Folding knives have the benefit of being lightweight and easier to carry. The beautiful Buck 120 General is hands down one of the coolest traditional fixed blade knives on the market. The blade locks in place with a nice, flexible frame lock that you can easily move out of the way to close the blade. When you open the blade, a strip of the metal handle lining springs to the center of the knife and engages with the back end of the blade, locking it in place. Still, in our tests the Zancudo was our choice for tougher jobs, such as when we headed into a DIY project. The Gekko Mini is their EDC version of the same knife. Left handed hunters will appreciate that this is an ambidextrous knife. Steel Will makes a large,  tough knife called the Gekko. The Drifter has a 2⅞-inch blade, a folded length of 3⅝ inches, and a total length of 6½ inches. Glad to see someone talk about Buck knives. All rights reserved. We’ve also added clarification to our pick criteria as well as a few entries to the competition section. The handles are extremely comfortable, the knives have good blade steel, and they open easily with a thumb hole. In a number of reviews on his blog, he refers to “3:4:7” as the “golden ratio” of a folding knife—a 3-inch blade, a 4-inch handle, and a total length of 7 inches. As reviewer Tony Sculimbrene told us, “Knives are not commodities like milk, so five times the price won't give you five times the stuff.” But still, he added, “You are probably more likely to keep and use a good knife than a cheap one. The Buck 55 opens and closes with a pronounced (and satisfying) snapping noise as the back lock falls into place. We tested four knives from Gerber: the Mini Swagger, the Razorfish, the Airlift, and the Remix. In a three-week span, I’ve used pocket knives to sharpen pencils, retrieve Legos from between floorboards, cut twine, remove an event wristband, open a bag of chicken feed, trim the odd thread hanging from a shirt, and remove ticks and splinters when no tweezers are available. Second, you need to maintain them, which means sharpening them. Once open, the blade locks with a liner lock that is secure yet simple to disengage. If you need a Buck fillet, tactical, sport, pocket, or hunting knife just click the appropriate links below to find the Buck knife you wish to view. Blade reviewer Tony Sculimbrene also raised the point that with Sanrenmu, as with other Chinese manufacturers, “we don’t know who they are.”. The grip is contoured and heavily textured, so it will stay in your hand. Due to the handle design, pocket knives are often not compatible with the pull-through sharpeners we recommend there. But even with the three-fingered grip, the contoured back end of the handle tucks right into the base of the thumb and remains comfortable. Done properly, these allow for easy one-hand opening. Benchmade, the manufacturer, will “clean, oil, adjust and re-sharpen your Benchmade knife to a factory razor sharp edge” at no cost (you’re responsible for the shipping to Benchmade, but not the return shipping). We have a separate guide for knife sharpeners, but those picks are geared toward kitchen knives. Only complaint is it needs a pocket clip. Made in Italy, these knives have a lot of style and great attention to detail. One of the strongest folding knives I've ever used. The two knives are very similar, with nearly identical handle lengths (the blade of the Case is about ¼ inch longer). It’s also typically priced around $10 to $15 less than the Case. To close the lockback, you push down on a part on the back of the spine, causing the knife blade to disengage so it can close. Most pocket knives, like our other recommendations, have flat sides, but the Mini Griptilian’s are slightly rounded to fit the hand. One unique element of the Mini Griptilian is Benchmade’s Axis lock. Again, this is a great touch, but not essential to the operation of the knife. The Airlift was our favorite of the bunch, but it didn’t have any specific features that set it above the rest. As reviewer Dan Jackson describes it, “This is a nice all-around steel. For all of the positives of the Drifter, we wish it were better in two areas: the single-position pocket clip and the slight recurve of the blade shape. To us, the biggest drawback is that you need two hands to open and close this blade, but if you’re okay with that, this Buck model is a fine choice. And, when it comes to knives, Buck folding knives are considered one of the best options. It is always satisfying knowing that the knife can deliver on the best performance coming from a top brand. As far as cheap folding hunting knives go, this is one of my personal favorites. In a review, Jackson writes, “The Mini Griptilian is an absolutely