Alox vs. Opinel vs. Buck 300s durability

J

Jack Wanamaker

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Dec 9, 2006
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I've been enjoying my Buck 301 and 303, my Opinel 6, 7, and 8, and my Victorinox Pioneers and Electricians. I knew what to expect from Victorinox, but the design and build quality on the Bucks and Opinels exceeds all expectations.

With these knives increasingly in my pockets, I find myself speculating a lot about whether one has a significant durability advantage over the others.

Do you have an opinion?
 
I have a strong personal prejudice toward the Buck 301's.

For about 25 years before I became a knife nut, my every single day carry was an old Buck 301 that I bought in an army PX for something like 12 dollars. It served on four continents, was a bird and trout knife, home projects knife, hiking/camping companion, and it never failed. It lives with my grandson now in a shadow box display. If ever there was a knife that seemed indestructible, it was my old Buck 301. It even helped me she a life one day in a upside down burning old Datsun B210.

Very close runner up would be an alox Victorinox. You can't kill one of those very easy either.
 
I own an Alox Pioneer and an Opinel #8, and have been eyeing a 301 for when the bank account says I can.

My sense is that they're all quite solidly built. If anything, I'd consider the different blade characteristics - my Opinel is certainly thinner than my Pioneer, which I expect is on par or thinner than the Solitaire (301, right?). So, if you're using your knife to cut an apple versus pry open paint cans (yikes!), your usage may call for one or another.

Inherently, though, there's a reason these are still rock-solid knives. As a wise man once said, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."
 
Certainly they are all robust no nonsense knives, yet they give pleasure in use & ownership.

They are rather different from each other though, but my vote goes to the Opinel: so simple, clever and effective. Big enough in size, yet very light in and on the pocket. No spring to break or get fouled up with grit, good steels carbon or stainless, clever lock. If you drop one the wooden handle is almost bombprof, no scales to crack or get burred.
 
Any knife is delicate compared to a pipe wrench, hammer, or piece of rebar. Any knife is pretty rugged compared to a mechanical watch, sewing machine, or carburetor. If you use them for regular cutting, I think all three knives mentioned would be pretty much bulletproof. The Vic's softer steel might be a touch more likely to roll or deform with hard use, the Buck might chip, the Opinel might have problems with the handle or joint because of the wooden construction. I think if someone told me to pick one of the three to be my only knife for the rest of my life in the Alaskan wilderness I'd probably choose the Buck. But for my own realistic day to day cutting needs, I like the Opinel best.
 
The 301 is the larger stockman pattern; Solitaire is the 302, which I believe is the same frame and clip blade and no additional blades or springs. The 303 is a smaller stockman, and there used to be a larger 307.

I like the Opinels for the elegant design and great cutting geometry (which adds to durability by minimizing pressure needed for cuts), and I like the Victorinoxes for flawless build quality and consistency.

One place where the 301 really shines is the ease of opening/closing--this is one reason I've been carrying it more often, and also why I have a 302 on order, which should be very pinchable.

My only concern about the Buck design vs. the others is that the pivot might be more prone to loosen, but I don't have any evidence that this is the case.


coffeemike said:
I own an Alox Pioneer and an Opinel #8, and have been eyeing a 301 for when the bank account says I can.

My sense is that they're all quite solidly built. If anything, I'd consider the different blade characteristics - my Opinel is certainly thinner than my Pioneer, which I expect is on par or thinner than the Solitaire (301, right?). So, if you're using your knife to cut an apple versus pry open paint cans (yikes!), your usage may call for one or another.

Inherently, though, there's a reason these are still rock-solid knives. As a wise man once said, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."
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Jackknife was remembering his old Buck from the past and it served him well. Funny thing is I bet it was actually made on contract by Camillus. Nothing wrong with that at all, those were the days when a craftsman actually made your knife from trays of parts and made sure it was finished right. His reputation was on the line with the peers working around him. there is nothing wrong with any of the knives mentioned, and in my experience they will all handle nearly all tasks they are called on to do. None of them are screwdrivers and you need not worry about the Stockman models getting loose blades unless you use it as a crowbar. I got hooked up collecting Bucks and I will likely stay that way, even when I see the other good knives here on the Traditional forum. To a new knife carrier I always say, "Try to go to a real knife store and handle the ones you like. One of them will just feel right in your hand." I think what sealed the deal for me was pulling out my knife and right away someone would say, Oh, you got a Buck. 300
 
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300Bucks said:
...None of them are screwdrivers ...
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Beg to differ! Both the Vic Alox Pioneer and Electrician include screwdrivers. :D

For durability - the Buck 300 series seem to be built like little tanks. However, I don't think I would ever wear out a Buck 301 or any Vic Alox knife in the rest of my lifetime. Depends on what you use it for, of course.
 
