It seems to me that a lot of people pick Case over Buck.. It may be because of functionality, looks or tradition. Why is it that you purchased or favour one from the other? They are both great companies with a long history. Pictures and stories of why you have loyalty to one or the other are very welcomed!
Is the question about slip joint pocket knives, folding hunting knives or fixed blade hunting knives?
In terms of folding hunting knives, Buck all the way. The 110 defined the category really.
In terms of fixed blades and slip joints, I think it's a choice between tradition (Case) and iconic mass production success (Buck), particularly with the saw cut Derlin 300s and the black phenolic fixed blades.
Longer answer and more emotional or subjective....
IMO, the thing about very traditional knives is they all look mostly the same, which isn't surprising if they use traditional patterns, traditional joinery and traditional patterns. Take a GEC, Case, Queen, Canal Street, (old) Schrade-Walden stockman and put them side by each on a shelf on the other side of the room and I doubt if I could pick one from the other. The same is true of leather stacked fixed blades. And this is the thing with Case.
Now, put a black saw cut Derlin Buck 301 in the group or put a black phenolic handled Buck 119 in the mix of fixed blades, and there's no dispute. Those knives are made by Buck.
IMO, both Buck and Schrade started pushing the envelope of tradition in 60s and 70s. Buck came out with their distinctive black phenolic handles and Schrade introduced their saw cut Derlin Old Timers. Both companies were pursuing mass production and larger numbers. And while Schrade paid homage to Buck with their LB-7s, Buck went to Schrade to outsource the 301s. Schrade didn't survive as we know it but when I look at a saw cut Buck 300, I see the echos of Schrade combined with the distinctive black and silver color motif of the iconic Buck 119. IMO, the black Buck 300s are a very unique signature combination. Case would never produce that knife.
My first grown knife was a Buck 110. Before that I had several Ulster BSA knives (and still do). So, I have a soft spot in my heart for mass production knives.
With all this said, you might think I like all things Buck. I like the iconic Bucks but beyond this, they seem a bit adrift. Their slip joints seem to be a second thought for them. The cascades of other scale and bolster color combinations leave me cold. They are neither traditional nor iconic Buck. This will seem harsher than I mean it to be, but really the iconic Bucks are products of the 60s and 70s and they have that sort of look to them. They are modern traditionals. The new Buck slip joints look like muscle cars of the 80s, trying sadly to capture that same magic and missing the mark.
