I found this nice EDCer at a pretty low price; $23. It's been discontinued from Buck's line-up, but there's still plenty available. It's the Cutback, designed by Tom Mayo (the package just calls it a "Small Mayo". China-made and using a different steel than Buck's typical 420HC, it's a great model. The model number is 174, and it's also available in a larger version called the Hilo. This one (the Cutback) weighs 3.3 ounces.
The Handle: The Cutback is made 100% of stainless steel. It's bead-blasted with a titanium finish, and is quite comfortable in the hand. Closed, the Cutback is 4-1/8" long and 3/8" thick not counting the pocket clip. There are five holes cut into each handle slab (Buck calls then lightening holes to lighten the weight). Very Mayo design, looking at his other work. The back is open to allow lint and other debris to be blown out or removed with a Q-tip, and this also lightens weight. The Cutback is held together with two T-6 screws at the butt end and an adjustable T-8 screw for the pivot pin. These are all counter-sunk into the right side of the frame; there are only the three screws, not three on each side. The blade stop pin isn't screwed in, and is simply free-floating in the handle scales (but there's no movement). The handle slabs are each 1/16" thick.
The pocket clip is removable with three T-6 screws, but is mounted for right-hand tip-down carry only. It has the same titanium finish that the handle does, and is as deep as possible; when fully inserted in a pocket, only a tad over 1/4" of the knife is exposed. The clip has Buck's logo stamped in along with the Mayo "M". Retention is great. It's a tight clip, but the smoothness of the clip and handle makes it easy to withdraw.
Using the Cutback is nice. There are no sharp corners or rough spots to abrade your hand, and the contour of the handles makes it not-as-slippery as you'd think.
The cutback locks open via frame lock, and it locks open solid. Mine has no blade play, and I didn't have to mess around with the pivot pin at all. The frame lock engages the blade to its (the blade's) halfway point, which is more than adequate.
The Blade: The Cutback is made of 440C stainless steel instead of Buck's typical 420HC, and I think it works very well. I'm not sure of the Rockwell hardness, but it's harder than most of my Bucks. The blade is 3-1/4" long with a 3" cutting edge, and is 1/8" thick. It came pretty sharp, and was shaving hair by the fourth pass on a leather strop. Dual thumb studs make opening easy, and the frame lock makes a "thumb flick" extremely easy. The studs are ramped, and this helps with opening too. The blade shares the same titanium finish as the rest of the knife, and it all matches together perfectly.
In terms of markings, the Cutback is stamped as follows...
Left side: 174 on the tang and the Buck / Mayo logo (same as on the pocket clip) on the blade portion. Right side: CHINA on the tang.
The blade is very shallowly hollow ground from the 3/4 point; at first I thought it was flat ground. Unlike a lot of my Buck knives, the Cutback didn't have visible or "feelable" vertical grinding lines. This is good. The only downside, if you want to look at it that way, is that there's no jimping. I don't think it's that big of a deal on an EDC like this; afterall, it was designed to be smooth and "wavy". This might not be the same "feel" if it had jimping.
The Buck Cutback is another nice EDC for a low price. I would like a Mayo TNT or Waimea very much, but the Cutback (and now the Vantage) have given me as nice of a knife as I'd like - within my price range. If you can find the Cutback or its larger brother (the Hilo) give it a shot.
The Handle: The Cutback is made 100% of stainless steel. It's bead-blasted with a titanium finish, and is quite comfortable in the hand. Closed, the Cutback is 4-1/8" long and 3/8" thick not counting the pocket clip. There are five holes cut into each handle slab (Buck calls then lightening holes to lighten the weight). Very Mayo design, looking at his other work. The back is open to allow lint and other debris to be blown out or removed with a Q-tip, and this also lightens weight. The Cutback is held together with two T-6 screws at the butt end and an adjustable T-8 screw for the pivot pin. These are all counter-sunk into the right side of the frame; there are only the three screws, not three on each side. The blade stop pin isn't screwed in, and is simply free-floating in the handle scales (but there's no movement). The handle slabs are each 1/16" thick.
The pocket clip is removable with three T-6 screws, but is mounted for right-hand tip-down carry only. It has the same titanium finish that the handle does, and is as deep as possible; when fully inserted in a pocket, only a tad over 1/4" of the knife is exposed. The clip has Buck's logo stamped in along with the Mayo "M". Retention is great. It's a tight clip, but the smoothness of the clip and handle makes it easy to withdraw.
Using the Cutback is nice. There are no sharp corners or rough spots to abrade your hand, and the contour of the handles makes it not-as-slippery as you'd think.
The cutback locks open via frame lock, and it locks open solid. Mine has no blade play, and I didn't have to mess around with the pivot pin at all. The frame lock engages the blade to its (the blade's) halfway point, which is more than adequate.
The Blade: The Cutback is made of 440C stainless steel instead of Buck's typical 420HC, and I think it works very well. I'm not sure of the Rockwell hardness, but it's harder than most of my Bucks. The blade is 3-1/4" long with a 3" cutting edge, and is 1/8" thick. It came pretty sharp, and was shaving hair by the fourth pass on a leather strop. Dual thumb studs make opening easy, and the frame lock makes a "thumb flick" extremely easy. The studs are ramped, and this helps with opening too. The blade shares the same titanium finish as the rest of the knife, and it all matches together perfectly.
In terms of markings, the Cutback is stamped as follows...
Left side: 174 on the tang and the Buck / Mayo logo (same as on the pocket clip) on the blade portion. Right side: CHINA on the tang.
The blade is very shallowly hollow ground from the 3/4 point; at first I thought it was flat ground. Unlike a lot of my Buck knives, the Cutback didn't have visible or "feelable" vertical grinding lines. This is good. The only downside, if you want to look at it that way, is that there's no jimping. I don't think it's that big of a deal on an EDC like this; afterall, it was designed to be smooth and "wavy". This might not be the same "feel" if it had jimping.
The Buck Cutback is another nice EDC for a low price. I would like a Mayo TNT or Waimea very much, but the Cutback (and now the Vantage) have given me as nice of a knife as I'd like - within my price range. If you can find the Cutback or its larger brother (the Hilo) give it a shot.