My Comparison of Vantage Pro vs. Vantage Avid

TXoutback

TXoutback

Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Messages
120
First off, I want to state my Intended Purpose of this blade... as that is an important criteria:

Buck Vantage Avid (small) for EDC...

To me, EDC entails: carrying in front pocket at all times during the day. I work in a home office and I do misc household and small farm chores every day...You could say its a medium use knife... not an operator knife, not a wilderness survival or skinning knife... just a daily companion for all the normal times when you need to open, cut, poke, slice, or scrape something.

After losing my BELOVED Vantage Pro (S30V blade and G10 scales), I finally replaced it with the Avid after reading the various reviews of the Sandvik 13C26 steel. After some of my typical daily use, I already like the 13C26 traits better than the SV30. It seems to hold a sharper edge and my meager skills can keep it that way. I'm sure S30V has its advantages in some settings, but in this little EDC knife I dont think its outshines the simple and deadly-sharp 13C26.

I have to say, right out of the box this knife was much much sharper than I was ever able to get my S30V Vantage Pro blade. It definitely pops hairs right off!

The date on my knife box says 12-19-12, so its a recent version at this time. The previous worries about blade alignment have been apparently fixed, as this one is dead center when closed, unlike my 2009 Pro that was off to the side when closed.

There are two issues I have with this knife:

1.) The dymondwood scales: I LOVE the natural look of the dymondwood much more than the spotted look of the G10s on the Pro... but the Pro scales had a more grippy "dry" feel to them in the hand. I'm hoping I can roughen these glossy dymondwood scales up to be more grippy... anyone ever do this?

2.) About midway down in the knife is a support with a steel collar between the two scales. For some reason, the collar on mine plays and rattles (lightly). I'm sure I could put some super glue in there and it would be fixed, but I'm going to get ahold of a T6 bit and try to adjust the bolts on the scales first to fix it.


That's my review. I'll check back in with updates or answer any questions.

Cheers.
 
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I've never had the desire to scratch the surface of the diamond wood, but remember its a laminant and not real wood so be careful. By the way the blade steel of the Pro is S30V not SV30. I wouldn't use super glue, for the same money you can get a tube of blue lock tight and it will do a better job of holding the screw in place.
 
mbjannusch said:
I've never had the desire to scratch the surface of the diamond wood, but remember its a laminant and not real wood so be careful. By the way the blade steel of the Pro is S30V not SV30. I wouldn't use super glue, for the same money you can get a tube of blue lock tight and it will do a better job of holding the screw in place.
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Exactly!! Good advice
 
TXoutback said:
2.) About midway down in the knife is a support with a steel collar between the two scales. For some reason, the collar on mine plays and rattles (lightly). I'm sure I could put some super glue in there and it would be fixed, but I'm going to get ahold of a T6 bit and try to adjust the bolts on the scales first to fix it.
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My Vantage select had this problem. I did not need glue, loctite, etc. You will need t T6 driver to take off the first handle scale (the one with the pivot screw head). Tighten the screw at the steel collar, and it will squeeze the collar so it won't move.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I corrected my S30Vs, and I'll try the fix Dogstar suggested before I do any kind of adhesive.
 
I have both, and I can't say I've found a big difference in the steel. The s30v keeps an edge maybe a little longer, but I haven't used them for much tougher jobs than opening mail or cardoard packages and cutting food when all the restaurant has is butter knives.

My understanding is the dymondwood is wood that's been impregnated with resin. So it should be as strong as micarta. I know it's a little slicker than the g-10, but it fits my hand so well, I really don't feel like it's going to slip. I wouldn't want to rough up the surface- it's too pretty!
 
i just got mine not but maybe 3 or 4 days ago, and i dont see any reason to have a grippier handle as of yet. the handle just kinda melts into my hand, and i dont picture myself useing this for anything that requires more grip... but to each their own. i'd be careful though as its basically just ply wood with resin in it :P
 
I have a large avid and I could not be happier with the blade and handle.

I have zero bad things to say about it. It has kept it's edge VERY well so far.
 
I have messed with my Dymondwood scales a lot. I'd say, don't worry about it. Just be aware that Buck actually puts a layer of clearcoat over the Dymondwood scales though, which is how they get that super smooth glossy look to it. I had a couple Avids with tiny bumps in the surface of the Dymondwood which always confused me until I realized they were imperfections in the clearcoat over the Dymondwood. This was verified while I was trying to restore one particularly mangled used Buck Avid I received - the Dymondwood handle had all these white patches on it which looked to me like a clearcoat delaminating from the material underneath. The particulate I was generating from sanding was white until I wore through the clearcoat, and then the particulate changed color once I started hitting the Dymondwood itself. I wound up stripping the clearcoat from that particular knife, and polishing the Dymondwood, and boy does the handle take on a different kind of shine then.

