Would you buy a Chinese-made Buck?

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I looked at my collection and I have 8 Buck knives made in China and 2 made in Japan. A lot of the Chinese knives were given as a gift, some are a pair of knives made for Walmart for the Christmas special package. All of them are small pocket knives. I do keep them separate from my other Bucks though.

I thought my least favorite Buck knife was made in the USA. I pulled it out, a 751 and I noticed that it was made in Taiwan. I always thought it was just a bad knife from the USA. I wonder if I have any other Buck knives made in other places?
 
I doubt anything published about comparing foreign and domestic buck knives. I mentioned saying Paul Boss set up the heat treat here..... so I would assume with his reputation in the industry that the domestic heat treat is equal and or better than the overseas Buck.
 
Wouldn't Buck specify the heat treatment methodology used for their contract knives? I'm sure Buck has detailed contract specifications. On the other hand, what I expect a lot of American manufacturers have learned the hard way, you don't share with the Chinese all your manufacturing secrets.
 
I recently bought a Buck Glacier (linerlock/thumbstud), made in China. Great knife, as good as any of the several other US Bucks I have.

Rich
 
We have done a good job discussing this subject in general, but as DM said it is a long tunnel. But, since we have done so well in tough thinking let me state some of my thoughts. (I do not work for Buck) Remember that Buck has a long history in contracting folding knives with Schrade and Camillus. The steel was what ever they were using at the time on their own knives. No Bos treatment. Yet, all our fathers and grandfathers called those contracted Buck knives good. Most Buck overseas contracted knives are folding models and specific for large mega sellers. The debate on whether Buck required this or that treatment is in the essence of "contracting". I will go out on the limb and state it is likely overseas made folders are just like Schrade and Camillus made Buck folders, the steel is what ever they have the ability to use to make Buck quality control folks happy. I think the real thread issue is whether you have adapted to buying overseas goods and now include your pocket knives. Or are you OK with Buck contracting pocket knife manufacturing but just not with certain countries (contractors). Its really about politics, not overseas junk. Buck does not accept shoddy knives being made with their name on them. They may not have the best steel or fancy scales but they are to be finished to Buck Company contract standards.
I just don't care for them, just like I don't care for some knives that come out of the Idaho plant. But, if a fellow only has time to go to mega mart after work and because it is the store his wife is buying the family groceries, a large per cent out of country, at least I hope Buck will package a decent knife he can afford to own and it give a little profit to Buck to improve their factory and pay their workforce decently. Hopefully to build the knives I want to see them build.
I wish American worker made Bucks were as inexpensive as contracted ones, but everyone has to survive. You can't berate the Buck contracted knife if you drive a truck made in Mexico, Japan or even Canada. Buck is doing their best to keep people working in Idaho America and reducing when possible imported models. If they would just make a nice brown bone Bos treated 300.

300Bucks
 
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300 - I feel exactly the same way. The overseas knives are not for me but I do believe Buck is being smart about it. They are gaining a part of the knife business that may be going elsewhere if they did not.
If they did not make any overseas and did nothing to gain that part of the knife sales they may not end up a very healthy company. They still make a large majority of their knives here in the USA and as long
as that is the case they have my business. I certainly am not going to quit buying and collecting Buck knives just because they make a few of their knife lines overseas.
I do have some overseas Buck knives that I acquired when buying a couple collections that consisted of mainly USA Bucks so I do have some but again they are not my thing.
Not everyone sees the knife in their pocket the same as some here do. For some the knife they carry is simply to open a box here and there and a $20 knife does everything they need it to do. Better Buck
makes a couple dollars on that knife customer rather than any other knife company. If it makes Buck a healthier company that I am fine with it.

In the end it is not our say anyway.
 
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300Bucks said:
Buck is doing their best to keep people working in Idaho America and reducing when possible imported models.
300Bucks
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Keeping in mind that SOME imported models are quite nice.
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No - got one off Ebay and they gave me my money back once I cried foul. The steel quality may be ok per the posts above, but the fit and finish sucked and there is no way to verify the heat treat until it fails. Not worth the price to find out when it counts.
 
