China Bucks ???

J

JAxe

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Aug 16, 2000
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501
I thought Buck knives were made in the USA? Now I see some models are made in China? Is there a way to know which ones are made where short of buying them? Are the 100 series (102, 110, 119, etc) made in the US?
 
As far as I know all the 100 series fixed blade are USA made in Post Falls Idaho. There are some 370 series traditionals same pattern as the 300 series that are made in China. Like the 371 stockman is like the 301, and the 373 is like the 303. I’m not sure how many of the traditional patterns are made in China but there’s several. And there have been some fakes of all kinds from overseas that pop up from time to time.
 
The way I have used to spot a China Buck, is that a USA made buck will say:

“BUCK USA” and the China ones simply say “BUCK”

I’m sure there’s exceptions, but this never fails me. You can also go to their website and origin is listed. I think the Bantam series is made in USA with imported parts.
 
PStone said:
The way I have used to spot a China Buck, is that a USA made buck will say:

“BUCK USA” and the China ones simply say “BUCK”

I’m sure there’s exceptions, but this never fails me. You can also go to their website and origin is listed. I think the Bantam series is made in USA with imported parts.
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Bantam i thought were american 420hc steel made here and assembled here and the handles were from China or other foreign source.
 
China Bucks.....
I just got rid of an old "china" cabinet.........
nobody wanted that either.

besides, I no longer have a cabinet to keep them in.
 
All the 100 series are made in Idaho.

As for the 300 series, only the 30x are (or were. I'm not sure the 301 and 303 are still in production.) made in Idaho, unless contract Schrade or Camillus, before the 300 series was made in-house.

The early black handle 877 was made offshore. The white handle "Walmart" 877 (2014? ... 2015?) were made in Idaho.
After the Walmart run, the black handle 877 was made in Idaho, until the model was dropped in 2017 or 2018.

I don't know about the rest.

I have no problem buying an offshore Buck. I'm still supporting Buck with my purchase. Also, the offshore knives have the same Forever warrantee/guarantee as the USA made knives. IMHO, if the offshore knives were sub-standard, Buck wouldn't guarantee them forever. They'd have a different guarantee.
 
afishhunter said:
All the 100 series are made in Idaho.

As for the 300 series, only the 30x are (or were. I'm not sure the 301 and 303 are still in production.) made in Idaho, unless contract Schrade or Camillus, before the 300 series was made in-house.

The early black handle 877 was made offshore. The white handle "Walmart" 877 (2014? ... 2015?) were made in Idaho.
After the Walmart run, the black handle 877 was made in Idaho, until the model was dropped in 2017 or 2018.

I don't know about the rest.

I have no problem buying an offshore Buck. I'm still supporting Buck with my purchase. Also, the offshore knives have the same Forever warrantee/guarantee as the USA made knives. IMHO, if the offshore knives were sub-standard, Buck wouldn't guarantee them forever. They'd have a different guarantee.
Click to expand...

The warranty on Chinese Bucks is generally a replacement knife, not repair. That's because they are so inexpensive to make.

If Buck was proud of their Chinese made knives they would give country of origin on their website instead of "imported." If you search their site with "imported" you get no hits, not so if you search on USA. Their stock pictures never show a country of origin on Chinese knives except they do show it for US made knives. I won't own an imported Buck because of these marketing policies, but do own other Chinese knives where the marketing is "up front". Plus, 420j2...
 
brownshoe said:
The warranty on Chinese Bucks is generally a replacement knife, not repair. That's because they are so inexpensive to make.

If Buck was proud of their Chinese made knives they would give country of origin on their website instead of "imported." If you search their site with "imported" you get no hits, not so if you search on USA. Their stock pictures never show a country of origin on Chinese knives except they do show it for US made knives. I won't own an imported Buck because of these marketing policies, but do own other Chinese knives where the marketing is "up front". Plus, 420j2...
Click to expand...
while that may be true, only Buck upper management would know for sure on their use of marketing as you suggest. youre just guessing, unless you have inside information? if you do feel free to share it. otherwise its your assumptions and speculations only.

calling it imported is not lying by any means. it is quite accurate and enough for a made in the USA fellow or gal to know it isnt made in the USA if it says imported.
 
Maybe the the 'imported' marking in advertising is faster than saying which exact country they come from . Buck imports from China . Taiwan, and has had knives from Japan and assembled in Mexico .
I've not had any problems with any of those, and very few issues with USA made.
Finally as a light to medium user, the 420j2 is doing ok. I don't expect 420hc edge holding, but not prob so far.
 
I don’t think it’s a quality issue as much as supporting US manufacturing. Made in USA is a selling point.

Nothing annoyed me more than when Colt slapped their names on some made in China knives.

China can make quality items as can Taiwan and Japan. But if I bought a Buck sight unseen I would expect made in USA as that is a big selling point for them. All things being equal quality wise I will pay a couple dollars more for made in USA knowing why I am doing it.

I understand Bucks need to do it just like they needed to move from CA or they would be out of business. From what I can see now they aren’t being deceitful about it I was just surprised and will support the made in US product
 
guy g said:
Maybe the the 'imported' marking in advertising is faster than saying which exact country they come from . Buck imports from China . Taiwan, and has had knives from Japan and assembled in Mexico .
I've not had any problems with any of those, and very few issues with USA made.
Click to expand...
It also allows them to change the sourcing or multi source without changing the advertising. They can source one model from Taiwan and Japan and label it “imported”
 
Pretty much just the selkirk series and some Walmart and sporting goods store exclusives as well as a couple slipjoint models are made in china.
If I'm not mistaken theres maybe 20% at most of Bucks production made in China, the rest are very well made in post falls Idaho.

For me I'm a traditional knife guy so I don't have to worry, I've identified the few I imports which I prefer to avoid and can confidently buy any other Buck model that catches my eye.
 
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