The Buck's that are made in china are made very well- Buck does a very good job with the edges. I have one of the very early 373 medium stockman, which is 440C rather than 420HC; but I have found the steel on that to hold up very well. I have a 420HC china buck (Mayo series) that I won on bladeforums, but I kind of squirreled that away, so I can't comment on the quality. Fit and finish on it looks excellent though. Buck does back their import models with the same warranty as the US models.
I like Leatherman products. One of my favorite multi-tools is the PST. The size, weight, functions-->just about perfect. Unfortunately, the design is flawed and the pivot (handle to plier) is suseptible to wearing out due to pressure. But it seems like your more interested in knives than multis. I used to EDC a 301 C (partially serrated). I was pretty good at using the flipper, some people aren't- it's sort of like an art
However, how practical the flipper function was, aside from being a fun playtoy is up for debate. Very sharp, and held an edge pretty well. I liked the serration pattern too- it wasn't overly aggressive, but it was enough to do the job when needed. The pocket clip had the right tension/spring-i-ness to it. It felt prettygood in my hand, however, some people that I let use it thought it was too slippery. My major complaint was with the steel. The steel Leatherman uses is very suseptible to brown spotting- too suseptible in my opinion. I stopped EDCing it in AUG 07, when I bought my Benchmade Pika (great value
)- which I am still EDCing. I ended up selling that knife to another THR member and have yet to regret making the sale.
