Buck 119

C

Cliff Stamp

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Oct 5, 1998
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I picked this up mainly as I wanted a benchmark for seven inch blades that was lighter and more "fighter" based (using the term loosely), in contrast to a heavier design like the Camp Tramp.

In general I don't favor knives of this type (119), dual guards, slim point, neutral balance, etc., I prefer a blade of this size to have more heft for chopping, a stronger point for heavier wood work, etc. . However after carrying it for several weeks it grew on me as an EDC, especially after I chopped off the dual guard.

I still would prefer a different design, however would no longer be as off put by this style of knife, and came to appreciate its nature, though as noted, for what I want there are better knives. More details :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/buck_119.html

-Cliff
 
I've never had a use for the Buck 119 model. I guess it is intended to satisfy consumers who want a small bowie style knife (hence the full cross guard) and yet have no idea how a bowie should balance. I could see it being useful around a camp kitchen or as a secondary big knife when processing game. As you figured, the thumb-side of the cross guard is just in the way.

As to cutting performance and blade durability your older test knife will be significantly different from current products. Back around 2000 Buck started grinding their hollow grinds thinner (less of a "modified hollow grind" and closer to a "true hollow grind"). I would expect lower durability and higher cutting performance from a new blade. I don't know what the impact would be, but the current 420HC alloy might make the tip more or less durable than your 425M sample.
 
Nice review Cliff. Not surprising IMO, you found it a good cutter and a bad chopper. It sounds like it was pretty beat when you got it, I wonder if that affected the breaking strength at all (as you noted). I also wonder how the current 420HC would have faired in place of 425 MOD. Very interesting that in "edge retention" you felt it held it's own against the Green Beret (425 vs. S30V). Though that won't make some people very happy. :)
 
The Buck 119 is also called the "Special", right? 6" bowie blade. I still have mine from 1975, and it takes and holds a great edge(even more so, now that it has the Edge 2000 treatment). I believe mine was made when they still used 440C.
 
On an ironic note, shortly after I bought this knife as a benchmark for more "tactical" (using the term loosely as its popular meaning) benchmark, several knives were donated for reviewing :

-Buck/Strider Solution
-CRKT M60
-Gerber Silver Trident
-Boker Applegate/Fairbairn

So I now have a decent spectra of that style of blade.

Yes the newer 119's have changed in steel, and geometry, however I doubt the newer ones are ground thinner than this one was after I modifed it. Spec's would tell. The steel could make a significant influence as well. The main reason I went with this knife in particular was to get something of similar hardness as to the Reeve S30V, as most tacticals are now ATS-34 or similar at ~60 HRC, and I wanted to see how the performance would compare from S30V and another decent stainless at similar HRC values.

Yes, the Buck it had quite a beating layed into it before I got it, chips were missing from the spine (and even the handle / guard were impacted). It did break rather easily when prying, in fact it was totally unexpected, I was waiting for a video camera from a friend and was just doing some test flexes to get a feel for the stiffness, the last time I was as surprised was when the TUSK snapped.

Thanks for pointing out the html.html typo, I recently reconfigured my editor to add a lot of html code automatically so it occasionally doubles up when I forget to let the editor do its job and type in the code manually.

-Cliff
 
Thats funny, the first thing I did, was to cut the ridiculus guards to size. I left some on both sides and rounded them, so that the upper serves as a nice thumb ramp and smoothed the transition from the lower to the handle to accomodate the index finger better. All in all the handle is very easily shaped with the wood sanding wheels of a Dremel and can be pretty much completely customized to the hand. I still find the handle too slippery and to small (short) for my hands. It currently serves as my deboning knife in the kitchen, and has managed to displace a proper Zwilling deboning knife. The gernerous belly and fine tip make it pretty much ideally suited for that task, in my opinion.
 
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