Assy in Phillipines Viper 12x50 (2 Viewers)

[w.travis]

Purchased a new Viper HD 12x50. Very pleased so far with the optical performance and apparent build quality for the price.

Was expecting it to be MIC, but both box and bino reads- Assembly in Philippines.

 

[qwerty5]

All the Vortex models above the Diamondback are being made in the Philippines now (except the Razor UHD, which is made in Japan)

 

[w.travis]

All the Vortex models above the Diamondback are being made in the Philippines now (except the Razor UHD, which is made in Japan)

I was up to date on the UHD in Japan. I was not up to date on the Viper HD and Razor HD being Philippines.

I wonder if the Viper HD and Razor HD made in Philippines have any improvements over the MIC Viper HD and Razor HD? Curious to read comments on that.

 

[qwerty5]

I wonder if the Viper HD and Razor HD made in Philippines have any improvements over the MIC Viper HD and Razor HD? Curious to read comments on that.

The actual specs are the same. The only difference would be quality control, which is not very good in China-made optics.

 

[Binocollector]

The actual specs are the same. The only difference would be quality control, which is not very good in China-made optics.

I have a "funny" anecdote to why that might be the case. A friend of mine works in quality control for a large autoparts manufacturer specialized in transmissions.
He said that they once watched a training video about assembly lines in China. The problem was -- there should be more than one person working, so everyone further down the assembly line will check the work of the person before him. What actually happened was one guy walking up and down the assembly line doing all the assembly steps himself . That might at least explain in part why quality control is often lacking if a similar "workflow" is applied in binocular factories.