Buck Selkirk Fixed Blade Arrived; First Impressions

A

Athappyhiker

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Aug 20, 2014
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I just bought a Buck Selkirk fixed blade survival knife for $35 shipped new in box off of the big auction site. Got it today. Won't bore you with the specs. Off the bat I'm pretty darn impressed with this knife. It is true full tang with a beefy guard and pommel, and the handle scales are nicely done "wood grain" micarta. The blade is very sharp, but the bevel on the edge is not even to both sides slightly. The matte bare steel blade is finished nicely. The sheath is good; molded plastic with multiple mounting configuration options and a fire rod with survival whistle is included in a nifty rod holder on the side. Fit and finish of the knife is good to very good; a few very very minor nitpicks. While I haven't used it in a wilderness or camp chore setting yet, I'll say that it feels very solid and comfortable.
For sub $40 this Chinese manufactured knife is a bargain.
 
Been eyeballin one to give to my grandson, but I ended up getting a great price on a Vanguard, so I went with that. I still may pick up a Selkirk though. Good looking knife that looks to be able to multi-task. Let us know what rigors you put it through and how it fared.
 
I'm really glad to see Buck doing something other than hollow grinds for general outdoor use. It's a very handsome looking knife.

Unfortunately, the knife misses the mark on two things I consider "must-haves".

First, for this style of knife, I insist on a beveled handle at the guard like you find on the Mora Companion and Buck Bucklite Max fixed blades. I use a pinched hold a lot, particularly when making drawing cuts. Squared off guards produce a very painful hot spot for me and I won't buy a fixed blade knife I'm going to be using for working wood that has that.

Also, Buck's BOS heat treat on 420HC is really excellent. I love that steel. Sadly, the imported Selkirk doesn't have BOS heat treat. I suspect (read: conjecture) that Buck is wise to not give the BOS recipe to manufacturing shops in a country with loose intellectual property rights enforcement <cough, cough>.

I'd be willing to pay $20 more for that knife if it was made in the US with BOS heat treat and they beveled off the front sides of the guard for better wood working holds.

Oh.. and loose the jimping. It's more needed on a hunting knife and just a pain for some wood working tasks.
 
Looks like a good offering from Buck, haven't held one yet. I think there will be a lot of people that wish this was a USA made buck. I think that will stem from the fact that this is really nicely designed knife
 
One follow-up note is that when I tried the whistle that is attached to the fire Rod, I found out that the whistle was defective and wasn't making any real noise. One email to bucks customer service department last night and I have already received a response from them saying that they will ship me out in new fire rod/whistle no charge.
 
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