't find the Pacific ocean on a map
• Super hero films
• Gas guzzling SUV's and pickup trucks
• Global economic instability
• Military risk
• Rich pedophiles
• Volatile cryptocurrency

[slatyb]

Wine from the west coast -- California, Oregon, Washington. Software. Craft beer -- best in the world.

[msc545]

Great choices!!

[msc545]

California wine is sometimes just excellent, but quality varies according to environmental conditions here. I am from the wine-producing area and know a little bit about it - not much, really.

[slatyb]

Of course quality varies -- I'm not claiming that all wine from western states is great, but some is. by the way good wine is far cheaper in Europe. We were drinking very nice wine in a bar in Paris for 5 Euro a glass, tax and tip included.

[Pterodon]

We also make the best planes (overall), best whiskey, best military equipment, best custom audiophile components, best pickups, best cast iron cookware, best submarines. We also make the best sporting ammo. Imported ammo is very inconsistent. One will go bang and the next one pop and jam your gun

[msc545]

Boeing aircraft vs Airbus? Whiskey yes, military maybe if it works, audio unsure, the rest I don't know. Ammo I think God I have no use for.

[DryGermanGuy]

I don’t know when or why Boeing dropped the ball, but there are reasons why Airbus has been more successful in the last ten+ years.

[msc545]

@DryGermanGuy Boeing dropped the ball when the bean counters decided quality control costs too much.

[Pterodon]

You think Boeing and Airbus are the only aircraft manufacturers? Lol. Been in aviation my whole life. We make the best planes and helicopters

[exitseven]

Automobiles, shoes and boots, furniture, building material, clothing, . It is hard to think of anything made in USA that isn't better than something made overseas.

[msc545]

U. S.-made autos are garbage. Shoes and boots are ok sometimes. Furniture and clothing and building material I am not sure of.

[msc545]

Foreign cars (German and Japanese) are much better. Computer hardware made in Taiwan is much better as you should know.

[exitseven]

I have been buying American made cars for many years and have always thought they were well made and dependable.

[msc545]

I think that is no longer true. I buy German and Japanese-made cars - Porsche and Toyota.

[exitseven]

What does it cost to get an oil change on a Porsche? How about new spark plugs?

[msc545]

Oil changes are expensive because my Porsche takes 10 quarts (!!!) of synthetic oil. Spark plugs are very infrequent and about $ 100 with labor and parts.

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of stuff but its usually stuff you see old money wearing

[Opinion Owner]

Or owning.

[msc545]

Like what?

[Ariesman81]

Steel and other metals are of higher quality in the U. S. Japanese mentality is also top notch.

[Ariesman81]

*metallurgy

[MisterWack]

Guitars

[msc545]

yep!

[HeartShapedHaze]

I know our farming equipment/aviation technology are among the best in the world, others try to steal the technology lol.

[msc545]

Boeing makes planes that crash. John Deere makes farm equipment that financially fucks farmers when it needs repairs.

[Sevenpointfive]

i thought we had good jeans?

[DryGermanGuy]

Motorbikes

[msc545]

Depends. BMW bikes are great.

[DryGermanGuy]

Oh, of course they are. But Harley and Buell have great products also.

[dustybiker2]

Have to disagree.

[DryGermanGuy]

@dustybiker2
Well, tell us more...

[dustybiker2]

@DryGermanGuy

I do love all bikes for what they are. I've learned a lot though.

Harley has always had a bad rep for overpricing under quality bikes. Just for starters they have leaked oil for literally generations.

Someone put cat litter in my brand new Honda engine when it was being put together during covid. Someone had broken into the shop and out of hundred some odd bikes in the shop mine was one of seven targeted. It wasn't known until we all had engine oil lights come on.
Several were totaled because of this.
I had a helluva time getting my drain bolt off. Three days of gentle tapping on the braker bar and it finally cracked. I found a handful of litter pour out in oil. I will prob always have litter in my engine. But after that oil change the light never came on and the engine has never complained. (Brand new bike 😡)

I have a lot of stories of my own as well as others of American bikes which could not say the same in heartiness.

I would pass on *owning* a number of brands, even if I still like the bikes for whatever reason.

Enjoy what you like. Own when you love.