what's wrong whit Buck Knives?

RedLynx,

No nick. That's an older "2-dot" 112 with 440C. They didn't have nicks back then and they also have a funny semi-hollow grind that is quite thick near the edge.

I end up carrying the 500 Duke more often and the 110 is an icon, of course. But I think the 112 is the most visually pleasing, particularly in hand. There's just something about the lines that work.

As a knife, the 112 is something like a shot of Wild Turkey. It's a brick. No excuses. Either adapt to belt carry (I can't or won't) or man up and accept the weight and bulk in the pocket. That's why I generally drift back to the 500. Still... the 112 is just so beautiful, imo. Here it is on it's own.

Buck 112 by Pinnah, on Flickr


BTW, no nick is no issue, at least for me. There's a lot of blade above the well and easy to pinch open and even one hand open (if you're old enough to know how).
 
stabman said:
This Buck is pretty sweet. :)

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Nice sap dude. Greenman Leather?
 
Yep, I learned that some years back, the drop open thing. I'm a bit wary of it simply because the thing that makes it work well, the heavy handle, also makes me fear I may drop the darn thing.

Oddly enough although I don't carry a lot of pouch knives I do like owning a few and carrying them that way.

But my s/o insists that I look worse than guys with cell phone cases on their belts and won't let me carry a belt pouch knife if we go out... :P
 
I think the reason for low-carbide steels being so popular for woods use is that very few cutting tasks in the woods cause dulling through abrasive wear, while accidentally hitting a rock is a distinct possibility. As such, the ease of sharpening helps with ironing out damage that would occur even to high carbide steels in that setting, without a large drop in the performance of the tool because of its context of use.
 
I'd like to take a moment to stray from the steels talk and say that I think Buck makes some of the most exemplary production leather sheaths in the business. The quality and design is spectacular.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I think the reason for low-carbide steels being so popular for woods use is that very few cutting tasks in the woods cause dulling through abrasive wear, while accidentally hitting a rock is a distinct possibility. As such, the ease of sharpening helps with ironing out damage that would occur even to high carbide steels in that setting, without a large drop in the performance of the tool because of its context of use.
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That's sort of where I'm at.

Actually, I think the powdered steel vs fine (low) carbide steel discussion is a bit of side show in the discussion of the merit of Buck knives.

Knife users of good conscience are going to come down on both sides of that trade-off (and Buck offers S30V as well).

The real issue is, how does Bucks 420HC stack up to other fine (low) carbide steels? There's a lot of junky, soft, won't hold an edge for nuthin' fine (low) carbide steels out there. And there's a lot of decent ones. People don't bust Spyderco's chops for using 8Cr13MoV or for having used Aus 8. Should Buck move to 8Cr, Aus 8 or perhaps 12C27? That's the real debate.

I dunno. In practice, I can't tell a big enough difference in these steels so long as the heat treat is good, which it is on the Bucks.
 
Along similar lines, 440A is often looked at as a "junk steel" but Kershaw had great success with it for a long time because they ran it with a good heat treatment of acceptable hardness. Cold Steel got similar flack for their use of AUS-8 on pretty much everything, but their heat treatment of the stuff was phenomenal and so it performed very well. While there's a certain "blood from a turnip" aspect to some of the lower end steels (you're not going to give it magical powers that allow it to compete with higher end steels that are head and shoulders above it) there are a lot of lower end steels out there that often get a bad rap that are fully capable of giving surprisingly solid performance when treated correctly.
 
Last warning for everyone involved. Stop baiting one another, discuss the topic, explain why you believe what you do, and provide some data or some sort of info to back up claims. If you are speaking from an opinion, state it as such.
Leave the personal comments out of these threads, there is no need to "go after" one another, and it needs to stop. The only thing it accomplishes is a feeling animosity and soon no one will want to post anything but similar sharp edged comments. A little civility and respect goes a long way.

Yet another simple and respectful request. Don't force us to manage your behavior for you when you are certainly capable of doing it yourself.
 
Kwon Kwang said:
I'd like to take a moment to stray from the steels talk and say that I think Buck makes some of the most exemplary production leather sheaths in the business. The quality and design is spectacular.
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I agree. They also make some really good knives and remarkable price points. The Bantam series is a great example. I am going to be gifting some of these to younger nieces and nephews this Christmas.
 
