Buck Buck 112 Slim Select:

Zerk said:
Well the thumbscrew fell off. It was always loose. Little annoying. Still been carrying it though.
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its a press fit thumbstud. I tapped a loose early version rattling with a hammer and got it tight. not gonna help ya now since it fell out and is gone. if ya contact Buck they will fix it under warranty......if ya want it fixed of course.
 
Buck 110 slim pro brown micarta $97.00 (pinned version CPM S30V heat treated by Paul Bos) I found to be a fantastic knife for the price with perfect lockup and no play in any directions.

The 110 sim hunter $27.00 (pinned assembly 420HC blade heat treated by Paul Bos) green handle had great blade centering and slight side to side play well within acceptable limits and no blade rock. The little dimple on the lock bar who cares. I actually like the dimple and the whole knife in general. It's a great knife for the price. My understanding is 420HC is a great tough beater steel that is less likely to snap when abused like other "super steels" such as CPM S30V. The Paul Bos heat treat is known to make a significant difference in edge retention for the better.

Buck 772 Spitfire orange handle $33.95 (Screw assembly 420HC blade heat treated by Paul Bos.) This is a beautiful well made knife with a problem. Unlike the above mentioned knives which can stand up to foreign competition and stuff like Kershaw this one won't until fixed. First off this one wins top prize for that Buck recurve at the bottom of the blade but it's still sharp and usable in that area and does not affect function. Blade came with slight lock rock within acceptable limits that mysteriously went away after disassembly and reassembly. Disassembly revealed all parts and layout in perfect spec accept for the lock bar pivot and screw. With all screws tight except for the lock bar screw and blade pivot screw the blade moves freely. If you tighten the lock bar screw too much, which was way too easy to do, it jammed up the blade. It needs either a longer lock bar pivot, a longer screw that bottoms out perfectly in the lock bar pivot, or a lock bar pivot that is not so deeply drilled to allow the screw to bottom out perfectly. Locktite can work but I get mixed results with blue locktite and I ddn't want to use red locktite because it will never come apart again if it sets right. I solved the problem by dropping in tiny clipped pieces of thin brass nail into the lockbar pivot hole and then hammered it flat inside with an improvised punch until the lockbar screw bottomed out at just the right place. I really came too close to screwing this up by jamming a little too much brass inside. Thankfully it worked out and I did not have to file the screw shorter. Problem solved. It's now a nice knife with perfect centering and no blade play in any direction. Blade pivot screw is now the only screw that controls blade tension as should be.

What do all these have in common. First and foremost they are all simple fast opening reliable lock back knives with fairly stiff actions (strong lock bar springs) that may not appeal to mall ninjas that want fast one hand closing (sorry I had to make a joke.) I do like fast one hand closing knives myself but for me it's not as important as having a safe sturdy reliable lock. I have handled a fair share of liner and frame lock knives (Buck makes them too) and I don't like them. I once gave someone a Kershaw liner lock and he gave it back to me after the lock failed and almost cut him. I have had extensive experience with liner and frame locks with mixed results. I don't trust them. I have learned to have a love and appreciation for knife manufacturers that show due regard for the fingers of their customers by selling folders with good locks. I also do support US manufacturers that make good products and will overlook some frills that may be lacking to keep the price affordable. Unfortunately for me most of the budget one hand closing knives are imported liner locks and some domestic liner/frame locks. In my opinion Buck has addressed the modern and practical standard of being able to quickly open a knife with one hand if needed. The have made their products lighter, added high end steels (way overrated in my opinion unless you are an all day super slicer or are skinning a moose ?) They have even added pocket clips.

As far as being able to produce everything under the sun I am sorry but the Chinese have us beat hands down with their huge super industrial complexes. They can match us in quality, far exceed us in mass production, adaptably for varied designs, and price (factory workers live at the job site and relish the little time they have with their family.)

Despite that these no frills US made products (even crappy foreign vs US made liner locks) can still compete in the most important area, that is practical use.
 
