Anyone else forget about the Buck Vantage?

Petunia D. Feeble

Petunia D. Feeble

I sharpen things.
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I see the pro model in s30v or the micarta one in 20cv (I think) around now and then, but I'd forgotten all about the base model in Buck's lovely 420hc.

I was looking for a good, inexpensive, USA made knife for some cub scouts when I stumbled across it. The small one is $25! At most retailers anyway. That's a screaming deal and likely what the Bears of 2018-2019 in pack 36 will be receiving with their whittling chip. Benefit of having a knife knut for a dad I guess.

If anyone has a well used example I'd love to see some pics.
 
Just picked up a mini and full sized pro. Nice knives.

I have heard that there are quality/consistency issues with them.
 
That is true ∆.

Not trying to derail . But my honest experience was negative. That said. Things may have changed and I would try one again if that is the case.

My buddy went through two of them with average use in 1 year if IRC.

This would have been around 2014-2015.


Buck did replace it free of charge though.
The liner locks wear out rapidly. Flipping action was poor and the screw threading is too tiny in my opinion .

I did all the maintenance work on them. I feel bad that I recommended it to him. It was used for breaking down boxes at work %99 of the time.
 
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A small Vantage, with Diamondwood and Sandvik was my last knife before I succumbed to my first Benchmade and fell down the rabbit hole. I don't carry it much any more, but still like it. The flipper stinks, but it opens easy with the hole in the blade. It cuts great and is easy to touch up on a piece of ceramic. I think it'll make into my pocket in the AM.
 
The small Buck Vantages make great pocket EDCs for those blessed without big hands.
I once looked for the small with 420 steel at a Buck booth at an NRA conference but all the ones I checked had issues.
Lucky for me, both of my Small Vantage Pros w S30V are just about perfect.

I've also owned the large Pros. They've been mostly well-made but I never warmed to them as I have with the smalls.
 
I hear great things about the vantage when you get a good one and Buck definitely makes a great product overall , however I'm not sure this knife screams cub scout.
It's Just my 2¢, but I'd go with a Victorinox recruit which just seems a bit more appropriate plus you're buying a bunch of them and you can bet every single one will be spot on.

I'm sure they'll love any knife though, and it's not like this would actually be inappropriate for them or anything.
They'll definitely think these are cool.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I hear great things about the vantage when you get a good one and Buck definitely makes a great product overall , however I'm not sure this knife screams cub scout.
It's Just my 2¢, but I'd go with a Victorinox recruit which just seems a bit more appropriate plus you're buying a bunch of them and you can bet every single one will be spot on.

I'm sure they'll love any knife though, and it's not like this would actually be inappropriate for them or anything.
They'll definitely think these are cool.
Click to expand...

The Cub Scout Tinker was my first thought, but these are Bears. The year they're first allowed to carry and use a knife. My kid will be fine with a non-locking blade, but the others might not be so well versed.

They've got a couple months before they get the whittling chip; I think I'll order one and carry it myself to see if it develops any real issues.

The only problem I ever had with a vantage was centering. Not a functional issue and I doubt it'll bother an 8 year old.
 
Ive got a couple, both large Pros. One is just about perfect but took a lot of tinkering to get there. The other is newer and can't be disassembled as well to make it right. I'm thinking about sending it in to Buck to see what they can do. Both of these knives have had issues with blade centering and blade rub. If I adjust them to center the blade they become almost impossible to open.

Honestly , I think the Vantage line has one of the best blade profiles I've ever used, the ergos are superb, and I love the clip. But I remain disappointed in them due to a couple of design shortcomings that I feel Buck could and should address. The pivot needs to be larger in diameter, at least 50%. I think the flipper should be about a third longer than it is as well. These changes would help with the blade centering and deployment problems.
 
I think these knives are a neat design, but as someone else said, after I moved onto better knives, I never really thought about these again. I have one of the Vantage Pros with the blue micarta scales and S30v blade. Neat knife,but that pathetic little liner lock moved all the way over to 100% lockup with about a day of using the flipper (when I could pushbutton it juuuust right in order for it to correctly flip open).

For the record, when I was Den Leader for my Bears, we went with the Buck Bantams. The boys loved those.
 
I use a vantage as my daily work beater. It's held up just fine and I've given it as a gift to my boss so he doesn't always have to borrow mine.

I carry nicer knives for everything else but if I need something I'm not worried about getting dirty or beating on, it's a nice little knife.
 
I bought the Small and Large Select versions early on in my knife buying excursion. I noticed a pronounced difference in quality of feel compared to the more "budget" offerings by Buck and they helped propel me into a higher plane of "knife buying Nirvana".

I carry the large every so often, but truth be told, they are usually forgotten by much more expensive members of my humble assortment. That is until I gave my daughter my Kabar Dozier and replaced it with the small Select that now resides by my computer (in case I am being attacked by internet "nogoodnicks").
 
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