I've had one of these for a while, but never reviewed one. It's the Buck Bantam BHW, model number 286. Here it goes:
Price: Sixteen dollars US, plus 6% sales tax.
Blade Specifications: The blade is listed at 3.6" long, but I measured it at 3.9". It's a drop point, and has no serrations. It has a swedge on top, running about 1.8". There is a thumb stud on each side for easy opening. Blade steel is 420HC with Buck's Edge 2X technology. The blade does not have an adjustable pivot pin. The left side of the blade has the word BUCK etched on it. The right side has CHINA and 286-1 on the tang.
Handle: The handle is one-piece black thermoplastic, contoured with three finger grooves and some very light checkering. It is 5" long. Both sides have the word BUCK stamped into them. There is an oval lanyard hole. There are traction grooves on the butt and at the blade stop, acting as a thumb ramp. There is a black metal pocket clip attached, which is removable with a Torx bit. It's held in place by three screws. It is positioned for the right side and is tip-down. The blade is a lockback design, with the lock towards the middle of the knife.
Testing: The blade locks open with a nice snap, but takes a little time to wear in. It seemed to be stiff at first. There is no blade play, sideways or back and forth. I couldn't get the lock to fail with my spine-whacking test. The lock is a little hard to disengage until the knife is brokwn in, but is easy after a few days of use. The pocket clip wasn't tightened very well right out of the box, but a second with the Torx Tool tightened them up. They've stayed tight.
The knife came very sharp, almost shaving sharp. With just three or so strokes on a crock stick and a light honing, it was sharp enough to shave with. This is a lot of knife for the money. Say what you want about Chinese-made knives, but Buck has a real winner here. Mine hasn't let me down once in the four months I've had it. I plan on buying another one soon.
Price: Sixteen dollars US, plus 6% sales tax.
Blade Specifications: The blade is listed at 3.6" long, but I measured it at 3.9". It's a drop point, and has no serrations. It has a swedge on top, running about 1.8". There is a thumb stud on each side for easy opening. Blade steel is 420HC with Buck's Edge 2X technology. The blade does not have an adjustable pivot pin. The left side of the blade has the word BUCK etched on it. The right side has CHINA and 286-1 on the tang.
Handle: The handle is one-piece black thermoplastic, contoured with three finger grooves and some very light checkering. It is 5" long. Both sides have the word BUCK stamped into them. There is an oval lanyard hole. There are traction grooves on the butt and at the blade stop, acting as a thumb ramp. There is a black metal pocket clip attached, which is removable with a Torx bit. It's held in place by three screws. It is positioned for the right side and is tip-down. The blade is a lockback design, with the lock towards the middle of the knife.
Testing: The blade locks open with a nice snap, but takes a little time to wear in. It seemed to be stiff at first. There is no blade play, sideways or back and forth. I couldn't get the lock to fail with my spine-whacking test. The lock is a little hard to disengage until the knife is brokwn in, but is easy after a few days of use. The pocket clip wasn't tightened very well right out of the box, but a second with the Torx Tool tightened them up. They've stayed tight.
The knife came very sharp, almost shaving sharp. With just three or so strokes on a crock stick and a light honing, it was sharp enough to shave with. This is a lot of knife for the money. Say what you want about Chinese-made knives, but Buck has a real winner here. Mine hasn't let me down once in the four months I've had it. I plan on buying another one soon.
