Favorite: Lockback Hunter or Camper/Scout/SAK (4-blade)?

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pinnah

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What is your favorite style of knife and why: the Lockback Hunter (e.g. Buck 110, GEC #72 and similar) or the 4-blade Camper/Scout (includes the Victorinox Pioneer and similar)?

The criteria for "favorite" is entirely up to you. All I ask beyond telling us which is your favorite is that you explain your own thinking.

This question is a part of a summer "bracket" discussion series. I took nominations for patterns in a related thread but in the end, I selected 8 finalist based on whim and bias. Sort of like the NCAA tournament.

Below is the bracket for the final eight. In this round, we're voting for the 2nd match only. Make your "vote" clear and I'll work to tally the results. Voting on this round will end in about a week. It's summer and I'm not going to be punctual.*

QUARTER FINALS - MATCH 1. <--- don't vote: winner decided in bold
Bowie/Ka-Bar fixed blade (particularly with 5"-9" blades)
Serpentine Jack (includes the peanut)

QUARTER FINALS - MATCH 2 <--- vote on this one
Lockback folding hunter (e.g. Buck 110)
Scout/Camper/Swiss Army Knife (particularly the 3-5 blade versions)

QUARTER FINALS - MATCH 3 <--- don't vote on this one
Stockman
Finnish/Swedish Puukko (includes the Mora)

QUARTER FINALS - MATCH 4 <--- don't vote on this one
Friction folding peasants knife (includes the Opinel)
German Hippekniep (aka Sod Buster)
 
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My favorite style of knife between the two is hands down the 4 blade scout pattern.

I've just never found a need for the single blade lock back, but I've lost track very long ago how handy a 4 blade scout pattern knife was. I bought a Wenger SI a couple decades ago, and it was my introduction to SAK's. I've carried a few SAK's in my time and liked them a lot. Still have one or two around that still see pocket time. Just to handy to do without. I started out in life carrying the scout knife my dad gave me, so I got used to multiple bladed knives right off the bat. Even when I carried a regular pocket knife with no tools, it was a three bladed stickman.

The lock back hunter can only cut. With a scout or SAK pioneer or SI you have options for actually fixing things out in the world away from home. I know if I hadnt had a screw driver that gave me options, I would have been in a fix out on a very big lake with a malfunctioning trolling motor, or stuck out on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere when my Vespa died. If my only choice was the two listed, the 4 blade camper is my hands down choice.

Carl.
 
Four bladed camper for me....

I've got several old BSA scout knives that I rotate as EDC. Useful as all get-out, with a heathy dose of nostalgia.

And I've got a camo Tinker SAK that I've had since '90 or so. It's been with me on several deployments. I've used the heck out of it, and it's still in top shape. Can't imagine being without.
 
I'll stick with my (premature) selection I made in your last poll. That would be the SAK, specifically.

My favorite SAK is a Vic Mechanic; the pliers are the best I've seen. Can even pull splinters with 'em, the ends of the jaws are precisely flush. Great staple-puller as well. :thumbup:
 
Well, I guess I'm going to be different and say the folding hunter.
I'ved used a 110 for a few hunting season and I carry a lockback everyday.

U love my scout knife, but I never use it as much as the others.
 
Scout, but I'm biased ;)
Have a Weidmansheil stag handled Scout in my pocket now, very handy while I was camping over the weekend. While it shared time with others (Montana Whittler was whittling yesterday at our campsite), I find more overall utility than a lockback, one of which I had with me too (Northfield 73).
 
Lock Back Hunter...a Buck 112 was my first real knife, it was my favorite then, and it's still my favorite knife today.
 
Scout pattern without a doubt is my favorite. SAKs, especially alox (cadet or farmer) are great - if bone or stag would be awesome. My personal favorite is the Case Jr. Scout - a wonderful edc that is pocket friendly. YMMV, but for me this is a good combination of utility and asthetics.
 
This will probably be the hardest decision of the bracket for me. I'm going to have to think hard on this before I vote.

