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Is Buck still considered among the better non-custom factory made fixed blade hunting knives? Something along lines of a 105. Is quality any better with older Bucks or is current production as good. Opinions appreciated. Want to stay under $100. Thx.

yes quality of the old buck knives was much better

Could you help with dates of best production to look for? Pre 19??. Thx

Even back then their blades were made from 420C stainless steel, heat treated very hard to make up for the lack of carbon in comparison to 44C. Never cared for them really.

Other suggestions?

I have a bunch of Bucks. Their blade steel was 440C up until 1986. Then they switched to 425M and stayed with it through 1993. In 94 they switched to 420HC. Any of them are darn good factory knives that are hard to beat for the price. I like the 420HC blades of todays knives just fine. Extremely easy to put a scary sharp razor edge on them and they'll hold it reasonably long. The old 440C blades are harder to sharpen but hold an edge maybe 20% longer IME. The 425M blades are so close to the 420HC that it's hard to tell much difference but I'd say the 420HC holds an edge a hair better. There are many special edition Bucks out there now with better quality steel. The 105 is available now with S30V blade steel and red micarta handle for about 115.00 if you do a google search you should find it.

Thanks for the good info.

I have a bunch of them as well and feel like they give good service, especially for the price. I like the ergos, weight, and styling of the fixed blade line, and they are very hard to beat at the prices you can get them for.

You can also get some made of 5160 and D2.

Their custom shop will let you choose S30V on some models

I think that they are the among the best of the department store knives. 420HC is considered "low end" steel today but I have read on knife nut forums that Buck heat treats 420 better than anyone else. I tend to agree. I will give you a real world example of how mine performed that surprised me a little. Last season, I killed two doe whitetails in one evening. My 110 was nice and sharp when I started on them, it would cleanly slice newspaper which is sort of my litmus test for sharpness, and it would shave. Anyway, I dressed, skinned and quartered both animals with the knife which included cutting through the sternum but I cut the feet and heads off with a saw.....never have taken the time to learn the trick about cutting legs off at the joint with a knife. After the first deer, the knife would still still attempt to shave arm hair....sort of dragging on it, but certainly no longer "popping it". After the second deer, it was in need of some TLC as it was getting dull enough to be noticeable but it was certainly still cutting. That is not bad for a knife that can be had at wally world for $40

Before I went out again, probably 8 to 10 minutes on my Arkansas stones and the knife ready to go....and that was taking some pains about the process. As Blackheart said, they are very easy to re-sharpen with most any kind of abrasive which I like. So, I really don't see how you go wrong for the price point and lifetime warranty, considering what some knives cost these days. Also, for $100ish you should be able to find one with higher end steel if you want to go that route.

I have three purchased around 1970 and they are tough to sharpen. A diamond stone helps.

Edgeholding is somewhat balanced between wear resistance, chipping, or rolling.

Buck tries to balance those with price. And does a great job.
Not counting their better steel knives, they will dull a little faster than some customs.
Is that a big deal, not for me. I can do everything I need to a deer or elk without needing to sharpen.
Moose might change things. But, I could resharpen in minutes, something you probably cant do with super-steels.

If your buddies are higher end equipment snobs, Buck will leave you in the rear. But probably not scorned. (Unless they are pricks)
If they are good ol' boys, one of the prettier Bucks will make you top dog.

We use Case, Buck, old Scharade, mostly. Have some Spyderco, don't even mention it to most, they don't know it. And they would think me a snob/fool.
It all works!

Go to the Buck Custom Shop and build your own knife choosing the materials you want.

Stag 110 with nickel bolsters and BG42 steel...


Buffalo 110 with nickel bolsters and BG42 steel...

Get a Buck Vanguard, if you want a better steel get the Alaskan S30V.

I prefer the older Bucks pre 80’

Cabelas has several Alaskan Guide series Buck knives that are available in S30v for a little either side of $100. I have one, but honestly it is not near the knife a Benchmade my wife got for me with the same blade metal is. Not even close. I'm not sure Buck has gotten the S30v quite figured out yet. You might consider a Cold Steel (check out the Pendleton Hunter) or Morakniv. The Bucks with 420HC aren't bad for the price, but there are options which might meet your needs a little more closely. Our Buck 119 used to be our main go to deer skinning and processing knife. Now it has taken a back seat to the Benchmade. Got a couple new ones we're looking forward to trying this fall.

