well, so much for my Strider

C

Carl64

Joined
Apr 3, 2005
Messages
1,830
I bought a mini Strider-Buck. Out of the box the blade wiggled a little too much when opened for my taste and made a scraping sound. I originally assumed this was the liner scraping against the loose blade, but I later found out it is probably something else.

I tried tightening the pivot screw only to find that any tighter than it was makes the blade very difficult to open. Making it loose enough to open the blade also made the pivot screw feel like it wouldn't hold in long term.

So next I was going to try adding some lock-tite to keep the screw in place. Might as well fix one problem and see what happens. After removing the pivot screw on one side to add lock-tite, I always take a look inside with a flashlight to see exactly how much room I have to drop the fluid so I can make sure I only get it in the screw area, not leaking into the blade pivot.

Well, guess what? I noticed there was a space between the pivot tube and the outer G10 slabs. In fact, the tube was only just barely touching the liner. The pivot tube, which has a screw coming in from both sides of the handle, is too short to go through both liners at once. No wonder the blade was wiggling! That also explains the scraping sound. It was probably the pivot tube scraping against the liner it should have been embedded in.

This knife has the thickest blade I have ever seen on a folder and a combination of titanium and G10 handles that could probably hold up an elephant. It is absolutely ridiculous that the pivot should be such a careless fitting of parts. What good are quality materials if they are not put together right? I could be optimistic and assume it was a single defectively short pivot tube, but there ought to be some way of making a knife and being sure all of the parts are the right size when it is put together.
 
What a pity! I have the Strider/Tarani (Police knife) with G10 scales and it is absolutely perfect. Blade is centered when closed. Very stiff and solid lock. Well finished, solid construction, comfortable in hand. My edc.
 
but if you send it back to Buck without messing with it to much yourself I know with certinty that they will gladly fix it for you. The only knife I ever had to send in for repair, an old 312 that I got off eBay with a broken tip, came back to me looking for all the world like a brand new knife with one of the best edges I have. No charge.
 
Carl64 said:
I bought a mini Strider-Buck. Out of the box the blade wiggled a little too much when opened for my taste and made a scraping sound. I originally assumed this was the liner scraping against the loose blade, but I later found out it is probably something else.

I tried tightening the pivot screw only to find that any tighter than it was makes the blade very difficult to open. Making it loose enough to open the blade also made the pivot screw feel like it wouldn't hold in long term.

So next I was going to try adding some lock-tite to keep the screw in place. Might as well fix one problem and see what happens. After removing the pivot screw on one side to add lock-tite, I always take a look inside with a flashlight to see exactly how much room I have to drop the fluid so I can make sure I only get it in the screw area, not leaking into the blade pivot.

Well, guess what? I noticed there was a space between the pivot tube and the outer G10 slabs. In fact, the tube was only just barely touching the liner. The pivot tube, which has a screw coming in from both sides of the handle, is too short to go through both liners at once. No wonder the blade was wiggling! That also explains the scraping sound. It was probably the pivot tube scraping against the liner it should have been embedded in.

This knife has the thickest blade I have ever seen on a folder and a combination of titanium and G10 handles that could probably hold up an elephant. It is absolutely ridiculous that the pivot should be such a careless fitting of parts. What good are quality materials if they are not put together right? I could be optimistic and assume it was a single defectively short pivot tube, but there ought to be some way of making a knife and being sure all of the parts are the right size when it is put together.
Click to expand...

It is too bad when you get something new & you have problems with it. It's pretty common today, no matter what you buy. How you get treated at that point is what seperates Buck from alot of companies. Give Buck a chance to make it right. They're very good with their warranty & keeping their customer's happy. I'd bet you'll be very pleased with the final outcome to this.
Read the thread entitled, "Complaint about Buck 110 repair to Joe Houser" You'll find that's the typical response people have when their knives come back from warranty work. Although it is disappointing to get a NIB knife with problems, Buck will make it right.
 
howdy, i like the others can only encurage you to send it to buck!!! in that they moved from one plant to another and it was not a seamless move, it is not a suprise to me that there may have been a few that missed getting cought... please send it in and i am sure you will be pleaseed with what you get back!!!!
yours, dave-usn ret.
 
For those with working Buck-Striders, let me ask you this...