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After having a terrible experience with the 110 slim select (maybe because it was an early production?), I said I wouldn’t touch another Slim, but then my daughter gave me a 112 select this year for Christmas.
Unlike the 110, this one has even grinds, was very sharp out of the box, no play in any direction, and is perfectly centered. I knows it’s only a $25 knife, but she’s one year from getting her masters in psychology, as well as working as a social worker with kids that have had a rough home life, so she doesn’t have a lot of extra money. It will get some pocket time, but I will always treasure it, and don’t want to lose it.
So being a Buck fan I picked up a 112 slim pro this week to carry, and I can say, there’s not a darn thing wrong with it.
 
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I have a 110 Slim Select, and the grind is much better than the one should in the OP's photos. The blade isn't perfectly centered, but it's never caused me a problem. I like it and use it for what I consider it to be: an inexpensive working beater knife. The fact that it's made in the U.S.A. is a big plus in my book. I didn't buy it to admire the outstanding fit and finish, I bought it to cut stuff that I didn't want to use my more expensive knives on... or to take places I didn't want my more expensive knives to be exposed to or lost in.
 
Velitrius said:
Okay... that slot in the clip there... the one used to access the clip screws....

Can it be used as a bottle opener, perchance?

Asking for a friend.
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Sadly, I don’t have a single beer in the fridge or I could answer that for ya. You might be on to something lol
 
Ha, I just had to bite and buy the 112 slim select in orange scales. I have found Nick Shabazz's review to be right on. Out of the box (literally a box and nothing more) the action was akin to opening the 35 hundred year old mummy's crypt. My neighbors down the street and around the corner heard the creaking and called the coppers. I smoothed that out pronto. Next, per Nick's advice, I oiled (drenched?) the pivot and tang ramp/lock face again and again, then sat down and pivoted the pivot like an OCD biatch for 1.5 hours while watching McGyver reruns. It eventually smoothed out somewhat, but it ain't even close to as smooth as my SRM, another comparable knife in the same price range. Definitely ain't touching my Utilitac II, another $20 dollar wonder boy.

About the grind. I did notice that the height of the edge grind is higher on one side than the other. This may indicate different edge angles per side. I will have to look into this and confirm or deny, but my suspicions are strong on this one. The edge is sharp out of the box. But, as mentioned above, the tip is not quite tippish. I looked it over using my 40x loupe and the tip point is somewhat smooshed, for want of a better term.

Despite all that, I am happy with the knife. The oiling and workout has made the knife an acceptable beater. Will be interesting to see how it wears over time. Fingers crossed.
 
I thought I would update my post immediately above, especially since it may sound like I am bashing this knife. I use this as my beater knife at my part time job at a local hardware store. I have plenty of opportunities to put it through the paces during work hours and it performs just fine. So far it is holding up well, and the blade strops easily. Haven't had to go to the whetstones yet. Leather and green compound is working for now. No complaints. It is a $35 knife and is just fine with me. 👍
 
Quiet said:
Good afternoon friends! I have another quick knife review here for you, this time on the Buck 112 Slim Select. I'd like to apologize in advance for wasting your time, and I'll do so by putting the TL;DR up front. LOL

TL;DR Version: A cheap knife that's actually worth LESS than you paid, I can't in good conscience recommend it.

With that out of the way, let's get into the particulars. So, I purchased this knife new-in-package from my local Academy Sports store, and had planned to give it away as part of a White Elephant Exchange gift at a company party I was going to. I paid $25. Well, when I looked more closely at the knife in the clamshell packaging (under lighting at home that was better than at the store, oddly), I pulled the plug on that idea pretty quickly. I opened the knife to get a better look at it, and this is what I found.

The Good:
- Very light. This is as expected, given the "glass filled nylon" scales and 3 inch blade length.

- The orange color was good.

- The molded detail in the scales is crisp and sharp.

- The deep-carry clip as standard was nice, and I wish more companies offered a DCC as standard fare!

- The handle shape does feel good in the hand, it locks in, and the clip doesn't pose a hotspot when gripped tightly. Decent design there.

And that's about it. Alright, onto the could be bett...heh, no, onto the Bad.