The 420HC...

Is S30V that much better?

There has probably been millions of deer and other big game animals cut up with Buck knives, they'll work just fine. Some may hold an edge longer but they'll be harder to sharpen, there's always a trade off.

BTW, just for informational interest, check out the Copper and Clad special run Buck knives. The lightweights with aluminum bolsters and drop point blades of upgraded steel are very unique and interesting.

Well, I bit the bullet and bought two of the Alaskan Guide Knives. The 110 and the Vanguard. They are loaded with high end features for a decent price I believe.
I have a couple of drawers full of knives that I have accumulated over the years. I am definitely no expert though. I just know what I like.

My belief is that I am too far behind the knowledge curve on the various custom knives I see here at the fire. Plus I am inpatient. My interest has been rekindled, so that might change.

Buck knives are great. The company is great. So many guys own them,they're like a standard to a factory hunting knife

They have a program where they will engrave a 501 folder ( I think is the model) with an Eagle scouts info,B.O.R. date,troop # etc. on each side of the bolsters. I think we've probably got 2 dozen ,maybe a little more or less . Never one had a typo on the info. They do this for like Forty bucks delivered . I have a lot of respect for this program and Buck Knives.

God damn the old bucks are hard to sharpen... ol man has several from the early 80’s, you can have em

I will take any that you are tired of.

Keep your Arkansas stones. They work .
But after using the Diamond flat stones and Steels, life got easier with some knife steels for me.

After owning a good blade, with properly handled steele, bucks are straight garbage... imo

I’ll see what he’s doin with em, haven’t seen em in 25 years or so, they’re in a box somewhere I suppose, where they belong...

C30V steel heat treated by Boss good enough?

Oh didn’t know the early 80’s bucks were s30v???? Whoda thunk it

They're not, they're 440C stainless. Not terribly difficult to sharpen with a diamond stone. Paul Bos developed the heat treating processes used by Buck to this day. He is considered one of the best at his craft and many a custom knife maker has sent their blades to Bos for heat treatment over the years.

I know blackheart, the early bucks I’ve been around I hated... but that’s me, now after compiling several customs by Ingram Howe and Hammonds, there’s really no comparison...

The Buck Alaskan Guides are S30V

Yes I know but the Alaskan Guides weren't made in the '80's.

I guess we are still stuck in the 80's here.

A friend that worked at a packing house gave me a brand new silicon carbide stone back in the 80's. Because of me complaining about this very same topic. The problem with Buck Knives sharpening went away back then.



Fuel injection vehicles made life better also. But I did know how to rebuild carburetors.

When you call Bos H.T. you get the Buck Knives phone line.
Bos does all Bucks heat treating and does many custom makers blades also.
You can get just one blade heat treated of any steel with Bos.
I have used them some lately and have the utmost respect for their work and services.
I have only ever owned one Buck, a 112 folder bought a long time ago.
I have not used it enough to evaluate the edge qualities. I like fixed blade knives for the field.
Tim

Counting a couple of their small pocket knives, I have eight. I have a 110 that I have skinned so many Deer and Elk with the blade looks like a toothpick. Got to send it in along with a small pocket knife and get new blades. Love this knife but what blade should I have them replace it with? I'm 81 and have been using them all my hunting life. You can always buy more expensive knives if you want to but the Bucks have always worked well for me. I must admit that I do have a Mula skinner that is a very good skinner.

The fixed blade Buck Alaskan Guide Vanguard has a drop point which I like better for field dressing the larger critters. It is S30V steel and other high end features . Beautiful on the hip in camp too. The edge lasts a very long time. Did 6 wild bore without sharpening. After that it still had a good edge left.

You need to contact Buck about that but If I remember right, they won't put an S30V blade in the older 110s so you will probably wind up with their 420HC which IMO ain't bad.

Buck has one of the best customer service for a mass manufacturer of knives. Pleasant to deal with is my experience.

