My Gerber Dime just broke. Replacement?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Totally agree that the owner/vendor is responsible for what they are selling.

But, let's be honest, no one makes the decision to produce something in China on the primary basis of getting really top quality.  The decision to produce there is primarily cost-driven, with the quality ranging from fair to very, very poor depending on the level of commitment and involvement of the owner/customer.

I agree with that.
You have to be careful though as some products from developed countries (US, EU, Japan etc., though China is developed a lot in many sectors) tend to be expensive, based on their past reputation, rather than what they are now.
A typical example that appears a lot on Bladeforums etc is bear and sons knives, as well as some products from e.g. Sheffield or Germany where the name has nothing to do with the actual original product, as the name was bought by a different company that just puts a great name on a cheap product. For example the Hen and Rooster knives, though still made in Germany, are not as good as the original old ones.

I've bought many products made in Western countries that have had quality ranging from fair to very, very poor too 

Agree

Bear is a poor example of a company that was bought out and now has little to do with the original.  In fact, Bear was going under and was bought out by Victorinox, then sold back to one of the original owners of Bear.

If there is a problem with the modern day quality of Bear, it isn't the result of a cheap foreign production company.

Def

[dks]

The problem with Bear (knives), as discussed by those that know about it a lot better than me is that they still sell mainly based on the fact that they are made in USA and at high prices, to people that know the name, or had a bear knife many years ago, or their father did etc. In the BF traditional forum there has been a lot of discussion about that.

As a sidenote, I do not own any bear and son knives and I am not a member of BF. I thought about buying some but was scared away by the posts about them.

Bear Grylls is not associated with Bear and son, by the way..