I'm looking to pick up an Alumni (probably in gold), does anyone here carry one who can say Yay, or Nay? Pros and cons versus other small Buck kickbacks would be a plus. It's been years since I owned a Buck, and I want to grab one and see if my memory of a great knife still holds true. Pics always welcome!
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Convince me of the Alumni
- Thread starter BenHarris
- Start date
Old Hunter
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2012
- Messages
- 9,812
Bought a blue one to use as a gents knife. Very flat and light, carries well (unnoticed in dress slacks). Inexpensive with a sharp but strong little blade. OH
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2012
- Messages
- 2,658
You will love it. I have the Alumni in gold, blue, and black but don't carry them. I have a stainless handled 525 that I have carried for over 5 years and love it. Basically it is the
same knife as the Alumni. It does everything the average person needs to do which is usually small things such as opening boxes, cutting string and such. I do autobody and paint
and have used the knife many times to scrape paint or bondo off of edges and such. Once I had to strip all the paint off of a hood on a chevy pickup which had louvre's up by the
windshield. Once I sanded off all the paint on the outer surface of the hood there was still many layers of paint inside all the edges of the louvre's which I scrapped and basically cut
all the paint out of the louvre's with my trusty little 525 not caring at that point if I trashed the knife since it only cost me $17 brand new. I cut and twisted heavily with the blade
finally getting all the paint off. Afterwards I looked over the knife and there was no edge chipping or wobble at all. A little touch up on the edge was all it needed to bring the edge back to sharp.
Not at all what I would have expected after the abuse I put it through. That was about 4 years ago and I still carry the knife daily. It is one tough little knife and I would guess the
Alumni to be the same.
same knife as the Alumni. It does everything the average person needs to do which is usually small things such as opening boxes, cutting string and such. I do autobody and paint
and have used the knife many times to scrape paint or bondo off of edges and such. Once I had to strip all the paint off of a hood on a chevy pickup which had louvre's up by the
windshield. Once I sanded off all the paint on the outer surface of the hood there was still many layers of paint inside all the edges of the louvre's which I scrapped and basically cut
all the paint out of the louvre's with my trusty little 525 not caring at that point if I trashed the knife since it only cost me $17 brand new. I cut and twisted heavily with the blade
finally getting all the paint off. Afterwards I looked over the knife and there was no edge chipping or wobble at all. A little touch up on the edge was all it needed to bring the edge back to sharp.
Not at all what I would have expected after the abuse I put it through. That was about 4 years ago and I still carry the knife daily. It is one tough little knife and I would guess the
Alumni to be the same.
BuckShack
Gold Member
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- Jul 19, 2015
- Messages
- 3,388
In a 501, that would be interesting. Sure why not
st8yd
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2009
- Messages
- 2,241
Ya, but that's not "Alumni" aluminum and multiple colors.
A few observations on my lightly carried blue Alumni. It has a nice even edge grind and geometry and slices really well and being thin behind the edge helps a lot. It's very light at 0.7 ounces - can't beat that! The buck logo wore off really quickly and looks to be painted on. There is some of side to side blade play that could be easily fixed with a little peening of the pivot pin. Also, the rivets that hold the knife together all stand proud and have sharp edges. I think it would make for a nicer knife if the heads were rounded off at the factory. As others have mentioned, there is no place to hook a keychain ring or lanyard, but since the handles and spacer are aluminum, one could easily drill a hole.
I have no regrets buying this great little cutter. In fact, I agree that a 501 (and 503) with aluminum handles would be a good thing!
I have no regrets buying this great little cutter. In fact, I agree that a 501 (and 503) with aluminum handles would be a good thing!