Questions about the Buck Vantage Pro (Black G10, S30V version):

D

Dr Heelhook

Joined
Jul 24, 2007
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3,285
I really want to get a Buck Vantage Pro Large in G10 and S30V for my father in law, it's a beautiful knife. I've heard about the quality control issues though and I just wondered how it's going with that. I've looked around here and most of the complaints seem to have been made in around 2009, which was four years ago (man, time flies). Have Buck attended to these issues since then and fixed them on the newer knives?

The main issues seem to have been:

1.) Blade centering. I've heard about blades being so off center that they scrape against the liners. I don't really need for the blade to be dead centered, but I don't want to buy a knife where the blade is in contact with the liner.

2.) On some knives, the edge seems to actually have struck against the backspacer while closing. This to me seems almost like a design flaw rather than just lack of QC and also something I don't want to experience when I buy the knife.
This video shows what I mean:
[video=youtube;9A8iAVIOErE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A8iAVIOErE[/video]

Have Buck taken measures to remedy these problems? I'm not trying to kick any dead horses here, but this really is a great model and I thought it would be worth it to bring it up again.

Thanks
/Oskar
 
Dr HeelHook
People can pick apart the Vantage all they want, but the answer to all the critics is Price Point and materials. For a knife that cost under $75 dollars, you shouldn't expect S30V or any other upgraded steel. The Vantage has that. You shouldn't expect G10 handle scale. The Vantage has those as well. Blade centering isn't a problem that can't be fixed with a small adjustment. Unlike the video you have posted, you don't have to disassemble the whole knife to fix the issue. Regardless, if you want perfection, the Vantage may not be the knife for you, Try a Chris Reeves Sebenza, there about $500 but you should expect a perfect knife. No knife that is mass produced and in the under $75 price point will have the quality and up graded materials of the Vantage...
 
As far as the blade hitting the spacer, its not a design flaw, otherwise all of them would have it. I have over 20 Vantages and none of them have a blade that hits the spacer...

Spend some time looking at what it is, rather than what it is not.
 
^^ excellent points, and I agree whole heartedly! The Vantage Pros are a great value for the money, and an all around fantastic knife!

I'd like to add that I've got approximately 8 Vantages and only one had centering issues that I would consider bothersome. Although it was fixed easily enough. Also, check in your area and see if there are any brick and mortar stores that carry the Vantages. That way you can in inspect the knife prior to purchasing it. If that's not a possibility, contact the online seller and ask them to open the knife and inspect it for you prior to shipping it to you.

Good luck, and I'm sure the Vantage will be a much appreciated gift!
 
mbjannusch said:
As far as the blade hitting the spacer, its not a design flaw, otherwise all of them would have it. I have over 20 Vantages and none of them have a blade that hits the spacer...
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That sounds comforting, thanks.

mbjannusch said:
Blade centering isn't a problem that can't be fixed with a small adjustment. Unlike the video you have posted, you don't have to disassemble the whole knife to fix the issue.
Click to expand...
Great.

fatheadhill said:
If that's not a possibility, contact the online seller and ask them to open the knife and inspect it for you prior to shipping it to you.

Good luck, and I'm sure the Vantage will be a much appreciated gift!
Click to expand...
Yes, that's what I'm planning to do, thanks.

Like I said I don't require any perfection here. As long as the blade doesn't scrape against the liners, the edge doesn't touch the back spacer and the lockup is tight, it's quite ok.
 
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The Vantage Pro is a sweet blade, but perhaps it would be best if you could handle it and pick it out before doing your purchase. That is what I did with mine and I had to choose it out because most had evident issues of all kind. Not just centering, but the scales not been cut out even with the liners, the locking bar going 100% out of the box etc. I also have a paperstone select and an Avid force and they both have issues, not that it really affects the usability of the knife albeit.

It is quite the outlandish claim that you shouldn't expect good fit and finish on a production knife, I own dozens of Bucks and it kinda seems to be a hit or miss with them. I think that with your hard earned money and at 75$, you are entitled to decent good QC. You may consider other competitive options too, kershaw offers many interesting alternatives at that price point, even some Damascus blades. If your willing to go 10$ over, Spyderco offers the Manix2 with S30V, G10 and the hard use proof ball bearing lock. That one just there blows away the competition by a big margin for 85$.

You may want to consider the size of father in law's hands. Because even the ''large'' Vantage is still a small knife. I have medium hands and I fit my four fingers around the handle with nothing to spare. All depends of the end use he would make of it. You may just want to consider all options for the amount your willing to pay, they are many.
 
The simplicity of the Vantage design is a double edged sword. The knife is easy to maintain and adjust, which also makes it also easy to assemble with the problems discussed in the past. I have 2 Vantages, the least expensive select models, a large and a small. Both were very good. The worst problem I had was a rattling center spacer, which was easy to tighten with a T6 driver. Regarding spacer clearance, my Large Vantage has TONS of clearance with the rear spacer, and shows no sign of touching the center spacer.

With production knives, I don't expect perfection. I've read accounts of over $100 knives having same issues as Buck Vantages.

Here is what I did to my Vantages: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLKjOhgZ8Vw They have centered blades, are easy to flip open, and have good lock-up.
 
IMO built well but flipper has got to be the worst attempt at a flipper i ve come across!
 
I don't like giant finger guards or choils, so I am very happy with the Vantage flipper. It is adequate for the deploying the blade, and unobtrusive.
 
It's true that the Vantage doesn't flip quite as easily as some other flippers do. I keep my Vantage pivot and detente track lubed, and I've had lots of practice with my knife, so I can flip my Vantage open easily without a wrist flick. Because I can flip my Vantage easily, I forget that the same isn't necessarily true for everyone until I let someone else try flipping my knife open and the blade only goes out far enough for the flipper to recede into the handle (maybe about a quarter of the way open). I will acknowledge that both of the opening methods on the Vantage can be criticized- for some people the opening slot is not necessarily easy to access nor is it as comfortable as an opening hole, and for the flipper to truly shine it should be a little bigger. Personally, I like my Vantage just the way it is, but that's probably because I don't have problems with either opening method.
 
Just like everyone said. Practice and break in your knife and the flipper will be more than adequate. I love mine and carry it every day in the city. But I don't have folders that cost more than $100. And I don't have any other flippers. If you can check out the knife before you buy it all the better, you know what to look for. I have handled these knives in a store that have all the mentioned problems. But they can be fixed and you can find them with out any problems. I just love the blade and total knife shape, more than the other options mentioned. But that's personal preference. Get a good one and you will be more than happy. It will be a great gift.
 
We just started carrying Buck in our brick and mortar store. I saw all the flap about the Vantage, so I pulled one out of the box and put it in my pocket.

I love it. The scales are even, the lockup sound, no rattles, blade reasonably centered, no clearance issues.

And for $75 S30v--it is a steal of a knife.
 
I've purchased a Select, an Avid, and a Pro all within the last three months or so. The Select, and the Avid both required very minor tweaking, but nothing that I would consider to be a quality control issue.

The Pro on the other hand, was perfect...no tweaking required. I like all three of them, but the Pro is by far my favorite. It's nice enough to be a pleasure to use and carry, but not SO nice that that I have to worry about damaging it, or losing it.

Also, if you haven't already done so, I would recommend watching the excellent video that dogstar made. It provides a very good overview of some of the common issues that people have with these knives, and how to fix them. It might ease your worries some to see how easily remedied most of these issues are.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with my Vantage Pro. Good luck with whatever you decide!
 
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