TL;DR, don't worry about the Dymondwood and go ahead and rough it up- just be aware that Buck's Dymondwood is clear-coated so if you want to keep that layer don't sand too hard for too long, but if you want to get to the Dymondwood underneath then go ahead and sand through the clearcoat and don't worry about the Dymondwood getting messed up.
 
Rediculously verbose, I know, but I am following up with more info for future readers.

I took apart my Vantage Avid to fix the middle collar as dogstar suggested.

I did notice that there was some blue material on the threads, which I am assuming is like loc-tite, but I did not replace it. I might in the future though. The scales came off easy enough. I had to disassemble the whole blade pivot to get the scale off that covers the screw I wanted to tighten. It was a little tricky to put back together, but not that bad. I used my T6 driver tool to help with lining up the two copper washers that are on either side of the blade. You have to do this for each side before putting the scale on over it, or you can't see what you're doing. Also the main collar for the pivot has one flat edge that must be aligned to fit in the holes properly...a well-thought design.

The inner slabs are solid steel... someone with the right equipment might skeletonize them to drop a few fractions of an ounce, but I'm happy with the weight of the knife as it is.

The only other advice I have is to work with it on a table top, not in your lap or in the air above a table.... put the knife down on the table as you work, and the teeny screws wont fall and bounce away!

So now its fixed, and re-aligning the blade to center was simply a matter of a few nudges on the main screw that goes through the pivot. The Dymondwood handles are getting a little less slick as I am carrying the knife and using it daily. The light duties I use it for are fine, though I haven't used it wet or oily yet.

Thanks again for the tips and info.
 
I have had a 12-19-12 Avid 341 also for about a week and I just received a 11-19-12 Pro 342 in the mail today so rather then start a new thread I'll just use yours. The first thing I noticed was how dirty the 342 was out of the box so I wiped it down and noticed it had the same spacer sleeve rattle noise that my 341 had. The 342 seemed heavier and more bulky weighing 2.6oz and 2.4oz for the 341. The scales on 342 are thicker with very little texture if any and the screws are more recessed while the machined grooves are shallower and don't show at the scale ends and the Buck logo is recessed where on the 341 it sits a bit higher then scale as do the scale screws on 341. The 342 blade came centered and the 341 didn't. Blade on 341 is nicer looking with better cutting edge. Cutting edge on 342 strongside is so bad it looks like it has no tip and I can put my finger on it and apply a lot of pressure and not even feel it while the 341 tip is very nice. The thumbhole on the 342 has big spurs inside that should have been filed and the hollow grind is a bit uneven. The box 342 came in doesn't have the sticker that shows S30V with Bos logo but the blade does have it etched.

My main gripe on my 341 was the middle scale screws were not recessed enough, blade wasn't centered, and spacer sleeve was not tightened all the way. I can live with the screws for they add a little more traction. 341:thumbup: 342:thumbdn:

As for these loose spacers is it best to tighten this spacer myself or leave it like it is or send it back to shipper for exchange or send to Buck to be tighened? Is Buck aware of this issue?
 
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My guess is these knives are manually assembled, which is fine by me. Every once in a while, a loose one gets through. To fix it, they have to take the knife apart, which is probably too much work at that point. I don't mind fixing it myself. They should just ship a cheapo T6 Allen wrench with the knife, though.
 
dogstar said:
They should just ship a cheapo T6 Allen wrench with the knife, though.
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Surprisingly hard to find! I looked at Amazon, and there weren't any "Free Shipping" vendors offering them at a reasonable price. I found mine at Radio Shack...its a little ratcheting driver that has 11 different bits stored in the handle for $4.99. It was plenty sturdy for this job and would probably hold up fine for messing with eyeglasses or laptops.

buckstuff, I'd say do it yourself. It's a little tricky to put together, but if you work at a clean well-lit table, with some cloth like a t-shirt on it, you can figure it out pretty quick and not lose anything. I set my screws just past finger-tight, but I need a couple of weeks use to judge if that's a good amt of torque.
 
TXoutback said:
I did notice that there was some blue material on the threads, which I am assuming is like loc-tite, but I did not replace it. I might in the future though. The scales came off easy enough. I had to disassemble the whole blade pivot to get the scale off that covers the screw I wanted to tighten. It was a little tricky to put back together, but not that bad. I used my T6 driver tool to help with lining up the two copper washers that are on either side of the blade.
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All you need to do to tighten spacer screw is to remove clip and remove scale screws and pivot screw on side without Buck badge then tighten spacer screw and reassemble. No need to remove pivot and other scale. Buck said they use dry Loc-tite on their screws and to dip screw end in wet Loc-tite when reassembling. Unless your pivot is turned around then you would have to take out pivot to get the scale off that's covering the spacer screw.
 
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