Noticed something weird

[Rsmith_77]

So, if you guys recall, i picked up a new buck 301 several weeks ago (about a month ago)
here is a pic when it was new

Now its been a month since i picked up the 301. I've edc'd this knife everyday since getting it. Its strange. Not only have I carried it everyday, i haven't even thought about it. No deciding what to carry on any particular day. No regretting my choice and wishing i carried something else. I haven't really even logged on here and looked at anything else. If i am honest, i havent even cleaned it properly since purchasing this knife and i have no reservations on its reliability.

Its strange, before i had this job where I use my knife on a regular basis i used to wonder what kind of knife i needed/should have carried. Now *shrugs* i know the 301 will work. i know it will do the job and i know i can rely on it. Since it actually has 3 blades i havent even obsessed with keeping it razor sharp like i used to. Normally i just used the sheepsfoot blade and it still works, but i guess in the back of my head i know i've still got the clip and spey blade at hair shaving sharpness and so keeping the sheepsfoot that sharp really isnt a priority. That being said, i have done a little touching up on it tonight since i noticed it has gotten dull enough that it is tearing material rather than cutting it...

I actually logged back on tonight just ..because i havent been on in awhile.

I guess 99% of our strange obsession is (perhaps for me, i shouldnt speculate on other's motivation) is speculative rather than practical. My previous job didnt really call for a knife except perhaps something small to open letters and cut some boxes, so i had time to speculate what i MIGHT need and that is what kept me buying new knives and trying something new...the continual quest to find "the one". Now I am realizing that it was all just a case of too much time on my hands.

I guess the lesson is the one Carl keeps trying to impress on us. We just need something reliable and sharp and the rest will work itself it..

just some thoughts this evening

 

[Railsplitter]

Sounds like you are content. Congrats on that.:thumbup:

Your post reminds me that I sometimes wish I had a need to use my knives more often. I wish I had more things to cut.

 

[Knife Crazied]

Your post reminds me that I sometimes wish I had a need to use my knives more often. I wish I had more things to cut.

This is how I feel Rick. I work security so there isn't a whole lot of cutting to do. I mean I use it but I wish I used it way more. I actually find myself sometimes just looking for things to cut. Its a sickness I'm sure.

Sent from Ash forum mobile

 

[Rsmith_77]

its funny. I know before i had this job i was the same way.
now that i cut stuff all the time for work *shrugs* i dont even think about it anymore...

strange, i thikn my wife would say i am growing up

 

[OzarkCreekWalker]

Does the 301 have a chance of becoming your knife? Meaning, will it become the knife you are known to carry? It sure would make a good candidate--

A 301 is just an all round awesome pocket knife. Tough, reliable, inexpensive, replaceable, useful both in and outdoors, and not to mention those plastic handles will smooth over time. In addition to that, if you needed to downsize it then you have that option in the 303 Cadet. If you wanted a different color, you have that option. I think Buck just did a great job on those. Heck, I think I'll carry mine tomorrow.

 

[whetrock]

It seems to me you've found your "grail" knife. I wonder sometimes if I'll ever find mine, but I'm not one to get in a hurry over such matters seeing as I enjoy trying/buying new and different patterns. The 301 is a grand knife by all means and I've always been partial to Buck slipjoints, however my favorite is the 309. I concur with what Ozarkcreekwalker said, the sawcut Valox (used to be Zytel I think) has suprising amount of character given the gradual wear and smoothing of the scales over time.

 

[jackknife]

I can well understand your feelings. The 301 is an awesome knife as OCW has said in the post above. For 25 years I carried one as 'my' knife, and it never let me down. This was before I became infected with the knife accumulation disease. The 301 served as a pocket knife, trout and bird knife, work knife, on four different continents when I was on the move. After my single days were over, it went on to serve as my go-to knife raising a family and teaching my children about the out of doors. For a while I'd try others, like a sodbuster here and there, a sak in a daypack as a backup knife, an Opinel in the glove box of the truck, but I'd always go back to the 301. It was the 301 that was in my pocket day in, day out. The sodbusters, Opinels, nor even the sak, could sway me from the 301.

Until my friend Andy passed on. Then I carried his 303 for a couple of years. It was a natural progression of downsizing as I got older and learned from Andy what my dad had tried to teach me. Then my dad passed away, and I found myself drawn to his peanut sitting on my dresser.

In the end, any of them will do just fine as an edc pocket knife. After all, the only thing really important is that you like the knife, and it cuts what you need to cut. That's it. You just need to cut something. And sometimes our taste changes in life compared to what stage of life we're in at that time. When your young, a soda pop tastes great. Then as manhood comes, cold beer is the it. Then later on, when you've gained the maturity to appreciate it, a smooth whiskey is a nice thing in the evening. It's all a matter of changing taste.

