Made in the USA: Wahl Clippers
Partly made and assembled in the USA
Many American made consumer products position themselves at the upper end of their respective markets. This may be jeans that are $90/pair for “inexpensive” American jeans cf. the $20 Walmart Levi and Wrangler specials to $40 Malco (out of business, sadly) vice grips versus their Harbor Freight competition ranging from a quarter to half that much. Thankfully, not everything is subject to quite such a disparate pricing tier scheme.
Enter, the humble home use Wahl Clipper kits available direct from their website with free shipping on orders over $25. The starter kit is $35 to begin reining one’s own hair. They clearly mark which of their products are made, or assembled, here in the USA. A five year limited warranty seems short, though, given that I’ve been using my set for a good eleven years!
The product is well made with no gaps or seams with unfinished edges, and zero unnecessary features. Oil the blades a little bit to cut down on noise and reduce wear, snap on the guard length you want, and start cutting. The length adjustments are not as fine as one might get on a professional clipper set (curiously, I don’t see assembled in the USA listed on the Wahl Pro website), but good enough to do fades, high and tights, and other transitions with some practice and futzing.
The kit includes everything you’ll need for basic home hair cutting, though mine is missing an ear guide, and I can only assume my children are the cause. Somehow, some way. In addition, the shears that came with the kit broke, and they don’t include thinning shears that will help lighten hair and make for less goofy bangs on children. At $35 + $16 over a decade of use, this is one Made in the USA product which makes for an easy purchase.
I freaking love Wahl. When we had dogs, I bought a single pair of their clippers just because I figured 35 bucks was cheaper than the over a 100 we spent trying to get them groomed from time to time. Boy was that a killer investment for two heelers. We saved so much money using those and the clippers outlasted the dogs.
I wish I was good at using something like that on myself, but I'm not allowed to cut my hair anymore since around late college. Would use it on the kids but they're all girls so.....
Can vouch for how great a product Wahl makes. I need to pick something of theirs up to keep my facial hair in check.
We, too, have a set of Wahl clippers. I don't remember seeing any "MADE IN USA" stamps on it, but it would not surprise me if it did. Rather, I'd be delighted! One of the ways we've saved money over the past, oh, 8 or so years has been by cutting our own hair. We manage to make ourselves look presentable to the general public, and what more could you ask for? Well, for the clippers to be American made, I suppose.