Buck vantage issues

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Jan 24, 2005
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Nor quite sure where to place this request, there are a couple of issues here.

After having been favorably impressed with Buck Vantage Selects in both large and small versions, I decided to upgrade with a Vantage Pro (small) on line. It came with the blade badly decentered and the liner lock all the way to the right. Adjusting the pivot centered the blade, but it was now too stiff to open with the flipper.

After a conversation with a very nice lady at Buck Warranty, I sent it off for adjustment. A week later, it was returned in exactly the same condition. When I called the same person to ask WTF?, she said all the small Pros were like that, which I found odd because both my Selects were perfect in every respect. Taking her word for it, I asked if I could simply trade for a large Pro. She agreed, so I sent it in.

Today I received a (supposedly) new large Pro in the mail. All mechanicals are good, but the scales are grimy with some kind of residue. I tried cleaning with soap and water, so far with only small improvement. Not willing to spend any more time and money with another return, I am posting to find if anyone can suggest an efficient method of cleaning G10 scales.

My other question; what gives with Buck quality control and warranty?
Apart from the friendly, courteous and swift service, it would seem a simple matter to get things right at least on a second go around.
 
Try using rubbing alcohol to remove the grim.


P.S. I had the pro (lost it) and I currently have a select and both were excellent out of the box.
 
Nor quite sure where to place this request, there are a couple of issues here.
When I called the same person to ask WTF?, she said all the small Pros were like that, which I found odd because both my Selects were perfect in every respect. Taking her word for it, I asked if I could simply trade for a large Pro. She agreed, so I sent it in.


Gotta throw the BS flag on her response; I have multiple Vantages in all flavors and have not had a single one with those type of issues.

if anyone can suggest an efficient method of cleaning G10 scales.

+1 on the rubbing alcohol suggestion

My other question; what gives with Buck quality control and warranty?
Apart from the friendly, courteous and swift service, it would seem a simple matter to get things right at least on a second go around.

I have had quite a few interactions with Buck qc and warranty issues over the years and can honestly say I have NEVER come away feeling anything less than overwhelmed with the excellent response. Having said that...I would not have settled for 'trade it in for a large version'; you paid for a small Pro and should have never been left feeling that you needed to change products to be satisfied.

Cheers,
Russel
 
When I worked at a local knife shop I'd say about 1 in every 50 Vantages (of any size or grade level) had either a blade centering issue or a lockup issue. I was actually very surprised to find that the QC standards were so low for the model, but I guess they probably relaxed tolerances a little to get away with the low price the things go for. It's a great knife, and the 1:50 ratio means that there will be an overwhelming number of people out there who will be adamant that they've never had a flawed one--which is true--but when you handle them 12 hours a day year after year you start noticing these things a little more.
 
Russell- I totally agree. When you pay for a particular item and that item isn't up to a reasonable level of quality, you should either 1) get your money back, or 2) Get a replacement with the level of quality that you paid for. Just my .02 cents..

And yeah, that CS reply was pure bullsh...t :rolleyes:
 
When I worked at a local knife shop I'd say about 1 in every 50 Vantages (of any size or grade level) had either a blade centering issue or a lockup issue.

My small Vantage Pro is excellently finished with an early and secure lock-up. I purchased the knife from a local B&M, the first knife I handled had centering and late lock-up issues, I asked the owner for a second and to look at and it was perfect. One of the reasons I like buying from a local shop...no surprises. Oh, and unlike many other B&Ms their prices are competitive.
 
I bought a small Buck Vantage select from Bass Pro Shops about 3 hours ago. It's my second Vantage (I also have a large Pro) and for my Vantage experience, Buck is 2 for 2 in the F&F dept. No problems whatsoever. I don't know what the ratio of good to bad is but so far I'm batting 1000.
 
Try using rubbing alcohol to remove the grim.


P.S. I had the pro (lost it) and I currently have a select and both were excellent out of the box.

I agree with all of the above. Rubbing alcohol (get the 95% concentration, not the 70%) should do it. If by chance it does not, you could try some plain paint thinner (mineral spirits). The alcohol is polar, the paint thinner is non-polar. Between the two of them you should be able to remove most any contamination. Neither will hurt the G10.

Oh, and I have a Large Vantage Pro that locks up solid. The blade is slightly off center, but I don't find that objectionable as it does not interfere with the proper functioning of the knife. The heat treatment on the S30V is excellent. I use it for all sorts of cutting jobs and it stays sharp for ages and has never chipped.
 
I have had quite a few interactions with Buck qc and warranty issues over the years and can honestly say I have NEVER come away feeling anything less than overwhelmed with the excellent response. Having said that...I would not have settled for 'trade it in for a large version'; you paid for a small Pro and should have never been left feeling that you needed to change products to be satisfied.

Cheers,
Russel

Thanx for your reply. The trade was acceptable to me because it was an even swap and I had planned to buy a large Vantage Pro anyway. Since it is priced higher than the small, at least I covered the cost of mailing in the original. I'll look for another small Pro later.

Russell- I totally agree. When you pay for a particular item and that item isn't up to a reasonable level of quality, you should either 1) get your money back, or 2) Get a replacement with the level of quality that you paid for. Just my .02 cents..

And yeah, that CS reply was pure bullsh...t :rolleyes:

Maybe you are right, but I have to take seriously the word of a company representative. This was what I could get after two tries. If the company is in no position or mood to do it right, I can either kick up a fuss or get the best deal possible.

My small Vantage Pro is excellently finished with an early and secure lock-up. I purchased the knife from a local B&M, the first knife I handled had centering and late lock-up issues, I asked the owner for a second and to look at and it was perfect. One of the reasons I like buying from a local shop...no surprises. Oh, and unlike many other B&Ms their prices are competitive.