Fellow Knife Users;
Good morning all, I trust this finds you all well and warm - and less smoky than we are up here just across the medicine line in south central BC.

The subject at hand is like a few others here - '06 vs .270 comes to mind - where some users have a preference they stick with and others are on a lifetime journey looking for the "ultimate" of whatever is being discussed.

I've played with a fair few different factory knives over the years - here's a photo from a few years back of the EDC rotation back then.


Going off of faulty memory and from the left, the steels are Elmax for the first two, 154CM, S30V done by Paul Bos for the next two, VG10, then I can't recall the next two - sorry. The little Twitch at the end is just a finger nail cleaner and knife that gets borrowed to folks who ask "Do you have a knife".

Have also played with 52100


The old Gerber Skookum folders are hard, hard steel but perhaps a bit brittle. The Gerber in the center I think is 154CM, then the old Kerhaw is who knows what, the custom beside it is some Cobalt steel blend, then the Mountain Sheep horn twins are Simmonds planer blade D2 cold ground and lastly the little Bark River is A2 I believe.


As well, we've processed what we've killed for the last nearly 4 decades and help out a bunch of friends to theirs too - along with cooking, so we've got a bunch of those blades too.



Anyway sorry for all the photos, but sometimes on the 'net it's tough to explain the depth or breadth of the poster's experience.

The short answer to the question about Buck knives is - in my opinion - yes they are still well made and with some of the new steels are capable of holding an edge as good or better than other blades/steels.

We toured the Buck factory about 10 years back and coming from a lifetime of production shops I was impressed with a number of aspects of the plant and staff.

To answer the quoted question, I'd opine that S30V as heat treated by Paul Bos is about as good as any steel I've worked with to date. Whatever it is that he does different, it works.

Obligatory knife in use photo...


That open heart work was a second rack mulie buck hit at about 200yds. It was done by a .250AI launched 80gr TTSX by the way, that broke the off side bone below the scapula, just below the knuckle joint, then lodged under the hide and still weighed 79.5gr. They work too.

Apologies to you all for a too long response, thanks for sticking with it to the end, good luck to you all in your hunts this fall and I hope the summer is a good one.

Dwayne

Thank you for that BC30cal. Good solid experience and nice pics.


Note: Paul Boss does the heat/cold work on all Buck S30V steel models. Hard to beat that.

Gibby;
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

To my way of thinking - currently anyway - it's very much a different knife/steel that I want in a general hunting blade as opposed to one used for meat cutting and then food prep knives can be different again.

For gutting, skinning duties I like a bit of a "toothy" edge on the blade, so sometimes I'll quit at 1500 grit on the edge polish to keep it that way and sometimes I'll go further on an MDF wheels doped with different polishing compound grits. That little Gerber folder - an early run Gatormate in 154CM - is one that works better if I don't polish it up too, too much.

When we're cutting meat, especially boning out leg bones, I've come to prefer a softer steel which I can touch up with a butcher's steel easily. So some of the "better" Forschner blades are actually a tad on the hard side and the Hook Eye made in Portugal and the wood handled Dexter are my favorites because a couple swipes on the steel keep me going.

For food prep, I don't mind a really hard, even brittle blade, because I'm not using it as a cleaver. Honestly Gibby I even traded into one of the Japanese made boutique sorta knives just to see what the fuss was about.



That one has a VG10 center laminated into 420 or 440 sides, can't recall which at present - sorry. Anyway besides the whole knife being about 2 sizes too big for my taste - way too big for vegetable prep, but works great for slicing hams, roasts and turkey - I believe the laminated blade idea has some merit. In a food prep kitchen knife application.

My good wife of almost 36 years calls my pursuit of the "ultimate knife" a sickness and I suppose truly it is.....

Anyway sir, thanks again for the kind reply and letting me share what I believe I've learned over the years. All the best to you this summer.