440a with a good heat treat is a solid easy to sharpen steel, leave it in your basement and it won't rust for quite a while! I have a rough rider that has sat down there for months and there's not a spot of corrosion on it.
 
With respect to RevDevil, I only have this to say about the previous discussion in this thread.

Holy s**t.

On topic; I've found 420HC as Buck runs it to be very similar to 8Cr13MoV as Kershaw, Spyderco and CRKT run it. I think that the nature of the steel makes them ideal for quick touch-ups, and they hold an edge long enough to last through most hard use; they stay sharp until the end of the day, at least. A 16 hour period. This includes, in my own use, carving and notching wood and cutting through cardboard and plastic strapping, processes lasting for hours in a warehouse setting.

As for the construction of Buck knives... the 110, at least for me, has indeed some slop in lockup, but it performs and gets the job done.

Yes, I must resharpen two to three times a week if I am using it for extended periods daily, and yes, I often choose my Sebenza, 940, Endura, anything using steel that will keep an edge longer than the 110 due to just that fact. However, I would think it's a bit of a stretch of the imagination to say that the 110 is in any way inadequate, at least when referring to steel quality, and by extension it's capability to withstand average use.
 
RevDevil said:
I agree. They also make some really good knives and remarkable price points. The Bantam series is a great example. I am going to be gifting some of these to younger nieces and nephews this Christmas.
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The Bantam is another line that is so great I had to get a few. Inexpensive, easy to sharpen, a thumbstud to open one-handed, and extremely, extremely light, so much so it's one of the few pocket knives with a clip where I just removed the clip to carry in pocket.
 
One of the reasons I like buck knives saying myself personally. is because they range in a various of steels and prices. for this one I would say buck makes good stuff is it everyone's favorite? Probably not. but still they do have the S30V which I can personally say is one of my favorite steels for its durabiliy. however when your adding higher quality steel your adding price. buck is great because it's a company that gives out a wide range from what you can afford down to what you need it for.. there are other company's that do this but for as far as buck go's they are probably more well known and I've had a few in my lifetime they did what I needed them to do. I've collected knives sense I was young real young. If I looked though everything I got here I could probably find a few. Nothing expensive but price isent everything. (Keep in mind this is my own opinion)
 
I carry a 112 on my belt at work. When not working i pocket carry a gerber torch(discontinued) the buck 112 is such a lovely knife. I keep it shaving sharp and the weight is fine. Whenever i use it people admire it. People make way to much a big deal out of speed of deployment. And ive had it up to here with tactical kit.
 
singularity35 said:
I'm sure it's not cheap too. :D
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True enough. :)
But they hold together better than the cheaper, mass produced ones, with their thinner, lower quality leather and inferior stitching.

Plus there is that hard to quantify pride in ownership...and I get to support someone making things in Canada for a change. :D
 
Earlier in this thread, I mentioned I liked the Vanguard as a hunting knife. The next day, I took a doe with my recurve. I worked on the doe with 5 knives to see what one I liked best. To start, I got out the Vanguard and opened a small hole in the deer and used a SAK Hunter XT gutting blade. The Hunter XT worked great! It gave me a feeling of confidence I wasn't gong to puncture the guts. However, I had a feeling the Vanguard would be fine for the task of opening the deer. So, I used it to complete the incision. Then, I used the Vanguard for the rest of the field dressing. It was excellent. It's just right, both in blade length and that big finger guard, to reach way in and sever the windpipe. I've never used my Falkniven WM1, so I used it to remove the hide. It was perfect! I tried the Vanguard, and it was just as good! I used the Vanguard and a Marbles Sport rubber gripped knife for butchering. They worked about the same, but I preferred the heavier weight of the Vanguard. Finally, I used a Marttiini M571 and the Vanguard to trim the meat. I trimmed it on a cookie sheet and shoved the Vanguard blade into the metal using so. It finally dulled. After 3 hours, the M571 looked like it was forming rust! I sharpened all the knives and the M571 was easiest to resharpen to shaving sharp. The Buck took me a couple of minutes. The Marbles was still shaving sharp but probably because I didn't use it much. The WM1 needed a little work, about a minute on a steel, and it was back to like new. The black coating was unaffected by skinning one deer. In the end, the Buck needed the most work to restore but was also, by far, the most used. I also liked the nylon sheaths on most of the knives, as I was able to wash off the blood and get them looking like new. I gave the Buck the win, as I just liked using it the most, but they all did their task well.

Joe
 
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