Vanguard® Knife

Very high quality product. Came ready to use, although every knife I buy from Buck, looks absolutely beautiful and perfect-almost don't want to use it. Feel and balance is very comfortable, I DO recommend this knife.

I recently perched this knife this fall and I got a deer with my dad a small buck that was probably 180 pounds. I was able to gut and skinned it all with the vanguard witch is what I really like about it I was able to do all of that with one knife it was really easy to clean off all of the garbage off an looked like it was brand new. I also like the sheath I was able to attach a pice of 550 cord for a neck knife and raped a flint and steel to the sheath. Awesome knife wouldn't trade it for anything great job guys keep up the good work.

I would recommend this knife to anyone. Love the feel and looks. Works awesome for dressing out a big whitetail.

Have a VANGUARD that I have owned for about 20 years. I have carried it daily as a backup to my firearm, great knife. My only wishes are that it had a 7 inch blade. Used a BUCK FRONTIERSMAN in Vietnam, it never failed me. BUCK 110 the original tactical folder,5 have been carrying forever and went through about half a dozen in my 23 years in the ARMY. BEST KNIVES.

Buck really knocked it out of the park with this one. The handle is perfect shape and size as is the blade. Buck builds a fantastic knife. I DO NOT need another hunting knife because I have plenty, but I know I'm not going to be able to resist purchasing one of these! David

This is an awesome knife and I love the dymondwood handle. It fits and feels fantastic in your hand. The blade length and shape is also absolutely perfect for just about anything that you would want to do with this knife. It is outstanding. Keep making high quality products here in the USA.

I have had my Vanguard since 1994. It is the rubber handle model with nylon sheath and goes with my me on every hunting trip! Minus a small chip I put in the blade on a trip to Montana many years ago, it is as perfect as the day that I got it. It holds an edge well and when it does start to dull, it doesn't take much to bring it back.

I have this knife with the black rubber handle option. The knife feels great in my hands - like it belongs there. It suits my needs perfectly as a light-weight, all-around, general-duty field knife. In fact it excels in that capacity. I use mine for everything from fish & game, to general camp & outdoor duties, and even some whittling. I have it accompanied by a folding saw and a small forest axe, so I didn't want some unwieldy, giant survival blade. I wanted something compact and nimble, but still stout enough to get the job done and remain reliable. Buck really nailed that with this knife. It came shaving-sharp out of the box, and has very good edge retention. This is a great blade for the price, and I would definitely recommend it to others. When it came time to buy a new knife, Buck was one of the first companies I looked at, because having owned a few other Bucks, I knew I could count on quality. I am definitely not disappointed.

Beautiful looking piece. Well balanced and sharp. Sheath is not as well made as knife. Buck stated that "lifetime warranty" does not apply to sheath.

I bought this knife in 1992 and it has a lot of miles on it and still in perfect shape all the way down to the sheath

This knife was given to me 15 years ago and generally I love it. My only knock is that it has a rat tail tang, which broke for me once. Buck was very nice and replaced the knife, but its not something I would not want happening to me if I was deep in the back country. I would probably not recommend this knife for someone planning on using it heavily.

My wife got me this knife for Christmas. I will say it looks great and performs great. I dressed four hogs before I had to sharpen it. It is my go to in the field. Great job buck.

I've been looking to buy a buck knife all my life. I've had the original folding lock blade but I love the vanguard and bought it. Love it. I can't find the one I purchased on this site but it is a buck knife vanguard with a blue blade and wooden handle. and it's almost perfect. If you've seen one then you know how beautiful it is. But, and I say but, all the buttons or clasps and hilt of the knife is all in gold. But the button on the sheath is silver. Major disappointment that this knife comes with the same sheath as the standard steel blade. If it's gone then can i have a sheath with a gold button. even the button on the back that holds the belt loop together is gold. Weird right?! If this button was gold I'd give it a perfect rating. Butt it's not!

I am self employed and have to take care of five acres along with the house and business structures. It has replaced my "nicer" blade for edc when stainless blade needed otherwise 1095 is my choice. The rubber handle version is the one I have now and it is good when wet or dry, gives a little when squeezed tight, blade came very sharp, but I reprofile by blade to convex edge as I use belts. It is great for cardboard, rope, vinyl (walk in cooler door strip), small saplings and such, cuts into woodsy items nice, I do not use it for heavy duty tasks like chopping, batoning ect.(I use axe, hatchet, large choppers for this)holds edge well for 420hc steel, Buck is the only company I will buy using a non high end grade stainless and have surprised me more than once. The BOS heat treats are without doubt the reason. I have a walnut version coming now for a nicer edc. I love my 1095 and 5160 for all out toughness and value but Bucks steel for my edc stainless needs as I buy 95% American steel.

