4.25" Diamondback

D

Dan Brewer

Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
72
I have one of these in my camping gear because it cuts better than most others, a nice edge. But what about durability, I asked myself. That tip looked especially thin. So, I bought one to play with.

Chopping - well it's clearly not balanced for this at all, but it works remarkable well all things considered, again probably because of a good edge. There was some scuffing of the rubber handle by stray protruding woodchips and my poor aim, but nothing to serious.

Splitting wood - I held it be the handle and intentionally pounded on the tip with another stick to split a 3-inch diameter piece of hardwood. There was no noticeable damage to the tip so I did it again. Still no damage.

Stabbing into wood - I held it in a reverse (icepick) grip and stabbed it as hard as I could into a piece of hardwood, then wiggled it free. Repeated 20-25 times. Amazing - still no visible damage to the tip (took me a while to get an edge back on the tip, but then, I'd been stabbing wood).

In short - wow - I'm impressed, especially for a $25 knife! It looks a bit fragile, but withstands abuse.
 
Nice review. The Diamondbacks are a real good value. I think they would also make a nice 'first knife' for a youngster. That and an Eze Lap or similar.
 
Thank you for doing my "product testing" for me! Have you done any sheath testing, to see how well the knife stays in the sheath?

I was lucky when I wandered into a local Wal*Mart Sporting Goods Department and found five Alpha Folding Hunters and two Diamondback 4.25s in the "reduced price" section. The Alpha Folding Hunters were marked-down to $29 from $49.44, and the Diamondback 4.25s were marked-down to $11 from $19.96! I finally walked-out with both of the reduced-priced Diamondback 4.25s, and three of the Alpha Folding Hunters, one being a gut hook model.

Anyway, now, instead of the black handled and black sheathed Diamondback 4.25s, I'm seeing camoflage handled and camoflage sheathed versions, still "Made In Taiwan," but Wal*Mart is now asking $27.82 for them. I'm totally happy with the black Diamondback 4.25s that I got for $11 apiece, so I'll just leave those camoflaged ones there for others to buy. :)

"Made In Taiwan" or not, being stamped 'Buck' is a great equalizer
 
The Diamondbacks are made in Taiwan. The added price is for the camo. It adds about $10 to the price of the knife. Licensing, I believe.
 
Geothorn,

I haven't done any testing on the sheath per se. I can tell you that it holds the knife just fine for regular activities, you can walk around, bend down and pick stuff up, etc. with it on your belt. Also you can toss it into a duffle bag with other camping gear and bounce it around in the back of a truck and it will stay in the sheath. I wouldn't turn it upside down and shake it, though.
 
Thanks, Dan!

Actually, a friend of mine, an ex-S.E.A.L., upon seeing my Diamondback and our talking about how securely the sheath held the knife in place, turned the knife upside-down, and, holding it only by the sheath, started trying to shake the knife out. After I watched him shake that sheath, hard, for a minute, I started thinking of how the knife might fall out, into either of us, or hitting a wall and some molding, damaging either us and/or the knife, and I stopped him. It seemed like the sheath holds the knife pretty well.

One thing I have noticed was that slightly and gently twisting the knife in the sheath allowed the blade to wiggle inside, scrapping against the sheath. Whether it's the edge scrapping or the spine, I'd need hi-tech x-ray machinery to find out. ;)

Maybe the local Buck experts could tell us the history of this sheath design and what testing they did with it?

Thanks again! GeoThorn
 
geothorn said:
Maybe the local Buck experts could tell us the history of this sheath design and what testing they did with it?
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert, but I have held my Diamondback by the sheath and swung it to see if the knife would come out. It will, but only if you swing it several times as hard as you can, and this is not something you would do during normal carry. I have no fear of mine "falling" out.
 
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