Good luck, you just may have found 'your' knife.


Carl.

 

[knarfeng]

I gots lots of knives these days. Gots LOTS of stockman knives. But like as not, the knife I carry on the weekend for chores is a 301.

Best 420HC on the planet. Love the 3-spring design; makes the blades come out straight instead of canted when I'm cutting. I don't worry if my hands are grimy or wet when I grab it because I know it's blood indestructible and I can clean it as much as I need to.

Good choice.

 

[Rsmith_77]

Does the 301 have a chance of becoming your knife? Meaning, will it become the knife you are known to carry? It sure would make a good candidate--

It seems to me you've found your "grail" knife.

Good luck, you just may have found 'your' knife.


Carl.

lol that may be true, but interestingly enough, intellectually it wouldnt be. If i was to pick something, it would have jigged bone scales (not delrin), probably a 2 blade jack pattern (not a stockman pattern), would probably be in the 3 3/8"-3 1/2" range (not nearly 4") and would be carbon steel (and not stainless)

however, as strange as it seems, perhaps i DID find my "grail knife" without meaning too.
less worry about keeping rust off, wider and longer for better grip/handle of the knife (and easier to keep clean it seems to me)
i dunno..strange journey in life or something

 

[knarfeng]

The cult of the peanut has no peer, except the cults of the stockman and the 301.

 

[mnblade]

I had a Camillus-made 301 years and years ago. I got it via a trade as a kid and it lived in my tackle box. Sure wish I knew where it is now. I honestly can't think of anything the 301 can't handle. Yes, even combat. Not knife fighting, of course, but serving as a soldiers EDC companion? Sure, why not? My grandad fought in the Huertgen Forest and Battle of the Bulge with a simple two-blade jack in his pocket. I reckon the venerable Buck 301 is as indestructible a pocketknife as has ever been made.

-- Mark

 

[thawk]

lol that may be true, but interestingly enough, intellectually it wouldnt be. If i was to pick something, it would have jigged bone scales (not delrin), probably a 2 blade jack pattern (not a stockman pattern), would probably be in the 3 3/8"-3 1/2" range (not nearly 4") and would be carbon steel (and not stainless)

however, as strange as it seems, perhaps i DID find my "grail knife" without meaning too.
less worry about keeping rust off, wider and longer for better grip/handle of the knife (and easier to keep clean it seems to me)
i dunno..strange journey in life or something

I like the 3 1/2" jack too, the swayback jack pattern is like a bigger fatter peanut. I like a 4" stockman too though, more of a weekend knife for me. I have several grail knives, really kind of an EDC whore so to speak. I still have a half dozen 2 3/4" peanuts for when I want to be in compliance to the cult.

 

[DrPenguin]

Yeah the 2 blade jack is kind of what I have always envisioned as the ultimate in pocket knife elegance. Always enough, never too much, simple, and good looking too. For some reason that I cannot explain I've never owned one.

Good point about worrying about knives and having too much time on our hands. I have heard the esteemed gunwriter John Barsness say almost exactly the same thing about rifles and shotguns. Says we don't get to use them as much as we like but we love hunting and shooting with them so we spend ungodly amounts of time worrying about ballistics and bullet designs and buying new equipment to fill imaginary niches. Nothing wrong with collecting, and I have a nice albeit small collection myself. But in the end most knives will serve 95% of my uses so I try to find something that feels and carries well.

Funny thing to me is that I seem to be the opposite of everyone else when I worry about the 'what ifs?'. It seems like a lot of the ones that actually come up call for a small blade and a delicate touch. A little emergency came up in the lab a couple days ago and I had to make a gasket for a turbo oil drainback pronto. I got through it no problem using the little pen blade on my little white owl. The blades on what is considered a modern EDC would have made that a real chore. There are jobs that can call for a big strapping blade and a whole lot of handle but I humbly admit I don't have one.

That Buck is a pretty knife and I carried a little 303 for quite a few years till I lost it. If you get into something that your 301 can't handle you probably need a machete. That's a real knife that can handle real life very well I'd say. You may well have stumbled on that rarest of knives, the one you are happy and comfortable with.

Will

 

[jackknife]

Yeah the 2 blade jack is kind of what I have always envisioned as the ultimate in pocket knife elegance. Always enough, never too much, simple, and good looking too. For some reason that I cannot explain I've never owned one.

