Buck vs. Spyderco - why the huge price difference?

Steely_Gunz said:
Well, if "silly steel" is your deal breaker, then I would suggest you stick with the Buck 420HC. Fantastic steel for EDC for 90% of what folks expect a knife to do. For the other 10% there is bladeforum.com.
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For dang sure.
I have used Buck's 420HC blades extensively, in the shop, garden, work, camping, fishing, hunting and I love 'em. And in the field if they do get dull I can fix that with 60 seconds on a plain jane pocket sharpener, or a wet rock if I had to.

And not for nothing, but Buck makes knives in a lot of steels besides 420HC, I have models in S30V, S35VN, D2, 5160, 3V, and Magnacut and there's a lot more than that out there.

A trio of 119's, Magnacut, 420HC, 3V:

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elevator man said:
In my opinion anything Buck is something you purchase because you like the design or the nostalgia of it.
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And that's the gist of it for a lot of people. They don't bother to look at what Buck has to offer and only equate them with old man knives from the pre-one hand opener days. A USA made frame lock full flat grind S45VN flipper like the Buck 040 Onset competes well with something like the Spydero Paramilitary 2 in the same steel and lives in the same price range.

As for why the cost difference between two steels? More premium steels command more premium prices.
 
How Spyderco leads their market is steel variety. Where Buck has 420 and a couple of others...35v.

Spyderco has a buffet of steels.

Buck has the Grandpa following. Nutin beats a Buck knife'.
 
I use to love Buck knives then I discovered Spyderco, Benchmade, Kershaw, etc. I love the fact that Buck is still a family owned American company but over the years I’ve plainly just received too many new defective folding Buck knives right out the box. Way off center blades, liner locks that fail with only light pressure, lock backs with waaay to much play when locked open, terrible final edges (15 degree on one side and 20+ on the other). If you can go to a brick and mortar store and pick out a good one then you got a good knife but ordering one online sight unseen is just to much of a gamble in my opinion. Now their fixed blades are a different story. They’re usually very well built and every one that I’ve ever bought has been pretty much perfect.
 
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There's a really nice Murdoch's in town. Northern company.

They display Benchmade on one side of a rotating display cabinet. With Buck on the other side.

I agree. I wanna see and feel the thing. Dealing with both companies. The examples of Buck on traditional models. It's less then desirable.

Benchmade, don't take a loupe to the edge. Don't do that.
 
Spyderco constantly make tweaks(CQI), experiment with steels pushing the industry further, actively seek out and make changes based on user input. Buck is hard stuck in the 20th century.
 
Grasshopperglock said:
How Spyderco leads their market is steel variety. Where Buck has 420 and a couple of others...35v.
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Kryme said:
Spyderco constantly make tweaks(CQI), experiment with steels pushing the industry further, actively seek out and make changes based on user input. Buck is hard stuck in the 20th century.
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You really have no idea how wrong you are about Buck.

Maybe spend some time in the Buck area of this forum, you could learn a lot. I know I did and continue to do so, what was the real eye-opener was when I visited Buck in Post Falls a few years ago and toured the factory. Paul Bos is a legend in the industry, most people have no idea how many knives they've handled and owned that were heat-treated by Paul Bos and Paul Farner.
 
So the heat treat keeps you as a valued buyer?


Ok.


That's their whole gimmick. Figuring out you could stick things in liquid nitrogen.


Again. OK



I grew up with Buck knives. It was the first knife the high school confiscated. Brother gave me that knife. At the end of the year. No one could find my Buck knife.


I get it.
 
jayjaygee said:
The Buck has the steel I prefer (anything that can't be sharpened on a coffee mug I call a "silly steel"),
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People talk about sharpening their knives on the bottom of a coffee cup...or my perspnal favourite, the obsession with "river rocks." You'd think everyone spent all day long at the river. ;)

But when you check out their knives, the truth comes out; they general don't sharpen them at all!
So many knives I have seen that were dull as crap. The reason people swoon about Victorinox knives is that so many are ground thin enough behind the edge that you can still force them through many materials relatively easily once dull.

Cheap knives, expensive knives, most knives people have end up being dull, and staying that way.

As for Buck and Spyderco, I have way more Spyderco knives than Buck ones. It isn't just the steel; they have the ergonomics I want.
 
texpat said:
You really have no idea how wrong you are about Buck.

