Buck A fair review of the 110 and 420HC

[jmh33]

 

[kafolarbear]

In fact, here's an actual fact for you, Smaug .
- Signed, a guy who owns several 110s, doesn't carry any of 'em, but respects the history behind them and what they've done for the industry we're all here to enjoy and discuss. Also, a guy who isn't here trying to have an argument against an industry icon with a dumb YouBoob video as your only argument.

So you've proven his point then... you're getting all upset because there's a lot of nostalgia and history to the Buck 110 and yet someone dares to say anything less than everything positive about this beloved American made knife in the context of modern knife designs and steels you act like they pissed on the grave of Hoyt H. Buck himself. Yet even as you admitted, you don't carry the knife probably because it's big, heavy and there are designs that do more with less out there today. If I'm someone in the market for a good, cheap knife I'm sure a Buck 110 would serve me well. But I also would like to know what the downsides to the knife are compared to other knives at a similar price point that are also "made in the USA".

 

[ferider]

So you've proven his point then... you're getting all upset because there's a lot of nostalgia and history to the Buck 110 and yet someone dares to say anything less than everything positive about this beloved American made knife in the context of modern knife designs and steels you act like they pissed on the grave of Hoyt H. Buck himself. Yet even as you admitted, you don't carry the knife probably because it's big, heavy and there are designs that do more with less out there today. If I'm someone in the market for a good, cheap knife I'm sure a Buck 110 would serve me well. But I also would like to know what the downsides to the knife are compared to other knives at a similar price point that are also "made in the USA".

But the Dutch pair doesn't answer this in the video. Instead, they start off saying they don't like the knife, from the get-go, say things like it's bad at batoning because of the hollow grind, etc. And in the middle, some mostly nude guy exercises in the dirt. (not that there is anything wrong with this )

 

[Wild Willie]

But I also would like to know what the downsides to the knife are compared to other knives at a similar price point that are also "made in the USA".

Then go to the friggin store and handle one. It's not that hard to figure out when you get something in hand whether it'll work for you or not. Maybe ask some of the geezers kicking around what they carry or carried when they were still in the workforce. You know, get out there and experience things for yourself rather than counting on some dumbass on YouTube to make your decisions for you.

 

[Quiet]

So you've proven his point then... you're getting all upset because there's a lot of nostalgia and history to the Buck 110 and yet someone dares to say anything less than everything positive about this beloved American made knife in the context of modern knife designs and steels you act like they pissed on the grave of Hoyt H. Buck himself. Yet even as you admitted, you don't carry the knife probably because it's big, heavy and there are designs that do more with less out there today. If I'm someone in the market for a good, cheap knife I'm sure a Buck 110 would serve me well. But I also would like to know what the downsides to the knife are compared to other knives at a similar price point that are also "made in the USA".

False. I'm not upset in the slightest, so that's your first mistake*. I just have a pretty strong dislike for bad logic, and for people who have poor articulation skills, so they try to push others to watch some YouBoob video that's asserting an opinion they agree with, so they don't have to use logic or try to defend the assertion themselves. You are siding with a guy whose response to logical pushback was to demand from ten different people "DID YOU WATCH THE VIDEO?!??!?!"

You also seem to have taken personal offense that I am shredding both Smaug and these internet bozos' point (not proving it, as you falsely claim). Tell me, in what world do you live in where a $165 knife (the Bugout) and a $65 knife (the Buck 110) are a "similar price point". Also, if we were to speak to actual non-knife people, and showed them those two knives side by side (I own both, incidentally), the Buck 110 would look like a tremendous bargain in comparison. Larger, made of better materials, free sheath, larger blade, more substantial feeling, so that argument isn't the argment you (and those YT bozos) think it is.




* Unless you're doing that smoothbrain amateur hour internet argument thing where you're attempting to claim someone is being emotional as a means to attempt to disregard their entire post.

 

[kafolarbear]

Smaug , for the record, my ramblings aren't intended as an indictment of you personally, but of my general distaste for the reliance on YouTube personalities in regards to decision making. Along with the preponderance of folks making these videos that proclaim themselves "experts" or what have you.

