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Buck/Mayo TNT
- Thread starter laCie
- Start date
I searched here and on other forums before opportunity knocked - there isn't a lot about this knife posted, which is incredible compared to the comments about the original. Just got one a few weeks ago and using it weekends. I carry a SnG daily, so my frame of reference is a little skewed in comparison.
No problems with clip carry - nice and tight. It rides high enough to pinch the two clip screws pulling it out, which gives just enough traction your fingers don't slip off. The exposed clip and grips are bead blasted and resistant to hard abrasion from angle iron and such - but I don't plan on treating it that way.
Reaching into your pocket you can get "horned" a little from the mild crossguards, but not like some knives I've carried that were much more square edged. In hand, the grip rotates easily to thumb the blade - very smooth and slick, the oval hole (my favorite style) gives a lot of range to manipulate. The blade locks securely as a Ti framelock should. The handle is thin (compared to a SnG,) not much different than a Kershaw Vapor II. Heavy pressure will be felt on the palm, but the blade would have to be incredibly dull to raise blisters - and it's not really that kind of knife.
Currently it's the sharpest knife I own, every bit as good as a Spyderco. The standard Buck convex works great on crock sticks cleaning up a dull spot. The point is not as low as a drop point, but this knife isn't for processing deer as much as general cutting - which it does well, almost laser like. Very little effort is needed.
Grip on the beadblasted Ti is excellent, the best of any metal handled knife I have owned. The hole pattern is more than decorative, adding to the grip without adding roughness. Overall the fit and finish is excellent. I did acquire mine from another forumite who noted the blade detent didn't quite match up, but I have used Buck Customer Service before and it is extremely responsive. Lesser companies and importers won't do as much, especially a year from now if I want it fixed. Being tip down, it's no problem, a big advantage for that type. Tip up knives need very secure detents that are usually harder to open.
Overall I am very pleased with the knife, a bargain for a Bos heat treated S30V blade Ti framelock - Mayo's handbuilt versions are much higher. You do get what you pay for, but the incremental functional difference to me was worth it. Buck is faithful in reproducing the ergonomics and function, and I think it gives you exactly what Mayo had in mind.
If at all possible get your hands on one and try it out - you will be impressed at the sharpness, lightness, and solid lock up. The best one in the case at a good price should go home with you.
No problems with clip carry - nice and tight. It rides high enough to pinch the two clip screws pulling it out, which gives just enough traction your fingers don't slip off. The exposed clip and grips are bead blasted and resistant to hard abrasion from angle iron and such - but I don't plan on treating it that way.
Reaching into your pocket you can get "horned" a little from the mild crossguards, but not like some knives I've carried that were much more square edged. In hand, the grip rotates easily to thumb the blade - very smooth and slick, the oval hole (my favorite style) gives a lot of range to manipulate. The blade locks securely as a Ti framelock should. The handle is thin (compared to a SnG,) not much different than a Kershaw Vapor II. Heavy pressure will be felt on the palm, but the blade would have to be incredibly dull to raise blisters - and it's not really that kind of knife.
Currently it's the sharpest knife I own, every bit as good as a Spyderco. The standard Buck convex works great on crock sticks cleaning up a dull spot. The point is not as low as a drop point, but this knife isn't for processing deer as much as general cutting - which it does well, almost laser like. Very little effort is needed.
Grip on the beadblasted Ti is excellent, the best of any metal handled knife I have owned. The hole pattern is more than decorative, adding to the grip without adding roughness. Overall the fit and finish is excellent. I did acquire mine from another forumite who noted the blade detent didn't quite match up, but I have used Buck Customer Service before and it is extremely responsive. Lesser companies and importers won't do as much, especially a year from now if I want it fixed. Being tip down, it's no problem, a big advantage for that type. Tip up knives need very secure detents that are usually harder to open.
Overall I am very pleased with the knife, a bargain for a Bos heat treated S30V blade Ti framelock - Mayo's handbuilt versions are much higher. You do get what you pay for, but the incremental functional difference to me was worth it. Buck is faithful in reproducing the ergonomics and function, and I think it gives you exactly what Mayo had in mind.
