Buck Knives 346 Vantage Select Folding Pocket Knife, 3-1/4" 420HC Stainless Steel Drop Point Blade, Rosewood Handle

Just opened this up minutes ago, so these are all first impressions. Will update if my opinion changes.Overall I chose the 5 stars because it’s visually appealing, has a great pocket clip design that really hides the knife, is made in the beautiful U.S., has a great warranty, and is made of the famous Buck 420HC that should handle all my light duty needs just fine. Also an easily sharpened steel.The dymondwood is visually pretty awesome. Much better looking than the majority of my knives that are a little too “tacticool” for my liking. Blade is hair shaving sharp right out of the box. Price point is very good too. I’m sure the pro model is great with the upgraded steel, but 420HC is plenty for my needs from this knife.The bad: flipper tab is too small. Nice that it doesn’t catch your knuckles when reaching into your pocket, but doesn’t have enough material to really grab it with your finger. Could have really improved this with a touch of jimping as well. Which brings me to my next point. Super tight right out of the box. Can’t flip it without using your wrist, and blade is also slightly off center. Going to make some adjustments and clean it up to see if I can fix that. If the blade flipped a little easier/smoother, the small flipper might not be so bad. I also might touch it up with a dremel to give a little bite to the flipper.All the reviews I’ve read said Buck had made some serious quality control progress on the newest production, which is why I waited so long to purchase this knife. I had actually forgotten about this model because of the negativity surrounding it, but it came up on a forum and sparked my interest again.Not as bad as some I’ve seen/read about, but I now understand exactly what everyone was saying.Overall it’s a great looking knife and is cheap. I think I’ll keep it and see what I can do to “modify” it a bit. The Force model does have the jimping on the flipper, but I don’t like the handle near as much as the avid’s dymondwood. If you really want the best of both worlds you could buy both and combine them to make one outstanding knife. For the price, I might just do that!Update: Been carrying this knife daily for the past week or two. Blade has held up great from cutting open boxes, to cutting airline hoses, and all the other daily chores I use it for.Ended up taking it apart and discovered the new models are riveted together. Still took the blade out to clean up the action and polished the washers slightly with some Mother’s polish and a piece of cardboard. Reassembled with some quality lubricant, and wow! Knife action is much smoother, and by polishing off an ever so slight amount of material from the washers, it is now perfectly centered with a nice smooth action.Decided not to added any jimping on the flipper because once I did the polishing and cleaning, I found it not to be necessary. Still a great looking knife and now smooth as butter!

Arrived sharp & clean. Nice finish and very easy to maintain. Keep your blades clean, keep them sharp! They're not magical elven devices that hone themselves! That said, this one kinda feels like it is sometimes. Bought my first one a long time ago when it was closer to half the price it is now, and it's still just as good. It's well worth the price then and now, but again a knife is only as good its maintenance. Bought my girlfriend this one since she has been lamenting the loss of her old one years ago. I am happy with both purchases.

TL;DR: Classy looking American made knife with a good deep-carry pocket clip. May have minor cosmetic flaws, but should handle just about any task you throw at it.I got this primarily as a "gentleman's knife" for lack of a better term, and I am happy with it.Knife snobs will be quick to point out some of it's shortcomings in terms of precise craftsmanship, and I'm not saying there aren't any, but most of these aren't noticeable unless you're specifically looking for them, and I doubt anyone around you will notice anything without holding it. The most noticeable of these is that the blade is not spaced evenly between the two sides when the knife is closed, but I don't see how that has any impact on its functionality. I ordered two of these, and, on one, the wood on either side of the handle was a slightly different color, so be on the lookout for that if that is something that would bother you. There was also a decent amount of residue that came on it out of the box, but, aside from these very minor issues, I can't think of anything else to complain about.The first thing that drew me in was the look. It does seem a bit overpriced if you intend to use it primarily as a tool, but I also haven't seen a better looking wood-handled knife for cheaper, so it was worth it for me. Even though this design is not decades old like some others, it definitely has a more classic look to it that I really appreciate. It has a good deep-carry pocket clip as well, although it is fairly thick, so it won't be quite as hidden as something smaller might be. I only plan on using it for light to moderate tasks ideally, but I have seen videos where it has taken quite a beating and held up, so I would not be worried about performance.There are other wood-handled knives around this price range that would definitely give this knife a run for its money in terms of performance and value of materials, and may be better in terms of precision craftsmanship, but I have yet to see one that is better looking under $100. It's also highly unlikely that any of these will not be made in China, much less made in America, so I'm certainly willing to pay a few dollars extra for that if it comes down to it.