We are making great progress with our PocketShip build, and I'm hoping to be mostly done with the hull in the next month or two. Unfortunately, I have not done so well finding a distributor of sailing hardware that will help supply me with the necessary equipment here in Thailand. Mostly they are just not responding to queries for weeks at a time.
So while I'm still talking to the local shops, I'm beginning to explore international options. Thailand gets most of its trade from China, so I'm wondering if anyone here knows of a Chinese supplier that is reputable and makes decent quality equipment. Are any of the reliable name brands manufactured and shipped from China? I sort of fear that what I end up ordering from the USA may end up costing me 2-3x more than ordering directly because of being shipped across the Pacific twice, and possibly paid customs on twice too. (When I first moved here, I once ordered a Viewsonic computer monitor from the USA that had "made in Thailand" stamped on it when it arrived back in Thailand. I felt rather silly.)
If you wouldn't trust the Chinese made equipment brands, do you know of any USA vendors well equipped for international orders?
Any advice our suggestions would be much appreciated. I'm more of a builder than a sailor, so this is quite new for me.
https://www.mibproj.info/category/pocketship