Marksman Tanto has been discontinued

P

PaultheCarpenter

Joined
Jul 12, 2020
Messages
103
I'm sad as I've been planning on pulling the trigger on the buy button for a few weeks, and just this week as I go to put it in the cart, it's gone. From everywhere.

Does anyone know if they have a replacement planned, or a pause in the manufacturing run, or is it just gone?
 
If you go to Buck's website, at the bottom of the page you can download the 2021 catalog.

I've found discontinued items looking thru all the various vendors. And there's a bunch.

Good luck.
 
Thank you both, it seems like the black version is the only one around (I found that link too after a hunt), I was hoping for the black wash version, which is far prettier, but honestly, with the way I use a knife, it won't be pretty for long anyway.

I'm just looking through the catalogue now, it's here for anyone interested. 2021_Buck_Knives_Dealer_Catalog_Web.pdf

Edit: The Marksmen isn't in there. A shame, it was a modern classic in many ways and quite a departure from Buck's usual fayre. I think I'll get that all black one and let it scuff itself up. Thank you gents.
 
Now I have it in my hand, I can see why it was discontinued.

I like it, don't get me wrong, but it has a couple of huge flaws that immediately annoyed me. The edge hits the metal spacer and has flattened the point where the two edges meet, I'm going to have to reprofile it. Also the shaping grind is very uneven, with the hollow grind of the main edge starting further up one side of the blade, meaning the curve to the apex of the two edges is off on one side. The centering is not the best either, it's microns away from scuffing against the inside of one of the scales. It seems like they've centered the point, not the blade, the point being well off due to the shape grind issue I mentioned.

I'm sure a lot of people sent theirs back to Buck and it was becoming a chore.

That said, I'm not an instagram knife collector, and I can work with it. It's a solid knife and it's going to be put to use, but it's not the kind of quality I would have expected from such a legendary company.
 
Last edited:
PaultheCarpenter said:
Now I have it in my hand, I can see why it was discontinued.

I like it, don't get me wrong, but it has a couple of huge flaws that immediately annoyed me. The edge hits the metal spacer and has flattened the point where the two edges meet, I'm going to have to reprofile it. Also the shaping grind is very uneven, with the hollow grind of the main edge starting further up one side of the blade, meaning the curve to the apex of the two edges is off on one side. The centering is not the best either, it's microns away from scuffing against the inside of one of the scales. It seems like they've centered the point, not the blade, the point being well off due to the shape grind issue I mentioned.

I'm sure a lot of people sent theirs back to Buck and it was becoming a chore.

That said, I'm not an instagram knife collector, and I can work with it. It's a solid knife and it's going to be put to use, but it's not the kind of quality I would have expected from such a legendary company.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t bet everyone experienced the same results. I have quite a few and all have been very well put together. I would think the tanto blade popularity was the result of being discontinued as I havent heard of any other complaints similar to what you experienced. Send it in, it will get fixed. Easy Peazy. Sucks to have to do that but nothing escapes a random problem. You will see people claim I buy a knife and don’t expect to have to send it in for repair. I’m never buying another knife from this brand. This isn’t the case here but a person needs to realize everything has its day.
 
PaultheCarpenter said:
Now I have it in my hand, I can see why it was discontinued.

I like it, don't get me wrong, but it has a couple of huge flaws that immediately annoyed me. The edge hits the metal spacer and has flattened the point where the two edges meet, I'm going to have to reprofile it. Also the shaping grind is very uneven, with the hollow grind of the main edge starting further up one side of the blade, meaning the curve to the apex of the two edges is off on one side. The centering is not the best either, it's microns away from scuffing against the inside of one of the scales. It seems like they've centered the point, not the blade, the point being well off due to the shape grind issue I mentioned.

I'm sure a lot of people sent theirs back to Buck and it was becoming a chore.

That said, I'm not an instagram knife collector, and I can work with it. It's a solid knife and it's going to be put to use, but it's not the kind of quality I would have expected from such a legendary company.
Click to expand...
I have two that are perfect and my son has one that’s perfect. Like Mike says, send it in to Buck and they will make it right. I’m sure this isn’t the reason why it was discontinued because I’ve seen plenty of good reviews for the Marksman in general. I believe it’s best to first contact Buck and let them address the problem before bringing it to the forum. A bad review can’t be easily reconciled on the internet and all companies have some that slip past QC.
 
Well, this is my experience, and the experience of several reviewers, even a fair amount of the store shots if you google image it have the same grind issue. I am happy to hear there are a couple of success stories.

I'm not all that bothered about it, but I'd say someone dropped the ball a good amount of time here. This would not pass QC if I had anything to do with it.

Hell, I didn't even mention the weird recurve. But I'm not the kind of guy who jumps on a warrantee when the problems are mostly cosmetic. And I'm not going to contact them first over the forum where I asked for advice regarding a discontinued knife that no one can buy anyway.

I love the design, it's perfect for what I need it for (scraping paint, shaving pegs and scoring and gouging holes in sheetrock, etc). So as far as I'm concerned it's no issue.
 
Last edited:
Quote: grind issue. grind issue. I am happy to hear there are a couple of success stories.

I'm sure its the other way around. Those types of issues would surely be common on a Buck forum.


I Googled Buck Marksman Tanto and did not get pics of issues. If you Google Buck Marksman Blade Grind im sure you get what you are asking for.
Let's ask CRAIG who has probably sold a ton of them. Craig do you get Tanto Marksmans returned back?
 
Makael said:
Quote: grind issue. grind issue. I am happy to hear there are a couple of success stories.

I'm sure its the other way around. Those types of issues would surely be common on a Buck forum.


I Googled Buck Marksman Tanto and did not get pics of issues. If you Google Buck Marksman Blade Grind im sure you get what you are asking for.
Let's ask CRAIG who has probably sold a ton of them. Craig do you get Tanto Marksmans returned back?
Click to expand...
Okay, lets take a look at the product shot on BladeHQ's site.

buck-marksman-tanto-0831bks-b-cm-large.jpg


Look at the curve where the hollow grind meets the tanto point. That's how it is on one side of my knife. On the other, that same curve perfectly meets the corner because the shaping grind is around a quarter inch further back. All of which makes tip off center.

Any questions?
 
PaultheCarpenter said:
Okay, lets take a look at the product shot on BladeHQ's site.

buck-marksman-tanto-0831bks-b-cm-large.jpg


Look at the curve where the hollow grind meets the tanto point. That's how it is on one side of my knife. On the other, that same curve perfectly meets the corner because the shaping grind is around a quarter inch further back. All of which makes tip off center.

Any questions?
Click to expand...
I see a picture of one side. Not two sides.
I'm not saying you don't have a bad grind on your knife. I was commenting that I'm sure this isn't the reason the knife was discontinued.

Tanto popularity would be my guess as why its discontinued. Doesn't sell as well. The standard version sells very well.
 
Makael said:
If you didn't send it back then you must be cool with it.
Click to expand...
Even just one side being that scuffed is enough to toss it in the recycle bin IMO.

The only thing I'm not cool with here is being attacked by apologists for sharing my experience and opinions.

I'm thrilled with the knife, and extremely grateful for the help in procuring one. I'd just prefer to see Buck do better.

Edit: Also, no version sells at all any more, tanto or otherwise. The entire line is no longer.
 
Last edited:
jbmonkey said:
I like this particular knife and own many of both the standard blade and the tanto. im sad to see it go.
Click to expand...
Me too, I think the overall design is superb and the mechanism, while difficult to master, has a lot of potential. I honestly think it has the best action of any knife I've ever owned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top