Schrade & Buck

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Rhodies

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Dug up an ole Schrade knife that I had bought 10 - 15 years ago and was wondering between Schrade and Buck, is there an equivalency between the two af far as quality? The Schrade I have is similar to the Buck 110 in appearance.
 
Not really, buck knives typically have very good quality control for their price point sand they definitely stand behind their product. Shrade doesn't get a lot of respect with their newer knives. This is not to say they're awful knives, the ones I've used have been perfectly usable but their quality is similar to Gerber and a bit hit or miss.
 
Pretty sure Schrade was recently sold again.
There was a drop in quality when they were first sold around 2005, then they improved for awhile, not sure how they are doing now.

Buck still puts out a damn good knife, I've even been happy with the imports I've picked up from them.

Edit: Looks like Schrade is still owned by Taylor, I thought they were sold again but I must have been thinking about another brand.
 
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jimmyd1982 said:
Pretty sure Schrade was recently sold again.
There was a drop in quality when they were first sold around 2005, then they improved for awhile, not sure how they are doing now.

Buck still puts out a damn good knife, I've even been happy with the imports I've picked up from them.

Edit: Looks like Schrade is still owned by Taylor, I thought they were sold again but I must have been thinking about another brand.
Click to expand...
I think Taylor knives as a whole were purchased recently by s&w mate.

Edit link : http://knifenews.com/breaking-smith...brands-and-launch-new-bti-tools-sub-division/
 
Right now, Buck is absolutely better.
If it's from 10-15 years ago it may be an American made Schrade in which case it should be a decent knife that's about as good as Buck ( in stainless Bucks 420hc wins though ) however it could be an early Chinese made Schrade in which case the early ones really sucked big time from everything I've heard.
There are exceptions though as the late production US made Schrades had dropped some in quality in order to keep up with the low price point demanded by Walmart, so you just have to buy yourself a Buck 110 and compare the two.
In general though I'd say the quality on Schrade and buck knives were about the same and schrade even produced slipjoints for Buck at one point.

Wait a minute it's your knife, do you not know if it's any good ? What are your standards for a good knife ? It's up to you to decide if the knife is " good ".
It's not the same as recommendations for what to buy Because you already own it.
 
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I have a Schrade LB7 (Buck 110 clone) from the early 80s that is USA made and the quality is simply outstanding. I know nothing about their current offerings, including who owns them.

 
You asked a pretty complex question my friend regarding the Schrade USA vs. Buck comparison...

*On the fixed blade department I'd say Schrade won by a good stretch over Buck with full-tang construction as opposed to Buck's rat-tail tang construction.Schrade also had more designs to cater to various outdoorsmen.

*Lockback's I think Schrade was sharper until Buck got their Edge 2000 geometry when it came to the blades...Schrade had a much thicker tip though.Fit and finish wise I saw more work put into a Schrade over a Buck.

*Slipjoints? Schrade definitely had the upper hand over the competition out there.

*Now I liked their flat grinds because Schrade ground those blades thin.Delivered an excellent sharpness and cutting quality in both the 1095 and Plus Steel (440A and 420HC Stainless Steel).You'll hear praise more about the 1095 Carbon Steel than the Plus Steel but their stainless steel was as good as anyone else using identical grades today in USA manufacturing.

Don't get me wrong...Buck makes good knives.But I think Schrade certainly achieved more as a knife brand in their American days.Schrade was a little less about eye candy and more focused on function and design.
 
Frotier76 said:
You asked a pretty complex question my friend regarding the Schrade USA vs. Buck comparison...

*On the fixed blade department I'd say Schrade won by a good stretch over Buck with full-tang construction as opposed to Buck's rat-tail tang construction.Schrade also had more designs to cater to various outdoorsmen.

*Lockback's I think Schrade was sharper until Buck got their Edge 2000 geometry when it came to the blades...Schrade had a much thicker tip though.Fit and finish wise I saw more work put into a Schrade over a Buck.

*Slipjoints? Schrade definitely had the upper hand over the competition out there.

*Now I liked their flat grinds because Schrade ground those blades thin.Delivered an excellent sharpness and cutting quality in both the 1095 and Plus Steel (440A and 420HC Stainless Steel).You'll hear praise more about the 1095 Carbon Steel than the Plus Steel but their stainless steel was as good as anyone else using identical grades today in USA manufacturing.

Don't get me wrong...Buck makes good knives.But I think Schrade certainly achieved more as a knife brand in their American days.Schrade was a little less about eye candy and more focused on function and design.
Click to expand...

I really don't think schrade had the upper hand where lockbacks is concerned being as Buck was first, and they didn't always have the upper hand where slipjoints are concerned because the swinden key construction is far from ideal. There's also the fact that Buck used 440C for quite a while which many people preferred as it was a more premium steel.

I love schrades 1095 and probably even more than Bucks 420hc, but I don't think you could really call one company generally better than the other.

