New Buck 040 Onset

I love Bucks, but I'd not buy this knife on account of its construction. My experience with frame locks of this sort is that by milling out the flexing section of the lock, you put a lot of stress on it, and the life expectancy of the part is... questionable. In contrast, my Vantage has its frame lock made of a constant-thickness section, and the bending portion is a good distance away from the root of the cut-out in the frame. I expect that VFP to last a very long time, much longer than what I foresee someone else's Onset which is used on a regular basis.
 
Thaeris said:
I love Bucks, but I'd not buy this knife on account of its construction. My experience with frame locks of this sort is that by milling out the flexing section of the lock, you put a lot of stress on it, and the life expectancy of the part is... questionable. In contrast, my Vantage has its frame lock made of a constant-thickness section, and the bending portion is a good distance away from the root of the cut-out in the frame. I expect that VFP to last a very long time, much longer than what I foresee someone else's Onset which is used on a regular basis.
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vantage isn't a frame lock its a liner lock.
frame locks are milled due to the sheer thickness of the lock bar area. if it wasnt it wouldn't be easy to open with one hand. ive owned many frame locks for decade plus now and they hold up fine. regardless this Buck onset and its frame lock is warranted forever..........

I think it will be fine.
 
Thanks for the correction. And, I hope you're right! Still, those are my concerns, and I stand by them. :)
 
Thaeris said:
Thanks for the correction. And, I hope you're right! Still, those are my concerns, and I stand by them. :)
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no bother. I'm not worried about this frame lock cause I know Buck will back their products.

I get it though, frame locks aren't for everyone. this one is steel, so should last a long time. now the case aluminum framelocks with a steel insert...... they just put out. I have those as curiosity got ahold of me. im not so sure they'll last.....but I could be very wrong. so far they're doing fine, but its early still.
 
Now, in defense of frame locks - honestly, liner locks aren't conceptually much different (hence my technical error) - my bad example came from a cheap knife. It was, however, a cheap knife I was really attached to. It was some flavor of Winchester-branded knife from Wal-Mart. That knife did ultimately meet the fate I described previously, probably a decade after purchase. I agree and know the Bucks are much, much better, but I still see that failure occurring to that style of frame lock, just because of the geometry. Now, it does look like Buck put in a wide, lozenge-shaped mill cut where the flexure point is located - that should be pretty decent in comparison to the Winchester, which just had a circular mill cut. The latter lets your forces be concentrated at ONE point, where the wide cut Buck used on the 040 should not have the same issue. Still... I just can't trust that construction after the experience.

The blade on the 040 should last just fine, though. I'll have you know that my Winchester blade got turned into a replacement blade for a Leatherman Skeletool that some dolt broke while prying on something! :P
 
Thaeris said:
Now, in defense of frame locks - honestly, liner locks aren't conceptually much different (hence my technical error) - my bad example came from a cheap knife. It was, however, a cheap knife I was really attached to. It was some flavor of Winchester-branded knife from Wal-Mart. That knife did ultimately meet the fate I described previously, probably a decade after purchase. I agree and know the Bucks are much, much better, but I still see that failure occurring to that style of frame lock, just because of the geometry. Now, it does look like Buck put in a wide, lozenge-shaped mill cut where the flexure point is located - that should be pretty decent in comparison to the Winchester, which just had a circular mill cut. The latter lets your forces be concentrated at ONE point, where the wide cut Buck used on the 040 should not have the same issue. Still... I just can't trust that construction after the experience.

The blade on the 040 should last just fine, though. I'll have you know that my Winchester blade got turned into a replacement blade for a Leatherman Skeletool that some dolt broke while prying on something! :p
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On those cheap knives I would be more skeptical about the heat treatment and metal in the frame than the design. Buck however has excellent heat treatment and metal. Not only that but they put it through the paces and testing before the final design. And do those cheap knives have a forever warranty? All of that matters in the performance and integrity of the knife.
 
got one...not bad....not worth the 179/189 price point though. Buck really needs to reduce the map price.....

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the good.....no blade play in any direction. smooth flipping action. locks up tight. good size, ergos are good.


the not so good.....see lock picture..interesting design all the way engaged and ground to have a stop edge to not allow travel to frame. not sure how that will hold up over time, but we shall see. the stop pin setup....ehhh. not liking it. the pin is in the blade. so steel frame stops on one side. g10 stops on the other. it works and is strong enough due to the one steel side....but I'd prefer a nested steel liner on the other side.

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edge was ground a bit wonky..seems lately Buck has a wonky edge trend going on.


so I like it......but if it was 120 bucks I expect traction would take off harder. maybe even 135 range...at the 179 plus it's just too high for what's out there.
 
I have not handled an Onset yet. But, I saw photos of the Case Marilla today and it appears to be very similar. I am wondering how they will compare? Both USA made knives with good steel blades and pretty much the same form factor except that the Case is all aluminum and the Buck has the flat grind blade.
 
Daniel said:
I have not handled an Onset yet. But, I saw photos of the Case Marilla today and it appears to be very similar. I am wondering how they will compare? Both USA made knives with good steel blades and pretty much the same form factor except that the Case is all aluminum and the Buck has the flat grind blade.
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I have both now...I haven't played with the Buck enough yet. I have played with both case models though.
 
jbmonkey said:
got one...not bad....not worth the 179/189 price point though. Buck really needs to reduce the map price.....

View attachment 1670184
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the good.....no blade play in any direction. smooth flipping action. locks up tight. good size, ergos are good.


the not so good.....see lock picture..interesting design all the way engaged and ground to have a stop edge to not allow travel to frame. not sure how that will hold up over time, but we shall see. the stop pin setup....ehhh. not liking it. the pin is in the blade. so steel frame stops on one side. g10 stops on the other. it works and is strong enough due to the one steel side....but I'd prefer a nested steel liner on the other side.

View attachment 1670192
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edge was ground a bit wonky..seems lately Buck has a wonky edge trend going on.


so I like it......but if it was 120 bucks I expect traction would take off harder. maybe even 135 range...at the 179 plus it's just too high for what's out there.
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Excellent write-up!
 
Makael said:
The Titanium version with Damasteel is nice. Unfortunately detent is extremely weak. Is not a good flipper. I’ve thought about bending the frame lock to bite harder but haven’t touched it. At Buck these were 250.00. Makes the 155.00 price tag a bit high. Maybe 125.00 would of been better but then there’s the S45 steel bringing the price up. Maybe if S30V was used the slightly lower price would of made sense.

Washers instead of bearings for me. I hope detent is good: I think there’s some video reviews out. View attachment 1612590
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If you planning to sell that one please let me know 🙏🏻
 
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