Kershaw Kuro vs Buck Vantage Force Select?

M

MNCoyote

Joined
Apr 24, 2016
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Hi, this is my first post here as I'm wanting to get a a little nicer knife than my meyerco pocket knife. Between the two listed above which do you prefer for a more all around knife or (edc) it will be used for cutting cardboard, tape, rope, plastic, and possibly wild game of one of my hunting knives fails on me in the woods. Any opinions would be appreciated! I can get both within 15 bucks of each other $23 for Kuro and about $36 for the buck. Thanks
 
No experience with the Buck so can't comment there. I doj like the Kuro as a budget folder, but as a tanto design, it's not something I would consider a real go to for use as a hunting knife.
 
This is weird. I recognize how great a knife the Buck Vantage COULD be if it weren't for really variable production quality. A well executed Vantage is one of the best budget knives made. Unfortunately, every one I've seen (around 10 different Vantage models) has suffered from some kind of serious or annoying fit or finish issue. As a result I almost always recommend against the Vantage. In this case, however, I think the fit and finish on the recent Kershaw Chinese offerings has stumbled and the quality gap has narrowed.

I'd give a thumbs up on the Vantage between these two knives. Two thumbs up if you're in a position to hand pick your Vantage before you buy it.
 
I have to agree with the above, somewhat. Buck has pretty spotty quality of production, and Kershaw is kind of going the way of Gerber in their budget offerings and aren't near what they used to be.

Can I suggest looking at Realsteel? For $36 I got a knife that blows away anything Buck or Kershaw makes close to it's price in both features, fit, and materials. I have the H5 Gerfalcon. 14C28N Sandvik, bearings, and just an amazing knife for the money.

 
I love my large Buck Vantage Select Force, of all the knives I've owned and sold it is one of the few that has stuck around. Please pay attention to blade shape when looking at the Vantage. The large Force and large select force have a slightly different blade shape. The Force felt like crap in my hand, the Select Force however was awesome. That wider blade and thumb ramp made all the difference.

I say Select Force and if you still want a Kershaw get a Skyline or Link.
 
O4tg, can I ask where you purchased you H5 from? I'm interested in one, but most places I've looked are out of stock. Considering settling for the H6.
 
Have hog looked at a spyderco tenacious yet? Otherwise I'd go with a Kershaw because well it's Kershaw.


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if you are willing to go a little larger for the blade, the Knifeworks Ontario Rat 1 in D2 is worth a look
 
mec003 said:
O4tg, can I ask where you purchased you H5 from? I'm interested in one, but most places I've looked are out of stock. Considering settling for the H6.
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I got mine from Perry Knife Works. They're an authorized dealer here and shipped lightning fast in addition to being the cheapest I could find.
 
mec003 said:
O4tg, can I ask where you purchased you H5 from? I'm interested in one, but most places I've looked are out of stock. Considering settling for the H6.
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Yeah, RealSteel knives are great for the money, but they do tend to be hard to find. If you can't find an H5, consider an H6-S1. They're an awesome, downsized H6. BladeHQ has the CF scale version currently in stock.
 
Never handled a kuro, but a friend had a buck vantage. It seemed decent. For your price point, I would enthusiastically recommend an ontario rat 1 or rat 2. They are my favorite budget knives. $25 -35 depending on the color of the handle scales.
 
Thanks for all the quick posts. I have been thinking and I think I now have it narrowed down to the Kershaw link tanto ( i don't know if I should get the tango or not, I like the tango look better but is it impractical?) just because it's an American made knife for $10 more. Or that real steel G5, it looks really nice. Any more thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Another vote for the Buck. I've had two and kept one. No quality issues on either one. They are great knives in my opinion, USA made, thin profile, easy flipper action and a deep-carry pocket clip that you'll appreciate the moment you use it. It also has full steel liners, which makes it much more robust and many knives in this price category often skip.
 
MNCoyote said:
Thanks for all the quick posts. I have been thinking and I think I now have it narrowed down to the Kershaw link tanto ( i don't know if I should get the tango or not, I like the tango look better but is it impractical?) just because it's an American made knife for $10 more. Or that real steel G5, it looks really nice. Any more thoughts would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

The Link was what I planned to get before I got the H5. Luckily my buddy got one for me to mess with. I didn't like it. The lock felt kind of dinky, and the aluminum grips didn't feel very confidence inspiring for grip. Despite the much thinner blade and plastic back spacer, it was noticeably heavier than the G5 too. There's also the lack of detent. There's no jimping on the blade which to me is a need on a metal scaled knife. I also didn't like the high riding pocket clip.

It's a quality knife, I just didn't like the design. It's US made, but Kershaw isn't an American company if that's important to you. Comparing the two side by side made me REALLY happy with choosing the H5. I'll see if I can snap some pictures of both in the next couple days.
 
It sounds like you have your mind made up, but for the money you aren't going to beat the Ontario Rat 1!

MNCoyote said:
Thanks for all the quick posts. I have been thinking and I think I now have it narrowed down to the Kershaw link tanto ( i don't know if I should get the tango or not, I like the tango look better but is it impractical?) just because it's an American made knife for $10 more. Or that real steel G5, it looks really nice. Any more thoughts would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
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