FINALLY found a Buck Navigator

[THE_LONGBOW]

I have been on the hunt for a Buck Navigator for at least four years. This week I was looking on Ebay a found one for $40 BIN. Of course I had to look twice to believe it.
For those who do not know the 735 Navigator was a Proto Type multitool that was a collaboration between Buck Knives and Peter Whitaker. It was listed in the Buck 2002 catalog but never went into production. The tool would have been produced in China.  There were a few tools that were given to sales representatives but the tool never went on to the market. Rumor has it that some of the tools made it out of China via auction sites. I have also heard rumors that these tools were counterfeited, I question this as it does not seem as a real good design hence no money to be made.
I am looking for any additional information any one may be able to contribute to this . I have talked to a couple of people at Buck Knives but have not gained much info on these.








In this last photo you can see the plier head pokes threw the back spine of the tool when trying to close (fold) the tool. This is a design flaw and I would image this was a big negative for the tool.



P.S. 90% Buck Knives are produced in the USA today. Very few models are produce over seas.

[powerring]

Wow!  I've never even heard of these.  I liked a lot of the other tools produced out of the Buck/Peter Whitaker collaboration including the X-Tract series and the Metro LED (which is no longer produced).

Most of the tools were designed with ease of opening as a hallmark so everything was OHO. 

[MultiMat]

What a GREAT find TLB 
The price was a HUGE steal for a prototype too  , congrats mate yet another super rare Buck you have landed 

[Gryffin]

Who's jealous?

<-- THIS guy.   

[AHB]

Wow, that's a rare bird alright..  Good catch.. 

Here's the Wiki page:
http://wiki.multitool.org/tiki-index.php?page=Navigator+753

And a Navigator thread started by J-sews:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,1921.0.html

And another:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,535.msg21250.html#msg21250

[Ombudsman]

Amazing Find !! 

I think the Buck Navigator is one of the most influential tools ever designed

[THE_LONGBOW]

Wow!  I've never even heard of these.  I liked a lot of the other tools produced out of the Buck/Peter Whitaker collaboration including the X-Tract series and the Metro LED (which is no longer produced).

Most of the tools were designed with ease of opening as a hallmark so everything was OHO.

I have a couple of Buck/Whittaker collaborations (Metro/Revolution) how ever most are just for collection purposes. I do have a camo X-Tract in my camp gear.  I did give my son a  Metro LED I think he still has it on his desk.

[THE_LONGBOW]

What a GREAT find TLB 
The price was a HUGE steal for a prototype too  , congrats mate yet another super rare Buck you have landed 

Thanks I waited till it got here to post it because I thought it was to good to be true!!!

[THE_LONGBOW]

Gryffn It took a lot of hours to find this. It is nice when a quest pays off.

AHB Thanks for the links. I did get some good info from the links.

[THE_LONGBOW]

Amazing Find !! 

I think the Buck Navigator is one of the most influential tools ever designed

Ombudsman  Could you explain why you think this was so influential? Just curios. Thanks

[Ombudsman]

Amazing Find !! 

I think the Buck Navigator is one of the most influential tools ever designed

Ombudsman  Could you explain why you think this was so influential? Just curios. Thanks

Sure ! IMO the asymmetric design of its handles makes the Buck navigator the direct precursor of multis like the Skeletool and its kin and also the Gerber Crucial and its Leatherman clones. 

[THE_LONGBOW]

Amazing Find !! 

I think the Buck Navigator is one of the most influential tools ever designed

Ombudsman  Could you explain why you think this was so influential? Just curios. Thanks

Sure ! IMO the asymmetric design of its handles makes the Buck navigator the direct precursor of multis like the Skeletool and its kin and also the Gerber Crucial and its Leatherman clones.

WOW
I guess I have not looked at the Navigator that way. But you make a valid point, it was the first tool designed like this. I am no expert on time lines but this makes sense to me. I now have a new respect for the design of the Navigator.
I would really like to find out why the Navigator never made it into production. I am going to try asking at the Buck Factory again to see if I can get some one to talk.
Thanks Again

[Gryffin]

Amazing Find !! 

I think the Buck Navigator is one of the most influential tools ever designed

Ombudsman  Could you explain why you think this was so influential? Just curios. Thanks

Sure ! IMO the asymmetric design of its handles makes the Buck navigator the direct precursor of multis like the Skeletool and its kin and also the Gerber Crucial and its Leatherman clones.