It sometimes seems, that in our gluttony for mass media platforms, we've begun to step away from learning by observing and interacting with the world around us.

I had another thought on this bit earlier... These same guys are also probably the ones who never sharpen a lawnmower blade or dress the bar on their power saw. Not because they're intellectually inferior, but because they were never taught the basics of maintaining edged tools. These should be relished as golden opportunities to expand the minds of our fellow man, and to improve the well being of our hobby. I enjoy handing someone who's never used a decent knife one of my affordable, serviceable knives and telling them to keep it. Follow that up with a couple of sharpening sessions and pointers and you've just made someone's life a little easier.

A buddy of mine called me all excited a couple of days ago to tell me about the guided sharpener he's just procured. I gave him a knife a while back for helping me out on a project at the house. He was asking about what angles to use on various knives. I still need to catch up with him and check it out, but that put a smile on my face.

Absolutely, this is one of the most rewarding parts of being the "knife guy" in your group. I have guys from my unit hit me up just to ask if I can sharpen their knife for them or for recommendations on a good knife, it's always awesome to see the look on someone's face when they see a knife do something as simple (to us) as slicing cleanly through a sheet of paper. Sharpening is an art form and if I hadn't gone out of me way to learn about it when I bought my first Ka-Bar and Gerber Haul I also would've been one of those dudes repping a chipped dull edge as the sharpest knife I on god's green earth.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Here's the thing about watching the video as a prerequisite to commenting...I don't log on here for a homework assignment nor do I need to watch someone review a knife that I am very, very, very familiar with. I know what a 110 is. I know what it was designed to do. I know what abuse it can take. I know the shortcomings of a chunky piece of brass with 60 year old blade technology.

I'm not watching the video because I don't have the time, and their channel doesn't seem like it would interest me. I will not White Knight the 110. It IS a bit outdated, but that doesn't make it obsolete. I don't carry mine because it's heavy. My 68 year old dad has no issue with this, but that's all he carries. I've got a folder, a multitool, a back pocket folder and maybe a pistol on me

I think there ARE knives out there that can do what the 110 does better and even for less money. However, for what you get for $65, I don't see it as a bad choice. I can tell you for an absolute non-ropecutting fact, that it can hold a more than reasonable edge being used hard on a construction site. Cutting drain tile, duct tape, digging and scrapping dried grease off the lubrication points on digging equipment. Wil it slice paper after that? NO. Will it still cut things? Absolutely. My old man usually drops his 110 on my desk when he comes in to the office to use the can. In the 5 minutes he's occupied, I can sharpen out a month's worth of abuse with nothing more than a diamond hone, an arkansas stone, a ceramic stick and a loaded stropped and have it popping hair off my arm.

Once again, if the question is are their knives out there that can do the same thing with less weight, then there absolutely are. If the question is if the 110 is a bad knife because it is old and won't hold a razor's edge after some abrasive cutting, then that IMHO is false.

 

[Quiet]

Having had a look at the poll at the top of the thread, I'm curious. There are five rocket surgeons so far who've chosen:

Buck's 420HC is a budget steel; they're just being cheap by still using it."​

Would any of you care to put forth a suggestion for a better steel that they should be using (while still keeping the knife at its current price point)? If so, I'd like to request to be added to your newsletter, so that when the knife company you've started gets going, I can be first in put my $65 on the barrel to buy an American made knife in that better steel, please and thank you!

 

[JD Bear]

Now I realize I'm the problem. I work at a car dealership so I have no real world, tactical experience. I reckon I'm a low speed, high drag caveman that doesn't mind carrying a 110...

 

[kafolarbear]

False. I'm not upset in the slightest, so that's your first mistake*. I just have a pretty strong dislike for bad logic, and for people who have poor articulation skills, so they try to push others to watch some YouBoob video that's asserting an opinion they agree with, so they don't have to use logic or try to defend the assertion themselves. You are siding with a guy whose response to logical pushback was to demand from ten different people "DID YOU WATCH THE VIDEO?!??!?!"