fantastic EDC option. The overall size is almost identical as well, consisting of a 2¾-inch blade, a 3¾-inch handle, and a total length of 6½ inches.6 The drawbacks: The all-metal body can get slippery, and we found the company to be very unresponsive to our queries, which raised some red flags about customer service and warranty support. The blade of the Buck 55 is under 2½ inches, so it’s not a large knife (it’s actually a half-size version of a classic design, the popular Buck 110). The Mini Griptilian is available in a number of configurations. Called “The Original Lockback Knife,” the Buck 110 was initially released in 1964 and has remained popular since then. The benefits of the Mini Griptilian don’t stop with the knife itself. Still, the Buck Knives 55 has a very sturdy body and nice overall construction, which is evident in how the lock snaps open and closed. The larger the blade is, the larger the handle needs to be. Same screws, finished the same way - it just looks like it was made by the same company. The shape of the grip naturally placed our fingers for good control over the blade, such as when we sharpened pencils or skinned apples. The Buck 55’s blade is made of 420HC steel, which is on the lower side of the steel spectrum, but Buck applies a heat treatment that by all accounts puts it up in the range of 8Cr13MoV and AUS-8. Usually priced well under $20 and sometimes available for closer to $10, this model was the least expensive knife we tested—and also one of our favorites. Thanks for dropping by. Buck Knives - Buck 110 Folding Hunters Automatic Knife Ordering Agreement IN COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL STATUTES , KnifeCenter, Inc requests that you read carefully the requirements set forth below, and agree to this prior to your purchase or receipt of any automatic opening knife from our company. It’s not quite a super steel by today’s standards, but definitely a mid to high end steel. To us, the biggest drawback is that you need two hands … The Drifter’s small size also meant we could easily shift the knife around in the hand. However, since they are often credited as inventing the folding lockback knife, the term “buck folding knife” is often used to refer to other brands of folding lockback hunting knives – not just ones made by the Buck company. We also included a few outliers: The Spyderco Delica 4 and Dragonfly 2 have the two-handed lockback system but are regarded in the knife world as two of the best models available. This knife looks ultra-modern and is incredibly compact. Thumb studs offer a slower option, as well as a quick flip. Buck just popularized the lockback in the 1960s. It should be easy for you to make up your mind when it comes to picking the best tactical folding knife … The Rival from Buck Knives is a sleek folding knife that is easily deployed with one hand. The Zancudo’s blade steel is AUS-8, another of the solid midrange steels. As such, the assisted opening or auto just adds parts that can break with no accompanying benefit. According to Jackson, this design is “a well-rounded blade shape” that offers “a good cutting edge, some belly (the curve to the edge towards the tip), which is good for slicing into things, and a fine tip for detail work." So what follows are four of the most useful, most effective, and best designed. The most impressive of these is the smoothness of the blade’s pivoting action, which is among the nicest we tested and on a par with that of knives costing four times as much. Both models have back locks, though, and as nice as they are, we prefer the liner locks and frame locks of our recommended knives, which are easier to use one-handed especially for someone who might be unfamiliar with knives. While opening, the blade offers a smooth, even resistance, and once the liner lock is engaged, it holds firm with no blade movement at all, either back and forth or side to side. Sticking closely to the criteria above, we selected 28 knives to call in for a firsthand look. We tested ours for about a month as we were writing this review, and the brass bolsters (the protective metal ends of the handle) took on a nice used patina, further enhancing the age-old feel of the Buck 55’s overall design. Even with damp or sweaty hands, it’s easy to hold and grip. Anyone who owned the Drifter would be unlikely to covet either of these subtle touches, and they’re by no means essential features, but they are nice, and they are the marks of a high-quality knife. TOPS/Buck CSAR-T Tactical Folding Knife. You don’t even need to touch the thumb stud. The similarities are such that blade reviewers Dan Jackson and Tony Sculimbrene have both raised the possibility that Sanrenmu may manufacture the Drifter