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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
I love my Vantage
- Thread starter dogstar
- Start date
Maybe two years ago I bought a Marine Green Vantage about the time there was much discussion about quality issues with this knife. Mine arrived with the blade .15mm off center. Do I have a gripe? No. It is a great knife regardless of the cost, or any petty gripes, or customer dissatisfaction, the blade passes my scrutiny. ( When all else fails kindly return it to Buck with a note of explanation and they will do something about it.) I like and use Buck knives - ask my wife.
-sevensix
-sevensix
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2001
- Messages
- 18,423
Have 7-8 full size Vantage's, from selects to pros, not a single flaw in any of them, besides having a thumb hole instead of a proper thumb stud! 
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2012
- Messages
- 976
The Vantage is the knife I carry most often. I've given six of them as gifts. I've got five more in the house. One in my car. One at work.
Yup, I'm a big fan.
The Buck Tan Vantage Force - Pro (S30V) is my EDC. Who designed it?
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2012
- Messages
- 429
I totally agree with Craig on that. I've been very guilty in the past of "rising to the bait" so to speak, but now I just do my best to ignore and not respond to trouble makers or potential trouble makers. I find the forum to be a much nicer place to visit since I came to that decision.
While I really never carry a Vantage, large or small, if I did, it would probably be one of these three small models that I have.
Those are some great looking scales you have there. I have some coming to me that are in micarta, I hope they are as nice as those though. I'll post some pictures when I get them.
I agree too that I tend to carry my smaller ones more often than the big ones.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2000
- Messages
- 3,805
Well, I go away for a couple of years and now I come back to find out the Vantage Pro I've been carrying and using for over a year is crap! Why didn't someone tell me? Heh.
Seriously, I've gotten great use from mine and no problems other than I wish it were bigger. The same knife with a 4 inch blade would be awesome!
I've also gotten more compliments about it than any other knife I've carried. I like to think of it as the 21st Century version of the 112.
Seriously, I've gotten great use from mine and no problems other than I wish it were bigger. The same knife with a 4 inch blade would be awesome!
I've also gotten more compliments about it than any other knife I've carried. I like to think of it as the 21st Century version of the 112.
I'm going to send my Force Pro in for repair. Mine had a few quality control flaws, but the biggest issue was the thin liner wearing out prematurely. Granted for the average person's EDC they're great, but I learned that they don't hold up well to heavy use. In my opinion, the liner needs to be about 33% thicker and recessed at the finger groove.
I know no one likes to hear bad things about their favorite model and I will undoubtedly be called on picking the right tool for the job, but I've used my Lion Steel made Sig Tac Rangemaster, Cold Steel Ti-Lite, Smith and Wesson dollar bin tanto, and now my ZT 0350 much harder than the 847 I have with much greater success. Again, I want to clarify that I'm pretty hard on knives but I wouldn't say that I use them to the point of abuse. After all, they're nothing if not tools.
Here's what I replaced my 847 with for EDC. I do have to clean it and hit it with a stone for a couple minutes on most days, but this is after just one day at work to give you an idea. (And yes, that's concrete and gouging on the sharp edge.) My Buck was never used near as hard as this one, but I'm still worried Buck will think the damage to my blade is outside of their warranty.
Once fixed I will probably give it back to the girlfriend for EDC, but after seeing the carbone fiber scaled ones posted I just might grab a set and use it as a casual EDC if Buck cleans it up nice and pretty.
I know no one likes to hear bad things about their favorite model and I will undoubtedly be called on picking the right tool for the job, but I've used my Lion Steel made Sig Tac Rangemaster, Cold Steel Ti-Lite, Smith and Wesson dollar bin tanto, and now my ZT 0350 much harder than the 847 I have with much greater success. Again, I want to clarify that I'm pretty hard on knives but I wouldn't say that I use them to the point of abuse. After all, they're nothing if not tools.
Here's what I replaced my 847 with for EDC. I do have to clean it and hit it with a stone for a couple minutes on most days, but this is after just one day at work to give you an idea. (And yes, that's concrete and gouging on the sharp edge.) My Buck was never used near as hard as this one, but I'm still worried Buck will think the damage to my blade is outside of their warranty.
Once fixed I will probably give it back to the girlfriend for EDC, but after seeing the carbone fiber scaled ones posted I just might grab a set and use it as a casual EDC if Buck cleans it up nice and pretty.
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Pulling nails, cutting drywall, cutting copper wire, chipping concrete, cutting thick rubber hoses, hammering, sceaping floors, scraping corrosion from steel parts, notching hard wood, generic prying, and generic cutting.
There's always a correct tool for the job, but when you're up on a roof, or a nail shows up that isn't supposed to be there while you're applying tile, or you're under a car and need to cut something quick, or many other various scenarios where it's more logical to work with what you have in hand. Is it necessary that a knife be able to do all those things? Absolutely not. But I take pride in owning knives that can, not to mention how much easier it can make my job. Basically I use them as a very modular tool where it saves me increased time or effort.
I use my EDC for construction (and demolition if need be), automotive work, outdoors tasks, and generic every day carry so my requirements are invalid to 98% of the market. As such I form very cut and dry opinions on knives that some people won't understand or agree on. If that offends anyone that's certainly not my intent though.
To clarify, the hardest thing I ever did was make a hobo heater out of a coffee can with my Buck. That knocked off a few of the teeth from the serrations. Other than that the hardest use it saw was cutting branches of no more than a half inch in diamater. There was never a singular use that compromised the liner, it just seemed to get worse and worse over time.
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Thanks and I always try! I view knives as tools, but you won't find me enthused about a hammer enough to sign up for a discussion board about them.
Keep em' sharp!
r8shell
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2010
- Messages
- 25,550
Thanks and I always try! I view knives as tools, but you won't find me enthused about a hammer enough to sign up for a discussion board about them.
Keep em' sharp!
Ha. Whenever someone posts about how their knives are just tools, I want to ask what they talk about on hammer forums.
I love my Vantages, large and small. I understand what you mean about wanting to be able to use the knife to do all that prying and scraping and chipping etc. But it could be that the Vantage just isn't the knife for that kind of thing. I've never had any problems with mine, but mine are used for cutting.