I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of the factory in China where Bucks are made, or of the people manufacturing the knives, or of the town they live in. Do the workers buy Bucks and use them at home? Are Bucks sold in China? Are people allowed to own/carry them? I wouldn't mind learning a little something about their culture. Stamping China on a product and selling it really only says we don't make it. How am I supposed to feel about that?
 
From an older thread by a guy who was working for Buck at the time.

Buck Knives made in China are heat treated in China. They are thoroughly tested right here in the Quality Assurance Department at the Buck Factory in Idaho. They undergo edge retention testing, Rockwell testing to ensure proper heat treat, etc. They are inspected by Buck quality control inspectors in the US. If the factories in China aren't building to our Buck stadards, the knives are not accepted, or put on the shelf for customers. Quality of the product is controlled all the way in the beginning when a new product is created- Buck engineers work closely with the factories in China to make sure the knives are up to our standards. This continues with in-house quality inspection as the product becomes a regular catalog item.

It should be noted that Buck is an American company, and we want to produce as many products as we can in the United States. We work to utilize our factory capacity and resources as efficiently as we can specifically so we can make as many products as we can here in America. About 70% of Buck Knives are made right here in Idaho, but we do build some knives in China so we can bring the customer a quality knife a very low price.

The thing to keep in mind is that any knife with the Buck name on it has our lifetime warranty on it, regardless of contry of origin. It is in our best interest to make sure that the knives produced in China are built right, or we're going to have to fix it. Anyhow, sorry for the long winded post, but I wanted to give a little background on the process that a Buck knife from overseas is subjected to. Let me know if I haven't answered your questions
 
I have nothing against buying products made in China (or any other country) per se, though it often seems that most companies who have goods made there are trying to achieve a low price point and as a result produce a lower grade product. Since Buck does make products in the USA, and since I am an American, I do prefer to purchase US-made Buck products when they fit my needs. Every Buck knife I currently own was made in the US, and I have no immediate plans to add any more knives to my pile, no matter who makes them or in what country.

So it is unlikely that I will ever actually buy a China-made Buck, but not because of the country of origin.
 
Etna said:
Just curious. Was visiting the Buck homepage to look at some information about the Colleague, Nobleman and Lux. and there were some nasty comments about how Chinese Bucks are garbage and trash and general turnoffs.
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For me I just by made in USA products mostly, but i know a lot of good knives made in china. I just feel better mentally but US made stuff it's just a preference.
 
No. Why would I buy one when I can get a great American made product, a lifetime warranty on a knife that performs as well or better than other companies products in the same price range regardless of where their product is made? Gasp! That was a long sentence. Besides, I like Idaho :).
 
BuckShack said:
I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of the factory in China where Bucks are made, or of the people manufacturing the knives, or of the town they live in. Do the workers buy Bucks and use them at home? Are Bucks sold in China? Are people allowed to own/carry them? I wouldn't mind learning a little something about their culture. Stamping China on a product and selling it really only says we don't make it. How am I supposed to feel about that?
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No. The workers do not buy or use Buck knives - or anyone else's. It is illegal in China to carry a knife, unless it is required for your job, and even then you can only carry it at your place of work.
 
Slip joints are legal there?
 
I wouldn't. Not because of quality, and not because of some idea that made in China = always wrong. My opinion is that a Buck made in China = wrong. Bucks are an American icon, and I would personally rather spend my money on a domestic made knife by an American company, than a knife made overseas and labeled with an American brand.
 
I have a couple china Bucks, because if I were to buy the same thing from any other brand it would likely been from china anyway so I might as well buy from Buck.
 
I prefer American made Buck knives and Chinese made chopsticks. ;)
 
TAH said:
I prefer American made Buck knives and Chinese made chopsticks. ;)
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TAH, how do you sharpen the chop sticks and how do you tweeze grains of rice with American buck knife blade tips?

Haebbie
 
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