New to knives, and to this board

[petercrowell]

I don't necessarily have any truly negative things to say about them. I just think their quality control isn't the greatest and for the money there are other options. The 110 is a classic knife and should probably have a spot in any collection, but I don't really care for pinned knives. I like being able to disassemble and adjust my knives.

I have a 119 with wood handles. It's a nice knife if a bit on the heavy side and the balance isn't that great, but I don't really like the steel at all. It seems very hard yet when it comes to edge retention I've been unimpressed to say the least.

I also have two Vantages, the Avid (Dymondwood) and the Pro (G10). I really don't like these knives very much. The BOS heat treat is a joke. If these blades didn't have a BOS stamp on them then I'd probably like them but I'm honestly offended that they have the nerve to put the stamp of a renowned heat treatment on these knives. The S30V on the Pro is the poorest S30V I've ever experienced. The fit and finish isn't really that impressive. I have read that the quality might have improved a bit, but its too late to salvage my opinion of them at this point.

I guess my point is that rather than spend $40, $70, and $100 on the 110, 119, and 124, you can spend $210 on a sweet custom knife with much more attention and care put into it. I just got my first custom last week from Kestrel Knives and I really wish I hadn't spent money on name brand knives and just bought 1-3 customs from the beginning. Luckily most of the knives I've bought will resale for close to what I paid so I can always sell them.

I don't mean to say your decision or fascination with Buck is in any way misplaced, just offering my opinion as I've gone through what you are currently beginning. I have about 25 folders and maybe 10 fixed blades and I plan on getting rid of most of them with the exception of a few and getting some customs.

Would you mind recommending a few names of custom knives, in the $200-250 range? You mentioned Kestrel. Any others? I'm interested in a very good knife along the lines of a Buck 124 Frontiersman.

I like the look of the Busse knives, but they're pricey...

 

[FordFan]

Would you mind recommending a few names of custom knives, in the $200-250 range? You mentioned Kestrel. Any others? I'm interested in a very good knife along the lines of a Buck 124 Frontiersman.

I like the look of the Busse knives, but they're pricey...

Benchmade and Spyderco are not custom but both companies make several great knives that are less than $200. Check out the BM 940 or 707. Both are classic knives that have many fans on this forum. Also look at the Spyderco PM2. Another great knife that has a great following.

 

[petercrowell]

Benchmade and Spyderco are not custom but both companies make several great knives that are less than $200. Check out the BM 940 or 707. Both are classic knives that have many fans on this forum. Also look at the Spyderco PM2. Another great knife that has a great following.

Thanks FordFan. How about for a larger fixed blade?

 

[adc5]

Curious: do you think Buck are mediocre knives? If so, why? Or are you just referring to the one's I've mentioned? And again, if so, why?

Thanks for the link to the Exchange!

Some people may not, but I like Buck knives (have a 110, 119, 120, vantage avid and select). I have to say I don't much care for the vantages (uncentered blades), but then I'm not much for folding knives all round. The 110, however, may be my single favorite folding knife, or pretty close. And it has much to do with that I LIKE Buck's 420HC. I think the hollow-ground edge geometry helps, but I can get that thing sharp as a razor. The 119 and 120 too, both good knives.

Not to say I don't also appreciate my ESEEs and Swamp Rats!

 

[adc5]

Would you mind recommending a few names of custom knives, in the $200-250 range? You mentioned Kestrel. Any others? I'm interested in a very good knife along the lines of a Buck 124 Frontiersman.

I like the look of the Busse knives, but they're pricey...

If you're not quite drawn in by Busse Knives, consider Scrap Yard and Swamp Rat, the younger brothers... You may curse me for this...

 

[petercrowell]

Some people may not, but I like Buck knives (have a 110, 119, 120, vantage avid and select). I have to say I don't much care for the vantages (uncentered blades), but then I'm not much for folding knives all round. The 110, however, may be my single favorite folding knife, or pretty close. And it has much to do with that I LIKE Buck's 420HC. I think the hollow-ground edge geometry helps, but I can get that thing sharp as a razor. The 119 and 120 too, both good knives.

