Buck Vantage Pro vs Spyderco tenacious vs Ontario rat 2 vs other

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Yodasko

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May 13, 2016
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Hi I'm new to this forum. I am a boy scout and did my research and found these three knives. I Can't narrow it down. I will be using this knife for camping and sometimes food prep. My budget is $50 or less.
Please help me.
 
They're all nice folders at their price point; I've owned all three in the past. The Buck has a nice step up in blade steel over the other two options, but the Vantage series oftentimes has issues with sloppy fit and finish. Good luck in your choice!
 
Those are all good choices. You can't really go wrong with any of these, so you may want to simply choose the knife that appeals to you personally.

The Buck Vantage Pro is the only US-made knife on your list, if that matters to you. It also uses what most would consider a superior steel compared to the other two, but you may find it more difficult to sharpen. The Buck also has a "flipper" tab that allows for quick opening, and a "deep carry" pocket clip.

I don't own one, but people rave about the Ontario Rat series as great all-purpose outdoor folding knives.
 
All three are good choices, the Buck Vantage Pro is made in the USA and has a s30v blade.
 
I have the Tenacious, Rat 2, and a Buck Vantage Avid. Of the three the Rat is my favorite by quite a wide margin. It is very ergonomic, deploys very fast and easily, is pretty centered and locks up very solid with no play. The Vantage definitely has superior materials, especially the steel but the fit and finish on mine was lacking. The detent is very weak and it is very difficult to flip out without flicking your wrist. Mine also has way to much blade play for me. Although it's possible that the Vantage Pro will have better fit and finish then my Avid. I do still carry my Vantage despite all the above.


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I have a small Buck Vantage Pro and a few RAT 1s (no RAT 2s, but the RAT 1 is the same knife, just bigger) and I would definitely pick the RAT. Buck has better materials, but I don't like certain aspects of its design and as mentioned before, the fit and finish aren't great. Flipping the Buck open required some extra wrist action to get it to go all the way, and the liner lock felt a bit flimsy. The oval cut-out on the Buck's blade felt too small and too uncomfortable to use for my big hands (even compared to some of the smaller Spydercos like the Ladybug) and when combined with the weak flipping action it made opening this knife a bit of a chore, I think it would've been better with a thumb stud.
 
Having owned all three, the only one I kept was the rat. I love both my rat 1 and 2, it's just about perfect for a folder, ergonomic, the blade shape has a lot of belly and slices very well, it's so smooth to open, and built very well, it gets more pocket time and enjoyment of use than some of my $100+ knives. It can't be beat for even twice the price.

The buck was good but something about the design didn't seem right to me and I didn't enjoy using it. The tenacious was also good but didn't care for it like I do my rat or spyderco delica.
 
Get the tenacious.

This way when grow up in Spyderco knives.

You already got the Spydie flick down.
 
If i can only have one of the 3, i will go with Tenacious.

You can also try the following knives under $50, the CS are my favorite:

- Kershaw Blur
- Kershaw Link
- Cold Steel Prolite
- Cold Steel Finn Wolf
- Cold Steel Voyager --> Best bang for your buck if you can have 9+ inch knife
- Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara 2
- Sog Trident/Aegis
- Gerber Instant
 
I actually don't like the buck vantage. The thumb hole is too small and smooth, so it's hard for me to get a purchase on it. Spydercos spyderhole is a lot better. I recommend the tenacious, especially if you use it for food prep. As for camping related tasks, I'd get the Ontario rat 1.
 
Thank you all for your replies! Are Buck's quality control issues really that bad for the vantage or is it just in a small amount of them? The only problem I have with the Rat is that it makes my hands hurt after flicking it open when I borrowed it from my friend. Thank you for helping me with this.
 
There's also the ESEE Zancudo if you want a framelock, spear-point version of the RAT 2. The lock is a bit stiff at first but it gets better with time. I can thumb-flick it open pretty easily.
 
Yodasko said:
Any other knife suggestions would be great too. Thanks for your help.
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Kershaw link is good.

For food prep, I recommend the Opinel. Pick your size.

Just out of curiosity, what research criteria did you use to narrow it down to those three?
 
Just out of curiosity, what research criteria did you use to narrow it down to those three?[/QUOTE]


I searched online for best pocket knives the rat 2 and tenacious kept popping up so I thought they were really good for the Money. But a lot of people were torn between the two and some recommend the vantage pro. It had really good steel for a low price and it was pretty amazing. I couldn't decide on these knives so I decided to post a thread about it. Thanks!
 
Atta Boy, Yodasko.

If you use the search function, type "budget" into thread title search and you'll get a boatload of threads brimming with good selections.

There's some good stuff in your price range... just keep digging.
 
Since you are going to be using it outdoors, I would go a little bigger and go with the Ontario RAT 1!
 
Yodasko said:
Hi I'm new to this forum. I am a boy scout and did my research and found these three knives. I Can't narrow it down. I will be using this knife for camping and sometimes food prep. My budget is $50 or less.
Please help me.
Click to expand...

Howdy. I have a Vantage Pro in S30V. I have Spydercos and Benchmades in various high end alloys. The Buck Vantage Pro gets carried more often. If you want pretty, you want something else. But if you want the best cutting blade, you want the Buck. Blade geometry is more important than blade steel. The blade shape Buck uses is superior to others on the market for cutting chores. Superior blade geometry coupled with superior blade steel is really, really hard to beat. You won't beat it with any of the other knives you mentioned.

The blade of my knife is not centered when it is in the closed position. Big whoop. It doesn't flick open easily. Another big whoop. It opens quickly and easily with the thumb hole. It locks up solid. It out-cuts most of my other knives, even knives with steels having better edge retention. I find it comfortable in my hand when cutting. I like that it has deep pocket carry. But most of all, I like how well it cuts.

Buck Vantage Pro in S30V? Recommended.
 
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