China Buck vs. USA Buck

I love how his entire basis of "Buck sucks" is based on... One knife.

Oh, and apparently not liking the grip shape on the 119.

We'll call that a sample size of one and a half.

And apparently this was not only enough to complain, but to make an account on a knife forum and actively seek out it's Buck Knives subforum and throw an outright fit in hopes of... I don't know... Garnering sympathy? Getting a pat on the back? High fives for shilling for the PRC? 🤷‍♂️

The line between trolls and legitimate ignorance is just so blurred, these days.
 
Many years ago it was thought/said that the Chinese made traditional line of Buck, was made in the same factory as the Rough Rider line of SMKW . This was because they had some similarities in the body shape (but different grinds), from what I recall.

I do not know if that was true then or of it is still true.

Here is a photo of a Buck and a RR Canoe.
https://imgur.com/NDsBv4O
 
QC is indeed slipping to some degree at Buck, has been for years. They are an extremely high volume maker of knives, making it difficult to catch everything that goes out the door. Heck, I had such a bad experience with a Vantage that I've sworn off that model for good, I'll only buy lock backs and fixed blades from Buck at this point, I've never liked their liner locks. I haven't tried them, but the Chinese liner locks they recently came out with might be closer to my preferences. It would certainly validate your original point to some degree.

The only helpful thing that can be said (reiterated) is, if you are not happy, send it in to Buck and see if they will correct it. Posting on an internet forum might be a helpful vent, but it doesn't really resolve the issue. If they send it back and say "It's fine" you have every right to publicly complain until something's done about it.
 
HolyRoller said:
I love how his entire basis of "Buck sucks" is based on... One knife.

Oh, and apparently not liking the grip shape on the 119.

We'll call that a sample size of one and a half.

And apparently this was not only enough to complain, but to make an account on a knife forum and actively seek out it's Buck Knives subforum and throw an outright fit in hopes of... I don't know... Garnering sympathy? Getting a pat on the back? High fives for shilling for the PRC? 🤷‍♂️

The line between trolls and legitimate ignorance is just so blurred, these days.
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I don't like the small handle on the Buck Bowie. Buck sucks.

Just kidding.
 
I suspect some of the issues at Buck are related to employee retention. It is happening at a lot of places post-CoVid. Let's face it, jobs at Buck are not the highest paying and they probably have a lot of turn-over. If they don't have their processes documented to the extent that even I could do something there, there will be quality spills. I don't know how fool-proof and detailed their process training and documentation is, so this is just conjecture on my part.
 
No doubt a less than stellar one may slip through the cracks now and again, due to volume. I usually am comfortable buying Buck knives sight unseen, but I can’t say the same for another USA brand made in Bradford PA, I will always inspect them in person! - Edited to say, I have many of both and like both, but Buck has been a safer buy for me historically with regards to defects.
 
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I haven't had a bad one from Bradford PA and I buy a lot. They seem to have a reputation from one point in time. I would hate to see that happen to Buck. Currently I don't. Let's talk about China and how happy their workers are making our knives for cheap. That's what I want to know.
 
BuckShack said:
I haven't had a bad one from Bradford PA and I buy a lot. They seem to have a reputation from one point in time. I would hate to see that happen to Buck. Currently I don't. Let's talk about China and how happy their workers are making our knives for cheap. That's what I want to know.
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i got plenty from Bradford with lots of cosmetic and finish flaws older and newer ones. mainly loose blades, bone and wood cracks, off center blade rubbing, etc. we aren't gonna get perfection anymore....but in truth we never really did.......we just didn't obsess on cosmetic flaws like we do now....
 
I can understand that a collector who might be displaying their knives wanting them to be free of any blemish or fit and finish problems. I can also understand that a knife that is a high dollar limited edition is expected to be a good bit better than a regular production knife.

The thing is that a lot of people don’t consider that Buck is a knife production business producing thousands of knives every day and most of those knives are regular models meant to be used in some demanding types of usage and will eventually look like they are well used. I don’t know the actual numbers but there are probably a very small percentage that are the limited editions or what would be considered a collector piece with upgraded materials coming at a higher price than standard. I’ve seen what other brands of popular knives bring and Buck is far more affordable than those even in the more elaborate materials and models.

