Anyone else forget about the Buck Vantage?

I hand picked the Select to not have issues, great blade.

The Avid, I had 2 lemons, then on the forum Buck gave me a new one for free. Now that said something to me. A company that went out of their way to make a thirty dollar purchase right, well then I'm a Buck fan! Got into the Marksman, 110, and Mesa from there. I respect the company, and the product they stand behind.

The Select is an amazing Summer carry blade, weight is almost nothing, and nice slim package becomes invisible in the pocket.

Now same price point, anyone remember the Buck Fluid? Piece of junk.
 
I wasn't really impressed with the Buck Vantage, the fit and finish of mine is just poor and the action isn't great.

I'm always going to be a huge fan of my Buck 119 and 110 (both stock and my beautiful custom 110) along with most of their fixed blades, but I have to admit that Buck is sort of off my radar lately (well I've been thinking about the 120 lately...). Sure they are a good value (for the most part but not always), are (mostly) American made, and have the tradition/history going for them, but I'm starting to see them as "just" mass-produced Wal-Mart knives relying more on namesake and nostalgia than innovation and setting the bar high.

Some of their offerings are just mediocre or subpar, especially the Made In China models. I bought a Buck Nobleman on sale for dirt cheap and while I like it for what it is, I would NEVER have paid $30+ for this thing. I understand that the Buck price point is generally good, but I'd rather have one great $200 knife than 5 mediocre, throwaway knives. I hate writing such critical things about a company that makes knives that I truly cherish, but since going with other higher-end knife makers I just can't pretend some of my Buck knives are better than what they truly are simply because of the value and Buck name. This critique mostly relates to their imported models and not their flagship models, but the brand encompasses everything that they choose to put their name on. I know every knife has its place in daily tasks, but I'm talking about this as a knife enthusiast.
 
I owned the Buck Vantage Select small with 420HC. I liked the look of it, the weight, and the deep carry pocket. What I didn't like about it was, the blade size, and the smooth surface of the flipper tab. So I sold it, and used the money toward an Ontario RAT II in AUS8.

Edit: I should also add that for the price it is excellent! The one I had bought had perfect blade centering. I remember when they first hit store shelves, that it was common complaint that the blade would be off center.
 
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Dry-cell said:
The one I had bought had perfect blade centering.
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Unless it is so bad that the blade rubs against the liner, I think blade centering really is an aesthetic issue that is seen as a proxy for quality (and rightfully so I suppose). The action on my Vantage is so underwhelming that a perfectly centered blade isn't going to make it a better knife.
 
I love my Buck Vantage and still have it. It's a large FrankenVantage, cobbled together with a Pro S30V blade and the Dymondwood handle from an Avid which I dyed darker with RIT dye, polished up with a superglue "varnish" layer, and finished off with a little polymer clay "medallion". I also polished the washers and liners, recessed the presentation side liner to give my thumb access under the scale for the liner lock, and reprofiled the linerlock for ergos. Silly little mods, but it made the knife mine. It was my first EDC blade and the knife I learned to sharpen on, and I carried it until Hinderer designs kicked it out of my pocket. Still love it though.
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Btw, I found centering fairly easy to take care of on the Vantage. You just have to imagine the two sides of the handle as parallel planes with misaligned pivot holes which causes the blade centering to be thrown off. So, with the knife closed, hold it so the tip is facing you and you're looking down at the blade spine. If the centering favors the right side (presentation side), then just loosen the screws, shift the right handle towards you and the left handle away from you, and retighten the screws. You may have to take the scales off to access the screws for the standoffs and clip "backspacer". But I was always able to get good centering and decent action. The same trick helped me center up my Hinderers.
 
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Regarding the Buck Vantage Select series in 420HC. It could be improved by adding gimping to the flipper tab, or make it protrude further out. It would cut down on the number of partial openings.
 
I have two of the full size pros. Centering was never a big deal, just had to tweak them a little. Taking it totally apart and cleaning it well made the action that much better. The flipper works well for me. I never had any issues that were not fixed with minor tweaks. They have always been good knives for me.
 
GundaManiac said:
I love my Buck Vantage and still have it. It's a large FrankenVantage, cobbled together with a Pro S30V blade and the Dymondwood handle from an Avid which I dyed darker with RIT dye, polished up with a superglue "varnish" layer, and finished off with a little polymer clay "medallion". I also polished the washers and liners, recessed the presentation side liner to give my thumb access under the scale for the liner lock, and reprofiled the linerlock for ergos. Silly little mods, but it made the knife mine. It was my first EDC blade and the knife I learned to sharpen on, and I carried it until Hinderer designs kicked it out of my pocket. Still love it though.
2013-03-02134547-resized.jpg


Btw, I found centering fairly easy to take care of on the Vantage. You just have to imagine the two sides of the handle as parallel planes with misaligned pivot holes which causes the blade centering to be thrown off. So, with the knife closed, hold it so the tip is facing you and you're looking down at the blade spine. If the centering favors the right side (presentation side), then just loosen the screws, shift the right handle towards you and the left handle away from you, and retighten the screws. You may have to take the scales off to access the screws for the standoffs and clip "backspacer". But I was always able to get good centering and decent action. The same trick helped me center up my Hinderers.
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Benchmade Axis locks are also prone to the pivot levelling issue. Easy enough to resolve if you know that's the problem.
 
I carry a couple of them, an old large Vantage Avid in Dymondwood + 12C26 that has amazing action (light-switch or push-button, it never fails) and a newer 20CV + micarta version that has merely very good action at this point:

AGeZCeA.jpg
 
Find a comparable import that's a better buy. Buck has a ton of knives at great price points.
 
I love the pro blade, despite issues with the washers on 2 of them—I think $25 for the 420hc would be a great choice for a vacation knife, where I haven’t taken one with and I may not be able to get it back across the border.
 
biggest issue with the vantage is no xl size with a 3.75" or 4" blade.:)

something I've been askin' for since around 2011.....

I got a half dozen or so of them. favorite is the large avid in 13c26. just picked up another used one. also preferred the screwed constr and full dymondwood of the early ones to the pinned one and plastic scale with dymondwood insert versions. course cant get the 13c26 steel anymore in current. I prefer it to the 420hc and s30v myself. not a big issue as those steels work well, just like the sandvik steels.

it's a pretty decent knife for actual using for the price points if one can accept off center blade possibly, later lockup and doesnt flip easily or all the way. which are most of the major complaints. course none of those complaints stop it from being a good knife when cutting......;)
 
I did not know buck used sandvik steels for the avid versions. Were these comparably priced to the 420HC versions or double or triple the price?
 
Yonose said:
I did not know buck used sandvik steels for the avid versions. Were these comparably priced to the 420HC versions or double or triple the price?
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more than the 420hc ones. maybe not quite double going by memory but close to that.
 
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