for CRKT (but in our interviews, neither claimed to know that for sure). Note that it is a bit larger and heavier than the other buck folding knives on this list (9.25” open, 6.4 oz), which might be preferable for big-game hunters. You'll be surprised how much it can do. The last drawback is that Sanrenmu is a topic of controversy among knife aficionados, and the 710 is a perfect example of why. Get the best deals on Buck Vintage Folding Knives with 3 Blades when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. After that, we simply spent the majority of our testing carrying the knives around and using them daily. The Buck 55 didn’t have the grab of the Drifter’s G10 handle, but it wasn’t as slippery as the Sanrenmu 710’s polished metal. The Axis lock makes no such distinction, and coupled with the Mini Griptilian’s multi-position pocket clip, it results in a knife that remains fully accessible regardless of your hand dominance. The Buck 110 Folding Hunter knife is undoubtedly one of the best folding knives available on the market. This Buck knife is one of the best pocket knives for everyday carry, but it can do so much more. We see no practical difference between this steel and the Drifter’s 8Cr14MoV. Jackson told us he didn’t see a huge problem with the 710: “[It’s] nothing like the real [Sebenza]. In our tests the pivot had an even resistance, better than that of some of the $30 knives we tried. During our testing, we found all-metal handles slippery. Hi there, I am a massive follower of your blog. Like the Drifter, the Zancudo gets high marks from knife reviewers, including both of the experts we interviewed. I don't do enough rope cutting tasks to make the serrations worth the sharpening hassle they cause.” Jackson agreed: “If you maintain your plain edge knife you will never miss having serrations.”, No assisted open: Knives with assisted open have an internal mechanism that springs the blade to the open position once it is just barely out of the handle.4 Sculimbrene has strong opinions on such knives, writing at his site, "I do not like assisted opening or automatic knives. It has a smoother release, which results in the fastest blade deployment you could ever ask for. A flipper is a small tab that sticks out the back end of the handle; when you give it a quick flick, the blade pops open and locks. The Case Mini Copperlock, the other traditional knife we tested, positions the lock at the middle of the handle, so this one-handed operation is easier but still awkward. There is no denying that the Spyderco Dragonfly 2 and Delica 4 are excellent knives (the Dragonfly 2 tops reviewer Tony Sculimbrene’s recommendation list). We believe that most people will be more than satisfied with the CRKT Drifter, but if you take good care of your knives and want one with premium touches, the Mini Griptilian is a great investment. However, the folding, pocket-friendly version — the Buck 110 Folding Hunter — wouldn’t come into existence until 1963, when Al Buck (Hoyt’s son) decided he wanted to create a more compact and carry-friendly knife specifically for the needs of hunters. In a review, Jackson writes, “I cannot recommend the Sharpmaker more highly. He explained, “At around $50 you can find a wide variety of knives with superior steel, handle materials, and fit and finish.” Jackson told us he didn’t “think that anyone ‘needs’ a $75 pocket knife” but recommended “venturing into this price if you enjoy knives and want a more premium product.” But ultimately, he said, “a $25 knife will open a box like a $100 knife will.”, No serrations: The primary advantage to serrations is that they offer the ability to cut rope. The unfortunate thing here is that the Drifter’s curve is enough to make sharpening a little more difficult but not enough to really aid in cutting. The knife steel is 420HC, a steel which doesn't always get its due in my opinion. We also looked at knives in the $50 to $100 range, where “you get a huge uptick in quality,” according to Sculimbrene. Not only can you customize the handle color, but you can also choose the blade shape, the blade steel, and the handle material. Buck’s collaboration with TOPS Knives is unlike any knife Buck has ever produced before. The 710 also has only one pocket-clip position (right-hand, tip-down). If you have a larger budget and want a knife that nails all of the little details, we recommend the Benchmade Mini Griptilian 556. For avid hunters though, a drop point or skinning blade is probably the better choice. It won’t bushwhack a trail, but it will spare you countless trips to the kitchen drawer to get something to break down the recycling or open a package. Locking folding knives have mechanisms that lock the blade in