- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 9,767
Buck and I go way back. In the Dark Ages when people actually read paper magazines, I wrote an article for BC Outdoors magazine on the current crop of knives. I wrote to Buck (again, on paper) about their new Kraton handled 119 and got a nice reply from Charles Buck Sr., along with the knife itself to review (it came with a well designed nylon sheath with a plastic insert) and a dandy paring knife that we used for years. That 119 worked great field dressing a moose that fall, too. Not sure about what steel it was but it only needed a touch-up after peeling the hide off. Since then I’ve acquired a Buck stockman, two or three 110s, three 112s (including a gorgeous Custom Shop 112 with oak grips and S30V steel), several lightweight folders, plus a few I’ve forgotten and for Christmas a 212 from Copper & Clad with Buck's black phenolic handle and 420hc steel. Could have gone with some other steels but I like 420hc – I once found a 119 in the salty bilge of a west coast fishing boat. Hosed it off, not a speck of rust. Plus it’s easy to sharpen and holds an edge sufficiently long to skin a moose, an acceptable standard IMHO. Buck’s old 440C by contrast was a b*tch to sharpen - I wore out my first 112 in 440C by sharpening on carborundum hones.
Recently I came across a post on the 212 here. Looked interesting, so I ordered one from Copper & Clad. I understand that Joe Houser designed this knife.
Think of the 212 as a smaller, swoopier 119 or even a 117 without the blood groove. The 3 5/8” hollow-ground blade has a nice sweep and a deep swedge, with enough of a straight section for shaving kindling or just cutting stuff. The blade is just under 1/8” thick, about .12-.15” – the micrometer on my progressive trifocals is off a bit. The edge grind was crisp but not keen. Three minutes on the DMTs produced a hair-splitting edge. This is a fine-grained steel with Paul Bos' legendary heat treat. First impression is that this is a solid, well-constructed knife worthy of the Buck name. Heck, I’m tempted to let my wife, an incorrigible serial knife abuser, try it out to see how it holds up to some real hard use.
So far it’s worked great in the kitchen slicing meat, cheese, veggies. Whittled some dry sticks for kindling in the back yard, then sliced some soft tomatoes- no problem. I'd say it’s pretty comparable to my Manly Wasp in 12C27. Not S110V by any means, but a whole lot easier to sharpen, especially in the field.
The thin leather sheath - “Proudly made in USA” - doesn’t do justice to the knife. It has slots instead of a belt loop and the snap straps get in the way when resheathing. The Mexican-made pouch sheaths for the 110 and 112 are much higher quality. I plan to use it as a pattern and make a better pouch sheath out of some nice latigo saddle leather I have lying around.
***
A note about C&C. I gave the wrong address and the knife was returned. Notified C&C and they sent another one to the correct address, no charge, ‘tho‘ I offered to pay the postage. Good folks to deal with.
Recently I came across a post on the 212 here. Looked interesting, so I ordered one from Copper & Clad. I understand that Joe Houser designed this knife.
Think of the 212 as a smaller, swoopier 119 or even a 117 without the blood groove. The 3 5/8” hollow-ground blade has a nice sweep and a deep swedge, with enough of a straight section for shaving kindling or just cutting stuff. The blade is just under 1/8” thick, about .12-.15” – the micrometer on my progressive trifocals is off a bit. The edge grind was crisp but not keen. Three minutes on the DMTs produced a hair-splitting edge. This is a fine-grained steel with Paul Bos' legendary heat treat. First impression is that this is a solid, well-constructed knife worthy of the Buck name. Heck, I’m tempted to let my wife, an incorrigible serial knife abuser, try it out to see how it holds up to some real hard use.
So far it’s worked great in the kitchen slicing meat, cheese, veggies. Whittled some dry sticks for kindling in the back yard, then sliced some soft tomatoes- no problem. I'd say it’s pretty comparable to my Manly Wasp in 12C27. Not S110V by any means, but a whole lot easier to sharpen, especially in the field.
The thin leather sheath - “Proudly made in USA” - doesn’t do justice to the knife. It has slots instead of a belt loop and the snap straps get in the way when resheathing. The Mexican-made pouch sheaths for the 110 and 112 are much higher quality. I plan to use it as a pattern and make a better pouch sheath out of some nice latigo saddle leather I have lying around.
***
A note about C&C. I gave the wrong address and the knife was returned. Notified C&C and they sent another one to the correct address, no charge, ‘tho‘ I offered to pay the postage. Good folks to deal with.
