Recommendation? A new Vantage modification with great materials.

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whp

Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
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I just received my second Buck Maverick. This is a modified Buck Vantage with nice micarta scales and a 20cv steel blade.
I was somewhat hesitant to get the first one because the fit and finish on my two Vantage Pro s from a few years ago was less than great. The second one has remained loose with lock rock, and side to side blade play which cannot be corrected without over tightening the pivot. The first, which I ve accepted, has blade centering so far off I have to adjust it occasionally to keep it from touching the liner on closing. I ve still used the first and think it is a fine edc user. I keep meaning to send back the second for adjustment, but never have gotten around to it.
Anyway, I got a second Maverick because the first is the best fit and finish I ve gotten on any of my Bucks and the knife is beautiful with a stonewashed blade and clip and layered micarta handles.. I presume the Bos 20cv will be well done just as the Bos s30v was. I think it its a great value at 95.00.
I don t know if the exclusive dealer is a sponsor of the forums , so I l leave it up to you to google this gem.
I m not buying so many knives any more, but I wanted to get a back up for this one. The second is as nice as the first, with a slightly sharper blade. Very nice.
I like this knife.
 
whp said:
I don t know if the exclusive dealer is a sponsor of the forums , so I l leave it up to you to google this gem.
Click to expand...

SK Blades is a sponsoring dealer. :)

If folks Google "Buck Maverick Knife" they're more than likely going to get lots of hits for the Buck 877 Maverick; a fixed blade, and not find the Maverick you're speaking of.

Here is the list of sponsoring dealers:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/paid-dealer-members-list-updated-2-5-16.1089879/

NOTE: The list needs updated again. There is at least one who renewed and is not relisted yet.
 
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I don t see SK knives on the linked list of sponsors.
Imagine. A well made , beautiful Buck Vantage with Bos 20cv steel.
It already has a spot in my edc rotation.
 
There has to be a way for Buck to tweak this design so that it's action isn't so prone to these problems. I have an older Vantage Force Pro that I love, but it took an awful lot of effort on my part to tune. I had hoped that a Custom Shop Vantage would not have these issues, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

While I'm in agreement that these new Mavericks represent a good value, I'm still a little disappointed that the action still has the same old problems, on mine at least. Fit and finish are stellar, but the action is a problem. Center the blade and the knife is almost impossible to flip open. I'm going to send mine in to be tuned because now that the liners are pinned it is hard to adjust these issues out.
 
sk made his own name up for the knife......I'm assuming. not sure buck would name it with those names.......
 
Got one of these today and am trying not to be disappointed. It ticked so many boxes: USA made, 20CV, micarta, small flipper tab. Overall not a bad knife, but a few issues.

First, the good:
  • Micarta is just a great handle material imo. Feels a little like wood, but gets grippier when it gets wet. Handle feels great. I would prefer some color options, but this is fine.
  • 20CV - awesome
  • Flipper tab is small enough to ignore if you want. No pocket issues with it
  • Clip is nice. I wish more knives attached the clip to the butt this way
  • Mine is centered nicely
  • Lockup is rock solid with zero blade play in any direction
  • (Added) Very nice hollow grind on the blade. Excellent cutter and thin behind the edge. ( I measured 0.58mm.)
Some issues:
  • Heavier than I expected. Haven't weighed it yet, but guessing close to 4 oz 4.3 oz on my scale. Not a problem itself, but the balance is way behind the pivot, about 1/3" of the way down the handle. Seems like this could be easily fixed by losing some liner and back spacer weight. EDIT: Per my scale it's 4.26 oz.
  • Flipping is not great. Scratchy and slow. Why bother making an anemic flipper? Just remove the flipper and let people use a stud or a hole.
  • Terrible lock stick. Started out a little sticky and is getting worse. I can try sharpie, but I think it's way beyond that. EDIT: Fixed by applying some anti-oxidant grease to the lock face. Will see how long it lasts, but so far it's great.
I'm not expecting perfection at this price for U.S. made and 20CV. But I think they could do better. I may disassemble and see if I can get the flipping action improved. Or maybe send it back to the lock taken care of.

Hoping to address some of these issues. I really want to like this knife more.
 
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RipD said:
Got one of these today and am trying not to be disappointed. It ticked so many boxes: USA made, 20CV, micarta, small flipper tab. Overall not a bad knife, but a few issues.

First, the good:
  • Micarta is just a great handle material imo. Feels a little like wood, but gets grippier when it gets wet. Handle feels great. I would prefer some color options, but this is fine.
  • 20CV - awesome
  • Flipper tab is small enough to ignore if you want. No pocket issues with it
  • Clip is nice. I wish more knives attached the clip to the butt this way
  • Mine is centered nicely.
Some issues:
  • Heavier than I expected. Haven't weighed it yet, but guessing close to 4 oz. Not a problem iteself, but the balance is way behind the pivot, about 1/3" of the way down the handle. Seems like this could be easily fixed by losing some liner and backspacer weight.
  • Flipping is not great. Scratchy and slow. Why bother making an anemic flipper? Just remove the flipper and let people use a stud or a hole.
  • Terrible lock stick. Started out a little sticky and is getting worse. I can try sharpie, but I think it's way beyond that.
I'm not expecting perfection at this price for U.S. made and 20CV. But I think they could do better. I may disassemble and see if I can get the flipping action improved. Or maybe send it back to the lock taken care of.

