Made in China...

[bakerbarber]

To me it seems like the site is solely dedicated to Taiwan. The other pages linked off the home page didn't translate though.

I'll stick with snus made in a country with laws regarding sanitary guidelines.

[cocsp2002]

Yeah, I don't know how I feel about snus made in an almost 3rd world country based on knock-off recipes of popular products. The cans don't even look right...they SAY they're waterproof though...

[ponysoprano]

Just checked the Vikingsnus site, very very interesting. I'd love to hear your review, Mazur, should you get around to trying some of these.

I'd be willing to try some, but I checked, and I'm fresh-out of Thai Baht $ in my checking account! I was going to attempt to make a joke about the Thai lady-boy transgender phenomenon, but that might be way too off topic. So, I'll make a friendly suggestion to you all re: a perfect waterproof/floating lös or portion container...Otterbox [look it up] makes a "1000" series drybox that can be used for just about anything. The size is perfect for me for daily meds when camping, or 'wacky-tobacky' when I was a foolish roustabout. I own 2 of these Otterbox 1000's and it just occured to me what a fine container they'd make for snus of your choice.

http://www.otterbox.com/waterproof-cases/otterbox-1000/
ops:

EDIT: btw....Otterbox is American owned and made in the good ol' US of A

[airwoodstock]

Since you physically have one Pony, I'm going to ask you this question since I need a visual size comparison. Is the interior about the size of a pack of 100's? I know.......stupid question :roll: since the dimentions are on the web page but, I need a comparison size since I lost my ruler :lol:

[ponysoprano]

woodstock: I think that'd be about right, I have an older one [black one] from when they were a new company, maybe 1999 or 2000, and then a few years back my girlfriend at the time ordered me an iPod case from them and they sent a free 1000 series, the ones they sell now are considerably taller, but still pocket size. The yellow one is the newer one...seems they've improved them all around, including the latch.

shown with common items for size ref.

ps: to admin/mods: I DID shrink this pic down but photobucket for some reason has a delay when editing...
?

[Zero]

^ The company is American, but I fully expect that they would have had these manufactured in China. I would be very surprised, anyway, if they didn't. It just doesn't make sense to invest in the infrastructure needed to make injection moulded plastic bits and pieces when you can just send a CAD drawing to China and have a shipping crate full of the things with minimal turnaround. Everything costs too much otherwise.

[airwoodstock]

^ The company is American, but I fully expect that they would have had these manufactured in China. I would be very surprised, anyway, if they didn't. It just doesn't make sense to invest in the infrastructure needed to make injection moulded plastic bits and pieces when you can just send a CAD drawing to China and have a shipping crate full of the things with minimal turnaround. Everything costs too much otherwise.

I'm going to say there is a good possiblity these are made here. My best friend is a tool & die maker here in IL for a company that makes plastic parts for the automotive industry. These are the bits and bobs that many would think would be made "overseas". His father-in law is the VP of a molding company in Chicago that makes plastic injected lawn furniture (like the kind you would buy at Wal-Mart or ASDA).The ironic thing about my buddie's company is, they make most of the injected parts that go into Toyotas, Hondas and Kias along with the major US manufactorers. You would be suprised as to how much of the plastic molding/injection industry is in the US, Canada and Mexico and, how little is done in China. I know in my line of business, ALL the plastic bins and crates we sell are made either in the US or Canada. NONE of them are from China. Just wanted to add a comment from a person who has some experience in this area.

-R

[bakerbarber]

Ewww Melamine snus!

[Zero]

I'm going to say there is a good possiblity these are made here. My best friend is a tool & die maker here in IL for a company that makes plastic parts for the automotive industry. These are the bits and bobs that many would think would be made "overseas". His father-in law is the VP of a molding company in Chicago that makes plastic injected lawn furniture (like the kind you would buy at Wal-Mart or ASDA).The ironic thing about my buddie's company is, they make most of the injected parts that go into Toyotas, Hondas and Kias along with the major US manufactorers. You would be suprised as to how much of the plastic molding/injection industry is in the US, Canada and Mexico and, how little is done in China. I know in my line of business, ALL the plastic bins and crates we sell are made either in the US or Canada. NONE of them are from China. Just wanted to add a comment from a person who has some experience in this area.

It's certainly a possibility, I won't discount that. The US still dominates in higher-order injection processes for military/automotive/medical/etc applications - plastic parts that are components of more expensive and complex systems. It's only because this case is a rather simple consumer product that I am inclined to suspect it was outsourced to China - especially considering that they are a small startup and likely would have found it much easier to source a bit of funding for a small team of designers than to have to invest in capital equipment and skilled technicians to run an entire new process just for a few boxes. They could have outsourced to an American plant, of course, but it would have simply cost them a lot more money. It's not exactly a high-ticket item, so shaving away marginal costs is the sort of thing that would make or break the company, I would think.