My first knive was an Ulster BSA knife I got when I was 8. I got my first 5 stitches that summer from that knife and still own it. I've had and lost a bunch of them in my life. I love them. But, I don't use anything but the bottle opener and the main blade.


Modified Ulster Camper by Pinnah, on Flickr

When I got in high school, I got my first lockback, a Buck 110 from Herter's Catalog. I love lockbacks. I love the simplicity and the ruggedness of them. My Bucks...


Buck Folders by Pinnah, on Flickr

And then there's my Schrade 5OT, which is easily my most frequently carried knife at this point. I


schrade-5ot by Pinnah, on Flickr

t's like choosing one of your kids. Ugg.
 
Current tally is:
2: Lockback folding hunter (e.g. Buck 110)
7: Scout/Camper/Swiss Army Knife (particularly the 3-5 blade versions)


Some great stories.

This thread would be better with pictures!!:thumbup:
 
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Fast early voting has slowed down.

Current tally is:
3: Lockback folding hunter (e.g. Buck 110)
7: Scout/Camper/Swiss Army Knife (particularly the 3-5 blade versions)

This remains a horrible choice for me. Still thinking....
 
Well... no change the vote since yesterday.

I still can't vote. As an adult, I've grown to seek simplicity in most things and my love of the single blade knife reflects that. I could just recopy everything Fausto wrote (on many things, but in this thread particularly). But still... the Camper was my first knife and the one I most strongly associated with the woods of the north east. This is really a horrible choice to try to make. I may need to abstain completely.

If you haven't voted yet, please consider doing so. Better yet, tell us a story or post some pictures.

As it stands, another slip joint is going to march to victory this week.

Current tally is:
3: Lockback folding hunter (e.g. Buck 110)
7: Scout/Camper/Swiss Army Knife (particularly the 3-5 blade versions)
 
That´s a difficult decision.

I like them both. A lockback is always a great knife to carry during daily tasks. An SAK is following most of the times. I really like to carry them both.

But I use to carry a Alox Vic Soldier much more often than a Buck 110. So for me is the vote: Camper/Scout/SAK

Kind regards
Andi
 
My vote for the SAK (already cast earlier) was based more on practical considerations, as opposed to aesthetics, ergonomics, etc. Basically came down to which I'd more likely carry and use regularly, and that's based mainly on versatility (number of blades/tools in the package) and ease of carry.

I do love the ergonomics and aesthetics of the classic Buck lockbacks, though. I have multiples of 110s, 111s and 112s. They all feel great in-hand, and would be great users IF my EDC tasks required a blade that big.
 
No question about it. Lockback folding hunter.


buck_2.jpg
 
Well, it took me a week to think through this and not an entirely comfortable week. Pragmatics versus the heart.

The Camper/BSA was my first knife. It is at the very center of many deep memories and people and places that I hold most dear.

But, I've cast my vote for the lock back.

Specifically, this is the knife I stand by

schrade-5ot by Pinnah, on Flickr

The 5OT gives up a bit in terms of belly to my preferred spear point but it slices just as well. It carries better than any knife I own, including small Opinels and a Peanut. I think it is the thin profile of the handle.

Most of all, when I pull it out, I put my on confidence. It locks up tight as a drum. When I need to go after something, I know, without a shadow of any doubt, that if the blade is big enough, it will stand up to the task. I just don't get that feeling from any slip joint.

Maybe I carry the wrong slip joints. (shrug) Maybe.

I know I love this knife though. Just took a week to think through it.
 
Briefly, the 4-blade scout.
My edc is actually a 6-blade Vic of cub-scout size (awl and corkscrew on back). I carry it unless I'm carrying a bigger Vic or a multi-tool. It displaced my alox 4-blader just because it's a little smaller and lighter.
I like the folding hunter too, and I have several (favorite is a slim, flat-ground Camillus). But for functionality and totability in a Michigan urban setting, it's the scout-type.
 
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