- Joined
- Mar 15, 2000
- Messages
- 45,835
I haven't bought a Buck knife in a while, but a couple of days ago, I stumbled onto a clearance and decided to pick up a Buck 490 ErgoHunter Waterfowler - Select. (Click name/link to see the product at Buck's web site.) The overview at Buck notes the following:
A turkey and dove hunter, I felt like this little knife would excel in a field pack. Lightweight and hollow ground for slicing, it was a knife I wanted to try. The technical specs listed at Buck are as follows:
After taking the knife out of the clam pack, I was a little surprised by the edge. Of the three knives on the shelf, I chose mine because it had the most consistent grind (none of them were bad). But the knife was dull by my standards, and duller than anything I've gotten from Buck in the past. 420HC is easy to sharpen though, and three rotations on the Spyderco Sharpmaker had the knife hair-popping sharp.
The ergos on the knife are quite good. It features an asymmetrical handle with more curvature on one side. For a right-hander, this asymmetry means that the handle's "belly" fits the contour of the palm and that the fingertips rest on the flatter side of the handle. The feel in hand is solid. One thing I especially like is that there's plenty of handle, despite the short blade length. I have large hands and long fingers (XL glove size), but all four fingers easily grip the knife with some handle to spare. The "Alcryn® Rubber" isn't quite as "grippy" as I expected, being sort of a cross between a harder plastic and the rubber on my Buck Vanguard. The checkering on the handle, however, goes a long way in making for a more secure feel in hand.
The nylon sheath is lightweight, well suited to the knife, and features a secure, snapping over-flap. The plastic insert in the sheath is formed such that I do not foresee any issues with edge dulling as I deploy and re-sheath the blade. For a hunting blade, I do like a nylon sheath over leather because of ease-of-cleaning and ease-of-drying.
On another note, I appreciate the fact that the tang extends all the way to the pommel, where a lanyard hole is integrated into the tang/handle.
Overall, I'm happy with the purchase after sharpening and handling the knife. It should function nicely as a prep knife in a camp kitchen and a dressing knife in the field. I'll put it through some paces in my home kitchen this week and add some more impressions to this thread when I get the time.
A turkey and dove hunter, I felt like this little knife would excel in a field pack. Lightweight and hollow ground for slicing, it was a knife I wanted to try. The technical specs listed at Buck are as follows:
After taking the knife out of the clam pack, I was a little surprised by the edge. Of the three knives on the shelf, I chose mine because it had the most consistent grind (none of them were bad). But the knife was dull by my standards, and duller than anything I've gotten from Buck in the past. 420HC is easy to sharpen though, and three rotations on the Spyderco Sharpmaker had the knife hair-popping sharp.
The ergos on the knife are quite good. It features an asymmetrical handle with more curvature on one side. For a right-hander, this asymmetry means that the handle's "belly" fits the contour of the palm and that the fingertips rest on the flatter side of the handle. The feel in hand is solid. One thing I especially like is that there's plenty of handle, despite the short blade length. I have large hands and long fingers (XL glove size), but all four fingers easily grip the knife with some handle to spare. The "Alcryn® Rubber" isn't quite as "grippy" as I expected, being sort of a cross between a harder plastic and the rubber on my Buck Vanguard. The checkering on the handle, however, goes a long way in making for a more secure feel in hand.
The nylon sheath is lightweight, well suited to the knife, and features a secure, snapping over-flap. The plastic insert in the sheath is formed such that I do not foresee any issues with edge dulling as I deploy and re-sheath the blade. For a hunting blade, I do like a nylon sheath over leather because of ease-of-cleaning and ease-of-drying.
On another note, I appreciate the fact that the tang extends all the way to the pommel, where a lanyard hole is integrated into the tang/handle.
Overall, I'm happy with the purchase after sharpening and handling the knife. It should function nicely as a prep knife in a camp kitchen and a dressing knife in the field. I'll put it through some paces in my home kitchen this week and add some more impressions to this thread when I get the time.