Dwayne

I don't worry about getting too fancy with my knives or the latest, greatest steel. Nowdays I generally just use an old Puma Game Warden for field dressing/skinning/quartering and butcher with an early '80's Buck Lakemate fillet knife. I have one custom and many other factory knives with blade steels of 420HC, 440A, 440C, 154CM, S30V, 52100, 1095, AUS8, Carbon V, Chrome Vanadium, Sandvic 14C28N and probably a few that escape me at the moment. But those first two do all I need done and are easy to resharpen to a hair popping edge in a jiffy. I will say that to me, the newer "super steels" like S30V are highly overrated and I've come to the personal conclusion that they are not worth the premium price over more ordinary, well heat treated and ground blade steels.. I have an old '60's production Case folding hunter with carbon steel blades that I can and have taken a deer from field to freezer with, gutting, skinning, quartering, deboning and slicing into steaks, roasts, stew and burger meat without the need to resharpen until it's all done. That's plenty good enough in my book. As to the question of whether Buck's standard production 420HC blades are good enough to get a hunter's chores done reasonably. You bet your sweet azz they are.

Good post^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am learning a lot here.

My birthday is next month. My wife and kids are already asking what I want. I want a good Japanese (15 +/- degree) chefs knife. But I would like a 7" size instead of 8" for the same reasons mentioned previously. Plus easier I think for my wife to use. It seems that the choices are limited from my research. Any ideas?
I would like to keep it under $250.00 if possible.

for years I just used factory made knives for skinning= old timers,buck,gerber and cold steel at the wild game processing place owned by Owen Hein in Gillete,Wyoming in the fall we skinned 100`s of animals every year and to be honest we finally preferred cold steel knives to skin with. but these days I now use custom skinning and gutting knives made in Minnesota called M.H. Allen cell # 763-656-9540 his knives stay sharp and are great looking knives and sheaths too,custom made knives cost more but are worth it .use a good custom made knife once and you`ll never use factory made knives again. buy America custom knife you will be much happier ! I just order a new custom 6 inch with a little longer handle to use in Alaska on a moose and wolf hunt next year , moose are tough on a sharp knife because moose hides are large and full of dirt,i used to say it took 2- 3 factory knives to skin a moose now with a custom knife 1 knife only. good luck with your choice,Pete53

Gibby;
Good evening to you sir, I trust this finds you well and you all kept cool enough.

As you can sorta see from the photos, we try a few different brands of knives at our place - and our daughter and her husband have a few more different one too.

They've got a Kai santoku which is about the size of our Mcusta in the photo and they've also got a smaller MAC Santoku with the Granton relief slices like our Victorinox 7" Santoku - 5th knife down on the right in the kitchen knife photo.

One thing I've always watched is when there's a bunch of folks at a get together doing food prep - say Thanksgiving or Christmas - is what knife folks will gravitate towards. Hands down at our place the 7" Santoku gets grabbed first. So much so that our youngest who has a good German made Henkels 8" Santoku asked for a Victorinox 7" Santoku for her birthday this year.

She articulated that it's lighter in hand, thinner blade makes cutting easier and just makes for less work overall.

Our eldest daughter likes her MAC for the same reason.

The Victorinox is way under your budget - Amazon link here. https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Fibrox-Santoku-Knife-Granton/dp/B008M5U1WM

I believe this is the same knife as the eldest's MAC - https://www.macknife.com/collection...-series-8-chefs-knife-with-dimples-th-80

Honestly it makes for good conversation sometimes to talk to new guests who are a bit taken aback with the knife selection at our place, but if forced to choose between the Mcusta and the Victorinox, I'd take the Victorinox every time and yes I can buy 4 or 5 of them for what I've got into the Mcusta.

Anyway sir, I hope that was some use or interest to you or someone out there tonight. Happy birthday in advance and all the best to you folks this summer.

Dwayne

Thank you very much Dwayne. You made my decision easier.

I have been looking at Mac knives.

The 7" Victorinox is a no brainer to have around for the price and with your positive recommendation. I will get one.

With that in mind, and having the above mentioned 7" , I believe the Mac MTH-80 would be a good birthday present. I have researched it before but it was 8". Having both will solve my dilemma. Great!

Good morning Dwayne,

I have a Gerber Gatromate as well. I carry it in my pack and do consider it my "lucky knife". So, I may not always use it but I do have it in the pack nearly at all times.

