2018 BF Knife Poll 5.301 - Materials Battle Royale

Which handle material for the 2018 BF Knife?

  • Ironwood

    Votes: 137 38.8%

  • Elk

    Votes: 179 50.7%

  • Burlap Micarta

    Votes: 37 10.5%
  • Total voters
    353
  • Poll closed .
Ok, Buck is now my favorite knife maker. For a big company to give us so much attention is really special.

That dark bumpy elk, cut thin, will make me change my vote to elk. Sorry iron wood, I still love you but I am player.

This is actually happening people! And extra voting! Wheeee

SK- you are very kind and generous for taking on this crazy project for 2018! This may be the greatest knife designed by committee in all of history.
 
skyhorse said:
Absolutely , that would not be reasonable. Honestly to have this knife priced at around $100 with the specs we've suggested is pretty amazing. I'm wondering how the purchase process will work because I have a feeling a 250 piece run will go fast .
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I've been mulling this over and I think I have a solution. I'm going to build a special private page on my website for everyone to order from. This should help me track it the best possible way, as well as get good an accurate numbers. We'll leave the page open for so long, and then shut 'er down. The link will only be available here on the forum.
 
Leslie Tomville said:
It is ridiculous for us to think for a second that Stephen should be expected to refund the purchase price of a knife if the purchaser simply does not like it. He continued on with this exercise after learning that he could not make a profit. Most people would have walked away after that rude awakening. We are running him ragged with requests, and Buck is bending over backwards. The idea that he should suffer a loss if someone is unhappy with the appearance of their handles is really too much! Good Lord, we are only talking about a $100 knife!

ANY knife can disappoint regardless of the material. I have read complaints about Ironwood not having a nice pattern, or being too dark, or a little boring, or having some scratches, or whatever. Burlap Micarta has been criticized for being too dark, or having too much texture, or having too little texture, or having frayed edges, or whatever. Stephen cannot and should not guarantee that everyone will be perfectly happy with their knives. As picky as we are, it is impossible for everyone to be satisfied. Anyone who is that concerned should just pass or be prepared to sell the knife on the exchange. Buck will be responsible under their warranty for defects. Stephen has promised that the Elk will be carefully chosen by select workers. Just be brave and do not take counsel from your fears! If you like Elk, then vote for Elk by golly! We asked for unique didn't we?

At the end of the day, if your Elk, or Ironwood, or Micarta is not perfect, it is not the end of the world.

meako meako , I think I need a break. Can I join you in Porchensburg?
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Agreed! Three cheers for skblades skblades !!!
torches-and-pitchforks.jpg
 
skblades said:
I've been mulling this over and I think I have a solution. I'm going to build a special private page on my website for everyone to order from. This should help me track it the best possible way, as well as get good an accurate numbers. We'll leave the page open for so long, and then shut 'er down. The link will only be available here on the forum.
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Seriously? Next you are going to tell us we get a 6 pack of beer with every purchase. Any future Buck purchases I make will be from SK Blades... no doubt. Not because of what you are doing to make this happen. The way you are doing it tells me about your customer service and follow-up. Stellar!
 
Dark n Knobbly sounds great to me but I think its in the wrong thread.
Should be over in beverages n blades.
I had mental image (for those who came in late yes I am completely mental)
If our Yorkshire brethren supping frothy tankards of pitch black treacley beer in a beer garden a canal
"By goom Jack. Theres nowt lahk a swift 12 paahnts o' Stoatspeares Dark n Knobbleh t wet thy whistle," " Aye lad. Theres nay finer brew in't all o Yorksha. Ow many av we ad?"
"56" " Aye including them as we used to change soomp oil in t'car."
Sorry boys.
Now for some irony.
Burlap micarta made of Elk brand coffee sacks.
 
skblades said:
Okay, just got back from Buck. Sorry for the prodigious pectoral muscle from my guy at Buck in the first photo.

I sat down with him and another rep that I deal with on all my projects and gave him the lay of the land for this project. I basically stated all the concerns that have been said with Elk and we talked about how this knife would be a representation of Buck to the greater Knife Forum community.

Here are a few notes from that:

Q: What would the thickness be on these elk handles.
A: Well we don't want a pregnant guppy, so we can make them nice and narrow.

Q: Quality control on each of these so that we have a good run of 250+ with happy customers?
A: We'll have Specials build this knife and keep a close eye on them as they come out.

Q: Can I assure the forum that these will look nice and not be fat?
A: Yes you can.

Q: Which part of the bark will you use?
A: Whichever you choose.

As to that last point, we went back into the factory to look at the elk. The first photo is just a shot of the antlers after they've been shed. The second are more elk parts, but the 3rd photo is important. This photo shows the two types of bark we can choose from. There is the darker bumpier stuff, and the white smooth stuff. I would vote dark all day, but that's just one man's vote, and as you can see looks super cool. The final photo is a knife they had on display right next to the antlers. Obviously that is a thick handle and has more white showing as they matched the bolsters.

Takeaway, I believe elk will be done right with very minimal unhappy customers. We can have them thinner and not so bulky and we can choose the bark. It was a nice get together with the folks over there.

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Excellent post, with well-explained answered questions. Should allay any fears of those who like Elk, but might be leery of getting one with ho-hum covers. :thumbsup::cool: Now awaiting the Ironwood samples to make this even more...um, interesting. :D
 
Simply amazing.

If it's going to be thin, then any of the elk is a great handle - but the dark & bumpy is a step above.

skblades skblades - seriously, I can't thank you enough for what you're doing for us. I hope you've got a back up plan for that elk if we don't end up choosing it. ;)
 
4c4bc62ac24f9f471a49ae4f1bd98593-couteau-fermant-bois-fer-l08_760.jpg

4c4bc62ac24f9f471a49ae4f1bd98593-couteau-pliant-bois-fer-l08_716.jpg

What if you could get some ironwood like this???
 
Really I think I'd be happy with any of the three, but those elk pictures and the associated explanation from SK make that far and away my favorite option.

That Ironwood knife is sweet, too.
 
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