I guess it ends up that a lot of folks expect that every knife should be completely perfect as if it were a custom fitted knife that took dozens of hours to make. Even though they aren’t displaying it And then proceed to scratch, ding and put it through the mill. This doesn’t make sense to me. As long as the knife functions properly and performs at a high level that’s what matters to me regardless of the fit and finish or any supposed qc issue such as blade centering or small gaps or wonky grinds.

I think if a person wants a knife that is perfect and to a high degree of finish then they should go to a custom maker and pay the much higher cost for those expectations. Imho.
 
Lesknife said:
I can understand that a collector who might be displaying their knives wanting them to be free of any blemish or fit and finish problems. I can also understand that a knife that is a high dollar limited edition is expected to be a good bit better than a regular production knife.

The thing is that a lot of people don’t consider that Buck is a knife production business producing thousands of knives every day and most of those knives are regular models meant to be used in some demanding types of usage and will eventually look like they are well used. I don’t know the actual numbers but there are probably a very small percentage that are the limited editions or what would be considered a collector piece with upgraded materials coming at a higher price than standard. I’ve seen what other brands of popular knives bring and Buck is far more affordable than those even in the more elaborate materials and models.

I guess it ends up that a lot of folks expect that every knife should be completely perfect as if it were a custom fitted knife that took dozens of hours to make. Even though they aren’t displaying it And then proceed to scratch, ding and put it through the mill. This doesn’t make sense to me. As long as the knife functions properly and performs at a high level that’s what matters to me regardless of the fit and finish or any supposed qc issue such as blade centering or small gaps or wonky grinds.

I think if a person wants a knife that is perfect and to a high degree of finish then they should go to a custom maker and pay the much higher cost for those expectations. Imho.
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Meanwhile, they're driving around in a dirty car that's overdue for an oil change.... Lets not talk about what vehicles cost nowadays.

Or they're busy taking pictures of the food they're served at the restaurant.
What's that all about?

I wish I could just spray people with a garden hose and tell them to get over themselves.

Yes, I'm finished.
(For now).

😬
 
GPyro said:
Meanwhile, they're driving around in a dirty car that's overdue for an oil change.... Lets not talk about what vehicles cost nowadays.

Or they're busy taking pictures of the food they're served at the restaurant.
What's that all about?

I wish I could just spray people with a garden hose and tell them to get over themselves.

Yes, I'm finished.
(For now).

😬
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That reminds me,lol
I need to stop by the parts store after work to get oil and filters for my pickup oil change before I go out of town next week. Lol
 
jude_061 said:
I’ve read in places that the Chinese bucks use a lesser quality steel. I could be wrong though. While the difference is marginal, it keeps the American made bucks a step above the Chinese ones in my opinion because it their use of an inferior material.
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IIRC the Chinese made Buck slip joints use 420J2 steel (lacking BOS heat treatment) instead of the BOS heat treated 420HC the American made Buck slip joints use.
 
Checking the Buck website, the Selkirk is 420HC.

I seem to recall the website used to specify BOS heat treated for all such knives, but now just specifies "heat treated". My understanding is that Bos hasn't overseen the heat treatment process for quite some time; instead just developing the process and handing it off to Buck. I'm not sure of the veracity of that however. It may be that the 420HC Chinese Bucks are heat treated exactly the same as the 420HC American Bucks, but that Bos never developed a satisfactory heat treatment for 420J2 that he'd put his name on it.
 
jude_061 said:
“Up to standard” is subjective. YOU may not think their QC is great. I have purchased a few USA knives in my time and one or two Chinese Bucks. In my opinion the QC on the USA made knives exceeded that of the Chinese made ones. I will say that, thankfully, Buck seems to do a good job overseeing their Chinese manufacturers because they are a higher quality than most items that come out of China. A bigger issue for me is how well the knife performs. I’ve read in places that the Chinese bucks use a lesser quality steel. I could be wrong though. While the difference is marginal, it keeps the American made bucks a step above the Chinese ones in my opinion because it their use of an inferior material. On another note, I read in a post a few years ago that one of the big Chinese knife companies, maybe Ganzo, makes the Chinese bucks and then turns around and sells “copies” under their own brand. So your opinion that Chinese knives are better is based on your standards, and many of us who prefer the American bucks based our opinion on other factors.
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Son, if you wanna be OK with the fact that US buck knives are inferior, you are the problem.
 
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