Buck 124 vs Buck 120 PRO

jbmonkey said:
depends on geometry more than which steel. id prefer the 120 for cutting šŸ‰ myself.

s35vn has better wear resistance and edge retention, its got a decent toughness and good enough corrosion resistance...all in all its the better steel.

its also harder to sharpen. you may not need the edge retention and wear resistance....only you can decide that.

420hc the way Buck heat treats is a good enough steel for a knife. been good enough for many people for many years.

whats more important is which fits your hand and needs better. the 124 has a 2x4 block as a handle. some like it some dont. it can be sanded down to fit your hand though if your willing to do that. we could discuss all day if ya can get your hand on one youll know real quick if ya like it or not.
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I love the blade length of the 120 but I found the handle on the 119 small :(
 
JBmonkey, I liked the data sheet post. Good detailed information on the steel & heat treating. I find the graphs are for power point presentations. They make it look good but in real- world use & testing there is only 4- 5 chickens difference between s90v and 440c. And the same between 440c and 420.
How it's sharpened, the grind ( helps performance)and how it feels in the hand with use.( features) Really contribute to
user satisfaction. DM
 
RazGeez said:
Or maybe, which is better for killing grizzly bears?

:D

Maybe one should carry an axe for splitting wood and a smaller knife like the 118 that's more useful for the common knife tasks?
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An axe is a pain in the Azz to pack. I keep one in the truck and camper. But not hiking. My boys and I rode dirt bikes into the hills last weekend. Had some large Keibosa from Costco so we started a small fire and the 104 was perfect knife to make kindling and round up some sticks. Im not going to pack an axe, the full tang 104 worked perfectly. Were riding again Sat, same blade and lunch.
 
From 124's and 120's to 103's......?

I recommend folks have some smaller knives they will actually use.
Big knives are cool, but not always practical.

I agree with mak.
My most used Buck fixed blade is my 104.
Good size for most anything.
 
I seem to recall reading posts in years past about being able to order longer blade lengths on either the 120 or 124. Canā€™t recall which it was? Perhaps someone could clarify and or post photos of their custom length blades?
 
Badhammer said:
I seem to recall reading posts in years past about being able to order longer blade lengths on either the 120 or 124. Canā€™t recall which it was? Perhaps someone could clarify and or post photos of their custom length blades?
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wasn't that the old and long gone original custom shop that would do that? a price per inch for extra length deal?
 
Badhammer said:
I seem to recall reading posts in years past about being able to order longer blade lengths on either the 120 or 124. Canā€™t recall which it was? Perhaps someone could clarify and or post photos of their custom length blades?
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My Buck 124 has a 7-in. blade. Not custom ordered. Bought straight off the shelf. Rosewood handles, too.
 
view

This is the only picture of a custom length 124 Iā€™ve ever found. Iā€™d love to see more of them.
 
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Why do people say batoning a hollow grind will break a knife easy? What breaks a knife is it binding or twisting. The hollow grind was made so it would not bind. Also, the hollow grind is a saber style cut so by the time you are into the wood about an inch, you are at the thickened saber area of the knife. There is very little pressure on the thin area of the blade.

Thanks,

Geoff
 
Batoning a knife is not my thing. But itā€™s obvious to me that a hollow grind being thinner behind the edge is not as strong as a flat grind.

Iā€™ve never seen a hollow grind froe, but that doesnā€™t mean they donā€™t exist.
 
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Skyhorse, are you grilling something for Mother's day?
TAH, I have always enjoyed your dry ( English) sense of humor. DM
 
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The new movie 'Grizzly Maze' actually has a sean where a Buck 120 or 119 is used to stab a huge Bear in the back then while he's on top of the actor gets stabbed in the throat..
 
Joshua Bartosiewicz said:
So which is stronger? S35vn or 420HC?
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Larrin who is a metallurgist or metal engineer working with steels...dont know the correct title......anyways just did a test on 420 and 420hc steel on toughness and edge retention.....

heres the thread in general knife discussion forum...

More Edge Retention Testing - Rex 45, Maxamet, SPY27, XHP, CPM-T15, 420, Rex 76

A new set of edge retention tests on a range of high speed and stainless steels including Rex 45, Rex 76, CPM-T15, SPY27, XHP, and 420. We also did toughness tests on several of those steels that we had not yet been tested. And we redid our Rex 121 knife with a new heat treatment that was much...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

and link to his testing...its a lot of steels and good reading but if ya just want 420 steels, if ya scroll through you can see the 420 and 420hc stuff relevant.

knifesteelnerds.com

Edge Retention Testing of Seven More Steels - XHP, SPY27, Maxamet, Rex 45, 420, T15, Rex 76 - Knife Steel Nerds

More edge retention testing on a range of high speed and stainless steels. Rex 45 vs M4, Maxamet vs everthing else.
knifesteelnerds.com knifesteelnerds.com

I'll sum it up...420 and 420hc are very tough steels......more than many realize.
 
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