This is truely bad news for the unfortunate employees and the company in general. As far as the following, quoting a company spokesman:

"Employees were told that the layoffs were due to an iffy economy and high fuel and shipping costs. Knives are more of a luxury than a necessity," he said.

I tend to disagree with the second part of this statement. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Wow, that really sucks.

How much overseas production is Buck doing lately?

Right... my point is that part of the problem is that they're sending jobs overseas. Not that anyone isn't doing it lately... I just find it unfortunate that the Chinese Buck knife makers are probably still employed.

Total speculation - I have nothing to back any of my comments up - just thinking on my feet.

I hope that the guys/gals that were laid off find employment and bounce back.

yeah, not cool. buck's products are near the top of the heap in my opinion, but there's a lot of competition in the industry. spyderco and kershaw are putting out some ground breaking knives for enthusiasts while gerber and united cutlery make a ton of cheap stuff for the masses. it's gotta be pretty tough for buck to leave a mark.

it would be nice if everyone did. a lot of us stretch ourselves pretty thin buying american knives, not for patriotism but for the fact that they're just better. the message needs to spread wider than the forums we frequent.

think the "buy american" days are coming back?

Bad news for us and even worse news for those employees having to figure out how to provide for their families. I wish them the best of luck. There are several cool knives made offshore by American knife company's that I would like to buy, but I don't.

It is sad but moving to China for some knives was and is necessary for them. I can buy a buck knife for $20 that was made in China, while the lowest price made in USA Buck knife is around $55.
Most people aren't like us they will usually buy th $20 knife. Could they make the same knife in the US for $20? I don't know but I would bet they tried

I've got three bucks and I bought a buck 119 for my nephew two years for his first hunting knife.

I think I need to go buy a Grohman an support my countries industry as well

and of course on the day of this thread my imported buck whittaker summit arrives. made in taiwan. felt guilty.