So, I’m a little sheepish and hesitant to come clean on this because I know how some collectors feel. Bottom line up front, I discovered those holes in the blades because I decided to swap blades between my green SK Blades Marksman and a regular production Aluminum one.
Why? Well, because I prefer the G10 scales of the SK Blades knife over the straight-leg Aluminum. Yes, I like the material better, but even more so the grooves. The grooves of the Aluminum scales are perpendicular to the pocket clip and catch going in and out of my pockets, especially lighter fabrics than denim. I mostly live in khaki pants or cargo pants, and only wear denim a handful of times per year so that was a real consideration for me.
And the other reason is that I much prefer non-powder metallurgy and non-Vanadium carbide steels. So I figured I would put the 154CM blade in the smooth, lightweight G10 scales and have the almost-perfect EDC knife. And that’s exactly what I did!
I’m sure some collectors felt a great disturbance in the Force Sunday afternoon, but they should just be thankful that I resisted the urge to swap the SK Blades blade with the only-known 420HC Marksman blade from my prototype. LOL! No, seriously, I thought long and hard on that because everyone knows that Buck’s 420HC has a finer grain than 154CM, and is the superior steel between the two. But in the end, even I couldn’t bring myself to take a Buck prototype apart. Although, now that I found different hidden hole patterns in the S35VN and 154CM blades, I’m mighty tempted. And if I succumb to that urge, rest assured, I’ll put it back together and keep that knife intact.
All this resulted from my on-going quest to find my perfect EDC knife: 425Mod (a guy can dream, can’t he?) or 420HC, hollow-ground, lefty-friendly pocket clip, one hand opening and closing, no thumb studs to get in the way of sharpening stones, and Micarta, preferably canvas or burlap, but denim wouldn’t be bad. Drop point or clip point. And Buck. It has to be a Buck.
I won’t go through the whole list of knives I’ve been through in that quest, but each one has been a compromise in more than one of my desires. I settled for several years on a canvas Micarta S30V 112 Slim Pro (with thumb studs). I felt that if
Buck Knives Inc.
would license the round hole from Spyderco and make the 112 Slim Pro in 420HC I would be in heaven. But that’s not likely to happen on this side of eternity.
Along the way I stumbled across this green SK Blades Marksman and fell in love with the mechanism. It had everything I dreamed of minus the steel type, hollow grind, and Micarta. I carried it for a while but felt bad for compromising on the steel type and grind. The G10 I could live with.
Then the mechanical engineer in me stumbled across the Demko Shark Lock and for the past 2-3 months I’ve been carrying an AD20.5 in D2 with aftermarket Micarta scales and an aftermarket lefty clip. It checked all the boxes except it wasn’t a Buck, wasn’t hollow ground, and it has thumb studs. I was willing to remove them, but I just couldn’t be at ease with it not being a Buck. Every day that I’ve been carrying the Demko for the past few months, I’ve felt my two grandfathers looking down upon me from above in disgust and disappointment. I’ve been carrying a BOTM Micarta 301 in the same pocket with the Demko because I just can’t bring myself to leave the house without a Buck. I also had to hide the Demko from my father when I traveled to Pennsylvania to visit my parents. And as awesome as the Shark Lock mechanism is, I was having a hard time coming to grips with the ugly finger guard/choil arrangement on the Demko, and how far back from the cutting edge you are when making detail cuts such as try sticks and things.
So, that led me back to my Marksmen. I’d been considering this blade swap for the better part of a year and Sunday after church I decided to get the Torx drivers out and go for broke. And I have no regrets!
Now, if Ripp’s Garage Tech (or anybody for that matter) would make a set of canvas or burlap Micarta scales for the Marksman, I would have found my grail! And if that ever happens, I’m definitely yanking that 420HC Marksman blade from my prototype because at that point that would be the last remaining compromise standing between me and my dream EDC knife and I wouldn’t be able to resist!
Thanks for letting me ramble, y’all.
And here she is: the closest knife I’ve found to my dream EDC knife… yet. What was that Alabama song? “Close Enough to Perfect for Me.” LOL!
