Would you buy a Chinese-made Buck?

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Not being American myself, the country of manufacture has little bearing on my choice to make a purchase or not.
 
DelialFallen said:
Not being American myself, the country of manufacture has little bearing on my choice to make a purchase or not.
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yeah. its more about bucks always been an american company made in america. so many grew up with american made bucks. its a bit nostalgia combined with nationalistic pride. ironically if the factory was filled with visa workers from vietnam or where ever and folks knew...... that would kill the nationalistic pride a bit.:)

not saying it is just saying "if"......it would kill the made or assembled in america for many.
 
JD Bear said:
Pretty good point and I have to say it's not a bad idea at all. I'd have to wonder if introducing a new brand would add additional costs that would make it not worth it to Buck. Things like marketing, new packaging, retooling for different blade stamps....things like that. I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about in that area, but it's just a thought as to why they don't do that. Instead of trying to make mass produced quick sell items at a cheap price, I think they should offer more options of the products they already sell a lot of. For instance, if they made 501's with jigged bone, delrin, and different woods on their regular production line, I would own every single one. Same goes with 112's, 110's and the 300 series....
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I was feeling the same way when I was looking for the 301. I haven't owned that style of knife before, and my Gpa always has his. It would have been a really sweet Christmas if I could have customized that Knife. Buck's website is selling the China knife. I had to find someone from a different source that was selling one from the USA with a redwood handle. The metal might be okay, but the handle looks like I grabbed a stick from in my back yard, and stuck it on there. I also got a Stockman from Case so I could get one a little more fancy.

I found a company called BUCKa that sells a replica of the knife with the same BUCK symbol. I almost spit on my computer...
 
jbmonkey said:
yeah. its more about bucks always been an american company made in america. so many grew up with american made bucks. its a bit nostalgia combined with nationalistic pride. ironically if the factory was filled with visa workers from vietnam or where ever and folks knew...... that would kill the nationalistic pride a bit.:)

not saying it is just saying "if"......it would kill the made or assembled in america for many.
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Exactly I got my first Buck when I in inherited it from my dad. His 110 was from 1981-1986 with the 2 dots on each side of the factory #110.
 
DelialFallen said:
Not being American myself, the country of manufacture has little bearing on my choice to make a purchase or not.
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You should care about where things come from because you are a citizen of the world. The item you puchase is a product of the culture that made it. By buying it, you support that society. This is true for everything from local produce to Belgian chocolate to Korean cars. Caring about where products originate as well as price/quality is one of the more positive geopolitical statements a man can make...that's why I drink Hatian rum...or thats what I tell myself when I sip some 15 yo Barbancourt :)
 
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Just my two cents:

In my eyes, "Made in USA" is worth 50%+ of Buck's brand equity. CRKT and Gerber would love for Buck to give that up at a time when they are doubling down on it.
 
In answer to the original question, nope. Our little filibuster of Chinese goods isn’t going to change world politics, but I certainly don’t feel like buying poorly-made knives.
 
I've put the brakes on buying any Chinese knives for the simple fact that I'm completely confused by the recent influx of high and low end chinese offerings and don't have the energy to sort it all out.

Factory A makes $10 knock-offs but also makes $200 knives for Company X.
Factory B makes $10 knives for Company Y and $300 knive for Company Z
Factory C makes $200 knives and sells them under their own label, Brand C, but also makes $10 knives and sells them under Brand D.

Tell ya what, I'm going to buy something that I can be sure isn't a $10 knife wearing a $200 price tag made in some mysterious shared factory. If that means I don't get to spend hours flipping my titanium, ceramic bearing, alphabet soup steel fidget knife then I guess that's my loss.
 
I could be wrong, but the Chinese Bucks were all models that weren't ever made in a Buck factory anyway. A lot were made by Camillus.

So when Camillus and Schrade, went belly up, sold out and went over seas. What were Bucks options for their slip joints?

At least they are still available. Hopefully made to Bucks specs.

