Thank you for locating that; clearly you are correct and an explanation was provided on the old website. I can understand why I missed it (seeking information about products, I foolishly looked in the "Product" section) but don't understand why Google didn't locate it. I probably made some type of mistake in configuring the search.
Country of origin is not "printed on all packaging, clear as day." Country of origin is printed on the bottom of the box. Country of origin is not noted on the "Product Warranty Registration." Country of origin is not noted on the plastic bag containing the knife. And really, it shouldn't be--there is no need for country of origin to be printed anywhere on the packaging other than the box. Where people can see it without searching.
As I've written before, country of origin was not an issue until quality was. At time of purchase, I had the information I was seeking when I saw the words "BUCK KNIVES." Any reason I might have for skepticism about the quality of knives made in China is due solely to my experience with ChinaBucks.
Price point is not a reliable indication of import or domestic manufacture due to vagaries of the marketplace. A number of people have posted purchases of 110s at prices in the $25-35 range. Last month I saw 309s being sold for $20. I paid around $22 for the 382. This doesn't mean the 110 and 309 are imports, or that the 382 is of domestic production, but rather that where and when you purchase a knife can play a large role in pricing.
In an earlier posting, you made the claim, "3. Stamps ALL products with the country of origin, in the same size lettering used for both import and domestic markings." Using as an example photos you posted, I showed this was incorrect. In another example, I wrote that on the knives I measured the size difference was also present but the domestic manufactured knife had larger font. As they were not mentioned in your original claim, I did not address size of "BUCK" font, or the size of font used for the model number.
I suspect that the size of font used has little meaning, and depends more on the vintage of the knife, or which stamps are available when the stamping is designed, or are standard in the factory where the knife is produced. My only concern about font size--and the reason I took the knives in and measured the font--is to disprove the claim made by some that there isn't room to mark import knives in the same manner as domestically-produced knives. If there is room to mark one country of origin, there is room to mark the other, if the manufacturer chose to.
You don't really expect me to provide that information at the request of someone who repeatedly engages in ad hominem attacks do you?
Per USPS, the knife arrived at Buck. The information was provided to Buck in a letter sent about 8 weeks later asking if it was still there or had been shipped and perhaps lost in the mail, and I have no reason to believe the letter was not received.
I received excellent service from the customer service department on the knife I sent in back around 1990, and I write that despite the fact that they were unable to repair the knife under warranty. But that was 1990, and 2005, not today. My current experience suggests that customer service of today's BKI is not what it once was.
I admittedly have a small data set (n=4), with a 75% defect rate; I'm reasonably certain that is a statistical anomoly. Rounding off your numbers, you seem to have a defect rate of probably <4%. I suspect the numbers on a large (>10,000) sample would be even smaller than the rate you found.
None of which invalidates our respective experiences. Statistically-unlikely things happen all the time; in the absence of data from a sample large enough to be generalized, we each tend to give weight to our own experiences.
I find the strawman arguments and ad hominem attacks employed by Buck's advocates equally amusing; it seems it would be easier to avoid all the hard feelings (and customers lost to Buck).