The Bad:
- The grind. The grind on this blade is so hilariously poor, it's amazing that it passed QC and it's a flat out insult that they're putting "Proudly made in the USA" right there on the front of the package. Poor quality is poor quality no matter where it was built, simple as that. There's a serious case of "404: Pride Not Found" going on here. What? Oh, how bad is the grind? THE TIP CAME ROUNDED. Heh, yeah, see the pics below.

- The grind (again). This is a brand new knife, in the package, that I bought directly from a retailer, and it came dull. As in, I can run my finger across it dull. And, as this knife came sealed in a plastic clamshelled package, this specific knife actually left the factory like this. "Proudly made in America". Buck, come on, man.

- Why is the handle to blade ratio so wonky? This knife could easily have a 3.5 inch blade, but they decided that a 3 inch blade, with the entire end full of a backspacer/buttplate was more appropriate. What? For a knife trying to be small, it should be smaller.

- Why is there a "nipple" at the join between the back of the blade and the lockbar? It's too small to use as any sort of effective thumb ramp, and I do not understand it as a design element. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that both the blade tang and the lockbar were joined together while both were still forge hot, and then allowed to cool that way, smooshed together. It's just such poor fitment.

- The action of this knife is bad. Like $10 gas station knife bad. I guess I am just used to other guys like Kershaw giving you more knife for your money. This knife should have been a $15 knife tops, at which point, all my gripes would have been easily handwaved away.

- The blade finish is a stonewash, but it's splotchy and poorly done. Now, I had noticed this in the package when at the store, but at the time I actually thought it was shadows caused by the light being refracted through the clamshell packaging. Nope, there are shadows in the stonewash.

- The blade came distinctly off-center. A minor gripe, as I could probably mess with the pivot pin and sort it out.

So, two things in closing. One, I have bought so many Buck knives in my life that I feel like this is just where they are in quality at this point. Hell, I had to stop giving away Spitfires to Scouts because of how many of them came with lockrock and blade-play that couldn't be dialed out. So, this (in my experience) is the level of product they're allowing to be sent to retail at this point. Two, this entire review should be taken as tongue-in-cheek by me, because I understand that this is a cheap, disposable product and clearly is considered so by Buck as well. "You want quality? Spend more money!" Hey, I got it, totally on the same page. BUT: if that's your mindset, Buck, then maybe tone down the whole "Proudly made in America". What kind of message does that send?

One final thing: I actually had bought two knives. This Buck 112 and a Gerber Straightlace for only a few dollars more than the 112. That (Chinese made) slipjoint is a superior knife in every respect over the 112 Slim Select. Fit, finish, action, and so on. That was more disappointing than anything else.

Thanks for reading, and candidly, my advice would be, if you need a cheap knife that will still have SOME measure of quality to it, look elsewhere, maybe one of the Cold Steels in that price range, or even a (man, I hate to say it) Gerber.

Let's end with some pictures:





That tip, tho!!!


That centering, tho!!!


Interesting "moosh" section:
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Do you have a buck knife reco if were going to just buy one?
 
thanks or the review ive always had great luck with bucks great american company
 
I haven't had the same experience with these as Quiet Quiet has. Got these two in July 2023. Been carrying and using them since. Got no complaints. Keep the orange one on the center console of the truck most times or the Expedition when we go to the big city. No questions when I'm pulled over as to concealed weapon. Most times I carry the black one in my shirt pocket - nice and light it doesn't cause my tee-shirts or collared shirts to sag and handy to both hands when retrieving. At the low price point of these knives, been thinking of getting half a dozen or so to hand out to some of the regulars at our local cafe and at the auction yard. Anyway, this thread has been a good read. Thanks to Quiet Quiet for starting it.

 
Still not bad for the price; my pricier Buck Slim Pro 110 in S30V came with no flaws. The only drawback is that the slim handle can bite a bit under heavy use.
 
I picked one up last year, and perhaps quality on this line has improved since the OP. No major issues, I think this is a solid deal for what I paid.
 
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