Here's a short blurb on the topic from Mr. Li You, from Nanjing Wellplas Platics Co. Ltd. :

In my personal view, there are two types of plastics manufacturing. One is pure plastic products such as basins and hangers, and the other type is plastic parts and components that go into more complex and value-added products. China obviously has advantages in the first type of products, which feature steady supply, large demand and sensitivity to price points.

I can give you some examples: a 90-metric-ton, second-tier brand injection press costs only 70,000 yuan (US$10,200); in the Yangtze River delta, the monthly salary for injection press operators is 1,000-1,500 yuan (US$150 to US$220), 2,000-4,000 yuan (US$290 to US$590) for injection technicians, 3,000 yuan (US$440) for a mold technician, and just 5,000 yuan (US$730) for a mold technician with ten years of experience. Isn't that far less than even unemployment benefits in the U.S.? That's why made-in-China products are so cheap.

However, the U.S. has a tremendous advantage in the second type of plastic products, leveraging other leading manufacturing sectors and industries. In this category, quality, delivery time and communication are highly valued, as well as local services like product design, drawing and prototyping. The Chinese plastics industry doesn't have these leveraging opportunities from domestic manufacturing sectors such as medical, aviation, biochemical, etc. Since Chinese firms can't even get in the door to supply these industries, they miss all the opportunities of growing with them.

I also would like to take the auto industry as an example. Twenty years ago, when Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. started a joint venture with Volkswagen, making Santana-branded sedans, less than 3 percent of the parts and components were supplied by domestic Chinese manufacturers. Twenty years have passed. Today, China's fast-expanding automakers are bringing mold and plastics suppliers up to speed. That illustrates how different industries support and enhance each other.

I believe that eventually China will become a leading player in the plastics industry, but definitely not through making low-value-added products like basins and hangers. The best technologies always apply first in military supplies, medical, precision systems, etc. As these sectors develop in China, the Chinese plastics industry will eventually enter the high-end markets.

The present American plastics industry, perhaps, is the future of the Chinese plastics industry.

Anyway, the only way to know for sure is to ask them, I suppose. Just lending my speculations is all.

[airwoodstock]

No worries Zero! I know my buddie's father-in-law does run some smaller run jobs for local small business in and around Chicago. You're right in the fact that it does cost more for his company to run them than it would cost if they were run in China but, what the small business owner would save in material, tooling and production costs would be whittled away by the freight costs. Unless they were direct shipped from there. I guess it depends on the size of the job being run and, if the manufactorer is willing to ship directly to the consumer. I can only speak to the retail side with certanty.

[Zero]

Like the Boeing avatar, by the way - planespotter, pilot, or just enthusiast?

[airwoodstock]

Like the Boeing avatar, by the way - planespotter, pilot, or just enthusiast?

Thx! Virtual Pilot for 10 years/Training for my "real world" pilot's license on and off for 2 years. I'll get it some day . Cost of solo time and fuel are making it a 2 hour solo a month program. My grandpop worked for the City Of Chicago and we use to go planespotting. I still do when I get the free time. In Flight Simulator, I've flown for a few Virtual airlines before a couple of friends and I created our own (AirWoodstock). I'm in the process of doing a repaint on a "Triple 7" for SnusOn. Trying to incorporate "Snussie" for the tail. I'll post it once it's done for opinions!

[Starcadia]

I plan on getting my private pilot's license at some point too. I started soon after I graduated from high school, with aspirations to fly commercially, but I dropped out after about 10 hours since I lost my transportation to the airport. Someday... :roll:

Good luck with that, AWS.

[sentry103]

I figured this would happen.. I'd read this post and get pissed and then get on a soapbox.. I'm not gonna do it.. just leavin it alone :?

[Zero]

Like the Boeing avatar, by the way - planespotter, pilot, or just enthusiast?

Thx! Virtual Pilot for 10 years/Training for my "real world" pilot's license on and off for 2 years. I'll get it some day . Cost of solo time and fuel are making it a 2 hour solo a month program. My grandpop worked for the City Of Chicago and we use to go planespotting. I still do when I get the free time. In Flight Simulator, I've flown for a few Virtual airlines before a couple of friends and I created our own (AirWoodstock). I'm in the process of doing a repaint on a "Triple 7" for SnusOn. Trying to incorporate "Snussie" for the tail. I'll post it once it's done for opinions!

Sweet. Have you tried X-Plane? Seems a partisan thing, but I like it over MSFS. It uses a real laminar-flow physics model and the subsonic dynamics tend to be really accurate. In full cockpit rigs it's FAA certified for flight training towards even a commercial, which is pretty cool.