Are you serious Buck?

S

Samon

Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Messages
1,111
Ok, so I bought my first Buck 110 in Decemeber, it arrived with plenty of blade play and a generally poor fit and finish. I googled to see if this was normal and some said it was and some claimed their Buck's were perfect and tight. I kind of assumed it was a mix of honesty and the patriotic showing through..

I soon realised my knife wasn't great, I tried to break rabbit bones with the back of the blade and the blade closed.. i.e failed! the lock failed with just a little pressure.. I phoned my seller and they asked for the knife back to look at. They sent it to the Buck people and it was replaced entirely within a week. The new one arrived with blade play out of the box but less than the first and the locked seemed tough enough and the overal finish was a little better than the first.

This is the second knife's fit and finish..

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I happened to come across a thread on a local forum about the 'quality control' of Buck knives and chimned in with my 2 pence worth. I soon aquired the Buck quality control guys email address and sent an email explaining my situation. he replied kindly with a great offer to replace the knife for a new one and to keep the old one! I was shocked and pleased and the knife arrived within a week, even though t was from US to UK! The knife was 'custom assemebled' by Mr.Hubbard and came with very very little blade play (but still some) and the fit and finsih was a little different, the corners and edges were sharper and more cornery than before.

I gave my new Buck a workout today, some half inche green and very soft twigs/branches needed cutting and replanting and my 110 was at the ready. it did very well but developed blade play almost instantly! the blade had wobble after just a few light swipes and cuts.. but I got on with the clean up and planting job I had.

I guess the old design of pin rather than bolts/screws just incurs slackness over use.


I was kind of .. ok with the idea my new knife wasn't as solid as everyone else had claimed but I was still bothered. I went back out into my garden/yard at 10pm to check on my barrel fire with all the little trimmings of branches and sticks etc and I decided to stab my old rotten fence. I must state here that it is atleast 10 year old weak and rotten wood pannels (don't know what wood) and far from hard. I gave the pannels a quick stab with my 110 and pulled out the blade.. only to notice the tip was bent! not just a little off line.. but borderline snapped off.

It took one more stab and the blade tip clean broke off. I was shocked and just laughed! my 3 day old new 'custom assembled' 110 had just given it's tip to the softest wood withing 10 miles!

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I don't really know what to do now, I'm happy to keep the knife and regrind the egde ad use it as a beater but it'll never ever be more than that - the Buck 110 just seems to be a cheap beater for the Us buyers at $30 but (cost nearly $70 for me after the exchange rate / UK) a waste of money for the rest of us!

I'm now looking at buying a Cold steel mackinac hunter instead! I hear they are a different leauge and at a simular price for us British dudes.

I hope this informs and helps other potential buyers.

cheers, Samon
 
Man, that sucks to hear. Sorry you had a less than desirable experience with them. I would say contact them and see what they have to say... but to be honest, after having three that were all sub-par, I would just consider it a sunk cost at that point.

I guess you could practice sharpening on it or give it to an up-and-comer in the knife world?
 
They've been able to keep the price down for a long time, but they're not what they once were.
I had one back in the 80's and it was tough, and very well made.
 
I would write them one more time and express your disappointment. Tell 'em you REALLY want to like the knife AND their company (and thank them for the excellent service) but that the repeated slop and failures are very concerning and you'd be interested in knowing if there's anything more they can do to make it right once and for all.

The 110 should NOT be that sloppy and I consider that unacceptable.
 
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Thrice is enemy action.

I'd say go for a fixed blade next time, like a Mora. If you want a folder, Cold Steel's Kudu is a nice beater and is substantially cheaper. I'll also be wary of those 110s now. I've heard good things about them, but maybe they really aren't as great as they once were, or maybe you just have a very bad case of cosmic unluck.
 
I bought a 110 about 10 years ago for $30 and it was / is outstanding.

Seeing that they are still sold for about the same price, it looks like maybe the one area they were able to cut corners on was QC, which unfortunately is one of the highest manufacturing costs next to labor.

A real bummer, but at least they are trying to make it right.
 
I, like many people, had issues with my Buck Vantage Pro that I bought early in my collecting days. I sent my knife off for warranty service because the blade was rubbing the liners, with clear instructions that centering was the issue. They returned the knife in the exact same condition with no apparent changes made. That left a bad taste in my mouth, and I gave up on Buck after that.
 