the open position, activated by opening the blade all the way. Buck Knives TOPS/Buck CSAR-T Tactical Folding Knife. The blade is made of high-end steel (154CM), and the lightweight handle offers good balance. We didn’t do any specific tests on edge retention. Al was the one who came up with the 110 folding knife that would eventually become known the world over as the standard Buck knife. The Zancudo has a two-position pocket clip, both right-handed but with a tip-up option and a tip-down option (or you can remove it altogether). Simplicity in a Shaker sense--pure, unadulterated functionality.” He also writes, “It has a few drawbacks, but man is the blade shape awesome.”, Overall, the Zancudo offers a great feeling of utility, and as our testing wore on, it really won us over. In a three-week span, I’ve used pocket knives to sharpen pencils, retrieve Legos from floorboards, open a bag of chicken feed, and remove splinters. As Benjamin Schwartz writes in one review, “I think that, in our spec-obsessed modern age, we forget that poor edge retention in any modern steel is [still] pretty decent: I cut through a lot of cardboard with the [very inexpensive] 710, more than I could reasonably expect to deal with in a month of standard use, before I noticed any real performance issues. The teardrop handle shape is a little unusual, but in our tests it was among the most comfortable to hold, especially when we were really bearing down on it. The 710’s blade is made of 8Cr13MoV, which is what we found on a lot of sub-$40 knives. Learn more. Both of these shortcomings are well-documented in other reviews, as well. The grip area is also heavily textured along the sides and edges of the handle. With the newer version of this knife, you have three blade options: drop point, drop point serrated, and gutting. My knife experience also extends into woodcarving, which I do as a hobby. Let us know what service you want performed on your knife and include your name, address, phone number and email address. The buck knives are famous for their super-sharp razors. The company has successfully made its place in the industry because of the excellence they exhibit in their work. The Kershaw Fraxion is also a flipper, but the handle isn’t as great as those of our picks (or of the Skyline or Chill). In social situations they’re likely to be more acceptable than a fixed-blade knife on a belt sheath. Aside from the Buck 55, the Case Mini Copperlock was the only other traditional knife we tested. It is well documented that the better steels found on more expensive knives hold an edge longer than their less-expensive counterparts. It’s also doable with either the left or right hand, although easier with the right. Although the Milwaukee Tool Hardline is a smooth flipper, its robust metal body made it really heavy compared with the rest of our test group. The CSAR-T is a rugged tactical folding knife with a solid 154CM steel blade. The blade is large, though, and up in that price range, we preferred the touches of the Benchmade Mini Griptilian. Clip-point blades are also common on this style of traditional folder, and are what many people have come to expect. Buck Knives. So, if you have larger hands, this is a good choice of Buck folding knife. Over the past 50 years, it has cemented itself as one of the most iconic folding knives. Compared with our other picks, it’s simply a better knife—better pivot, better blade steel, better ergonomics, and better locking system. Its knife design is a cleaver style blade. We sent numerous emails to the company while researching this article and never got any response. The Sanrenmu website is minimalistic, to say the least, presenting nothing more than a few knife images and an email address. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. If the Drifter is not available or if you tend to take on more aggressive tasks with your knife, we recommend the Blue Ridge Knives ESEE Zancudo. During testing, we sharpened our blades with the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, a highly regarded sharpener among knife enthusiasts. You could maneuver the knife around and do it one-handed by pressing the lock and folding the knife closed against a leg or some other solid object, but that’s awkward. Another great feature that set them apart is that they are corrosion-resistant. Sculimbrene told us, “One issue that a lot of people don't think about is the more complex the blade shape is, such as with a recurve or a tanto, the more difficult it is to sharpen and maintain.”, One-handed opening: Seeking the convenience of a one-handed open, we focused on knives with thumb studs, thumb holes, or flippers.

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