I just received my order today of two Buck 301 Stockman knives I'd ordered this week. I haven't bought a knife in a couple of years, so I was really looking forward to these, which I intend to use as backup for my normal EDC black Valox 301 (made and purchased in 1993) and also as a dress knife (the Rosewood Dymondwood). My 1993 301 Stockman is the one I use as a standard to gauge other stockman knives by, of which I am an inveterate collector.
I opened the package, and looked them over, and I am still as impressed as ever.
The black handle version is absolutely the same as my 1993 version, except for the Edge 2000 full hollow blades which my 1993 does not have. I opened the knife, ran it with a dish soapy toothbrush under some cold water, then completely dried it off and lightly oiled it with mineral oil. I did the same with the Rosewood version, which is certainly one of the prettiest pocket knives I've owned.
The walk and talk on these 301s are softer than other makes, which is well-known and is fine with me (I hate losing fingernails to hard pulls), but the blades still close and open with solid bank vault quality after I oiled them and worked them back and forth for a minute or so. There are some slight slight gaps on the Rosewood stockman between the scales and the frame and between one of the springs, but I don't think I could get the thinnest paper in between those gaps. Overall, that doesn't bother me in the least. It is a very handsome knife. The black Valox version has no gaps whatever.
Overall, I highly recommend these pocket knives for work, for dress, for EDC. You can't go wrong with using these Bucks as a main knife or as a backup. They are shaving sharp and perfectly sized for my hands. If you don't have a 301, don't delay: go get you one. Or two.
I opened the package, and looked them over, and I am still as impressed as ever.
The black handle version is absolutely the same as my 1993 version, except for the Edge 2000 full hollow blades which my 1993 does not have. I opened the knife, ran it with a dish soapy toothbrush under some cold water, then completely dried it off and lightly oiled it with mineral oil. I did the same with the Rosewood version, which is certainly one of the prettiest pocket knives I've owned.
The walk and talk on these 301s are softer than other makes, which is well-known and is fine with me (I hate losing fingernails to hard pulls), but the blades still close and open with solid bank vault quality after I oiled them and worked them back and forth for a minute or so. There are some slight slight gaps on the Rosewood stockman between the scales and the frame and between one of the springs, but I don't think I could get the thinnest paper in between those gaps. Overall, that doesn't bother me in the least. It is a very handsome knife. The black Valox version has no gaps whatever.
Overall, I highly recommend these pocket knives for work, for dress, for EDC. You can't go wrong with using these Bucks as a main knife or as a backup. They are shaving sharp and perfectly sized for my hands. If you don't have a 301, don't delay: go get you one. Or two.
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