How good is the Buck Mayo TNT?

flipe8

flipe8

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Oct 24, 2005
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Hi guys. First, let me say I tried the search and for some reason it's not working for me. I've been thinking about a Mayo TNT, alot, lately. I know a Buck isn't going to be on par with a real Mayo, but it still seems like an awesome knife on its' own. Bos treated S30V, ti framelock seems pretty good, indeed. What are owners' thoughts on this knife. I have a small Sebenza, so I would be comparing the two. Any input would be appreciated. Should I go for one, or wait for the real thing to come up?
 
They're pretty darned good, not a seb but pretty good.

I couldn't stand the horns on the top and STR removed them for me, made it way better IMO. I was a little dissapointed in mine as the washers where not PB, so it eventually got scratchy.

Look for a used one, for $120 or less, that's a good deal.
 
I have one, and have handled a small Sebenza on several occasions. The 172 is a little larger than the small Sebenza, but a little thinner and lighter. I'm not sure which blade I like better. The Sebenza has better fit and finish, but it should at twice the price. I would not hesitate to recommend a 172. It is a quality knife with a great blade.
 
Just bought one myself. Loved the TI lightweight and S30V steel. Hollow ground razor after I reprofiled and polished the edge. Extremely sheeple friendly. Excellent framelock.
 
I own several sebs. I bought the buck mayo because I like the Mayo design and can't get a real mayo yet. For the price, it is an excellent knife. Not seb quality but still very good. I am glad I got it. The unlocking indentation could be improved to make it easier to access the lock bar.
 
I had one. Great cutter but the washers sucked and the blade was too thin for me (seemed delicate) however if you are using it only for light duty it is an excellent knife.
 
On my rating system scoring production folders it got 89 out of a possible 100 points which is a good score. Using the same rating system the Sebenzas both score 92. The CQC12 Emerson got a 73 and the Strider PT an 82 and just so you know my rating system is as honest as I can make it. My own knife seen below in my signiture line gets an honest 82. I won't get into my system I use to rate them but the Mayo knife overall is quite nice. Its not cheap and there are things about it that can improve it. I completely agree with Dave that the wings, particularly the top one only had to go. It was right where I'd want to put my thumb to use the knife for just about anything from simply sharpening a pencil to much heavier jobs and it just made it uncomfortable to me. Once removed it was like using a completely different knife.

The pocket clip has one mounting position for right hand carry tip down which was not adequate or preferred by some and part of why I scored it low in that and the ambi use rating. Unfortunately all the holes drilled in the body made it quite difficult to find a good spot to tap and thread new holes for tip up carry but I somehow pulled that off for Dave with his requested 'fat boy' mod low rider I did for him and a few others that sent me the same knife to modify. In short its a fine choice for frame locks and even better with a few quick modifications to the design.

I'm sure that the washers could be pulled out, measured for thickness with a digital caliper and then you could buy some PB washers in the same thickness for the same or similar pivot size to replace them easisly.

STR
 
Here's pix from STR of what he did, excellent work.

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Not a Sebenza, however it does have its own merits . I have a Buck Mayo and I consider it to be very well made considering the price . Recommended.

Paul.
 
Every Buck I own(and I own about 20 of them)is a great blade.
Buck puts a lot of foresite into making thier knives.
 
I've handled the Buck Mayo and was impressed, then bought a Buck Strider in 420 and FRN - it was cheap.

To put it politely, Buck did not put a lot of foresight into value engineering a good design with substitute locks and inexpensive materials. I would have been money ahead to buy the Mayo. STR's mods look even better.

Take a long look at a new age Buck before deciding if the low price isn't sacrificing something important the original designer depended on.
 
My buddy over at our forum has one he modified a bit up for sale on his store. Good price. He took off that pesty wing too I see. Apparently we are not the only ones to think it has to go Dave. :D

STR
 
I was never very impressed with the quality of this knife. I bought one and sent it back twice to with issues before I got a decent one and even that one wasn't up to the standard of other knives. The design is amazing, Mr. Mayo is a master at maker a wonerfully thought out knife, I've just found Buck's execution to be somewhat lacking. The price of this one is higher then the Bm635 and I find the fit and finish on the Benchmade to be head and shoulders above the Buck. Neither are in the league of the Sebenza, but the BM635 comes a lot closer then the Buck/Mayo does IMO.

Maybe it's just me, but after three different knives and not a one really impressed me I have a feeling it might be more. Sounds like others have liked it so maybe it's worth checking out, maybe they have gotten better recently. Who knows, I'll stick with my Sebenza, or if $$$ was tight I would go with the BM636 first.
 
I picked one up a few days ago, and have it in my pocket now. I find it to be a very good knife. So far I havent found any problems with it. I need more time to use it, before I make my final decision.
 
Sorry to bring this back from page 3, but I had to cut up a whole bunch of cardboard today. Some of it up to 5 layers of thickness. I very quickly discovered that even very sharp, the crisp unrounded edges of the handle make it painful to use for serious cutting.

In contrast I used both a sebenza until it got dull and then a spyderco Caly Jr. in ZDP189, much more comfortable.
 
I have found that is the case with just about any of the all steel thinner knives. Its one of the draw backs to my Byrd stainless Cara Cara, Storm II, and the Groove among others I have. Seems they give the sensation that it takes more effort to use these stainless ones for the same jobs as others but I think the effort is actually the same as a knife with a bigger thumb purchase and some width on the spine its just the comfort that is different so it seems harder. With mine sometimes I have to put a glove on for a difficult cut or more. That seems to help a bunch.

STR
 
As they said it's not a Sebenza. I got one a while back, it's a good knife but there a lot of pesky things about it I didn't like. Like blade not centered when closed. I reworked mine more to my liking, which is easy because it's titanium. I added an extra washer on one side to make blade park center.
Don't have pics, virus killed a lot of them, but it looks a lot like STR's remo, except not as good.
 
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