Buck Brahma

James Green Dragon · Jun 8, 2015

I am a big fan of the 119 Special. Got one for my step son as a first fixed blade after he had a bad experience with a different knife from a different manufacturer. He has been using it for more than 6mo now and is very happy with it.

I like his 119 so much I considered one for my self! I wasn't crazy about the width of the handle and materials but I love the blade shape, overall size, ease of resharpening and the fact it is made in the US.

I saw the new Brahma model and had to have one. I love the style. I have relatively small hands and knew the handle diameter would be thicker than I find optimal but went for it anyway and really love the knife. I got one off Amazon about 2 weeks ago and had been using it for light cutting tasks etc.

This past weekend I used it as my EDC for walking the woods with the kids and then my side knife for our wood fire back yard bar-b-que on Saturday. It was then that I experienced a bit of a fail. I used the knife for batoning a piece of hardwood about as bog around as my wrist. The edge is still razor sharp but I got some distortion in the blade at the sweet spot.

I always assumed that the 119 and by extension the Brahama would be good to go for such tasks. I was a little concerned about the hollow grind but have had good experience with similar blades and expected this to be well within the knife's working tolerances. I would like to return the knife if possible. I am happy to send in the knife, a sample of the wood I was using and any other pertinent information in with it.

Battleship · Jun 8, 2015

I think you should have used an ax to split the wood.

Rappy · Jun 8, 2015

Battleship said:
I think you should have used an ax to split the wood.

1+

Batoning ruins knives, unless it's 1/4" you shouldn't baton.

jb4570 · Jun 8, 2015

James IMHO that is not what a 119 style knife was designed for. Send your knife back to Buck and tell them what happened. Years back one of our members here did the same thing with a Buck 650 and snapped his blade in half. Buck replaced the knife for him. You just maybe as lucky as he was. It never hurts to try.

Jb4570

DocT · Jun 9, 2015

Don't pay attention to all the bushcrafters who want to use a knife to do an axe's job. Knives were not meant to baton or chop down trees. They are not as efficient at this as an axe nor as durable. Even the king of bushcrafters, Nessmuk, carried a knife, but also carried a light hatchet or light axe. This is how we were all taught and in my outdoor gear I not only have a knife, but I have a light hatchet I can baton, chop, hack, whatever, with without issue.

You can contact Buck and tell them what happened. They might (might) warranty it. It is worth a try.

Badhammer · Jun 9, 2015

Sharpen it and use it some more but forgo any more batoning.

TAH · Jun 9, 2015

James Green Dragon said:
I used the knife for batoning...

DocT said:
You can contact Buck and tell them what happened. They might (might) warranty it. It is worth a try.

Curious, has anyone had batoning damage covered under the Buck warranty?

DocT · Jun 9, 2015

I have seen Buck warranty some weird damage. They are pretty good, usually going above and beyond. But that is no guarantee they will warranty abuse.

GIRLYmann · Jun 9, 2015

TAH said:
Curious, has anyone had batoning damage covered under the Buck warranty?

http://www.buckknives.com/about-knives/bucks-forever-warranty/
Once they honour this warranty,
Buck just might have to revise
The warranty and add batoning
To its list of no-nos...

You can't split wood
But you can scrape and pry with a certain blade shape
http://www.buckknives.com/about-knives/choosing-the-right-knife/
The brahma is imperishable, so wrote american author arthur christy (1899 - 1946)
http://hinduism.about.com/od/godsgoddesses/p/brahma.htm
I think he might have meant in the context of mortal man
And not the ungodly usage of a hunting knife.

TAH · Jun 9, 2015

Thanks. I was just curious. I don't baton with my knives.

JD Mandrell · Jun 9, 2015

doct said:
don't pay attention to all the bushcrafters who want to use a knife to do an axe's job. Knives were not meant to baton or chop down trees.

^^^^^this^^^^^^^

James Green Dragon · Jun 9, 2015

Someone said resharpen it. That isn't necessary; it is still razor sharp.

As for batoning, I see nothing at all abusive about this technique for splitting relatively small wood for kindling in a knife of this size. It is a legit survival technique. A 6" blade is more than just a hunting knife IMO, especially one with a blade as thick at the spine as the Brahma / 119. I have many others that do the job just fine and really expected the 119 variant to shrug it off.

I will report back once I have sent it back to them. I have an old 110 with a broken point I intend to send back for a new blade at the same time.

David Martin · Jun 10, 2015

Seems like it should have taken that. I wouldn't do such but I know others who do this regularly. DM

Stubai · Jun 10, 2015

It is called an axe. The 119 is a great knife but it is not an axe.

sliderfisherman · Jun 10, 2015

Don't understand why people put their knives on a piece of wood and bang on the back of the blade. They make axes for just that purpose.

fwbdeacon · Jun 10, 2015

I know they are pricey, but the 108 Froe might be an option if you don't want to use a hatchet. The 108 is heavy, quite a looker and could probably take the head off a zombie if need be. It feels good in the hand and if your hands are too big, you can two hand it. Take all that with a grain of salt because I haven't actually used mine yet for fear of scratching the paint.

fwbdeacon · Jun 10, 2015

Sorry, I meant "if your hands are NOT too big". Should have proof read first.

BJE · Jun 10, 2015

If the same thing had been done to a similar styled knife of 1095 it probably wouldn't have happened, I find bucks 420HC to be a little brittle and prone to breakage when pushed. The thin hollow grind doesn't help things, I find the brahma to be an attractive knife, if a bit misleading. It looks more like a combat knife, such as a ka bar, but it's built like a hunting knife with that thin hollow grind and bucks great but hard 420hc, I don't think a ka bar would have been damaged in any way doing the same as the brahma.

I used to throw a ka bar all the time into wood with no damage, wouldn't have tried the with a buck as I know what would have happened, I had taken large half moon chunks out of an older diamondback fixed blade cutting the feet off of a squirrel, have done the same thing with other knives with no problems, but that diamondback was just too thin and brittle to handle that task.
However, a ka bar doesn't slice nearly as well as the brahma.

TAH · Jun 10, 2015

BJE said:
I find the brahma to be an attractive knife, if a bit misleading. It looks more like a combat knife, such as a ka bar, but it's built like a hunting knife with that thin hollow grind...

Kind of have to agree with this. The handle sends a message, to the uninformed, that the knife is more robust than the blade design/grind is intended to be. Great looking knife, though.

James Green Dragon · Jul 10, 2015

As a follow up to my original post, the vendor I got the knife from took it back and sent me a replacement with zero hassle. My replacement is very acceptable; the handle is just slightly smaller in diameter. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and have to say I love it!

I am going to chalk the blade fail up to exceeding the tolerance of the knife. It is of medium thickness and the piece of seasoned cedar wood in question was extremely hard and I must have hit a knot. I have used the replacement for everything from kitchen tasks to even *gasp* light batoning. No problems what so ever and I am cooking a steak over the fire as I type this LOL.

My overall impression of this knife is very favorable. As for the military styling; I would consider it a cross between a commando knife and a skinning knife. As such it is far more useful than the former but still is not something you want to do heavy baton work or prying with.