- Joined
- Jul 7, 2007
- Messages
- 730
Hope everyone is having a good Holiday season so far. I love Canoe pattern knives, so I hesitantly bought a new condition Buck 389 Canoe off the sales forum here and have been using and carrying it since the 16th of December. You don't hear much about Buck Canoes at all, so I had to try one, even though I'm a GEC/Case lover when it comes to slipjoints. Thought I'd pass on my thoughts since I can't find a review on these canoes anywhere. I gotta say, I'm impressed. I wasn't expecting this kind of quality from an offshore Buck. The pros are:
Beautiful blue bone scales that are well fitted
420 HC steel that takes a wicked edge and holds it longer than my Tru Sharp knives when cutting cardboard boxes, styrofoam, plastic bands, tape, meat, bubble wrap, wrapping paper, ect. However they heat treat these, its working great if they are all like mine.
Overall build is just a little "beefier" than my Cases. Not "clubby" or "fat", just confidence inspiring, more like how GEC's feel.
Nice tight blades without wiggle, but not so tight they drag
Great walk and talk, springs just perfect, not too heavy, not too light
Nice blade geometry.
Big nail nicks, biggest of any Canoe I have had
Smooth rounded bolsters that won't tear up pockets
Forever Warranty
Made in China but for a US based company that makes 75% of its stuff here and is trying to keep Americans employed, NOT just be an importer.
Cons are:
Had to reprofile both blades to work with Sharpmaker, not much, but just a little too obtuse. This is an ongoing problem with all knife makers.
Fit and finish not as good as my GECs. Not quite up to Case level either, but probably nearly equal to some Queens I recently had, which is to say very good.
420HC blades, I would prefer carbon steel.
Doesn't apply to this knife, but their jigged amber bone version looks too geometric and perfect to my eye, I like the more random wiggly pattern like Case does on its jigging, though its personal taste again.
So overall, I think these are great knives. If Buck would make a US version at 3 times the price this good with jigged or smooth bone scales and the same size/profile, I'll buy it too. Buck offers so many cool scale options on its imported slip joints its amazing. I just ordered a medium stag trapper and stag canoe after seeing the quality on this knife. Can't wait to see how they do Stag. These knives are so inexpensive that people lump them in with flea market county fair junk, but they are nothing like that at all. I was kinda thinking that myself until I handled one. If you want a quality Canoe knife and are on a budget, or you just prefer good 420HC over 1095 or whatever, this is it. I read all sorts of negative posts on other knives from China, but Buck is doing things differently from what I can see and what others seem to be saying too. We'll see how they hold up to small game/deer skinning if the weather improves here in Nebraska and I can go hunting, but looks pretty good so far
Beautiful blue bone scales that are well fitted
420 HC steel that takes a wicked edge and holds it longer than my Tru Sharp knives when cutting cardboard boxes, styrofoam, plastic bands, tape, meat, bubble wrap, wrapping paper, ect. However they heat treat these, its working great if they are all like mine.
Overall build is just a little "beefier" than my Cases. Not "clubby" or "fat", just confidence inspiring, more like how GEC's feel.
Nice tight blades without wiggle, but not so tight they drag
Great walk and talk, springs just perfect, not too heavy, not too light
Nice blade geometry.
Big nail nicks, biggest of any Canoe I have had
Smooth rounded bolsters that won't tear up pockets
Forever Warranty
Made in China but for a US based company that makes 75% of its stuff here and is trying to keep Americans employed, NOT just be an importer.
Cons are:
Had to reprofile both blades to work with Sharpmaker, not much, but just a little too obtuse. This is an ongoing problem with all knife makers.
Fit and finish not as good as my GECs. Not quite up to Case level either, but probably nearly equal to some Queens I recently had, which is to say very good.
420HC blades, I would prefer carbon steel.
Doesn't apply to this knife, but their jigged amber bone version looks too geometric and perfect to my eye, I like the more random wiggly pattern like Case does on its jigging, though its personal taste again.
So overall, I think these are great knives. If Buck would make a US version at 3 times the price this good with jigged or smooth bone scales and the same size/profile, I'll buy it too. Buck offers so many cool scale options on its imported slip joints its amazing. I just ordered a medium stag trapper and stag canoe after seeing the quality on this knife. Can't wait to see how they do Stag. These knives are so inexpensive that people lump them in with flea market county fair junk, but they are nothing like that at all. I was kinda thinking that myself until I handled one. If you want a quality Canoe knife and are on a budget, or you just prefer good 420HC over 1095 or whatever, this is it. I read all sorts of negative posts on other knives from China, but Buck is doing things differently from what I can see and what others seem to be saying too. We'll see how they hold up to small game/deer skinning if the weather improves here in Nebraska and I can go hunting, but looks pretty good so far
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