Buck reaper ***NEW AND IMPROVED*** back from StoneKnifeWorks

mbjannusch

mbjannusch

Joined
Apr 1, 2010
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Well I couldn't pass it up. I bought the new BUCK Reaper, with snake skin pattern handle. I found it at auction with a BIN price of 69.95. The MSRP on the Buck web site was $90.00 and not yet available. It comes with the following options

* Blade lenght: 6 3/4"
* Blade Material: 420HC with black traction coating
* Carry System: Heavy-Duty Nylon Sheath
* Fixed: Blade: Yes
* Handle: Material: Molded Nylon In Viper Snake skin
* Wieght: 8.5oz

My concern is the blade coating. I'm not a fan of any type of coating on a blade. I bought it for a bug out pack, and it only sees minimal use. I try to take it when I travel away from home or if I'm out in the camping. The knife probably won't see much action but it will replace the Alpha Hunter I have currently.

Let me know what you think...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171003487951?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648
 
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Congrats on the new steel, been looking at one of those myself. Seems to be similar to the "Thug". 69 bucks seems like a very fair price point. Is it powder coat? are you going to strip it?
 
Busheagle said:
Congrats on the new steel, been looking at one of those myself. Seems to be similar to the "Thug". 69 bucks seems like a very fair price point. Is it powder coat? are you going to strip it?
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Was definitely thinking about removing the coating. I'll have to look at it when it comes. I will probably remove the handle material and try it in a small spot. Some times the metal under the coating isn't perfectly smooth and could look bad it it all gets taken off.
 
As these new survival knives are released I ask, what is the purpose of the coating on these blades? From my (limited) understanding and knowledge coatings are primarily applied to carbon steel blades to reduce the likelihood of rusting. Therefore, with a highly stainless steel such as 420hc is the coating purely for aesthetics and to reduce reflectivity or are there other advantages that I am not thinking of?
 
Probably a combination of all three. 420HC is a High Carbon stainless so maybe there is a protection benefit.
 
I was just looking at that model myself but with the ghost scales. I thought it would be nice project to re-handle it in walnut. Its got a great shape. Good luck with it!
 
I saw these come out earlier in the week. It took everything had too hold off I have been buying too much as of late, I am going on on camping trip this summer , This will be coming with me , hopefully buck will be selling them on there site by then
 
Has anybody seen the sheath for this knife? Is it like the sheath that goes with the Hoodlum?
 
mbjannusch said:
Has anybody seen the sheath for this knife? Is it like the sheath that goes with the Hoodlum?
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The sheath is a standard nylon sheath like those come with the 119's, etc. that don't come with the leather sheath, they are not Molle compatable. They may come out later with the Molle sheath as an upgrade. This info came from their video on utube from the shot show earlier this year.

Also, the blade is powder coated.
 
mbjannusch said:
Was definitely thinking about removing the coating. I'll have to look at it when it comes. I will probably remove the handle material and try it in a small spot. Some times the metal under the coating isn't perfectly smooth and could look bad it it all gets taken off.
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If you end up stripping it, please post up some pics, would like to see what it looks like without the coating.
 
Busheagle said:
If you end up stripping it, please post up some pics, would like to see what it looks like without the coating.
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I think I'm going to have it customized. I'm going to have the coating taken off and satin finished. I'll have the handle material switched out as well. I think I'm going to go with olive green linen Micarta with a red liner. I'll post Pictures after I get it back...

I'm going to have StoneKnifeWorks do the customization.
 
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mbjannusch said:
I think I'm going to have it customized. I'm going to have the coating taken off and satin finished. I'll have the handle material switched out as well. I think I'm going to go with olive green linen Micarta with a red liner. I'll post Pictures after I get it back...

I'm going to have StoneKnifeWorks do the customization.
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Sounds really cool, will look forward to seeing some pics
 
I just got the Reaper and also the Endeavor today. Interesting, I have two words to describe the feel of both knives, cheap and cheaper. I have the feeling that it's because of the handle material choice (injection molded nylon). I may be wrong, but I think if the handles were made of micarta, G-10 or even Dymondwood, it would make a big difference. There's certainly room for an upgrade here.

The serrations on the Endeavor aren't a feature that I'm a big fan of, but there's still a lot of usable blade left. They really should add a non-serrated model in my opinion. The blade coating on the Reaper is rough, it almost has a sandpaper feel to it but without the sharpness. Just a fine bumpy texture that I could see causing drag through what ever you're cutting. It's like a non-slip surface of some kind. The tang stamp on the Endeavor is stamped into the blade (lightly) but the tang "stamp" on the Reaper is just printed like the Buck logo. I'm sure that if the blade coating was stripped off, the "stamp" would go with it.

The handles of the two models seem to be identical in shape and design and I'm sure that they can be interchanged. All the holes (at the butt and mounting holes) are the same. I didn't take pictures of the sheaths, they are just the standard generic padded nylon with a plastic liner.

EndeavorandReapera_zpsdd2b8843.jpg


EndeavorandReaperc_zps8d381046.jpg


EndeavorandReaperb_zps6d439f3c.jpg
 
Nice pictures, Dave!! I was thinking if the blade is coated it may not be finished very well, I got a 653 years ago that was painted and after removing the paint I found a very rough blade under the mess. I have a picture if you want to see what I mean.
 
Thanks and I'd like to see the 653 pictures. The coating on the Reaper is called "black traction". Makes me wonder, why on earth would you want a blade with "traction"??? Doesn't that translate into cutting resistance?
 
Well that is disappointing news. The reaper looked really good on the website. I thought that the price seemed awfully good for a knife that looked that cool. I guess that answers that question.:(
 
I knew that the stamp would get stripped off with the coating and really don't care. Your right Dave, "traction" equates to resistance and that is exactly what I don't want. Your conformation on the handle material is just what I needed, I had a feeling that the handle material would suck. I'm going to have some olive linen Micarta put in place and have that resistance coating stripped off. Maybe after a make over the knife will be something to talk about...
 
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