TOPS/BUCK CSAR-T fixed blade

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TwinStick

Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Messages
4,089
This is one AWESOME knife. It is one of those deals where, once you pick it up, it puts a BIG smile on your face. It is 3/16" thick, the angle of the pic makes it look a little less, but it is 3/16" thick. The balance is PERFECT at the choil. With one finger in the choil, it will balance sraight & even. The handles are held on by 4 removeable screws. It came paper shaving sharp. The grips/handle is Mountain Tread G-10 & is VERY grippy. It has a hex end in the extended tang, for using 1/4" hex tools. It is a full width, full tang. The sheath is also awesome. VERY versatile. It is plastic lined, so the nylon will not get cut. It can be worn vertically or horizontally on a belt. It can also be strapped to mollie webbs. The extra pocket will hold most multi-tools or a small sharpening stone. IMHO, THIS is a perfect example of what a quality Made In America BUCK knife should be. They should start a whole new line of hard use knives for the professionals. Military, Police, EMT's, Rescue, Entry teams, ect... ect... . ARE YOU LISTENING BUCK ???

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Thanks for turning me on to this knife. Definitely keeping my eye on it - although
it seems large for an EDC. Who knows, I'll probably cave sooner or later.
 
Looks like a heavy duty blade to me, Buck's 420HC Steel has always held up really well and I have no doubt that it would do the same here. Do you know if the blade as a FF grind?
Congratulations on your new knife!
 
KLJTech said:
Looks like a heavy duty blade to me, Buck's 420HC Steel has always held up really well and I have no doubt that it would do the same here. Do you know if the blade as a FF grind?Congratulations on your new knife!
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By that, i'm thinking you mean a full flat grind on the knife itself? Then the answer is no, it is full thickness down to the obvious line you can see in the pics.

If you are talking about just the sharp edge, then the answer is yes, it is a flat grind.
 
TwinStick said:
By that, i'm thinking you mean a full flat grind on the knife itself? Then the answer is no, it is full thickness down to the obvious line you can see in the pics.

If you are talking about just the sharp edge, then the answer is yes, it is a flat grind.
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Sorry, I had just about finished asking if it had a flat or hollow grind when my young son kinda jumped/climbed up into my lap and somehow managed to delete part of what I was typing and used my one free hand to ask if it had a flat grind and didn't mean Full Flat as I can see that it maintains full thickness more than half way down the side of the blade (looks very stout). I had been looking at the folder version of this knife but your review and pictures have convinced me to get the fixed blade instead. What do you make of the butt end of the knife, does it appear that it could come in handy if any prying needed to be done?

I'm also glad to see the sheath retention strap isn't Velcro.
 
That is a good looking knife, love the prying tip on the grip, thanks for the pictures and review.
 
While i was at SMKW, i handled all 3 folder versions. One of them is on my list now. They are simply AWESOME as well. Lock ups had NO wiggle in any of the 3 versions. For the $$, i think you would be hard pressed to find a better "Made in the USA" folder. I liked the G-10 grip version the best. (the most expensive one)

Update on my Fixed blade---I spent an hour & a half last night sharpening & polishing the edge. OMG is it sharp !!! It is SCARY sharp now ! I almost had a horrible accident after i sharpened it. I put it in the sheath while talking to my daughter & "thought" the snap snapped around the handle. I decided to try to see how i could wear it with a custom kydex sheath, while being concealed. I tipped it upside down across my chest & the knife slid out of the sheath. I quickly moved my feet & jumped back. The knife hit the carpet & bounced. It cut the carpet both times it touched it. Me & mt daughter just looked at each other---KNOWING it was a stupid mistake that could have been VERY bad. God watches over children & fools I've been told. I was certainly the latter last night. It is so sharp, I think a custom Kydex sheath is in its future for sure.

I think the butt end could be VERY usefull. The G-10 handle material may be a little too close to the tip for serious prying though. It has a standard 1/4" hex in it & they even sell a hex bit kit for around $15 for it. Mine is too sharp to be using the hex without some sort of cover over the blade. It don't just slice corners off paper, it will slice through an entire length of computer paper & shave hair with NO drawing of the blade at all. Just put in on your arm & move it in a straight line, like a straight razor.
 
The irony is that the 420HC choice actually is one of the best possible for this type of toughness-based design, if you're intent on doing it in stainless, that is. Were the knife made out of S30V, it'd really be far less capable in the "hard duty" role, but the price would be somewhat more justified since a lot more effort would go into grinding them (and the material is more too). Bead blast finish (no polishing), slab scales and made out of relatively inexpensive steel---I think they're bowing to the TOPS SOP of pricing. Good knife, but more work goes into a Buck 119 at half the price with its satin finish and three piece guard/grip/pommel.
 
