A few comments:
-The world of completely vertically integrated companies making sporting optics no longer exists. Very few do it and they are very expensive. Even Zeiss does not make every piece of every scope they make. They do everything on the high end scopes, but for the Conquests, for example, the glass is outsourced to another european company in order to keep the price reasonable.
-In the modern business world, no company is guaranteed to be here ten years from now, much less thirty years from now. Worrying about that is pointless. The fact that particular company has been around for a long time, does not mean that it will still be here. I used to work in telecom world. Care to look up what happened to some of the giants there Nortel, Lucent, etc?
-As I said above, if a company does not want to disclose where exactly they manufacture their products, I think it is common courtesy on my part to honor their wishes. I am sorry it makes people all poochy-faced, but I put a lot of stock into a simple notion that you should treat people the same way you want them to treat you. A little common courtesy goes a long way.
-Lastly, if you are trying to decide whether to buy a product manufactured by a particular company, look at how the product performs. Try to find out if the company is well run. Beyond those two things, there is little you can do.
ILya
