I went from Buck to Marbles to BRK's some years back - in my quest for a decent bushcraft knife. LBJ was the president when I last hunted and cleaned something with four legs - and that was with a Western fb bought with S&H Green Stamps! I have since basically cleaned a bunch of fish - and learned not to use a favorite folder for that function (I always make a mess.). I've also done a bunch of woods chores - aka 'bushcrafting'. Years ago, pre-enlightenment, my Buck 192 was my favorite. More compact than the larger 119, and harder to find and more expensive, I just like it. The 119 is no slouch - and for $40 for a US-made knife like that at WallyWorld, it's a deal - with a decent PRC-made nylon sheath. If you want leather, try a discount sporting goods - they usually have the Mexican made leather sheath version of the Buck 119. Odd how you can buy a decent US-made fb with a serviceable sheath for less than a SS sheath. My seven BRK's have a mix of Serbian-made and SS sheaths. The Serbian-made units seemed purpose-made, while the BRK's were 'sized', ie, offered in sizes. Both work well in my less than demanding use - ie, in my wooded back yard. I do use the SS pocket sheaths on occasion with my smaller BRK's on hikes, and find them a decent value. Mike Stewart's BRK's have always been great values to me - but I buy the cheapest handled versions - or on closeout. My favorite is still the Gameskeeper - the A2 blade that the Bravo series was based on. My 119 & 120 have spent years now in the kitchen - great butcher knives!
It's funny how some well-executed simple sheaths work fine, while others fail miserably. The Marbles-made remake of the Dall DeWeese 1902 guide knife is very functional - with a dropin sheath - not very secure, but reportedly, quite accurate. My South African designed and made Arno Bernard 'Wild Dog' is a similar sized knife, albeit made with Bohler N690 steel and with either a warthog tusk, giraffe bone, spalted maple, etc, handle - and a well-fitted leather dropin sheath. Did I mention that they are custom made - with a tapered thickness & full width/length tang - and the leather sheath is made of Cape buffalo? That knife runs ~$200 either from A.B. in Bethlehem, South Africa or a USA dealer. You can spend BRK level of bucks and get both a great knife and a serviceable - and handsome - sheath. Below are my two 'Wild Dogs' - one in Giraffe bone and the other in spalted maple.
I don't spend much time on the BRK&T sub-forum over 'there' anymore - never been an 'atta-boy', I guess. Their 'General' subforum can be informative - but even there, The treatment of newbies is not always the kindest. Sadly, that has become somewhat commonplace here, as well. Old timers aren't usually the ones at fault - at least here. Let's just not make the jump to calling a newbie who re-asks a seemingly tired old question a 'troll', or admonish him for not utilizing the 'search' function. Maybe we'll keep our good name.
Stainz