You also seem to have taken personal offense that I am shredding both Smaug and these internet bozos' point (not proving it, as you falsely claim). Tell me, in what world do you live in where a $165 knife (the Bugout) and a $65 knife (the Buck 110) are a "similar price point". Also, if we were to speak to actual non-knife people, and showed them those two knives side by side (I own both, incidentally), the Buck 110 would look like a tremendous bargain in comparison. Larger, made of better materials, free sheath, larger blade, more substantial feeling, so that argument isn't the argment you (and those YT bozos) think it is.




* Unless you're doing that smoothbrain amateur hour internet argument thing where you're attempting to claim someone is being emotional as a means to attempt to disregard their entire post.

I never brought up the bugout, I was thinking something more along the lines of an OKC RAT II, Benchmade Griptillian, along with plethora of Spyderco's, Kershaw's and others. And let's be honest, to most people who buy a knife, "made in the USA" doesn't matter, so long as it's not "made in China". But you're right, there aren't many quality USA made folding knives on the market for under $100. Maybe the question should be why are US manufacturers putting up an inferior product compared to companies not just in China, but also in Taiwan, Japan, Italy and Sweden to name a few. While I for one am happy to pay a premium for a knife made in the USA, most people are not. If we keep excusing inferior quality knives because we're nostalgic for old designs or because they're "made in the USA", we can only do harm to the reputation of the American knife industry.

 

[J. Doyle]

So you've proven his point then... you're getting all upset

First, what is going on lately with people assuming someone is "mad", "upset" or whatever other emotion because someone responds to a thread on an internet forum? If something anyone posts online can invoke some kind of negative emotional response, social media isn't your thing. I actually can't help but wonder if the accusers are actually triggered in some way. Anyway....

because there's a lot of nostalgia and history to the Buck 110 and yet someone dares to say anything less than everything positive about this beloved American made knife in the context of modern knife designs and steels you act like they pissed on the grave of Hoyt H. Buck himself. Yet even as you admitted, you don't carry the knife probably because it's big, heavy and there are designs that do more with less out there today. If I'm someone in the market for a good, cheap knife I'm sure a Buck 110 would serve me well. But I also would like to know what the downsides to the knife are compared to other knives at a similar price point that are also "made in the USA".

I think the issue is attempting to make a youtube video by some random guy(s) "undisputed proof" of some point, as if said youtubers were any kind of authority on anything. When in reality the youtubers are usually biased and/or motivated by financial or other self-serving interests. There does seem to be a bit of that going on in this case.

 

[Wild Willie]

Now I realize I'm the problem. I work at a car dealership so I have no real world, tactical experience. I reckon I'm a low speed, high drag caveman that doesn't mind carrying a 110...

You do have real world experience for your specific use case scenario though, and that accounts for a lot.

 

[jlauffer]

Voted, but not watching the video, as I believe it's that infamous one where if you watch it, all your non-Buck knives turn into 110s in 7 days.

 

[Quiet]

I never brought up the bugout, I was thinking something more along the lines of an OKC RAT II, Benchmade Griptillian, along with plethora of Spyderco's, Kershaw's and others. And let's be honest, to most people who buy a knife, "made in the USA" doesn't matter, so long as it's not "made in China". But you're right, there aren't many quality USA made folding knives on the market for under $100. Maybe the question should be why are US manufacturers putting up an inferior product compared to companies not just in China, but also in Taiwan, Japan, Italy and Sweden to name a few. I for one am happy to pay a premium for a knife made in the USA, most people are not. If we keep excusing inferior quality knives because we're nostalgic for old designs or because they're "made in the USA", we can only do harm to the reputation of the American knife industry.

Those are all great knives, and between them, they effectively cancel the weight issue of the Buck 110. However, they either aren't made here, or are more expensive (and those that are, are much more expensive). Also, to most people "Made in the USA" matters very much.

Also, you keep using the term inferior, I am not sure what you're referring to. Are you claiming that a knife that has been selling for 59 years (despite the availability of other knives out there with better design or material elements) is inferior? If that's the case, I'm not sure that word means what you think it means. Benchmade, Spyderco, and others are probably hoping they make it as long as Buck has, honestly. There's nothing inferior about the 110 as a product. Compared to more modern knives, with different design elements? Sure it's a little outdated from that perspective. However, your claim that the Buck 110 is somehow a sign of "inferior quality" being excused....honestly, and I mean this politely, makes you sound incredibly young and naive at best, and/or tremendously ill informed at worst.

