Long Vanguards

Plumberdv · Mar 19, 2013

Here it is, but they misnamed it as a Vantage.

It fits in a sheath for a 119 fairly well but being that the blade is 3/4" shorter than the 119, it's not a perfect fit.

Badhammer · Mar 19, 2013

Plumberdv said:
Here it is, but they misnamed it as a Vantage.

It fits in a sheath for a 119 fairly well but being that the blade is 3/4" shorter than the 119, it's not a perfect fit.

Thanks Dave. I've got an old nylon sheath for a 639 that might work well enough. How long did it take to get your's, i ordered mine Sunday.

Plumberdv · Mar 19, 2013

Badhammer said:
Thanks Dave. I've got an old nylon sheath for a 639 that might work well enough. How long did it take to get your's, i ordered mine Sunday.

It took about 10 or 11 days to get it.

It's a really sloppy fit (rattles around alot) in the nylon 119 sheath, not quite so much in the leather one. The best fit I've found so far is the sheath that comes with the new Endeavor. The length is right but it does still have a bit of a rattle to it.

If I were going to carry it, I'd have a custom sheath made to fit.

Badhammer · Mar 19, 2013

Plumberdv said:
It took about 10 or 11 days to get it.

It's a really sloppy fit (rattles around alot) in the nylon 119 sheath, not quite so much in the leather one. The best fit I've found so far is the sheath that comes with the new Endeavor. The length is right but it does still have a bit of a rattle to it.

If I were going to carry it, I'd have a custom sheath made to fit.

Going custom might be the ticket. The big Shenandoah Valley Knife Collectors show is next month. Maybe I can find something there? I'm hoping my order will get here sooner since I'm "local" so to speak.

skyhorse · Mar 20, 2013

That's cool Dave,you should have been a detective.

:thumbup:

Badhammer · Mar 20, 2013

Wow! Mine just got here, #134/600. i like it! Like it a lot! That extra 1" of blade really changes the look and feel of the Vanguard. Thanks for posting about this one Dave. You truly are a "blade detective".

D-RIG · Mar 20, 2013

The long vanguard arrived in the mail yesterday with a very fair price tag and not a long turnaround time either about 8-9 days very happy about these things , but why does someone need to put those grind lines on a new knife shouldn't it look like the area at the finger guard

, well this one will get the etching removed and a polish someday I promise . Now for some pictures .

RickJ · Mar 20, 2013

D-RIG said:
The long vanguard arrived in the mail yesterday with a very fair price tag and not a long turnaround time either about 8-9 days very happy about these things , but why does someone need to put those grind lines on a new knife shouldn't it look like the area at the finger guard , well this one will get the etching removed and a polish someday I promise . Now for some pictures .

The wood handle on this knife is just pretty as it can be, very nice looking knife, congrats on your score.

kyhunt · Mar 26, 2013

Those are sweet.

Badhammer · Mar 26, 2013

Wonder what the wood is on these?

RickJ · Mar 26, 2013

I have been thinking again, Buck should make a 5 inch bladed vanguard with full tang construction, just like the 124, they could call it the Vangaurd II.

oregon · Mar 27, 2013

D-RIG said:
snip but why does someone need to put those grind lines on a new knife shouldn't it look like the area at the finger guard , snip

I wasn't sure what you were talking about (grind lines) until I carefully examined all of the photographs in this thread. I thought that I was just seeing shadowing. The scratching machine needs to be re-calibrated in order to avoid the tang stamp at least. Why scratch the blade at all (remove light reflection potential perhaps?)? Strange. Is the scratching intentional? Did the vendor request scratching? I like the polished look parts of the blade and imagine that the entire blade was polished, then the grind was made and then scratching applied liberally. Thank you for pointing this out. I would embrace Buck explaining the scratching.

garryale · Mar 27, 2013

RickJ said:
I have been thinking again, Buck should make a 5 inch bladed vanguard with full tang construction, just like the 124, they could call it the Vangaurd II.

Yes , it would be a nice option, and if it had been made of some premium steel (CPM 154CM or S30V, or any other of CPM family) it would have been the Resurrection of Vanguard.

Plumberdv · Mar 27, 2013

oregon said:
I wasn't sure what you were talking about (grind lines) until I carefully examined all of the photographs in this thread. I thought that I was just seeing shadowing. The scratching machine needs to be re-calibrated in order to avoid the tang stamp at least. Why scratch the blade at all (remove light reflection potential perhaps?)? Strange. Is the scratching intentional? Did the vendor request scratching? I like the polished look parts of the blade and imagine that the entire blade was polished, then the grind was made and then scratching applied liberally. Thank you for pointing this out. I would embrace Buck explaining the scratching.

If you guys will take a good look (as I have) at nearly every fixed blade of Buck's I had handy and you'll see the same thing. Some of the "shiny" areas next to the guard are wider than others, but nearly every one of the 100 series and all of the Vanguards I own are that way. I just looked at a bunch of 119's, 103's, 105's etc. and the only ones that don't have that are the ones with mirror polished blades.

As a matter of fact, this very thing came up not too long ago here on the forum. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1042947-Does-your-vanguard?highlight=Vanguard

Plumberdv · Mar 27, 2013

Here's just a couple at random. A new 124 and 121. Please excuse the poor light, early morning photo, but it does show the "issue" pretty well. It isn't anything new either. I found the same thing on a 1987 119.

Badhammer · Mar 27, 2013

garryale said:
Yes , it would be a nice option, and if it had been made of some premium steel (CPM 154CM or S30V, or any other of CPM family) it would have been the Resurrection of Vanguard.

+1

I got one of the buildouts a year or so ago that had the indigo scales with ATS-34 blade. If they made that again in this 5" length even without a full tang I'd be all over it.

Should have said "charcoal" scales not indigo.

Plumberdv · Mar 27, 2013

Badhammer said:
+1

I got one of the buildouts a year or so ago that had the indigo scales with ATS-34 blade. If they made that again in this 5" length even without a full tang I'd be all over it.

I don't remember that one. Could you post a picture?

Badhammer · Mar 27, 2013

Plumberdv said:
I don't remember that one. Could you post a picture?

This is all I have at the moment.

It might have been a web special and not a build out. I'll have to round up the box and see what the label says.

StaTiK · Mar 27, 2013

RAZORBLADES said:
I can only speak for myself,as a hunter/outdoorsman /guide I much prefer a 4 inch blade or even a 3 inch blade.The bigger blades are cumbersome working on small jobs,and almost always a smaller blade can do anything the bigger blade can.I would bet that it would make a great kitchen/camp knife though.

+1. I don't own a vanguard yet but a 4" blade is my upper limit on a hunting knife. I would be more interested in a wider variety of steels.
-StaTiK-

Plumberdv · Mar 28, 2013

Badhammer said:
This is all I have at the moment. It might have been a web special and not a build out. I'll have to round up the box and see what the label says.

I sure missed seeing that one somehow. If it was just in the last year or two, it could have been either a web special, buildout or both. It has a blade from 2002, so I'll be checking the buildout list to see if I can find it. It might be one from the special projects list also.