- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 1,290
Have only had this model (403) since May 20th so I can't say I've really wrung it out yet, but thought I'd mention a few impressions I'd had so far. First of all, this is a pretty knife and a pretty different sort of design (in my experience) to come from Buck. This is a knife that seems to combine the aspects of both production and handmade pieces. I think that the basic shape of the blade would define it as a "hunter/skinner", but it also leans heavily towards an all purpose blade. The upswept blade worked really well disjointing and preparing whole chicken(s) for the BBQ and for gutting and scaling fish ( of course, not as many fish as we would have liked, but that's another story). I have also, to date, just for the heck of it, split some small pieces of firewood for kindling with it( used another piece of wood to drive it thru), took a piece of heavy duty shipping cardboard and sliced it into 1" strips that were about 8" long each (50 times) without taking the edge off significantly(did need a touch up on the ceramic sticks after the fish). The design of the blade is pretty well thought out, I think, with a slight depression accented with grooves set into the top just in front of the handle. This works out really well for control while cutting either blade up or down.There is also a pronounced choil that works well with this feature. The handle feels a bit fat for my taste, but so far it hasn't caused any problems, just feels a bit big for a knife this size. As noted, the edge holding has been very good so far, I'll push it a bit more w/o touch up in the next week or so and see what happens. My problem is, I constantly keep a razor edge on all my knives and it's hard to let one get really dull!!
By the way, the sheath has a feature that Ive not tried before in this type of knife; it's got a clip on the back. At first I was a bit dubious, but it rides very well and can be carried on shorts, jeans, sweats, w/o a belt. Of course, that is something a SoCal person would really appreciate !
Ok, it's getting late for me, will post more after next weekend warrior foray.
[This message has been edited by Brian Lavin (edited 02 June 1999).]
[This message has been edited by Brian Lavin (edited 02 June 1999).]
By the way, the sheath has a feature that Ive not tried before in this type of knife; it's got a clip on the back. At first I was a bit dubious, but it rides very well and can be carried on shorts, jeans, sweats, w/o a belt. Of course, that is something a SoCal person would really appreciate !
Ok, it's getting late for me, will post more after next weekend warrior foray.
[This message has been edited by Brian Lavin (edited 02 June 1999).]
[This message has been edited by Brian Lavin (edited 02 June 1999).]
. How about you guys post a pic or two of yours 
.
I never really compared it to my 694 I'll have to look into that!! 