I have to say their customer service is great, but their products - atleast regarding this model aren't so great. I was so eager to get one after hearing so many posative reviews and thoughts of the old ones but maybe it just is the 'old ones' that were good.

I'm upset, to say the least. Mainly because it wasn't a cheap knife, secondly because it took 3 trys to get a tight one just to end up sloppy and break anyway.. Now I know stainless steel isn't as tough as simpler non-stainless/carbon but I just didn't expect this blade to break like that on such rotten soft wood!

Now I'm stuck with one really poorly fitted 110 and one less sloppy one but with a snapped tip.., can I really speak to Buck again? Will they think I'm some monster abuser of knives? Even though I'm genuinely not and behave pretty normal with any tool I have.. :o

I didn't even want to add a lock knife to my collection, but the 110 was such a classic desing it was a must have! now I'm just bugged off and really unhappy it's come this far!
 
Samon, I had to run down and grab my latest Buck 110. I have a vintage 110 and 112 from the 70's and both are tight with no play at all. And all have seen extensive hard use.

I wanted a 110 with Nickel Silver bolsters and ordered one back in December or January. The Buck website had a sale on the NS 110's. I too was Leary because of what I have heard as of late.

Maybe just luck on my part but the NS is ROCK SOLID--no play at all even when stressed. Bad cosmic Karma---maybe, poor QC---for sure. But like others mentioned above don't back off in fact link this post and email them, I'm sure they'd want to make it right.

In the pictures of the NS 110 you see has a slight gap but ZERO play on this knife.

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Here's a vintage 560X that's seen some modifications and it to is ROCK SOLID :thumbup:

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You deserve a better knife for sure. I know I'd be on their internet doorstep until it is made right.

Paul
 
I want to write Mr.Hubbard and express my situation.. again. But I feel like a right fool, having this many bad apples makes me think like I'm the one in the wrong! If you understand what I'm saying.. it feels awkward to keep complaining.

Reckon i should email Mr.Hubbard again with this thread's link to show what's happened since our last conversation?

To be honest, now I just want my money back so I can buy a replacement locker, like the cold steel one which I hear is very good for the cash.
 
if it was still messed up after the second return i would have asked for a refund or exchange. i've had a buck select for about a week now and no complaints.
 
Buck is a strange "rest on one's laurels" type of company. A $30-40 Voyager from Taiwan is more of a field tool than any folder Buck has ever made. Brand name and distribution keeps them alive.
 
That was my inital worries, the Brand name meant more than actual product quality.. and I really really wanted a good Buck to keep and pass down. I don't have much money and the knife wasn't cheap and what makes it worse is it was actually a present from my mother. :( she wanted to get me something 'to keep' for christmas and I thought it would be perfect..

I have now just emailed Mr.Hubbard of Bucks quality control with my situation and linked this thread, I don't really know what to expect but I guess I hope for a little good news.
 
At this point, I would say just get the Mackinac. Even with good lockbacks (such as the Endura) I don't have quite the same feeling of security I get from a Triad lock, especially if you want to break rabbit bones and such.
 
It's a $30 knife give or take.

No, they aren't what they used to be back in the 70's and 80's, but $30 back then was worth a lot more than it is today so take that for what it's worth.

The price hasn't changed much in all those years so they had to find some ways to keep it in the same range.
 
Ankerson said:
It's a $30 knife give or take.

No, they aren't what they used to be back in the 70's and 80's, but $30 back then was worth a lot more than it is today so take that for what it's worth.

The price hasn't changed much in all those years so they had to find some ways to keep it in the same range.
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I get that it's a $30 knife even if I have to pay over twice that to get it in England, but it should be tougher than this.. shouldn't it? I mean , it didn't get famous for being weak and cheaply made did it.. and it can't just be the change in blade steel that has me up in a fuss..


@ SideTracked - I'll keep every detail updated for everyone as soon as I get it. I know Buck's service is good so I hope there's soemthing they can offer, even though I can't think what might make it all better.
 
I learned the hard way too. You get what you pay for most of the time.
 
That's too bad man, seems as though you tried your hardest to give that thing evey chance in the world.

I say start saving for a a mid range knife with some better fit/finish...AND better blade steel.
 
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