- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 9,846
I was trying to rationalize a knife fix the other day, so came up with a need for a decent lockback I could loan without cringing -- something rugged enough that even a merciless serial knife abuser like my wife couldnt trash, at least right away. 
Looked at a Shrade Old Timer in mystery steel (440A?) but the fit and finish was pretty crude. A Buck 110 with the usual elegant brass frame, superb fit and handsome cocobolo inserts was only $4 more, plus I was intrigued by Bucks new Edge2x technology. Is it really an improvement? Can an edge be easier to resharpen and last longer? Anyway, that was enough rationalization for the fix.
Ive had a bunch of Bucks lockbacks over the years a Ranger, a Model 426 drop point with the first Zytel grips Id ever seen and BuckLite I picked up on a construction site. The main reason I stopped carrying them is that they were a pain to sharpen (my Buck/Strider 880S in ATS-34 is a different animal entirely). I must have worn out a carborundum stone and half of the blades trying to produce a decent edge. Once you got an edge there, though, it would stay decently sharp and usable for a good while and I never had any problems with rust even around salt water. By the time I discovered DMT diamond hones I had moved on to better things, specifically, a pair of CS Voyagers, one clip, one tanto. So I thought Id compare them to my new old 110.
The Voyager blades are 4 long and 1 wide. The 110 is 3 ¾ long, and 13/16 wide. Pretty close. The 110 is handier in the kitchen for coring apples, cutting peppers, due to the slightly narrower blade. Both are semi hollow ground, with relatively high thin grinds; they arent prybars. Edge geometry has a lot to do with cutting efficiency, and both are excellent cutters.
The Voyagers have ugly black Zytel grips, an extremely tough thermoplastic, with a functional clip and a lanyard hole. Theyre relatively flat and tuck easily IWB. The Buck has a traditional brass frame with elegant cocobolo wood inserts, no lanyard hole, no clip. It comes with a well designed, handsome leather belt pouch; IWB carry is impractical. Both are just a tad over half an inch wide; the Voyagers are flatter underneath the clip.
The Voyagers are one-handed openers with a thumb stud; mine flip open as easily as an old Zippo. The Buck is basically a two-handed opener, with a nail notch for assist. You can get an aftermarket thumbstud or snap it open one-handed by holding the blade, provided your fingers arent slippery or you occasionally enjoy the sight of your own blood.
The Voyagers weigh about 3.4 ounces each. The Buck weighs 7.3 ounces, 9.1 with the sheath.
Both are simple, reliable lockbacks with very little to go wrong, as long as you keep them free of crud. I havent tried to defeat the locks by rapping the back on a hard surface because thats not how I use my blades. Id trust either to keep my fingers safe.
CS uses AUS8, a tough, corrosion resistant stainless alloy with a bit of vanadium. It will take and hold an excellent edge and is easier to sharpen on diamond hones than ATS-34 or VG-10, although it probably wont hold an edge quite as well. Both of my Voyagers will shave a tomato with no nicks, provided it doesnt twitch. All my CS knives came very sharp out of the box and it took little effort to bring them to scary sharp.
420HC is Bucks standard steel, though lately the company has ventured into other steels such as BG-42, ATS-34 and SV30. It isnt the latest/greatest/fad-of-the-week stuff (Buck states that SV30 is the best cutlery steel made), but it can be accurately blanked and that reduces costs to me and thee. Plus its worked pretty well for several million non-knife nerds for a couple of decades now. It has .44% carbon, 1% silicon and 12-14% chromium; thats actually not far off another simple stainless steel developed by the Swedes specifically for the cutlery industry, Sandvik 12C27. Sometimes more complex isnt necessarily better. Buck uses Paul Bos proprietary heat treatment to bring it to 58 RC. (it is emphatically not 420-j2, the junk you often get in offshore crap). Buck gets kudos for being so up front about the alloys it uses and the heat treat, BTW.
For 35 years, Buck specified an included angle of 35-50 for its edges. Around 1999 it did considerable research and experimentation before settling on a thinner grind (26-32 degrees) which it calls Edge2x. Buck claims that the new profile is easier to resharpen and holds an edge longer, which sounds kind of like the waterproof hat that breathes. The CNC-machined, laser gauged edge profile looks as if Buck took a page out of Juranitchs Razor Edge of Sharpening; maybe they could have saved themselves a lot of time and trouble if they had. It came pretty sharp out of the box, with a slight burr. Just five minutes on a DMT regular hone followed by a few finishing strokes on a DMT ultrafine produced a hair popping edge: much easier to sharpen than my previous Bucks. Using it around the kitchen and the shop for a weekend was highly satisfying; a touch of a smooth steel now and then brought it back to hair popping sharp.
As for intangibles, well, the Voyager is lighter, larger, easier to sharpen, has slightly better steel and would be my choice between the two in a if the chips were down situation. But it has about as much soul as a Glock (that would also be my choice in a survival situation).
The heavier Buck just feels good in the hand, sort of like single action .45. The polished brass frame and elegant cocobolo inserts give it a class that Zytel will never have. I havent butchered and skinned a moose with the 110, but I have with a Buck 119, and it held up fine with one retouch on a diamond hone.