Sad what has happened to the great American knife companies. We are lucky Buck is still made here at all.
 
eveled eveled : The slip joints were the only ones made by Shrade, then Camillus before Buck made them in their own factory. 301, 303, 305, 309 and a couple of short runs.
The slip joints made in China are parallel to those patterns, plus a few new ones like toothpicks, canoes, and trappers.
I believe those are the only duplicate patterns made both here and overseas. The rest of the overseas knives are different patterns from those made here.
Overseas manufacturing is blamed on the big box stores who wanted the Buck brand at a particular price point.

Would I buy a Chinese Buck? Not likely unless there was a pattern that I just had to have that wasn’t done in the US plant.
Truth be told, I probably still wouldn’t because I think the “we want USA made” is more a message for the retailers than the manufacturers....
 
Buck makes enough quality knives here in USA at competitive prices,why would I want an import Buck?
This country has lost enough jobs to mexico,china and I choose not to support that,regardless of the quality/price.
The Selkirk is a great lookin knife, but I can't get past the China Mfg on it...Make it Here!
 
zakjak221 said:
Buck makes enough quality knives here in USA at competitive prices,why would I want an import Buck?
This country has lost enough jobs to mexico,china and I choose not to support that,regardless of the quality/price.
The Selkirk is a great lookin knife, but I can't get past the China Mfg on it...Make it Here!
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I totally agree with you. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
I don't get too worked up over where my Bucks are made. All of my purchases are wants not needs. We're all using foreign made computers and cellphones and don't seem to be refusing those purchases. As far as jobs going overseas I don't believe Buck laid off any people here in order to produce any of their offshore models.

If anything those models helped keep Buck viable and allowed them to add jobs here. Even the offshore models generate profits that come back here. That's better than the Honda or Toyota some folks buy only because they're made in a plant here. The profits go back overseas.

If we're honest most of us "buy American" if and when it's convenient. I buy what like at a price I like from where ever I like. But as I said, I'm just being honest.
 
Yup....You can't buy a pair of tennis shoes,cell phone or a TV that's made in USA,but with knives we have a choice.
Eventually all these out of country purchases will trickle down to you..ask steel & auto workers & all the suppliers for these industries.
 
We always have a choice. As I posted, we tend to choose based on convenience. If it's convenient to purchase something made in America folks do it and tout that purchase. If it's not convenient they buy the foreign made stuff and keep it to themselves.

I don't go out of my way to purchase foreign made goods but I also don't go out of my way not to purchase them. Regardless of what they may post here I believe most of us do the same thing.

As far as jobs go let's say you have two cars, both are nearly identical as far as features, size, intended market, price, quality, warranty, etc. In fact the only real difference is where they are made and let's say, the color. In this case I would choose the one made here in America. Now suppose the car made here cost 20% more, was of lower quality material and fit and finish and only had a 3/36 warranty compared to the foreign car at 5/100. Would anyone honestly pick the car made here?
 
Cutthroat, vicious, unfair, no-quarter competition is the kindest thing the world can offer American manufacturing. It's good for them, it's good for us.

Build it faster, better, stronger, lower, higher, deeper for less money.

Or go home.

No whining, just do one or the other.
 
I was taught the rule of three. Not sure if that's the real name for it or not but an old General Manager told me that to be effective and profitable you needed at least two competitors hence your company and two others make three.

With competition you are forced to more or less constantly evaluate your business to make sure you're getting the best price from your suppliers and your processes and personnel are providing you with the best product possible. For me "best" means that the final product is produced safely, cost effectively, at the quality level required/specified and in the time frame contracted.
 
Have, and likely will again, if a model appeals to me.

While I always lean towards "Made in the USA", there's no need to be dogmatic. We live, and have always lived, in a global economy. The only thing that has changed, is the speed and efficiency with which goods can be moved.

As Otto T. Mallery said, “When goods don’t cross borders, Soldiers will"
 
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