I've used my knife for the past four seasons, and hands down it is one of the best Buck Knife's I've owned ! From deer to moose. No issues.. The sheath is good, but I'm old school, and a bit more leather would make it perfect. 9 out of 10 for the knife.

Best Hunting Knife in the World, sorry my english bad!!!!

The Vanguard is by far the best big game knife I've ever owned. The blade is stout without being too long, so the knife handles extremely well during heavy cutting tasks. It also holds it's edge extremely well. Field dressed a deer and an elk without having to resharpen the blade.

My wife got me this knife for Christmas 12 years ago. Best knife ever. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

I purchased the vanguard and the model# 119 in 1993 at the same time. I use these knives for hunting elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, waterfowl,pheasant,grouse etc. I also use these knives for fishing year round. Also for hiking, camping and cooking. I have put these knives thru the year round test and they still look brand new. I proud to put them on my belt when I go out on my journeys.

I bought it and have been used for 2 years. I have a version with steel S30V and reduced guard (specially for Russia, stupid laws...). This knife reminds me of my father's knife Morseth "Ozark Hunter" 1970's from AG Russell. Ozark more skinner knife, Buck Vanguard is more versatile. Processing quality and attention to detail on high! Steel holds an edge very well. Possible to cut 2-3 boar and requires only a light correction on a leather belt. But for every plus there is a minus. Concave bevel blade make it weak fracture. Do not give a strong transverse load. Now my wishes. Was, would be the perfect mix blade with bolster solder that there is no gap. Then the blood and fat will not stay there, and the knife is not necessary to boil after the hunt. You can make another version of a knife having a blade bevel convex lens. This will compete with Bark River Knives and move slightly them from the market. I wish you continued success of your company and successful models of knives in the future!

Comfortable well balanced knife. Love the rubber grip. I actually really like the knife. I used it one time field dressing an elk and found it easy use for both dressing and skinning the animal. After I was done dressing the elk I wrapped the knife in towel. Later when cleaning the knife I noticed both hair and flesh stuck where the knife meets the handle. This was very difficult to remove. But what really bothered me was that the about an inch from the handle the edge of blade had little bends in it (almost looks serrated). While dressing the elk I used the knife to open up the rib cage a little to make it easier reach in to the large animals chest cavity. The bone seemed to cut easy. I was surprised this happened. I'm going to send the knife to Buck and see if they will replace it or repair it.

I was fortunate enough to have been given the Cabela's special edition of this knife years ago. The Cabela's version has a nitride coating (like the yellowish drill bits) that reduces friction and makes the blade clean up easily. Blood and guts wash off easily. They have now gone to a black finish for the Cabela's version (probably Melonite) which is good too, but I prefer the silver finish for my hunting knives. The nylon sheath is another story and quickly found its way into the trash because the liner kept separating inside causing the blade to go outside of the liner. Every time this happened, the problem would just get worse. The epoxy repairs just wouldn't cut it (pun intended). Outstanding hunting knife though.

I love this knife, It's not only beautiful, but it's a great hunting knife.

I received this knife as a gift about 10 years ago, and have used it for everything ranging from light wood processing (tinder and kindling production, batoning... really good 90 degree spine for striking a spark off of a ferro rod) skinning and dressing out game and just every day use. Well I was reticent to use such a good looking knife a first, but soon as i did that first feather stick test, I was hooked. It's been my constant companion and my primary E.D.C. Knife ever since. Yes I would recommend this knife to anybody

I bought the Buck Vanguard w/ rubberized handle on a recommendation from a friend. It was sharp enough out of the box to skin and de-bone a 6-point Bull Elk with out having to be resharpened. The next year I did the same on a small / medium sized mule deer. If you want to carry a "one-for-all" hunting knife into the field, you won't find a better one for the money.

My wife gave me the knife for a birthday present. No longer have the wife but still got the knife. I own three buck knives and this is the best.....hands down.......

Buck Knives Matter

Got the knife for free to review but after several years the blade is showing its weak points. Buck has good steel that can take a beaten. This blade has cut thru steel lines and braided steel lines and barely chipped. Unfortunately today the pumal came un screwed but it all went right back on with out a problem.