Your joking right ? A Buck 119 compared to the Tops/Buck CSAR-T fixed blade ? Really ? More pieces = more things to break or loosen up. You can not tighten up the handle on a buck 119 with a screwdriver. You can not remove the handles for cleaning or modification. The Buck 119 may be fine for light duty use & hunting/field dressing/skinning but thats about it. The T/B fixed blade is full width, full tang, 3/16" thick & i would have no trouble batoning it through wood or chopping with it. I had the chance this year to watch someone who has had a Buck 119 for 20+ years, throw it at a tree. He hit the handle & now it is loose. It is half the price for a reason. It is NOT full width, full tang. IMHO, if an outdoor knife is not up for "hard use", it simply is not worth having. Heck, even a $10 Old Hickory is full width, full tang.
 
*Take panties and remove the bunch from them*

Really and truly, read my post before you get worked up. I didn't say the Buck 119 was better than the CSAR-T, I said that more steps (meaning work, meaning time spent, meaning money) went into the 119 than did the other. As such, there's absolutely no reason for the price premium on the CSAR-T other than it says "TOPS" on the blade.

For all tasks other than a fighting knife and kitchen work, the CSAR-T absolutely is, in my opinion, a better option than the 119. Doesn't explain the 100% increase in price for a knife made from the same materials that they put far less work into. I mean, I'll go you one better---a sledgehammer from Home Depot is approximately ten times tougher than a CSAR-T, so that means it's probably worth $1000, right? Or a Casio G-Shock should actually cost more money than an Omega. NONE of the materials or processes used in the creation of this new knife are expensive or time consuming. You're getting $30.00 of (admittedly well made) knife and $70.00 of "because they'll fall for it" pricing.

The CSAR-T is tough, it's good, I like it, but it's also marked at an ENORMOUS profit margin compared to Buck's usual fare.

Edit to add: Actually, come to think of it, your $10 Old Hickory comparison is quite apt----a flat bar of common steel with no difficult grinds on it, with a pair of flat scales riveted onto it; perfectly serviceable and will do all you need but extremely quick and easy to make and therefore inexpensive. Until the very last part, I could have been describing either the Old Hickory or the CSAR-T, couldn't I?
 
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t1mpani said:
]*Take panties and remove the bunch from them*[/B]Really and truly, read my post before you get worked up. I didn't say the Buck 119 was better than the CSAR-T, I said that more steps (meaning work, meaning time spent, meaning money) went into the 119 than did the other. As such, there's absolutely no reason for the price premium on the CSAR-T other than it says "TOPS" on the blade.

For all tasks other than a fighting knife and kitchen work, the CSAR-T absolutely is, in my opinion, a better option than the 119. Doesn't explain the 100% increase in price for a knife made from the same materials that they put far less work into. I mean, I'll go you one better---a sledgehammer from Home Depot is approximately ten times tougher than a CSAR-T, so that means it's probably worth $1000, right? Or a Casio G-Shock should actually cost more money than an Omega. NONE of the materials or processes used in the creation of this new knife are expensive or time consuming. You're getting $30.00 of (admittedly well made) knife and $70.00 of "because they'll fall for it" pricing.

The CSAR-T is tough, it's good, I like it, but it's also marked at an ENORMOUS profit margin compared to Buck's usual fare.

Edit to add: Actually, come to think of it, your $10 Old Hickory comparison is quite apt----a flat bar of common steel with no difficult grinds on it, with a pair of flat scales riveted onto it; perfectly serviceable and will do all you need but extremely quick and easy to make and therefore inexpensive. Until the very last part, I could have been describing either the Old Hickory or the CSAR-T, couldn't I?
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LOL :D Sorry, don't wear them. ;) I just think there is a big difference between them. Usually I would agree about the price, but i do think it's is worth what i paid. I ALWAYS would like to pay less, as i am a BIG fan of bang for the buck---no punn intended. I would put the Old Hickory in a different class, but yeah, you could have been talking about it until the last part. Probably the things that make it more expensive might be the choil, the jimping on the handle in 3 different places & the jimping on top of the blade for your thumb-along with matching jimping in the handles in all 3 places to perfectly match the jimping in the metal, the hex in the butt-end/handle pry area & the sheath is pretty good too. I ALWAYS wish they were cheaper, but like i said, I REALLY think Buck hit a home run with this series. Even the folders are of high quality & the sheath for the folder was the best I have ever seen at that price point.
 
