The Walmart Bucks The Same As Others?

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Vivi

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http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=497894

I was curious if anyone had some input to give regarding this. I have not personally noticed anything of the sort, but I've never purchased fixed blades from Walmart. I've purchased three Buck's from them, a stockman, trapper and 110. The stockman has treated me well, the 110 was given to a friend as a gift with no complaints from him and the trapper was returned because the clip blade had real gritty action that made it tough to get the knife open. Those are my experiences with Walmart Bucks FWIW.
 
They are the same unless he is comparing the Wal Mart 119 vs. the 119BR (wood handle/brass guard) from Bass Pro.

There was some discussion here a few months ago about the blood groove on the newer 119's and how it appeared somewhat rougher than older 119's.
 
Vivi said:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=497894

I was curious if anyone had some input to give regarding this. I have not personally noticed anything of the sort, but I've never purchased fixed blades from Walmart. I've purchased three Buck's from them, a stockman, trapper and 110. The stockman has treated me well, the 110 was given to a friend as a gift with no complaints from him and the trapper was returned because the clip blade had real gritty action that made it tough to get the knife open. Those are my experiences with Walmart Bucks FWIW.
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Good question.... WalMart is kind of sneaky. They were selling Beretta 390 shotguns at a great price. Turns out they were a "WalMart-only" version that is slightly different (lacks magazine cut-off lever) than the regular model. They didn't mention that you were buying a gun without all the standard features of that model, though; it just looked like a screamin' deal on a 390. (Actually, it still was a great deal, but who knows what else might be different about it, quality-wise?)

Anyway, this made me wonder about the other name-brand products they sell.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
Well, all we need to do is ask Joe if Wal-Mart buys anything that is made differently than what is sold to everybody else.

Joe?
 
Wal-Mart has security/confidentiality agreements with their suppliers which prevent them from discussing such things. I doubt very seriously if Joe can tell you much, if anything at all about the knives supplied to Wal-Mart..

Codger
 
In my old feeble mind, I couldn't imagine Buck setting up tooling to make "special" knives for Wal-Mart.

Why would they!

And why would they make a Buck knife of lesser quality just for walmart than other retailers, knowing that they offer the same kind of forever warranty on them.

I will say that Buck sells the same knives to all of it's retailers and that if some issue with one that came from wal-mart, could have just as easily been purchased anywhere else.

As far as gritty. That has been discussed here before and a shot of WD-40 and working the blade some and then a little more WD and blowing it out with an air compressor or a good soapy washing, usually cleans that issue right up.

Not a lot of difference in what I would do after dropping a 110 in a mud hole, or after gutting a deer and dropping it in the dirt. If one uses a 110 like I do, some cleaning chores are required.

and another fwiw, WD-40 also takes tar paper and shingle droppings off of the 110 blade. I know,,,wrong tool for the job, but when you are in the field, putting a new roof on the deer stand, I just couldn't come up with a shingle cutter.:o
 
I have bought several Bucks at Wal-Mart, never noticed any real difference, other than the sheaths you get at Wal-Mart tend to be cheaper Nylon on 100 series fixed blades and 110 folders, but at other stores I see more real leather.

Usually tend to cost about 10.00-15.00 over WM also.
 
All the knives sold to Wal Mart are stock knives that are the same as knives purchased elsewhere, some might have different sheaths but knives are the same.
 
Walmart is pretty commonly known to have cheaper versions of things sold elsewhere (I'd love a new plinking rifle, but I'll never buy the WM version!), but I doubt Buck would compromise quality. Maybe a different sheath to shave a few bucks, but nothing more.
 
You all need to come take a tour, and you will see that there are dedicated cells for all of our different knives. For example: the 102, 103, 105, 119, 120, and all the vanguards are built in a dedicated fixed blade cell. There are no low end and high end cells building different quality knives. So to make a long story short The walmart knives are the same as all the other retailers.
 
Pack Rat said:
In my old feeble mind, I couldn't imagine Buck setting up tooling to make "special" knives for Wal-Mart...
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No, not special tooling...a special bucket...right at the end of the assembly line, a big bucket that all the rejects are thrown in...and then shipped to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Gander Mountain... :eek:

I posted a pic of the assembly line once...I wonder where it went???... :confused:

I understand that every year, just before the annual BCCI meeting, Joe sweeps all the clutter off his desk into a big wicker basket and sends it off to John & Larry for the Club Raffle... ;)
 
chickentrax said:
No, not special tooling...a special bucket...right at the end of the assembly line, a big bucket that all the rejects are thrown in...and then shipped to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Gander Mountain... :eek:
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I guess this would be one of those see it to believe it kind of things. and I am not even from Missouri....:rolleyes:
 
I have also had similar suspisions about Wally Worlds products. In actuality I think Walmart cuts some kind of backroom deal with companies locking in prices that eventually put companies out of buisness. I don't know why companies like Buck and Spyderco get in bed with big buisnesses like Walmart. I bet if you look back you could find a connection between the the decline of Gerber's quality to their contract with Walmart. I have an early 90's model of a Gerber multi with nonlocking tools going on 13 yrs and it is still in great shape. Laying it next to more recent acquirings the quality difference is visible.
 
cb4life_30 said:
I have also had similar suspisions about Wally Worlds products. In actuality I think Walmart cuts some kind of backroom deal with companies locking in prices that eventually put companies out of buisness.
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Yup... WalMart is evil in all sorts of ways. On the other hand, lots of people depend on WalMart's low prices to help make ends meet.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
My humble opinion is that they used to have better quality knives, as well as a better selection.
They used to have some really decent knives, IMO. I hope they will again.
 
I have not found them different except for the sheaths. Even their christmas specials are the same (by my eye)
 
All the large discount stores play a few tricks, one is to have a very slight difference between two of the same item and then give it a different number ( there are vacumn cleaners with a red handle on model 702 and a white handle 0n model 702) this is used to stop the customer from making a direct price comparison. I do think that most manufactuers tend to change their quailty when dealing with large chain stores, but they low the standards for that entire model not by producing different quailty runs.....
 
at one time i was going to every wally to find a certen stamped knife.
i even went to granger mountan and some trditional sport and hardware stores..
i checked through hundrides of 110's and ALL seemed exalty the same...
some had some small amount of grit feeling, other wise all walked and talked!!!
the wallys mostly had the Nylon with the 110 but other wise nothing else diffrent at all,
in fact in some of the trditional stores they seemed to have been handled more-
like some one cherry picked through them already!!!!
no i never did find that odd marking with the T on the back ... still looking though ..
 
heng em said:
You all need to come take a tour, and you will see that there are dedicated cells for all of our different knives. For example: the 102, 103, 105, 119, 120, and all the vanguards are built in a dedicated fixed blade cell. There are no low end and high end cells building different quality knives. So to make a long story short The walmart knives are the same as all the other retailers.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry I missed your post earlier Hengem, Good enough for me!!! Nuff said!
 
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