GITM,
B&L did not MAKE any binoculars or scopes in 2000, or for a number of years before that. Yes, there were B&L "branded" optics before and after that, but they were NOT made in Rochester, New York, but in various Asian factories.
If you "ditinctly remember almost buying a pair of $900 reverse porros at Cabelas in about 2000-2001," then I would bet $10,000 that if you "distinctly remembered" the same binoculars they would have been distinctly marked "Made in Japan."