Whenever possible, I prefer to buy knives locally so I can handle the product first, even if the price is a little higher. I got my perfect Vantage Selects from Vance's Shooter Supply, but neither they nor anyone else I could find in town stocks the Pro versions. Online is a resource in those cases, a crap shoot that usually works out okay. This time, less so. :(
 
Whenever possible, I prefer to buy knives locally so I can handle the product first, even if the price is a little higher. I got my perfect Vantage Selects from Vance's Shooter Supply, but neither they nor anyone else I could find in town stocks the Pro versions. Online is a resource in those cases, a crap shoot that usually works out okay. This time, less so. :(

do you remember or can you check the production dates on the boxes for the knives?
 
I recently fell in love with the Vantage line of Knives myself after picking up a Large Select. I ordered a small paperstone, a large paperstone, pro and avid. All the knives showed up last week other than the avid and I was really disappointed that only the Large Paperstone came with the blade centered. The Pro and small paperstone were so bad that they were rubbing the liners and could not be adjusted out. :-(

I sent them back to Buck the same day, I have heard nothing but great reports of service as well. I'm hoping to get the same.

I also just picked up a Vantage Force Select and really, really like these editions even more.
 
First off, I'll qualify my statement by saying that Buck is my favorite overall knife manufacturer and their customer service is second to none, in my experience. That said, I bought a large Vantage Pro and a Vantage Avid. Both of the knives were extremely off center, neither would 'flip' and neither would lock up on the first third of the tang. The knives simply refuse to 'center' and the lock-up is piss poor, not to put too fine a point on it. I have dealt with Buck for a number of years and I know they will make it right, but an OOB defect is quite annoying.
 
First off, I'll qualify my statement by saying that Buck is my favorite overall knife manufacturer and their customer service is second to none, in my experience. That said, I bought a large Vantage Pro and a Vantage Avid. Both of the knives were extremely off center, neither would 'flip' and neither would lock up on the first third of the tang. The knives simply refuse to 'center' and the lock-up is piss poor, not to put too fine a point on it. I have dealt with Buck for a number of years and I know they will make it right, but an OOB defect is quite annoying.

do you remember the production dates on those knives?
 
do you remember or can you check the production dates on the boxes for the knives?

Since I returned the small Pro with the box it came in, I can only rely on memory, which places the production at about 9/?/10, but I could be mistaken. The replacement large is 2/28/11, and although the works are okay, the scales came covered with what I think is crud from the G10 manufacturing process. It hasn't been easy to clean off, although I haven't tried alcohol yet (thanx for the advice, jimnolimit). That should have been done at the factory.
 
i was asking both of you for production dates because i recall a time last year where a bunch of people were having issues with vantages (mostly blade centering). it's my thinking that buck saw this and made the correct manufacturing adjustments and the issues have been corrected. my two vantages had productions dates of 12/30/10 (pro) and 2/01/11(select) and both were/are excellent.
 
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i was asking both of you for production dates because i recall a time last year where a bunch of people were having issues with vantages (mostly blade centering). it's my thinking that buck saw this and made the correct manufacturing adjustments and the issues have been corrected. my two vantages had productions dates of 12/30/10 (pro) and 2/01/11(select) and both were/are excellent.

That is a reasonable speculation about one of the issues. The other has to do with how the warranty department dealt with it.
 
You also might try posting this in the Buck manufacturer's subforum. :)
 
I picked up two Vantage Pro knives early last year. One was perfect, the other had alignment issues. I took that one apart, cleaned and buffed (minor hand work with Flitz) all mating surfaces. When re-assembling it I used all of the screws to help align it. It appeared that the main problem was a warped G10 scale on the one side. I used the tension of the scale screws to reset the alignment. It was still not quite centered but after a few dozen cycles I was able to center it out. They are great knives. If you don't have the time or materials to work on it Buck will make it right if you send it in.
 
I decided to upgrade with a Vantage Pro (small) on line. It came with the blade badly decentered and the liner lock all the way to the right. Adjusting the pivot centered the blade, but it was now too stiff to open with the flipper.

After a conversation with a very nice lady at Buck Warranty, I sent it off for adjustment. A week later, it was returned in exactly the same condition. When I called the same person to ask WTF?, she said all the small Pros were like that, which I found odd because both my Selects were perfect in every respect. Taking her word for it, I asked if I could simply trade for a large Pro. She agreed, so I sent it in.

Today I received a (supposedly) new large Pro in the mail. All mechanicals are good, but the scales are grimy with some kind of residue. I tried cleaning with soap and water, so far with only small improvement. Not willing to spend any more time and money with another return, I am posting to find if anyone can suggest an efficient method of cleaning G10 scales.

My other question; what gives with Buck quality control and warranty?
Apart from the friendly, courteous and swift service, it would seem a simple matter to get things right at least on a second go around.

That is a reasonable speculation about one of the issues. The other has to do with how the warranty department dealt with it.

You also might try posting this in the Buck manufacturer's subforum. :)

FortyTwoBlades is right, i would have first posted this in the buck sub forums.

i don't know what the initial issue was exactly (i didn't see the knife), but the end result was that buck upgraded you to a vantage pro large and it's in good working order except that there is grim on the G10. a quick cleaning with rubbing alcohol should solve that. i understand that your experience was not ideal, but it seems to be handled fairly well and it seems to be more of an isolated incident (i can't recall an issue with G10 grim). after you use rubbing alcohol, tell us if everything is ok.
 
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