Not to say I don't also appreciate my ESEEs and Swamp Rats!

ESEE. There's another.

Are the swamp rat/scrapyard/busse knives (and essee for that matter) higher maintenance? As in, do they need to be oiled and cleaned a lot.

I read that the Regulator, for example, rusts easily.

 

[adc5]

Well...

Different types of steel. Buck's 420HC was a stainless; ESEE's 1095 is a good high carbon steel, and the Bussekin are more of the tool steel variety.

Straight types of carbon steel DO tend to rust a lot more easily... but don't let that scare you off. ESEE routinely uses their knives in the other half of their business: wilderness training down in the jungles of South America. It turns out that no, you don't really need to oil or clean them a lot (although I tend to do so with ALL of my knives). In my experience, tool steels don't rust as readily as carbon steels, but both tend to discolor far easier than stainless (due to amount, or lack thereof, of chromium in the steel). A lot of us don't mind too much, or think that this weakness is made up for by other desirable characteristics of the steel... But that's a whole new conversation.

I EDC an ESEE izula, if that's informative.

 

[T.L.]

Would you mind recommending a few names of custom knives, in the $200-250 range? You mentioned Kestrel. Any others? I'm interested in a very good knife along the lines of a Buck 124 Frontiersman.

I like the look of the Busse knives, but they're pricey...

Some of my favorites are claudio-cas, Silveray, Alan Davis, bacustomknives (backwoods), Big Chris, Larry Withrow, BradshawBlades, Eliot, Jarrett Fleming.

There are a lot of others on The Exchange in the Knifemakers section that do outstanding work. I try to make a habit of checking the day's offerings because I just like looking at all the great knives on there. If I could buy them all I would but thats sadly completely out of the question. I even had trouble pulling the trigger on my Kestrel knife because I haven't sold any of my collection but I couldn't pass it up.

If I could pick one knife to own of the makers I mentioned above it would be claudio-cas. His work is absolutely outstanding. Here is his most recent posting: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1117772-Harpoon-5-5-quot-SOLD

 

[155440]

Some of my favorites are claudio-cas, Silveray, Alan Davis, bacustomknives (backwoods), Big Chris, Larry Withrow, BradshawBlades, Eliot, Jarrett Fleming.

There are a lot of others on The Exchange in the Knifemakers section that do outstanding work. I try to make a habit of checking the day's offerings because I just like looking at all the great knives on there. If I could buy them all I would but thats sadly completely out of the question. I even had trouble pulling the trigger on my Kestrel knife because I haven't sold any of my collection but I couldn't pass it up.

If I could pick one knife to own of the makers I mentioned above it would be claudio-cas. His work is absolutely outstanding. Here is his most recent posting: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1117772-Harpoon-5-5-quot-SOLD

I really like Silveray and Backwoods, but the price puts them out of the question for me. I REALLY like the edc's that D.W. Childress puts out and I've been saving up my pennies to pull the trigger on one of his if I get the opportunity. I constantly lurk the custom knife sub-forum some of the stuff there is incredible. I saw your gripes with Buck, and, allthough you're right, the qc on buck has gone down in the past couple of years, they still put out really great knives. The 124 is a "Limited edition" knife so it probably gets a little bit more care when being made. I have a 118 and 110 that's never been sharpened from the 80's and they are perfect and still hold a razor sharp edge 25 years later.

 

[dogstar]

Welcome to BF.

Like you, I am a fan of Buck knives. My favorites are the 300 series, 500 series, and the Vantage line. I like that Buck makes affordable, quality products in the USA. Is their stuff cosmetically perfect? Nope. However, I do feel they get the important things right. I own 5 Buck knives and have not felt the need to return a single one.

The knives you mention, like the 110 and 119, are hollow ground blades with an aggressive clip, which means they will have a finer, needle-like tip that may break if pried with. These are hunting knives first, not bushcraft knives.

I think you are ready to branch out, which is a good thing. Buck knives are great, but they will never be carbon steel, nor be full flat ground. The Opinel is both, and it is an exquisite cutter that should be experienced. Have fun with your blades.