What are your thoughts on the Buck Hoodlum?

I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it didn't have that notch in the blade. I personally find it unnecessary, and I can see it getting caught up on stuff. Maybe they'll make a version without it. Hell, not having the notch would also require less machining, thus lowering cost (or, at least, it should).
 
J.Davey said:
I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it didn't have that notch in the blade. I personally find it unnecessary, and I can see it getting caught up on stuff. Maybe they'll make a version without it. Hell, not having the notch would also require less machining, thus lowering cost (or, at least, it should).
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Do you think the notch would fail under vigorous batoning?
 
I don't think so, but I really don't know. As I said, my biggest worry is the notch getting hung up on stuff you're cutting. That would annoy the sh1t out of me.
 
J.Davey said:
I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it didn't have that notch in the blade. I personally find it unnecessary, and I can see it getting caught up on stuff. Maybe they'll make a version without it. Hell, not having the notch would also require less machining, thus lowering cost (or, at least, it should).
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Same here. Mostly because I don't want any steel removed on a knife that is meant for chopping/batoning. I'm not saying that notch is going to drastically affect the strength of the blade, but it doesn't help.
 
J.Davey said:
I don't think so, but I really don't know. As I said, my biggest worry is the notch getting hung up on stuff you're cutting. That would annoy the sh1t out of me.
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I suppose if one is using it like a mini-machete in certain vegetation, that could happen. I hadn't thought of that.
 
bladerique said:
I suppose if one is using it like a mini-machete in certain vegetation, that could happen. I hadn't thought of that.
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Even cutting through meat, regular materials, or if you had to use it for penetration. I can see it acting almost like a barb.
 
The notch has never been a problem for me. It works as advertised. It also serves as a wire breaker and pot lifter.

As far as it being a “weak point’. Isn’t a choil also a cutout? Anyone here ever seen a blade fail there? Me neither.

The Hoodlum blade has been tested for over two years by many outdoorsmen and survival instructors. Ron gave one to a Marine unit in the sand box for a couple months and told them to wring it out. It survived unscathed. Apparently, the cutout is a non-issue.

Several years ago, Jerry Hossom wrote how he thought that many forumites seemed to think that reputable knife makers just wandered around aimlessly, making this or that, willy-nilly, without any testing at all. He was genuinely perplexed and perturbed at the armchair/mall-ninjas “experts” that inhabit many forums. He assured the reader that knifemakers do a LOT of testing. They try different heat treats, geometry, designs. They cut nails, bend blades beyond reason, and generally abuse the heck out of them so that the final product works well in the field during sane use. If something doesn’t work, they change it or dismiss it altogether. As Bill Harsey told Cliff Stamp several years ago; “Cliff, if you know so much more than us on how to make the perfect knife, then why don’t YOU make one? Until then, shut up!”


Hossom, Hood, Mayo and many others used to be regulars on this forum. Most of them got frustrated and threw up their hands because of the neophytes who thought they knew better than them. Some still chime in every now and then, but most are long gone.

Ron Hood is the grandfather of the modern survival instructor. He knows what he likes and what works. If you don’t like the design, fine, don’t buy it. Go buy one of the hundreds of sharped prybars out there instead. They all pretty much work the same. The Hoodlum is way different.
 
I want one, but it's too expensive for me. I'd rather spend that kind of money on an EDC knife.
 
bearcut said:
The notch has never been a problem for me. It works as advertised. It also serves as a wire breaker and pot lifter.

As far as it being a “weak point’. Isn’t a choil also a cutout? Anyone here ever seen a blade fail there? Me neither.

The Hoodlum blade has been tested for over two years by many outdoorsmen and survival instructors. Ron gave one to a Marine unit in the sand box for a couple months and told them to wring it out. It survived unscathed. Apparently, the cutout is a non-issue.

Several years ago, Jerry Hossom wrote how he thought that many forumites seemed to think that reputable knife makers just wandered around aimlessly, making this or that, willy-nilly, without any testing at all. He was genuinely perplexed and perturbed at the armchair/mall-ninjas “experts” that inhabit many forums. He assured the reader that knifemakers do a LOT of testing. They try different heat treats, geometry, designs. They cut nails, bend blades beyond reason, and generally abuse the heck out of them so that the final product works well in the field during sane use. If something doesn’t work, they change it or dismiss it altogether. As Bill Harsey told Cliff Stamp several years ago; “Cliff, if you know so much more than us on how to make the perfect knife, then why don’t YOU make one? Until then, shut up!”


Hossom, Hood, Mayo and many others used to be regulars on this forum. Most of them got frustrated and threw up their hands because of the neophytes who thought they knew better than them. Some still chime in every now and then, but most are long gone.

Ron Hood is the grandfather of the modern survival instructor. He knows what he likes and what works. If you don’t like the design, fine, don’t buy it. Go buy one of the hundreds of sharped prybars out there instead. They all pretty much work the same. The Hoodlum is way different.
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Amen brother! :thumbup: I agree with you 100%.
 
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