The little pen knife that could

shopdoc said:
I was not aware of the Buck 305 and that sure looks like a knife I could love! I certainly don’t need any more knives, but I might just take a quick look on eBay lol.
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The standard black delrin models are plentiful and you should be able to find one for under $40.
Except 2 types of yellow delrin and a red delrin, what you see in my post is pretty much every option that has been offered over the years so you should have a good idea of what to look for.
There was also the 305 clipper from '88-'90 which has scissors instead of the coping blade, and there's the early pre '85 Camillus made examples if you want a long nail pull.
I favor the '85-'18 Buck made examples, because I don't like the look of the swedge on the Camillus contracted examples.
 
hsherzfeld said:
Buck still makes the 375 Deuce, which looks to be pretty similar; it has the same clip and coping blades.
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The 375 is a Chinese copy of the 305, that makes it a no go for me personally but I will say that they seem to be a perfectly fine knife and you still get the Buck warranty behind it.
I bought one at Walmart not knowing it was imported , when I discovered it wa I gifted it and promptly bought my 1st 305 on Ebay.
I don't know for sure but I've heard that the Chinese slipjoints use some equivalent to 420j2, 3cr something maybe ?
Likely not as good as Bucks 420HC but probably not a practical concern for a little knife like this.

The black g10 with blue stripes really did look pretty good, and I wish Buck had offered a 305 with that handle material.
 
From bottom to top, 305, 309, and Case Wharncliffe stag mini copperhead. The Case is the largest (obviously!) at just over three inches.

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ShaiHulud said:
Sheepsfoot blades I feel make heavier deeper cuts than other shapes. In this way, "blade shapes don't matter" isn't necessarily true. Because you can press down on thr Sheepsfoot foot with your thumb and really cut into the soul of that object, which is why I chose a gec Keychain in sheepsfoot over Spearpoint blade, overlooked because it's size rivals a classic but it sure is mighty
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THIS!

I have always loved the sheep foot, and on my Buck 301 and the 303i carried later, it was my most used blade. On my non SAK pocket knives that are only few now, the Victorinox florist knife is a favorite for when I know I will need more knife than my classic that will cut like the dickens. In the 1800's, the sheep foot blades a very popular blade on the simple working folders of the day for a lot of people. Strong blade, but with a fine point that you can bear down on safely without the blade folding up because of the 45 degree angle the knife is held at while doing so. I have always thought that our British cousins were onto something with their real lamb foot blades.

Years ago, I took a file and made the pen blade of my tinker into small sheep foot blade. It made the small blade more usable in many ways, including the opening of the accursed plastic blister packages. I wish Victorinox had an option of a cadet x with a sheep foot blade. THAT, would be my dream SAK.
 
jackknife said:
THIS!

I have always loved the sheep foot, and on my Buck 301 and the 303i carried later, it was my most used blade. On my non SAK pocket knives that are only few now, the Victorinox florist knife is a favorite for when I know I will need more knife than my classic that will cut like the dickens. In the 1800's, the sheep foot blades a very popular blade on the simple working folders of the day for a lot of people. Strong blade, but with a fine point that you can bear down on safely without the blade folding up because of the 45 degree angle the knife is held at while doing so. I have always thought that our British cousins were onto something with their real lamb foot blades.

Years ago, I took a file and made the pen blade of my tinker into small sheep foot blade. It made the small blade more usable in many ways, including the opening of the accursed plastic blister packages. I wish Victorinox had an option of a cadet x with a sheep foot blade. THAT, would be my dream SAK.
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The sheep foot blade is one of the main reasons that I tend to carry the Old Timer 108OT (the lower knife in the photo I posted), but I wasn’t going to mention it since it’s technically a (tiny) stockman, not a pen knife.
 
With closed length of 3 3/8", I'm not sure whether the Case 32087 pen knife meets everyone's definition of a "pen knife", but I really like that model. I like the Case pen knife much more than the Case peanut, primarily because the handle of the pen knife is a half-inch longer than that of the peanut.