I think you're right---Buck is offering an extremely solid set of knives here, and both from the standpoint of the more expensive steel and the inherent added complexity of something with moving parts, I don't even BLINK at the price of the folder. The fixed blade just bugs me because I know how much they're making on it. I mean, from a custom maker who's doing all of his grinding by hand, I'd absolutely see added dollars for the details you mentioned. But these are machine-made knives, and turned out very quickly. Honestly, I don't think Buck is doing pure gouging here, I think they're actually pricing these with a "pride of ownership" philosophy: the notion that people will be happier with a purchase they paid more for.
Put another way, in terms of the amount of machining involved and the more expensive materials, it probably really does cost them about three times as much to make the folder as it does the fixed blade. However, if the fixed blade were priced at $45.00 instead of $95.00, many buyers of the folder might wonder what was "wrong" with the fixed blade, and avoid it. In truth, there's NOTHING wrong with it, it's just far cheaper to make! In all honesty, the Buck Nighthawk (especially the stubby tanto version) has extreme similarities to the CSAR-T, both in terms of the grinds and even the thickness of 420HC they used, and yet came in at under $50.00

I'm really not trying to be critical of the CSAR-T as a knife, nor of Buck (of whom I am a fan) nor even of TOPS. I'm just saying that with the fixed blade in this series, they're enjoying an extremely nice return on investment. Doesn't mean it won't do its job well---you'll be enjoying that knife for the rest of your life. :)
 
Maybe i am a novice as to how these things are made, but the fit & finish is PERFECT, & i mean PERFECT. EVERYTHING is lined up perfectly, ground perfectly,ect. Maybe i should try to take a few more HQ pics to show what i mean ? Hold on a minute.
Ok, here you go.

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They even took the time & care to sew a square with an X inside to reinforce the snap retainer for the knife/handle.

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You can fit a small tool (like the Gerber Artifact) without fear of falling out, or an original LeatherMan with room to spare, or even a LeatherMan Surge, which is much larger, in the extra pocket. Or even a sharpening stone if need be.

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Sheath is also molle compatable, can be worn vertically-without removeing your belt, or even horizontally.
 
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Oh I believe you, but since lasers and large precision CNC machines which cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars are involved I'd sure as hell hope the fit and finish is perfect! :) Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the equipment (custom makers can only dream of such toys), but Buck is in the business of producing thousands of knives a year, not dozens. Nobody is slaving over one of these knives for hours or days. They're made in bulk and sold in bulk--through an extremely well thought-out manufacturing process. None of this makes it a "cheap" knife, but it should be an inexpensive one. Take a look at this article, not about the CSAR-T itself but the Buck manufacturing process, as it's fairly interesting.
http://www.themanufacturer.com/us/profile/1517/Buck_Knives

Be happy with it---I think that for a stainless heavy-duty utility knife it's pretty hard to match at its price point. I'm just saying they could have dropped it $30, still made a profit and made it UNTOUCHABLE at its price point. If I see one from one of my favorite vendors one of these days, and the feeling grabs me, I may end up with one.
 
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Do please bring on the pictures---I always like looking at sharp things. :)
 
Pics are done. I'd would have been MUCH happier if it was $30 cheaper, but as you say, "Tops has to get thier props". This was only the second knife i have ever purchased that had the grind spot on, on both sides of the blade. (I think i am up to about 50 blades or more now) First one with a spot on grind was my Ontario Ranger RD6 Signature Series. It is my most expensive knife @ $150, but it is 3/8" thick & just as sharp.
 
Looks good! Buck's grinds have long been among the most consistent of any manufacturer, especially on their higher-end stuff. A little sandpaper/needle file action could get the G10 scale-overlap taken care of in a few places (with care, of course). I'd really like to see more radiusing on the handle scales, but that's personal preference and easily corrected again with some sandpaper and a little elbow grease. Sheath looks typical in design but executed well (my guess would be they're farming it out to somebody like they did with SOE on the old Buck/Strider Solution fixed blades but I don't know that for a fact) and with the addition of a multi-tool and fire kit there's extremely little you couldn't accomplish in the wild. Add a 3/8" thick Ranger to it and you're ready for Armageddon. :D
 
I would love to find out if the OP is still liking this blade. PM sent.

Also, a question for the general forum: Why haven't these Bucks CSAR fixed blades "taken off" and become more popular in the 4" to 5" hard use/survival blade market? This looks to me like an awesome blade with excellent design, serious toughness, and some creative features that make it more usable than other standard knife designs. Every review of these I've seen by somebody who actually owns one is extremely positive.

And yet, hardly anybody is buying these fixed blade versions (a few are buying the folding version). You can find very few actual field reviews of the fixed blade. Why is that? Is is the materials, are we basically being "steel snobs" against Buck 420 steel? Or is it the rather different looking handle design? I'd be interested in one of these myself, but also interested to know why nobody is buying it.
 
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