Did buck make a “real’ Cocobolo knive

Your Name Goes Here said:
As others seems interested I'll (hopefully) post an image of the COA here. Do a search for "buck cocobolo". The knife in question is at the top of the list of 13 results.

I'm going by the COA, which says, "The knife features a Cocobolo handle . . . ". It does not say Cocobolo Dymalux or Dymondwood. If this is not a real cocobolo handle then, in my opinion, Buck is being deceptive with their description of the materials used when selling knives like this limited edition knife (edition of 31). I've seen Buck describe not real cocobolo handles as "Cocobolo Dymondwood". So, I'm assuming, if this is not real cocobolo it would say "Cocobolo Dymondwood" in the COA. But, from reading this thread, I guess Buck doesn't always do that.

If this practice is ongoing, with the above mentioned previous offerings of Heritage Walnut or previous oak offers, then Buck is purposefully misleading their customers. At a minimum there should be an asterisk next to the brand names of Dymalux or Dymondwood stating not real ebony/oak/cocobolo etc. In my opinion.

I'm assuming a lot of customers would want to know this information (and want their money back) and would feel similarly "disappointment/misleading/foolish/pretty deflating".

I'd be pissed if I had a collection of cocobolo handles I found out to be laminated birch wood, colored to look like cocobolo. Send it back !
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Here is a top view of the 118 knife for that COA. You can clearly see the layers of wood/laminate that make up the "cocobolo".

In this day and age Buck should be transparent on the materials they are using in the knives. Take for example they now state that the leather sheaths are "imported" or "Made in USA". The wood materials should have the same transparency. It's not a bad thing to have Dymalux/Dymonwood or other impregnated/processed/laminated wood, but they should be labeling as such. Dymalux/Dymondwood would probably outlast real wood in the test of time, but for me, nothing beats the beauty of real wood (even when it is stabilized).

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Yeah my custom shop 112 that I got a few years ago said it was walnut. When I got it the wood grain looks to be walnut but you can clearly see the laminated layers from the back lock top side. I wonder if some of the flat sided handles have a top or outer laminate with the stated wood and then birch underneath? I don’t have it with me right now or I’d post a picture. But it does look like walnut wood grain.
 
I have 2 walnut 113's.
One is the older 113 420hc with a true walnut handle.
Second is a Custom s30v with a laminated walnut handle.

The Custom is a newer knife.
I recall someone telling me they had spoken with someone at Buck and that the Custom walnut 110's would get a true walnut scale.
And I recall a very respected person here confirming that.

But I guess it is not safe to assume that what is true with one holds true for another.............

Yes, I do agree that they need to clarify what the true handle material is.
Especially in the Custom Shop.
Because right now it says "walnut".


Thanks.
 
GPyro said:
I have 2 walnut 113's.
One is the older 113 420hc with a true walnut handle.
Second is a Custom s30v with a laminated walnut handle.

The Custom is a newer knife.
I recall someone telling me they had spoken with someone at Buck and that the Custom walnut 110's would get a true walnut scale.
And I recall a very respected person here confirming that.

But I guess it is not safe to assume that what is true with one holds true for another.............

Yes, I do agree that they need to clarify what the true handle material is.
Especially in the Custom Shop.
Because right now it says "walnut".


Thanks.
Click to expand...
It wouldn't take much for Buck to verify the materials and have their web developers update the website accordingly.
 
Imagine going to the store and buying a bag of walnuts.
You get home, open them up and find some processed and compressed walnut dust made into a nut shaped thing like they do with Pringles potato chips.

"Awe, that's alright. It's a good brand, and I really like all their other nuts, so I don't care. "
"I mean, it looks like a walnut, and it contains walnuts, so I guess it's ok."

LOL.....sigh.
 
GPyro said:
I have 2 walnut 113's.
One is the older 113 420hc with a true walnut handle.
Second is a Custom s30v with a laminated walnut handle.

The Custom is a newer knife.
I recall someone telling me they had spoken with someone at Buck and that the Custom walnut 110's would get a true walnut scale.
And I recall a very respected person here confirming that.

But I guess it is not safe to assume that what is true with one holds true for another.............

Yes, I do agree that they need to clarify what the true handle material is.
Especially in the Custom Shop.
Because right now it says "walnut".


Thanks.
Click to expand...

"Especially in the Custom Shop." I agree 100% - limited runs, high dollar value. But also for all of their products. Otherwise Buck is using deceptive practices with their customers.
 
Lesknife said:
Yeah my custom shop 112 that I got a few years ago said it was walnut. When I got it the wood grain looks to be walnut but you can clearly see the laminated layers from the back lock top side. I wonder if some of the flat sided handles have a top or outer laminate with the stated wood and then birch underneath? I don’t have it with me right now or I’d post a picture. But it does look like walnut wood grain.
Click to expand...
Yes I think they do this on some of them. I have a laminated 110 the outer layer looks like ebony, Ive seen the same on oak 110’s.
 
Fixall said:
I've personally never seen a Buck fixed blade with a real cocobolo handle. If one has been made, I'd sure like to see it. :)

Buck has made some folders with real cocobolo handles. The 110 and 112 from the BotM program were out of this world.
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Response from Buck:

"Early Custom Shop knives had the option of genuine cocobolo wood. All CKS fixed blade knives had the option of cocobolo wood as handle material.


This is from the 1987 CKS catalog:

Model 925 - Heavy Skinner

Model 931 Clip Point Hunter

Model 936 Sweep Point Hunter


As far as full production models go, I believe (and will have to verify) that all fixed blade cocobolo handles would have been either Dymondwood or DymaLux--resin stabilized birch ply product."
 

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Tecate said:
I don't recall ever seeing any Mesquite knives so far. Anyone have a picture of a Buck Custom made knife with mesquite they could share?
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Post #7 in the Feb 6th SPS by MT_Pokt MT_Pokt ... a picture kinda hard to forget.

The Sunday Picture Show (February 6, 2022)

Hello and welcome to the Sunday Picture Show. Share your Buck knives with others by posting pictures of them here. New or old, plain or custom, user or safe queen, one or a collection, we love to see them all. This weekly tradition was started in 2010 by ItsTooEarly (Armand Hernandez) and Oregon...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
DeSotoSky said:
Post #7 in the Feb 6th SPS by MT_Pokt MT_Pokt ... a picture kinda hard to forget.

The Sunday Picture Show (February 6, 2022)

Hello and welcome to the Sunday Picture Show. Share your Buck knives with others by posting pictures of them here. New or old, plain or custom, user or safe queen, one or a collection, we love to see them all. This weekly tradition was started in 2010 by ItsTooEarly (Armand Hernandez) and Oregon...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
Click to expand...
Wow! Those are really nice.

Thanks for the link.
 
Alot of lamenting. Just to be contrary I would argue that (dymondwood, dymalux, fibron, impreg, or whatever) is the better product for the application. Other than for a pure collector knife, you can (sometimes) have the actual wood grain in the top layer for apearance backed by a stable, waterproof, and nearly indestructable resin impregnated laminate. Yes, Buck is a little loose with handle material descriptions sometimes ( take Impala vs Buffalo horn as one example). I would say most who collect Buck accept that as the nature of the beast...ie we mostly understand "Buck Speak" when it comes to handle materials.
 
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