Want a good working slipjoint in carbon steel, schrade old timers had you covered ( obviously there were dozens of other options as well )

Want a good larger fixed blade in a higher end stainless steel to take into the jungles of Vietnam, Buck had you covered

Want a good sturdy folding hunter, Buck had you covered with the 110 if you wanted a lockback, and schrade had you covered if you wanted a 2 blader with carbon steel.
Of course you could go with a schrade Lb7 if you over the real deal ( not putting it down, but it's a copy and just not the same as the more refined original )

I've never heard of a lawsuit by Buck over schrade copying the 110, and I would like to think it's because they respected schrade ( they wouldn't have went with them for slipjont production if they didn't ) , trusted their own reputation to keep 110 sales steady, and that they appreciated the friendly competition as well as the options for consumers.

I say that in general you couldn't go wrong with either, and would have been well covered to give both companies your money.
 
Rhodies said:
Dug up an ole Schrade knife that I had bought 10 - 15 years ago and was wondering between Schrade and Buck, is there an equivalency between the two af far as quality? The Schrade I have is similar to the Buck 110 in appearance.
Click to expand...

The answer is going to depend on exactly when the knife was made.

US Schrade went bankrupt in 2004.
Taylor Knives bought the name and started having knives made in China soon after.

So there is a difference between knives made 10 years ago vs. 15.
A 15-year old knife was made in USA by the original company.
A 10 year old knife was made in China. And the early ones left much to be desired.

For US Scrade, I think the quality was similar to that of Buck.
For Tayor Schrade I think Buck does it better, especially, they do it better than the early Chinese knives.
 
Buck knives are overall better. Although, I bought a few Schrade fixed blades, at a very great price, and was shocked at the quality. They are 1095 fixed blades meant for hard use and they perform well! The HT on them is fantastic!
Buck knives are priced well too. Their 420HC and S30V HT's are awesome! Their knives also have pretty good blade geometry, generally speaking. IMO
 
The first pocketknives I bought back in the 1970s were Schrades. Most were very good quality. Then in '78 I bought my first Buck, a 303 Cadet. For the longest time, that was my only Buck knife...until either the late '90s or early 2K. I later came to learn that that Buck Cadet was actually made for Buck by Camillus.

IMO, fit and finish-wise, the Buck/Camillus was better than the Schrades I had. Sharpness-wise, the Schrades were way sharper out of the box than my old Cadet. I liked that Schrade's straight carbon steel blades took a good edge and were easy to touch up. I didn't like that they developed rust just from being in my pocket for one day. The only stainless Schrade I had at the time was a medium stockman with Turkish clip blade that was stamped "Razor Blade Stainless", and the shield was simply stamped "stainless" in cursive writing.

Back then, even the stainless Buck/Camillus and Schrade used carbon steel backsprings.

Jim
 
Buck's slip-lock(slip-joint (gag) knives were Camillus made up until the early 80's. By 1984 many of Buck's models were brought in house and those blades are
of 425M steel. DM
 
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knarfeng said:
The answer is going to depend on exactly when the knife was made.

US Schrade went bankrupt in 2004.
Taylor Knives bought the name and started having knives made in China soon after.

So there is a difference between knives made 10 years ago vs. 15.
A 15-year old knife was made in USA by the original company.
A 10 year old knife was made in China. And the early ones left much to be desired.

For US Scrade, I think the quality was similar to that of Buck.
For Tayor Schrade I think Buck does it better, especially, they do it better than the early Chinese knives.
Click to expand...


So looking on the Blade of my Schrade is says the following "Uncle Henry Schrade LB7 USA"
 
Rhodies said:
So looking on the Blade of my Schrade is says the following "Uncle Henry Schrade LB7 USA"
Click to expand...

That's the original Schrade. So it was made prior to 2004.
An LB7 is a large lockback, patterned after a Buck 110.

Schrade used 440A blade steel up until the last few years. After that they used 420HC.
 
The 440A comment applied to the Uncle Henry line.
 
knarfeng said:
That's the original Schrade. So it was made prior to 2004.
An LB7 is a large lockback, patterned after a Buck 110.

Schrade used 440A blade steel up until the last few years. After that they used 420HC.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Yes, looking at the Schrade it looks almost identical to a 110. There is some difference in blade length, I think 1/4" but my Uncle Henry has a solid lock up and no play whatsoever. So this earlier Schrade is of better quality than the later version, post sale of the company?
 
The US made LB7 knives are very good quality - at least as good as the Buck 110. And ergonomically, I think the LB7 is superior.
 
Rhodies said:
Thanks for your reply. Yes, looking at the Schrade it looks almost identical to a 110. There is some difference in blade length, I think 1/4" but my Uncle Henry has a solid lock up and no play whatsoever. So this earlier Schrade is of better quality than the later version, post sale of the company?
Click to expand...
Yes, the us made knives are better.
 
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