 

[JD Bear]

You do have real world experience for your specific use case scenario though, and that accounts for a lot.

Absolutely. I have a lot of junk to cut daily and I think 110's work just fine. So do Sebenza's and XM-18's and a whole plethora of other blades. All these threads just seem to justify someone's need for the next best thing and throw shade on people that don't have that mindset.

Wild Willie...if we were in a 90's movie, I'd definitely stand and start a slow clap for you in this thread. You've been spot on dude....

 

[Quiet]

Absolutely. I have a lot of junk to cut daily and I think 110's work just fine. So do Sebenza's and XM-18's and a whole plethora of other blades. All these threads just seem to justify someone's need for the next best thing and throw shade on people that don't have that mindset.

Wild Willie...if we were in a 90's movie, I'd definitely stand and start a slow clap for you in this thread. You've been spot on dude....

This, it's this right here.

 

[el gigantor]

Damn, this thread got heated!

Damn, this thread got me looking at the custom shop.

 

[kafolarbear]

First, what is going on lately with people assuming someone is "mad", "upset" or whatever other emotion because someone responds to a thread on an internet forum? If something anyone posts online can invoke some kind of negative emotional response, social media isn't your thing. I actually can't help but wonder if the accusers are actually triggered in some way. Anyway....


I think the issue is attempting to make a youtube video by some random guy(s) "undisputed proof" of some point, as if said youtubers were any kind of authority on anything. When in reality the youtubers are usually biased and/or motivated by financial or other self-serving interests. There does seem to be a bit of that going on in this case.

The most definitive thing I state in this thread is that the buck 110 didn't performed as well in the video as other knives had in the past which is true. Whether you believe that is important or that the rope cutting test is a valid way to test edge retention is another matter entirely, I never said anything about "undisputed proof".

It's a bit silly to outright dismiss any YouTube reviewer just because of their chosen platform. I wasn't a big fan of DBK at first because they had mean things to say about my Esee 5. Lo and behold, when it came time to actually use the thing, it lived up to every criticism they had of it. The whole point of online reviews isn't to treat any one as a definitive authority on the product, but to evaluate that review in the context of what everyone is saying about the knife. Before I go to a restaurant, I look at the reviews to see what other people have to say about it, not because I trust some random person on Yelp but so I can have an idea of what my experience will be like. Before I buy a knife, I consider the reviews of people all over, including YouTubers, forum members and Reddit. I just so happen to like YouTube reviews because I can see exactly what they're doing with a knife to come to their conclusions.

 

[Quiet]

K kafolarbear instead of editing my above post (in case you were already responding), I wanted to respond more fully to another point you made:

If we keep excusing inferior quality knives because we're nostalgic for old designs or because they're "made in the USA", we can only do harm to the reputation of the American knife industry.

So, to clarify, you feel that the customers of companies who continue to make classic products that still sell are somehow the source of "we" who keep "excusing inferior quality"? I don't know if you've been paying attention, but there are countless companies who discontinue old beloved classic products, come up with new products which, from a production, design, or materials standpoint, are objectively better, only to have to turn around start offering the classic product again because it's what people want.

"OH YEAH?!??! WHERE'S YOUR PROOF!!!!"

Ask companies like Nike, Coca Cola, Leatherman, multiple tool companies, bicycle companies, car companies, knife companies, etc. why they cancelled, and then had to start reoffering those old products.

So, this idea that people buying these beloved classic products (like a Buck 110, or Air Jordans or whatever else) are somehow "excusing inferior qualiy", it's just....ok, I'll say it. It's dumb. It's a dumb opinion, and it comes from a place of not knowing how...well, anything, works.

 

[Danny Linguini]

All these threads just seem to justify someone's need for the next best thing and throw shade on people that don't have that mindset.

....

I don’t know - if you ask me, they’re all just to start arguments. And throw shade.