If at all possible get your hands on one and try it out - you will be impressed at the sharpness, lightness, and solid lock up. The best one in the case at a good price should go home with you.
I think tirod3 just about sums it up.
I would just like to add the following personal opinion:
This is a very good knife. I own a lot of nice knives, and have a good choice when looking for the days edc. Since having the 172, however, my spydies, crk and al mars kind of get ingored.
I am unusually addicted to this knife.
I would just like to add the following personal opinion:
This is a very good knife. I own a lot of nice knives, and have a good choice when looking for the days edc. Since having the 172, however, my spydies, crk and al mars kind of get ingored.
I am unusually addicted to this knife.
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2007
- Messages
- 612
I have this knife and love it. If your looking for a hard use EDC knife this is the one. The clip does need to work itself in. Its really tight on the pants in the begining. Very Light knife so its easy to forget its still on your pants. Plus you never go wrong with Buck Warranty Best there is.
I carry the SnG tip down only - all that's offered - and transition to tip up only with the Buck. I've carried others that were opposites, too. I prefer tip down because it's safer to carry, just as easy to draw and lock, and gets my fingers around the pivot area faster to open. Carrying tip up is a minor degree different - and just about as easy. Right now it comes easier because I use it 5 days a week. After about two-three draws on Saturday, I'm OK with the other.
I think the tip up/down discussion is really a matter of whether the user will take the time trying the other until they are equally familiar. Most of the comments I see excuse it with psuedo arguments about SD. I see it as being too lazy, or some sort of false sense of elitism in carry.
If you can't carry and draw both for life's little tasks, you're deciding to handicap yourself, and you haven't earned a windshield hanger to park there.
I think the tip up/down discussion is really a matter of whether the user will take the time trying the other until they are equally familiar. Most of the comments I see excuse it with psuedo arguments about SD. I see it as being too lazy, or some sort of false sense of elitism in carry.
If you can't carry and draw both for life's little tasks, you're deciding to handicap yourself, and you haven't earned a windshield hanger to park there.
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 3,531
:thumbup:
The clip position is the last thing that concerns me when I buy a folder.
The onlt concern I have is that tip up knives need to have a very secure ball detent if its a liner, compression or frame lock. Most other locks hold themselves closed, so it isn't an issue.
OilMan
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2004
- Messages
- 4,290
I'm not following you, the SnG is Tip Up only unless you've got a modified one?? And if you do do you have a pic of how the clip is mounted?
The Mayo seemed too delicate for my tastes, they remind me of William Henrys in that respect. They might not really be all that delicate but they seemed that way to me. They'd make a great gentleman's knife IMHO. YMMV
My apologies - oldtimer's brain fart. You're right, I got it backwards. Had to pull the knife out to check, too.
The Mayo looks delicate, but side by side with a Kershaw Vapor II, it's about the same. Somehow the Kershaw is never described that way. I guess it's a matter of the lines Mayo drew up for the look he was trying to achieve. It's definitely not "tacticool" by a long stretch.
I do carry it as more of a gentlemen's knife, but compared to a lot of older slipjoints, it comes off looking a lot stronger in a refined way. Considering it's made the same as a Sebenza - two Ti plates, framelock, and S30V blade - I don't see it as any less tough.
I'll post a picture of the SnG when I figure out how to mount a clip on the pivot so it won't swivel. I should just get STR to make a clip that would work that way!
The Mayo looks delicate, but side by side with a Kershaw Vapor II, it's about the same. Somehow the Kershaw is never described that way. I guess it's a matter of the lines Mayo drew up for the look he was trying to achieve. It's definitely not "tacticool" by a long stretch.
I do carry it as more of a gentlemen's knife, but compared to a lot of older slipjoints, it comes off looking a lot stronger in a refined way. Considering it's made the same as a Sebenza - two Ti plates, framelock, and S30V blade - I don't see it as any less tough.
I'll post a picture of the SnG when I figure out how to mount a clip on the pivot so it won't swivel. I should just get STR to make a clip that would work that way!