Good point about worrying about knives and having too much time on our hands. I have heard the esteemed gunwriter John Barsness say almost exactly the same thing about rifles and shotguns. Says we don't get to use them as much as we like but we love hunting and shooting with them so we spend ungodly amounts of time worrying about ballistics and bullet designs and buying new equipment to fill imaginary niches. Nothing wrong with collecting, and I have a nice albeit small collection myself. But in the end most knives will serve 95% of my uses so I try to find something that feels and carries well.

Funny thing to me is that I seem to be the opposite of everyone else when I worry about the 'what ifs?'. It seems like a lot of the ones that actually come up call for a small blade and a delicate touch. A little emergency came up in the lab a couple days ago and I had to make a gasket for a turbo oil drainback pronto. I got through it no problem using the little pen blade on my little white owl. The blades on what is considered a modern EDC would have made that a real chore. There are jobs that can call for a big strapping blade and a whole lot of handle but I humbly admit I don't have one.

That Buck is a pretty knife and I carried a little 303 for quite a few years till I lost it. If you get into something that your 301 can't handle you probably need a machete. That's a real knife that can handle real life very well I'd say. You may well have stumbled on that rarest of knives, the one you are happy and comfortable with.

Will

Will, you make great points. Every emergency I've ever had to solve with a knife, any small sharp blade would have done well. Only once, out in the woods making a litter to carry a lady with a broken leg, I could have used a bowie, but while it would have been nice, a Buck stockman and my friend with a Vic pioneer did the job anyways. A small blade with a little common sense goes far.

The analogy about hunting rifles is a good one. The gun nuts can argue ballistics until the cows come home, but how many old country boys just dropped a punkin ball in a break open shotgun, or used a well worn old 30-30 that had hardly any blue left on it, and came home with their deer?

The problem of being a gun nut, or knife knut, or car nut, is, that we often lose sight of the end goal. That is just to get the job done. We have to ask ourselves will that Porshe really commute to work better than that Honda? Will the Cooper rifle kill the deer any deader than a old Winchester 30-30? Or will that 200 dollar high tech knife open that UPS box any better than the 35 dollar Buck or Case pocket knife?

All that pocket knife has to do is cut, and be easy in the pocket. If you really like it, then that's just gravy on the 'taters!

Carl.

 

[Plumberdv]

I also noticed a while back, that no matter what other knife I decide to carry on any given day, there is ALWAYS one or other of my 301's in my pocket. I have a bunch of them and the ones shown below are just the ones that I carry on a daily basis. Except for the one in the center, a single bladed one they have come out with this year. I tried it but found it too slim for my taste and that I just can't do without the sheepsfoot blade.

It's a classic design that just keeps on working.

 

[black mamba]

The 301 is somewhat unique compared to other stockmen. First, it has the sheepfoot at the "off" end, by itself. This changes the grip slightly for using the sheepfoot in precision cutting, which I like. I also like the 3-spring design, straightening the blades and rounding the handle a little. And on most stockmen, there is very little difference in the blade bellies between the clip and spey, but in the 301 the clip is very straight and the spey is very rounded, and even has a little recurve. These together with the sheepfoot give you three very distince cutting edges to maximize utility. I only wish they were offered in a larger selection of premium handle materials, like nicely jigged bone, stag or ram's horn.

 

[Rsmith_77]

well doesnt that figure. Posted this up
week later, lost the knife. Not sure where, may have slipped out of my pocket, the problem is, i dont know where
i MAY have lost it thursday, my day off. unfortunately i ran a bunch of errands, went to the book store, went to get the wife's truck tuned up etc etc
or i may have lost it friday, at work

i dunno, all i know is at one point i went to reach for it while at work and it wasnt in my pocket

all i can say is, le sigh!
my first lost knife (other than a few Sak's i've had over the years)

 

[Railsplitter]

That's too bad, Rsmith_77. I really hope it turns up.

From some of the posts I've seen in last few weeks, you're not the only one. Seems to be a knife losing virus going around.

Here's hoping you find it.

 

[Rsmith_77]

yay! follow up number 2

found it! It was in my pocket where it should have been. I came home thursday evening and threw those particular jeans on the floor and promptly forgot about them. forgetting that i wore jeans, thinking i wore shorts i checked everything else BUT those jeans.

as i was picking up clothes to do laundry today, i got the urge to check and there it was...

man i feel better
and i had given up the knife as lost already

guess this makes today a good day

 

[Railsplitter]

Woohoo! Good for you, Rsmith_77!!

I've been waiting for a reason to use these "dancin' in the streets" smileys.