I mostly use a Buck 110 Folder that I've had for probably 20 years. It's gutted and skinned more animals than I can count.

I also carry a buck 501 folder with Rosewood grip. I've carried that everyday since I was probably 14-15 years old. So that one has near 28 years of use on it. I thought I lost it one day on a turkey hunt. So, I headed off to the store and bought it's brother. I found the original after about 30 minutes of being home. So, now there is a back up 501.

I shouldnt have read this thread....

I got inspired to see what vaiations I could find a buck 110 and found..

drop point S30v
aluminum (much lighter(
red micarta
$99 on amazon

I was toying with a cabela alaska series, but I think a new buck folder may be coming from amazon.

tzone;
Good morning to you sir, I hope all is well with you and yours on this last weekend of July.

Where is the summer going and why is it in such a hurry again this year?

It's funny/ironic that you should mention that your Gatormate is a good luck charm for you as it's sorta that for me as well. It's often in the pack even if it doesn't get used that often, because it's not heavy and is a very useful shape.

The funny/ironic part tzone is that in general - well in all things other than hunting - I am not superstitious in any way. But my goodness the hunting gear gets picked based on field success sometimes....

Thanks for the reply and all the best to you all for the remaining days of summer.

Dwayne

The Cabela's Alaskan Guide Buck 110 is about $10.00 more, but you get the carbon diamond coating on the blade, their special grind and nice Rosewood scales. It does use the brass body, so it is heavier. Very nice Leather sheath. On the hip the weight is no problem. In the pocket you would tell the difference. I like the 110 because it is the strongest folder out there for hunting.

Gibby,

Now you got me second guessing....

I'll have to decide if I want a drop or clip point. Im a one or two deer a year guy and neutral thoughts on either
I can see the diamond coating being good.
You may have to explain the special grind to me.

I know you enjoy knives and know more about them than me so the second opinion is appreciated.
Thanks

I am definitely not the knife expert here.

Buck Edge2x is the grind I was talking about on these knives mentioned. Their website can explain better than me.

This might help-

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/buck%C2%92s-edge2xtm-blade-technology.740645/

(your going to have to copy and paste to Google)


For a field dressing knife I like the Drop point .

The Buck Alaskan Guide 183 CrossLock has it all. Plus a scary sharp saw blade and gut hook. It has the aluminum frame. A few ounces lighter to boot.
You can see it on Cabela's website. Their link won't let me copy and paste.

Hope this helps.

Gibby,

Last fall, I bought a orange handled cross lock in 420 HC steel to try a gut hook and it worked great.
Also the modified spear shape tip is nice for skinning deer legs because you punch through the hide and run the back edge on the meat. Maybe tough to explain, but the shape works better any other knife I have. I havent used it for gutting yet and Im sure it will be good.

Thanks for pointing out another option. Maybe I will get the cabelas version for hunting and keep the orange one for a lightweight survival knife or back up.

HD

That modified spear shape blade is one of the reasons I bought one. For the reasons you described.

I think they are a lot of knife for the money.

I'll throw my 2 cents in here - I don't visit the knife forum too often, but have more knives than I can keep tract of - and they're all treasures.

I just came across a vintage Buck 118 that I scavenged from our dumpster at work many years ago, along with some other interesting artifacts.
This Buck knife and its leather sheath are in excellent condition. I didn't really appreciate this knife until I came across it this evening
going through stuff long packed away in boxes. I never previously noticed its unique blade design but now fell in love with it
and it won't leave my side. I can see why they named it the 'Personal'!

<> https://media.midwayusa.com/productimages/880x660/primary/234/234956.jpg <> (Image is of current Buck 118)

My knife has a reversed two line 'BUCK' and 'USA' stamp on the blade and is late 60's or early 70's vintage.
The # 118 is stamped on the back of the leather sheath just below the belt loop strap.

I am curious if my knife has any 'collector' value but I won't sell it.

Obviously condition is the most important factor in value.

Bladeforums.com Buck subforum.

They know absolutely everything about buck knives and the family.

Lots of information by the Buck Company historian as well.

FYI you’ll need the basic membership to ask about value.