- Joined
- Feb 5, 2005
- Messages
- 857
Dear Buck Knives:
Today, I received the eighth or nineth Buck Knife I have owned in my life (a vintage 422 Bucklite I bought from an eBayer in Singapore). As usual, it was well-made, worked perfectly, and made me happy have it in my collection. I'm 31 and have been using, collecting, and trading knives regularly for almost 15 years, and I am moved to write to you for the following reason:
Buck Knives are uniformly well-made, well-designed, and relatively inexpensive, and, to quote my kid brother, it freaks me out.
There's been a lot of buzz on BladeForums lately regarding the Bucks being produced overseas. Coupled with the closing of Schrade, a lot of folks have been lamenting the 'loss' of "American-ness" in the once-mighty American knife manufacturing community as more and more "American" companies turn to production facilities in Taiwan and China (I use sarcastic quotation marks around "American" because I doubt any publicly held knife company, or any other company of significant size, is 100% American owned and American supplied -- those days are long gone now).
I want to state that I have faith in free markets and competition. While I feel for people who have been directly impacted by the globalization of knife manufacturing (my father works in the oil industry, and was laid off many times in my youth, so I know how this issue affects families), I believe that in the long term, American knife companies will remain competitive by concentrating on the design and marketing of innovative products and 'old standbys' that meet the needs of American knife users and collectors rather than by clinging to parts of the manufacturing process where Americans simply cannot compete. I view this lack of competitiveness as a sign of economic progress, not a source of dismay. Somebody in the world is the best producer of shoelaces -- is the US not better served by concentrating the thing that will *replace* shoelaces?
Which gets me back to my main point. Without naming names, I will say that I have handled and/or traded and sold many knives from Buck competitors, especially (ahem) "Warm Steel," "Garber," and "Beetleco." All three import many parts and components, and have been doing so longer than Buck. Yet, Buck has found a balance between the reality of global manufacturing in 2005 and maintaining high standards of quality in a way that no other "American" company has been able to match. I have seen vintage Bucks 20+ years in age that *feel* better than the newest fad knives from other companies; brand-new knives, even relatively humble 'beginner' models like the Bucklite and the venerable 110, remain, in my opinion, the best values for the dollar.
So, while I, too, lament the offshoring of many parts of the manufacturing process, I believe Buck should be commended for surviving in the current environment, keeping many if not all production/marketing functions at home, all while maintaining their reknowned quality.
Buck Knives are uniformly well-made, well-designed, and relatively inexpensive, and it freaks me out.
Today, I received the eighth or nineth Buck Knife I have owned in my life (a vintage 422 Bucklite I bought from an eBayer in Singapore). As usual, it was well-made, worked perfectly, and made me happy have it in my collection. I'm 31 and have been using, collecting, and trading knives regularly for almost 15 years, and I am moved to write to you for the following reason:
Buck Knives are uniformly well-made, well-designed, and relatively inexpensive, and, to quote my kid brother, it freaks me out.
There's been a lot of buzz on BladeForums lately regarding the Bucks being produced overseas. Coupled with the closing of Schrade, a lot of folks have been lamenting the 'loss' of "American-ness" in the once-mighty American knife manufacturing community as more and more "American" companies turn to production facilities in Taiwan and China (I use sarcastic quotation marks around "American" because I doubt any publicly held knife company, or any other company of significant size, is 100% American owned and American supplied -- those days are long gone now).
I want to state that I have faith in free markets and competition. While I feel for people who have been directly impacted by the globalization of knife manufacturing (my father works in the oil industry, and was laid off many times in my youth, so I know how this issue affects families), I believe that in the long term, American knife companies will remain competitive by concentrating on the design and marketing of innovative products and 'old standbys' that meet the needs of American knife users and collectors rather than by clinging to parts of the manufacturing process where Americans simply cannot compete. I view this lack of competitiveness as a sign of economic progress, not a source of dismay. Somebody in the world is the best producer of shoelaces -- is the US not better served by concentrating the thing that will *replace* shoelaces?
Which gets me back to my main point. Without naming names, I will say that I have handled and/or traded and sold many knives from Buck competitors, especially (ahem) "Warm Steel," "Garber," and "Beetleco." All three import many parts and components, and have been doing so longer than Buck. Yet, Buck has found a balance between the reality of global manufacturing in 2005 and maintaining high standards of quality in a way that no other "American" company has been able to match. I have seen vintage Bucks 20+ years in age that *feel* better than the newest fad knives from other companies; brand-new knives, even relatively humble 'beginner' models like the Bucklite and the venerable 110, remain, in my opinion, the best values for the dollar.
So, while I, too, lament the offshoring of many parts of the manufacturing process, I believe Buck should be commended for surviving in the current environment, keeping many if not all production/marketing functions at home, all while maintaining their reknowned quality.
Buck Knives are uniformly well-made, well-designed, and relatively inexpensive, and it freaks me out.