Hoping to address some of these issues. I really want to like this knife more.
Click to expand...
Review well done. I don't know if this knife is easily dissasembled. It's like a cartridge under the scales. Might be rivited.
 
Makael said:
Review well done. I don't know if this knife is easily dissasembled. It's like a cartridge under the scales. Might be rivited.
Click to expand...
Ugh... removed the scales. It is rivited. I could still remove some weight but it will take some work. Two options I can see:

1. Remove the rivets and modify. The rivets all go through the backspacer, so may be possible to thread the rivet holes and replace with screws.
2. Leave it rivited and remove some weight by skeltonizing the liners and drilling holes in the back spacer. Not sure if drilling the lock side would screw up the lockbar tension.

Not sure the result would be worth the effort. Obviously would be easier if it used screws rather than rivets.
 
That's a lot of work for the weight savings. As an alternative, you could buy a 110 or 112 Slim. That's an entirely different animal than the Vantage, but you could always use another knife, right?
 
I'm disappointed in the action also, but the knife feels great in hand and looks good.
I'll tinker with it some day to try to help the action.
 
Took my pivot out to see there's any obvious way to improve the action. Found 2 washers per side. One looks like PB, the other is clear nylon (I'm assuming).

My inexpensive calipers show the PB washer at 0.29mm and the nylon one at 0.11mm thick. Could easily be off a little. Outside diameter of 7.85mm and inside of 3.4mm. I would guess (hope) the inside is 3.2mm or 0.125", as that seems more standard.

I'm not a knife builder and know nothing about how 2 washers works. Possible or advisable to replace these with a thicker single PB washer?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that putting rivited knives back together sucks. It not like watchmaking, but is still a hassle. Good light, tweezers, and some patience. Most importantly, get the knife a little above the work surface so the pivot pin can drop down but not fall out. Or put a rubber band on it to hold it in place. (Will try to post get a pic of this.)

iUI2807l.jpg
 
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RipD said:
Took my pivot out to see there's any obvious way to improve the action. Found 2 washers per side. One looks like PB, the other is clear nylon (I'm assuming).

My inexpensive calipers show the PB washer at 0.29mm and the nylon one at 0.11mm thick. Could easily be off a little. Outside diameter of 7.85mm and inside of 3.4mm. I would guess (hope) the inside is 3.2mm or 0.125", as that seems more standard.

I'm not a knife builder and know nothing about how 2 washers works. Possible or advisable to replace these with a thicker single PB washer?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that putting rivited knives back together sucks. It not like watchmaking, but is still a hassle. Good light, tweezers, and some patience. Most importantly, get the knife a little above the work surface so the pivot pin can drop down but not fall out. Or put a rubber band on it to hold it in place. (Will try to post get a pic of this.)

iUI2807l.jpg
Click to expand...
Yep I had to do the same with mine and it is a tricky task to get those washers back in place. Mine had a piece of tissue in the pivot that made it bind. After adjusting it works great.
 
Edit: A few things help, a couple of which I mentioned above. If you can keep the pivot from falling out that's half the battle. Using a small wedge to get more space between the liners also helps. Need to be careful not to bend them. Tweezers (worth repeating).

Mine works a little better. Still not a great flipper. Kind of like the Spyderco flippers I've had - you can get them to flip but they don't fly open every time. I'm guessing it's a combo of detent strength and pivot friction.
 
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I’ve also learned that instead of starting with my finger on just the flipper nub I start above it on the end corner with a bit of pressure and swipe down and it is much more brisk to snap to lock position. I first learned it on the small Vantage. My other Vantage Pro flips open much easier and disassembles/ reassembles easier than this version with the back filler that is riveted together. If only they had brown G10 scales
 
This knife is now on sale for $70. Be prepared to deal with lock stick and put a new edge on it. Micarta scales, fantastic steel, U.S. made, and deep carry clip. I don't see how this can be made and sold for $70. (Read above for issues. Don't expect Spyderco Golden or Taichung quality.)

I just bought a 2nd one.
 
RipD said:
This knife is now on sale for $70. Be prepared to deal with lock stick and put a new edge on it. Micarta scales, fantastic steel, U.S. made, and deep carry clip. I don't see how this can be made and sold for $70. (Read above for issues. Don't expect Spyderco Golden or Taichung quality.)

I just bought a 2nd one.
Click to expand...

I saw that price for the weekend. It s such a good deal that I m tempted to get another one. Maybe as a gift to my son.
My Vantage Pro s don t flip as well as a Zero Tolerance or even a Spyderco. But it does flip about as well as my older generation Hinderer. It requires a bit of wrist action to flip, but I don t mind this.
I am not a fan of flipping a knife to open it, and I don t buy flipper only folders.
Ive been using my Maverick Vantage outdoors lately, and it holds its edge well. At 4.25 oz, the weight doen t bother me. I ve maintained the edge with my Sharpmaker, with cbn rods included, with no problem. The blade doesn t fall shut when the lock is released, but I ve never understood the appeal of that. I d rather have a solid lockup and smooth intentional blade action , which my Mav. Vantage has.
The handle is now a light brown, resembles wood and is very attractive. It provides a good grip.
If this knife remains durable, it will be a an un questioned winner. At 69.00 it s a steal.
 
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