- Joined
- Jan 1, 2010
- Messages
- 1,157
I have a Buck 303 that I think I bought around '00 or '01. The clip blade is marked BUCK 303U USA. The handle material seems to be some kind of plastic (dark brown) and the shield is the hammer/knife/nail logo.
Anyway, I bought this knife back when I was in my undergrad and a Geology professor asked that we buy a pocket knife, or use some kind of steel for testing rock hardness by way of scratching the blade. Had I cared about knives then the way I do now, I probably would have not spent good money on a good knife for such a ridiculous task. The knife went more or less unused and forgotten for quite some time. I recently brought the knife out at the beckoning of the guys in the Traditional forum. I'm kind of involved in a challenge to use only a traditional slip-joint knife as my EDC for a month, as in recent years I've only cared about tactical knives. But that topic is already going on in the traditional forum.
I'm here for several reasons. For one, what does the U on the knife mean? Second, seeing as how the knife is a bit beat-up, but not really abused, would it be worth it for me to send the knife to Buck for a good cleaning up, and address some of the blade play the knife is showing?
Since I started carrying this knife again, I've really kind of fallen in love with it. I don't know if it is because it's a Buck (a brand I never really looked into until now), or if it is because I'm loving the Stockman pattern, or if it is a combination of these things and my current interest in embracing more traditional knives. In any event, the knife has me eyeballing the 301. Are the current 301's similar to this 303, or are there major differences that I should know about?
If ya'll don't mind, I think I'll hang around for a bit. From the looks of it, Buck seems to have a lot of the qualities I'm looking for in knives these days. American made, not too expensive, and good customer service if half the stories I read on this forum are true. For my fixed blade knives, I'm a KA-BAR Becker guy to the bone, but Case and Buck seem to both really be after my heart in the folder category.
Anyway, I bought this knife back when I was in my undergrad and a Geology professor asked that we buy a pocket knife, or use some kind of steel for testing rock hardness by way of scratching the blade. Had I cared about knives then the way I do now, I probably would have not spent good money on a good knife for such a ridiculous task. The knife went more or less unused and forgotten for quite some time. I recently brought the knife out at the beckoning of the guys in the Traditional forum. I'm kind of involved in a challenge to use only a traditional slip-joint knife as my EDC for a month, as in recent years I've only cared about tactical knives. But that topic is already going on in the traditional forum.
I'm here for several reasons. For one, what does the U on the knife mean? Second, seeing as how the knife is a bit beat-up, but not really abused, would it be worth it for me to send the knife to Buck for a good cleaning up, and address some of the blade play the knife is showing?
Since I started carrying this knife again, I've really kind of fallen in love with it. I don't know if it is because it's a Buck (a brand I never really looked into until now), or if it is because I'm loving the Stockman pattern, or if it is a combination of these things and my current interest in embracing more traditional knives. In any event, the knife has me eyeballing the 301. Are the current 301's similar to this 303, or are there major differences that I should know about?
If ya'll don't mind, I think I'll hang around for a bit. From the looks of it, Buck seems to have a lot of the qualities I'm looking for in knives these days. American made, not too expensive, and good customer service if half the stories I read on this forum are true. For my fixed blade knives, I'm a KA-BAR Becker guy to the bone, but Case and Buck seem to both really be after my heart in the folder category.