How many washers does your knife have? Mine has three, one on one side of the blade and two on the other side. Is this normal?

By the way, mine is the square-handle strider, not one of the police models.
 
Your washer set up is old. 3-4 yrs

The newer versions have 1 washer on each side.

Send it in and we will square it away.

-Josh
 
J Rummerfield said:
Your washer set up is old. 3-4 yrs

The newer versions have 1 washer on each side.

Send it in and we will square it away.

-Josh
Click to expand...

Wow. I definitely need to try a new one.

Here's my next problem. Not Buck's problem, but I might as well whine about it anyway.

I was going to send the knife to Buck today for repair. I am certain Buck will repair any knife I send in, but other manufacturers (Benchmade and Emerson) have failed to identify or fix problems on knives I sent in. Obviously I don't want to end up stuck with a bad knife. With that experience, I called the dealer first to make sure it would be OK to give the manufacturer (Buck) a chance to fix the knife first instead of returning it, but get an extension on the dealer's refund period in case I am still not satisfied with the repaired/replacement knife.

Well, gpknives.com refused to give me an OK on this and only re-stated that 15 days is their policy, so I guess they would rather give me a refund than let Buck fix its own knife. So back it goes. No Strider for me until I find one at a show to verify its quality or find another dealer.
 
Josh, I have a BS 881SP with same problem, three washers. Is it possible to send an S.A.S.E for replacement washers instead of sending knife?

Stan
 
You need to send the knife in, they turn it around quick. There were some other changes that they may need to make on your knife.

If it isn't causing you any problems than just keep using.

The knife will be tight when pivots are properly tightened. It just takes some time to break in.

I prefer the new washers though, so I vote you send it in.

-Josh
 
I just snagged a Gen I, I already have a Gen II, I like it so much that I got another. What is the turn around time on this warranty work? TIA.

Also I swiped the single thumb stud from the Gen I since I don't care for the double stud, can I get another single for a fee? Thanks.

Mitch
 
J Rummerfield said:
The knife will be tight when pivots are properly tightened. It just takes some time to break in.-Josh
Click to expand...

Mine wasn't break-in fixable. I checked with a strip of paper and the liners were about .5mm further apart at the front end of the knife than at the back. When opened, you can see space between the blade and the washers on the blade side but it connects at the back.

I thought it was kind of silly that the seller wouldn't give me extra time to let Buck fix a brand new knife before deciding if I wanted to keep it, so I just returned it (this being only the second mail-order knife I have returned for a refund out of over 100, the first was an Emerson). I will order another one from someone with a newer unit so I can hold a proper one in my hand within an exchange period.
 
First of all, greetings. This is my first post.
Second, I have The larger model SB Tac-Tanto, as well as SBT and Solution.
I have had absolutley no problems with any of them. In fact, I usually cary either the Tac-Tanto or SBT and have used both heavily at work on boxes and wire and what-not. I snap them open, as well.
A friend of mine has the smaller Tac-Tanto and it seems quite sturdy as well.
I'm sorry to hear about the probs with yours. I'm sure Buck will "heal all."
I was so impressed with the quality of the 3 SBs I have, that I'm planning on picking up a few more.
 
Rod_Leask said:
First of all, greetings. This is my first post.
Click to expand...

Welcome to The Buck forum Rod!! You may want to consider joining the Buck Collector Club.

I need to grab up some of the Striders. Don't have any.

I will add my two centavos worth about Buck and warranty. Been there done that with great results. In one or two cases, a new knife was returned instead of reparing a damaged one.
 
Buck does service their customers and warranties quite well.
I worked for Canadian Tire for a time, and our warranty for Bucks' was only one year. After that, it was Buck direct.
I had a customer bring in a Buck folder that he had obviously broken doing something stupid. Since he didn't have a receipt, we couldn't help him. Apparently he went to a local sports shop and tried to return it there... they took the knife and gave him a new one on the spot. They said Buck would take care of the rest. Although I knew the fellow busted the knife through gross mis-use, I still wasn't impressed that a huge retail chain couldn't help him out. It's nice to know that somewhere out there, Buck is ready to stand up and do the job.
I own quite a few Bucks, in addition to the SBs... Buck is, by far, my personal favorite... with Cold Steel running a close second. Gerber used to be better... but since Fiskars aquired them, the quality is lacking.
 
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