I'm also very fond of my Wharncliffe/pen Case mini copperhead. Its length (3 1/8") is halfway between that of a Case peanut and the pen knife just shown, but it still feels much bigger than a peanut to me.


- GT
 
5K Qs said:
With closed length of 3 3/8", I'm not sure whether the Case 32087 pen knife meets everyone's definition of a "pen knife", but I really like that model. I like the Case pen knife much more than the Case peanut, primarily because the handle of the pen knife is a half-inch longer than that of the peanut.


I'm also very fond of my Wharncliffe/pen Case mini copperhead. Its length (3 1/8") is halfway between that of a Case peanut and the pen knife just shown, but it still feels much bigger than a peanut to me.


- GT
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Those Wharncliffe copperheads are a beautiful little knife!!!!

I always thought they would look right at home in the waistcoat pocket of a Victorian gentleman in some posh London club with deep Persian carpets, a large snifter of brandy, and a good cigar that needs the end trimmed off.
 
jackknife said:
Those Wharncliffe copperheads are a beautiful little knife!!!!

I always thought they would look right at home in the waistcoat pocket of a Victorian gentleman in some posh London club with deep Persian carpets, a large snifter of brandy, and a good cigar that needs the end trimmed off.
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Thanks, Carl; I wish I had your imagination! :)
I think mine is probably my best-looking knife, with the navy blue jigged bone, red shield, and, when closed, almost-sunk joints and the smooth curve of the Wharncliffe main blade.

- GT
 
5K Qs said:
Thanks, Carl; I wish I had your imagination! :)
I think mine is probably my best-looking knife, with the navy blue jigged bone, red shield, and, when closed, almost-sunk joints and the smooth curve of the Wharncliffe main blade.

- GT
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Yeah, the navy blue with that splash of red is the perfect color scheme for that knife. Combined with the curve of the blade spine, it's a downright drop dead gorgeous little knife. Great choice of color on the right knife!
 
Hickory n steel said:
The 375 is a Chinese copy of the 305
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I couldn't find it this morning, but I thought I read a multi-year thread a few years ago where a guy kept giving updates on his 375. The 305 and 375 are pretty small, but they're sharp and get it done. And they absolutely disappear in my pocket.

https://imgur.com/a/CTC5XPS

A.L. said:
First I thought you meant Victorinox Classic SD but then realized you mean self defense… -_-
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Until I saw your comment, I also assumed he meant a Vic Classic SD.
 
FranklinG said:
I couldn't find it this morning, but I thought I read a multi-year thread a few years ago where a guy kept giving updates on his 375. The 305 and 375 are pretty small, but they're sharp and get it done. And they absolutely disappear in my pocket.

https://imgur.com/a/CTC5XPS


Until I saw your comment, I also assumed he meant a Vic Classic SD.
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That is a very nice Buckbone 305 you've got there.
 
I like the synthetic handles on the cases, cheaper and in my view durable enough for what I need, but I did manage to talk myself into a small congress whittler with purple jigged bone, mostly because a delrin sample wasn't available
 
ShaiHulud said:
Slipjoint Pen knives and like-size are amazing little doers, since my switch to these cat claws, I've never found myself needing anything larger than 2.75 inches in blade length. They are extremely useful, with hundreds of uses, yes i believe that includes SD.
Please feel free to share pictures, stories, and/or comments about your little pen knives.
Please keep the conversation to pen knives and slipjoint/traditional pen knives only.
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What is SD???
 
jackknife said:
I always thought they would look right at home in the waistcoat pocket of a Victorian gentleman in some posh London club with deep Persian carpets, a large snifter of brandy, and a good cigar that needs the end trimmed off.
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"Oh, Jeeves, lay out my tweeds and don't forget to put my mini copperhead in the waistcoat pocket. And have my roadster brought around to the front."

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