My Strider Buck is ****ed!

mr44

mr44

Joined
Dec 16, 1999
Messages
383
Just bought it yesterday. It was a little wobbly, but to me it looked like just a loose pivot since I could wiggle the unlocked blade quite a bit. So, I got a good deal on it figuring that I could just tighter her up at home. Sure enough, the screw was VERY loose and a quick twist of the Torx solved that but:

It seems to be yet another example of poor liner lock fit. It exhibits both side to side and up and down blade play. Upon closer inspection I noted that the liner overhangs the tang and the part that does engage is just barely touching. I can see <b>air space</b> in places where the liner should be squared up against the tang!

It's all good though, since my dealer promised me that he would give me a brand new one if there was any problem. Now I just have to wait for him to get a fresh shipment since mine was the last one that he had!! :( Waaaa!!! I wanna destroy things with my knife but can't until I get the replacement. My fingers are too valuable! Oh well, at least I can look at and fondle it while I await a minty fresh one!

I really like this knife despite the QC issue too. What a glorious beast of a folder it is, and at least I will not have to ship it to California for service!

PM
 
Believe it or not Central Surplus on Yonge St. Gentleman named Tony. Their sticker prices are obviously a little high but the price I paid for the Strider was only a little bit out of line from what I would have forked over after exchange, taxes, shipping and customs charges had I ordered it from the US. No waiting and then having to walk to the post office to pick the up the package, and then of course if the knife had shown up with problems... Big hassle.

PM
 
Interesting. Thanks for the answer.
Also, why do knives with obvious flaws leave the factory? They shouldn't, but they do. I recently had a problem with flawed Buck knives. Le Baron Outdoor recently had a sale, so I went to their Markham store and bought two 182 Odysseys to go with my Odyssey 181. These are great knives, very well put together. The next day I went back to look at the Buck Tac-lite. The two Tac-lites I handled had very poor lock-up. The flaw was quite obvious. The store told me that they were having problems with this model and had sent back a number of them as being flawed. So, why are these knives leaving the factory? These aren't subtle, hard to detect, flaws. The moment I opened the knives I could see there was something wrong. What the heck? Come on Buck! You can do better, can't you? Why is this junk leaving the factory?
And, this problem is by no means exclusive to Buck. I had a similar experience of blatant defect with Spyderco recently.
Darn! Is there nobody I can trust? And that Buck has great after-sales service is of little consolation. Get it right the first time!
So there.
 
Buck, like other companies, is not perfect when it comes to QC. But, I will tell you this, Buck will go out of their way to make the situation more than right. My experience with the company is that they are top shelf in regards to customer satisfaction. Other companies will also go out of their way to get a customer satisfied, but Buck is first rate in that regard!
 
I'm not talking about subtle flaws, or secondary defects in fit or finish. I mean BAM!, right in your face flaws that you can see as soon as you open the knife. And bad lockup is a serious functional flaw that should be found before a knife leaves the factory, not something that the retail buyer should have to deal with, especially if the buyer has to ship the knife back for service, with the attendant expense, delay, and trouble.
I've heard all about Buck's great customer service and I believe it. I like Buck knives and will keep on buying them. And I know that nobody's perfect. But blatant, flagrant, obvious flaws just shouldn't leave the factory.
Now, when is the flat-ground ats-34 Odyssey coming out?

And Mr. 44, I'd be interested in how your problem is finally resolved, so keep us updated, okay?
 
I guess I'm fortunate in that my store is only about 1o min from the Buck factory. I can simply drive over there and exchange something right away. I've also been fortunate in that I have had to do that VERY few times in the 7 years or so that I've been a Buck Knives dealer.

Having said all that, I've noticed that there has been an increasing number of reported incidents, both here and in other forums, where quality has been an issue. Quality control is too often a hit-or-miss proposition when mass production is involved. They can't check every piece that goes out but the representation of the line should be sufficient to detect obvious flaws. Apparently this isn't happening.

I don't know if it has to do with the fact that some of their products are now assembled in Mexico but there does seem to be a bit of coincidence.
 
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