So how has it fared in my wifes gentle hands? Well, truth be told, I like it so much I havent offered it to her. But she can borrow the Voyager. Or maybe the Strider.
Looked at a Shrade Old Timer in mystery steel (440A?) but the fit and finish was pretty crude. A Buck 110 with the usual elegant brass frame, superb fit and handsome cocobolo inserts was only $4 more, plus I was intrigued by Bucks new Edge2x technology. Is it really an improvement? Can an edge be easier to resharpen and last longer? Anyway, that was enough rationalization for the fix.
Ive had a bunch of Bucks lockbacks over the years a Ranger, a Model 426 drop point with the first Zytel grips Id ever seen and BuckLite I picked up on a construction site. The main reason I stopped carrying them is that they were a pain to sharpen (my Buck/Strider 880S in ATS-34 is a different animal entirely). I must have worn out a carborundum stone and half of the blades trying to produce a decent edge. Once you got an edge there, though, it would stay decently sharp and usable for a good while and I never had any problems with rust even around salt water. By the time I discovered DMT diamond hones I had moved on to better things, specifically, a pair of CS Voyagers, one clip, one tanto. So I thought Id compare them to my new old 110.
The Voyager blades are 4 long and 1 wide. The 110 is 3 ¾ long, and 13/16 wide. Pretty close. The 110 is handier in the kitchen for coring apples, cutting peppers, due to the slightly narrower blade. Both are semi hollow ground, with relatively high thin grinds; they arent prybars. Edge geometry has a lot to do with cutting efficiency, and both are excellent cutters.
The Voyagers have ugly black Zytel grips, an extremely tough thermoplastic, with a functional clip and a lanyard hole. Theyre relatively flat and tuck easily IWB. The Buck has a traditional brass frame with elegant cocobolo wood inserts, no lanyard hole, no clip. It comes with a well designed, handsome leather belt pouch; IWB carry is impractical. Both are just a tad over half an inch wide; the Voyagers are flatter underneath the clip.
The Voyagers are one-handed openers with a thumb stud; mine flip open as easily as an old Zippo. The Buck is basically a two-handed opener, with a nail notch for assist. You can get an aftermarket thumbstud or snap it open one-handed by holding the blade, provided your fingers arent slippery or you occasionally enjoy the sight of your own blood.
The Voyagers weigh about 3.4 ounces each. The Buck weighs 7.3 ounces, 9.1 with the sheath.
Both are simple, reliable lockbacks with very little to go wrong, as long as you keep them free of crud. I havent tried to defeat the locks by rapping the back on a hard surface because thats not how I use my blades. Id trust either to keep my fingers safe.
CS uses AUS8, a tough, corrosion resistant stainless alloy with a bit of vanadium. It will take and hold an excellent edge and is easier to sharpen on diamond hones than ATS-34 or VG-10, although it probably wont hold an edge quite as well. Both of my Voyagers will shave a tomato with no nicks, provided it doesnt twitch. All my CS knives came very sharp out of the box and it took little effort to bring them to scary sharp.
420HC is Bucks standard steel, though lately the company has ventured into other steels such as BG-42, ATS-34 and SV30. It isnt the latest/greatest/fad-of-the-week stuff (Buck states that SV30 is the best cutlery steel made), but it can be accurately blanked and that reduces costs to me and thee. Plus its worked pretty well for several million non-knife nerds for a couple of decades now. It has .44% carbon, 1% silicon and 12-14% chromium; thats actually not far off another simple stainless steel developed by the Swedes specifically for the cutlery industry, Sandvik 12C27. Sometimes more complex isnt necessarily better. Buck uses Paul Bos proprietary heat treatment to bring it to 58 RC. (it is emphatically not 420-j2, the junk you often get in offshore crap). Buck gets kudos for being so up front about the alloys it uses and the heat treat, BTW.
For 35 years, Buck specified an included angle of 35-50 for its edges. Around 1999 it did considerable research and experimentation before settling on a thinner grind (26-32 degrees) which it calls Edge2x. Buck claims that the new profile is easier to resharpen and holds an edge longer, which sounds kind of like the waterproof hat that breathes. The CNC-machined, laser gauged edge profile looks as if Buck took a page out of Juranitchs Razor Edge of Sharpening; maybe they could have saved themselves a lot of time and trouble if they had. It came pretty sharp out of the box, with a slight burr. Just five minutes on a DMT regular hone followed by a few finishing strokes on a DMT ultrafine produced a hair popping edge: much easier to sharpen than my previous Bucks. Using it around the kitchen and the shop for a weekend was highly satisfying; a touch of a smooth steel now and then brought it back to hair popping sharp.
As for intangibles, well, the Voyager is lighter, larger, easier to sharpen, has slightly better steel and would be my choice between the two in a if the chips were down situation. But it has about as much soul as a Glock (that would also be my choice in a survival situation).
The heavier Buck just feels good in the hand, sort of like single action .45. The polished brass frame and elegant cocobolo inserts give it a class that Zytel will never have. I havent butchered and skinned a moose with the 110, but I have with a Buck 119, and it held up fine with one retouch on a diamond hone.
So how has it fared in my wifes gentle hands? Well, truth be told, I like it so much I havent offered it to her. But she can borrow the Voyager. Or maybe the Strider.