Maybe spend some time in the Buck area of this forum, you could learn a lot. I know I did and continue to do so, what was the real eye-opener was when I visited Buck in Post Falls a few years ago and toured the factory. Paul Bos is a legend in the industry, most people have no idea how many knives they've handled and owned that were heat-treated by Paul Bos and Paul Farner.
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Paul Boss left us not that long ago, and iirc he wasn't involved at all in the process years prior to his passing. Heat treat is important, I completely agree, but there's only so much you can polish a turd. And I'm sorry, but 4xx steel on anything but a gas station knife is a rip-off these days.
 
Kryme said:
Paul Boss left us not that long ago, and iirc he wasn't involved at all in the process years prior to his passing. Heat treat is important, I completely agree, but there's only so much you can polish a turd. And I'm sorry, but 4xx steel on anything but a gas station knife is a rip-off these days.
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Paul passed away recently? I had no idear. knew he retired in around 2010 but helped out on newer steel heat treats like s30v snd s35vn etc with his old heat treat company that Buck bought. I read he helped the new Buckmaster 2.0 heat treat real recently?

I find 420hc or most of the 4xx such as 440a, 440b, 440c, 420v / s90v, and 440v / s60v to be decent knife steels for most people. calling that group of steels a ripoff and gas station is being silly.....
 
Kryme said:
Paul Boss left us not that long ago, and iirc he wasn't involved at all in the process years prior to his passing. Heat treat is important, I completely agree, but there's only so much you can polish a turd. And I'm sorry, but 4xx steel on anything but a gas station knife is a rip-off these days.
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What is your reasoning? How is 420hc undesirable in your estimation?
jbmonkey said:
Paul passed away recently? I had no idear. knew he retired in around 2010 but helped out on newer steel heat treats like s30v snd s35vn etc with his old heat treat company that Buck bought. I read he helped the new Buckmaster 2.0 heat treat real recently?

I find 420hc or most of the 4xx such as 440a, 440b, 440c, 420v / s90v, and 440v / s60v to be decent knife steels for most people. calling that group of steels a ripoff and gas station is being silly.....
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Agreed.
 
I consider both brands a great value. Two thirds of my knives are either buck or spyderco. I don't perceive a big price difference either if you could have a comparisson of equivalent knives for size, type, steel, handle etc. Both make outstanding knives for very reasonable prices when comparing to the knife market as whole.
 
I dont get the hate for buck. I just recieved my first buck knife. A 110 with blue handle, silver bolsters and s30v clip point blade. As for spyderco, I've carried them for well over a decade now. Started with a tenacious when they were $28. Since then I have a pm2, manix lw, multiple pm3, native, chaparral, kapara, chef, bradley 2 and many more I cant think of at the moment.i LIKE my spyderco knives and no hate on them but the second I open that buck knife and felt how solid it was I knew I'd throw every spyderco i have in the trash before I got rid of that buck 110. It locks up like a damn bank vault. I like the weight, same steel as most my spyderco's but absolutely zero blade play which almost every spyderco has. For the record I'm not tossing my spyderco's out. But to kinda of look down on buck because the designs are "old scool" and think they won't "perform" as good is ridiculous.
 
I don’t get the Buck hate, either, and I don’t think this really is the place to express it. I have a bunch of Bucks in my collection, a couple of classics and a bunch that have actually grown past the 20th century. I also have some much more expensive knives, knives that are easily equaled by several of those gas-station quality Bucks.

You don’t like Buck, that’s fine; no knife is for everybody. But for god’s sake, don’t come in here spouting off stupid, uninformed opinions as facts to back up your hate. You’re just showing the world how much you don’t know.
 
texpat said:
Lol, okay, keep fishing dude, you'll catch one sooner or later, bait's a little weak though. 😄
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I tried to clue that dude in a while back. I see he’s still at it. Saw him in the paper the other day, lol.

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Anywayyyyy, Buck has definitely come a long way. Their run of the mill stainless is still pretty decent, but their 5160 is a true favorite of mine. They do a damn fine job on s30v and quite a few others as well.

As far as comparing Buck to Spyderco… they’re two different animals. Buck doesn’t need to be anything more than what they are, but they still do push the envelope and I applaud them for it.

Spyderco on the other hand is a company that thrives on pushing the envelope.
 
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