If you're using the knives as intended (to cut stuff) and not abusing the knives, then all of knives should be sufficiently durable. I own all three and they're very nice knives for a low cost.
 
I should be clearer that I'm not concerned about any of these knives wearing out. I just want to hear knife nuts discuss which, if any, is the toughest.

For me, for whatever reason, a big part of this hobby is obsessive thinking about durability.
 
The truth is, durability is going to vary dramatically depending on your conditions. I'd wager the more intricate Victorinox would wear out quickest in an environment where fine sand and grit would be regularly fouling the joints. The Opinel might have an advantage here. But if it's a wet, humid environment, the Opinel will rust or rot, eventually, while the Buck and Vic will be relatively impervious. With the slipjoints, lack of oil in the joints will wear them out eventually. The Opinel might be more susceptible to the wood wearing around the joint and locking ring. On the other hand... The Opinels are cheap enough you can buy 5 and literally try to wear them out (bet it won't happen) and if it does... You could always rehandle the thing with new wood of your choice if you were so inclined.
 
Wearing out and durability are overlapping but not exactly the same thing. It would be helpful to know the context. On internet forums context is often intentionally left out to generate replies.

Without knowing the context of what you mean by "durable", I'd say a good start is to look at the construction and the properties of the materials. For example, the Opinel lacks metal liners and has a thin steel ring instead of a bolster. The Victorinox Pioneer has rivets instead of peened pins. The Buck 301 has steel bolsters and the Victorinox Pioneer has aluminum handles. Etc.

A few years back (maybe still), there was an over the top obsession with durability... there were even guys posting videos of "destruction tests"... hammering on knives etc. It was all pretty irrelevant to the normal function of the knives.
 
I actually do own Buck 301 and Victorinox alox knives that are that old. I don't own an Opinel that old. An Opinel is a very simple knife. There's no spring to wear out. There's just a metal sleeve and pivot pin. If the pivot pin breaks (from abuse), a new pin or even a nail could be used to fix it.
 
300Bucks said:
Jackknife was remembering his old Buck from the past and it served him well. Funny thing is I bet it was actually made on contract by Camillus. Nothing wrong with that at all, those were the days when a craftsman actually made your knife from trays of parts and made sure it was finished right. His reputation was on the line with the peers working around him. there is nothing wrong with any of the knives mentioned, and in my experience they will all handle nearly all tasks they are called on to do. None of them are screwdrivers and you need not worry about the Stockman models getting loose blades unless you use it as a crowbar. I got hooked up collecting Bucks and I will likely stay that way, even when I see the other good knives here on the Traditional forum. To a new knife carrier I always say, "Try to go to a real knife store and handle the ones you like. One of them will just feel right in your hand." I think what sealed the deal for me was pulling out my knife and right away someone would say, Oh, you got a Buck. 300
Click to expand...

You're right!

At the last Blade show they had in KNoxville Tennessee before moving it to Atlanta, I had stopped by the Buck table, and Chuck Buck examined it and pronounced it as a Camillus made knife. It was a great knife for a lot of years. The newer 301's feel "softer" than my old one. Much easier back springs. But I understand that the construction of the new 301's are even stronger and more rugged than the 'old' ones.
 
This old No.7 has been with me since some time in the mid-70s. It might be the first one I ever bought. In any event it is the oldest one I still have. It hasn't been coddled, has at times been neglected, but never abused (except for scraping a few gaskets). The durability of this knife has never been an issue. It may look like crap, but it still works and cuts just fine.

I have only had the Alox farmer for about a year, and I am still kicking myself for leaving that Buck on the flea market table, so I can't really compare.

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Jack Wanamaker said:
Is it true that the black valox Bucks have stainless steel liners, as I've read here? To my eye, it looks like the liner is one piece with the bolster--nickel silver.
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Either way, for durability purposes I don't think it would make a difference. Neither will corrode or rust, nor do either have any particular advantage in intrinsic strength, in any way in which it would make a difference for knife liners.
 
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