WOW
I guess I have not looked at the Navigator that way. But you make a valid point, it was the first tool designed like this. I am no expert on time lines but this makes sense to me. I now have a new respect for the design of the Navigator.

I believe it predates the Wave, so it was also ahead of it's time with the use of all outside opening implements, including the one-hand-opening knife.

[Sazabi]

Amazing Find !! 

I think the Buck Navigator is one of the most influential tools ever designed

Ombudsman  Could you explain why you think this was so influential? Just curios. Thanks

Sure ! IMO the asymmetric design of its handles makes the Buck navigator the direct precursor of multis like the Skeletool and its kin and also the Gerber Crucial and its Leatherman clones.

WOW
I guess I have not looked at the Navigator that way. But you make a valid point, it was the first tool designed like this. I am no expert on time lines but this makes sense to me. I now have a new respect for the design of the Navigator.

I believe it predates the Wave, so it was also ahead of it's time with the use of all outside opening implements, including the one-hand-opening knife.

Does it also predate the Kershaw A-100, though?  While the Wave gets credit for OH opening blades, the Kershaw tool actually predated that concept by a year. ^^;

[Gryffin]

Does it also predate the Kershaw A-100, though?  While the Wave gets credit for OH opening blades, the Kershaw tool actually predated that concept by a year. ^^;

Huh, didn't know that. I never even heard of the Kershaw tool until long after I got my original Wave.

See that, ya learn something new every day. And if you're not careful, you might even learn two things! 

[J-sews]

Congrats on finally scoring a Navigator longbow! I know you have been wanting one for a long time. Did the seller you got it from have any stories to tell regarding where he got it from?

BTW, in comparing mine to the one in your photos I cannot detect any differences.

[THE_LONGBOW]

J-sews
He just sold it for a person that brought it into his store and was not aware of the history other than it was an ex Buck employee. He is a professional Ebay seller.
He did tell me had a hard time setting the price as there were no other examples of them on Ebay. I am glad he did not see the other Navigator on Ebay about a month ago listed for $500.00 BIN. 

[J-sews]

J-sews
He just sold it for a person that brought it into his store and was not aware of the history other than it was an ex Buck employee. He is a professional Ebay seller.
He did tell me had a hard time setting the price as there were no other examples of them on Ebay. I am glad he did not see the other Navigator on Ebay about a month ago listed for $500.00 BIN. 

Hehe, good point!


So, what do you think of yours so far? Clearly they had a LONG way to go before these would have been retail-ready but still, the problems all seem to be readily solvable.

[THE_LONGBOW]

Well lets see a first impression. Bulky for what tool you get.
Weighing in at 5.4 ounces the Navigator seems like a good idea that needed refining. The tool has a good idea with the carabiner how ever you loose a lot of tools because of it.
The tools it does contain seem to be decent quality. I will not use this tool to do any hard testing as I do not want to destroy it. 
The knife blade is partially serrated and sharp. It does have a thumb stud but I can not open the blade with it because it is too small and tight. Maybe after use it may loosen up to where I could open the blade with one hand. When the blade is open it is held open by a liner lock (I like the locking blade). It requires both hands to release the liner lock, one to hold the tool one to press the lock.
The file is opened by a nail nick on the end of the file accessed by a notch in the handle. Fairly easy , and it locks into place like a slip joint knife.
The can opener looks like it would work ok, sorry do not want to try it out. How ever it is hard to open using a thumb nail. I have to press a sharp edge on the opener to get it to a locked open position. And just as hard to close.
Medium standard slotted screw driver same opening and locking issues. The tool lacks a Phillips screw driver.
Pliers are laminated steel and look like the would hold up well .
The shape of the handles would give good grip and leverage. And they snap closed to hold the tool closed.
As I discussed earlier in the thread the jaws of the pliers poke threw the back of the handle when closing the tool. It would need a better stop on the pliers, as the pliers close just above the can opener and screw driver, or a partially enclosed back to stop the pliers from poking trough.
The carabiner is a neat idea but the functionality is not practical as the tools is to heavy for a key chain and tool small of a opening to clip a belt. 
When this tool was designed by Peter Whitaker/Buck I think it was maybe aimed at the outdoors person. For a mountain climber it has the carabiner to clip it on. The serrated knife for cutting line. A small can opener for food. Pliers, file and slotted screw driver for repairing equipment. Other than the weight it would be a decent tool.
Alll together it is a neat tool especially for its time, and I think with a couple of refinements it could have worked.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Lucky bugger- I've been wanting one of those for a while!

Def