Buck Large Bucklite Max Folder
Dec 27, 2010 0:46:56 GMT
Post by Sébastien on Dec 27, 2010 0:46:56 GMT
Buck Large BuckLite Max Folder Review
By
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
I had big, hard review-writting cravings for the last few weeks. It was getting so bad. Clients at my job complained to me and my boss that I was talking too much about pointed and sharpened stuff and my boss got a little upset... So, time to sate this addiction of mine. I hope you will get some enjoyment out of it
Introduction
I bought this knife, along a small bunch of others, from www.yourcornerstore.com . I was tempted and seduced by the incredebly low prices of this site (often one dollar or more below knifecenter's prices, which is my usual knife-buying store). My order took between one and two months to arrive (all my items were out-of-stock). This has been a little bit frustrating. Yourcornerstore site claimed that all my items would be in-stock in the week following my order, but that happenend more than a month later, and one of my item wasn't shipped until three months later.
Overall, this experience was a bit frustrating, but I think it was worth the 15 to 20 bucks I saved. However, if you are easily anxious about the whereabouts of your ordered items I suggest you pay a few extra bucks and buy from knifecenter. In my case, their shipping was quicker and they gave me shipment numbers (which I didn't get with yourcornerstore).
I have been eyeing this knife for some time. It seemed to me like a large, light and well-made EDC knife. Plus, it was sold for a very attractive, sub-25$ price-point. A very low price for sating my addiction. The fact that it is a knife made by Buck also pushed me to take the plunge with this product. I have heard many things about Buck and their strong commitment to make high quality, high value products.
Here are some numbers for the more mathematical-minded folks out there (numbers taken from Buck's website) :
Blade Length: 3 5/8" (9.2 cm)
Blade Material: Satin Finish 420HC Stainless Steel
Carry System: Stainless steel pocket clip
Handle Material: Glass reinforced nylon, black
Locking: Yes
Weight: 3.1 oz. (88.3 g)
Fittings
The handle is made of black, glass-reinforced nylon. It is slightly textured. It feels good in hand, the texture is very comfortable. However, it doesn't feel as ''grippy'' as some of my other knives, but the handle ergonomics offset that. The handle is long and ergonomically-made (is that a grammatically-correct word ?). It has a few small grooves that offers to the wielder's fingers a nice, comfy but firm grip.
The blade is 3 5/8'' long and made of 420HC stainless steel, satin finish. It is a drop-point style blade. The edge is sharp. Not the sharpest blade I have seen out of the box, but it will nicely cut paper, boxes and other stuff. It is a slightly slender, good-looking blade, in my opinion. One interesting aspect of this blade is the false-edge (althought I 'd advise to not do that because the false edge is completely exposed when the blade is closed). This edge goes for nearly the last half of the back of the blade. It isn't sharpened, but the metal is so thin that it is almost sharp. It will tear through paper with some effort on the wielder's side and could be easily sharpened by someone looking for a true, cutting false-edge. I may add that this unsharpened-but-almost-sharp false edge might cut you if you aren't careful (for example, by firmly pushing the back of the blade to better cut something).
The blade has big thumbstud, on the right and left-hand side. It is easy to access but other characteristics of this knife don't help when you try to open it up.
The lock is a lockback design. It is very, very stiff. So stiff that it makes one-hand opening very difficult, it takes too much strenght to overcome the lock's resistance. Worse, the slender design of the blade makes one-hand opening a bit dangerous for your finger ; a few times, my finger slipped off the thumbstud (while trying like a madman to open this folder one-handed) and slipped between the rapidly closing blade and the grip. Luckily, both times I only got a dented nail, but my finger could have been easily, deeply cut. Another bad thing about this lock is that there is no screw to loosen or stiffen the lock (a strange fact, all my other folders locking-mechanism have a pivot screw that can be played with, to loosen or stiffen their locks).
So, in the end, I always open this knife with my two hands.
Handling
This knife is very, very light for its size. I carried a few times in my pocket, and I was surprised by how I completely forgot its presence. The slim shape of the handle and its very light weight help a lot. Once opened, the knife feels great in hand. Its handle fits nicely in my hand, its ergonomics are very good, they are above what I expected from such a low-cost knife.
***Disclaimer : I will now speak a little bit about possible tactical and/or self-defense aspects of that knife. Although I have trained for some time in knife fighting and other martial arts, I have absolutely no real-life experience on these two subjects. What I type there, are my personnal opinions and hypothesis. Take them with a fair amount of salt and get some real expert's advice (rather than mine) if you want to buy a knife on which your life might depend on. ***
With the serious part done, let's now keep going... One of the reasons I bought this knife was because I wanted a knife that might feel like a last resort self-defense or other emergency tool. To me, the long handle and the long blade, made this knife look like a decent low-end tool of that kind.
Overall, the grippy handle and the moderately-long blade are appreciated characteristics for this kind of use. The thin false-edge would allow nice, strong thrusts. However, the nearly-impossible one-hand opening seriously decreases this knife quality as a SD tool.
Conclusion
Pros
-Sharp, long blade
-Long, well-made handle
-Very lightweight
Cons
-Stiff lock-up, nearly-impossible one-handed opening
-Thin false-edge, could be a bit unsafe
In the end, I believe this is a nice EDC folder. It is light and comfortable, and comes with a nice, sharp edge. However, since blade lenght isn't that important, with an EDC knife, I think buying the medium or small-size Bucklite folder would be an even better idea for EDC. You would get a cheaper and lighter knife for your needs. Those looking for a knife that is quick and fun to open and foul around with will be disappointed and should look elsewhere.
By
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
I had big, hard review-writting cravings for the last few weeks. It was getting so bad. Clients at my job complained to me and my boss that I was talking too much about pointed and sharpened stuff and my boss got a little upset... So, time to sate this addiction of mine. I hope you will get some enjoyment out of it
Introduction
I bought this knife, along a small bunch of others, from www.yourcornerstore.com . I was tempted and seduced by the incredebly low prices of this site (often one dollar or more below knifecenter's prices, which is my usual knife-buying store). My order took between one and two months to arrive (all my items were out-of-stock). This has been a little bit frustrating. Yourcornerstore site claimed that all my items would be in-stock in the week following my order, but that happenend more than a month later, and one of my item wasn't shipped until three months later.
Overall, this experience was a bit frustrating, but I think it was worth the 15 to 20 bucks I saved. However, if you are easily anxious about the whereabouts of your ordered items I suggest you pay a few extra bucks and buy from knifecenter. In my case, their shipping was quicker and they gave me shipment numbers (which I didn't get with yourcornerstore).
I have been eyeing this knife for some time. It seemed to me like a large, light and well-made EDC knife. Plus, it was sold for a very attractive, sub-25$ price-point. A very low price for sating my addiction. The fact that it is a knife made by Buck also pushed me to take the plunge with this product. I have heard many things about Buck and their strong commitment to make high quality, high value products.
Here are some numbers for the more mathematical-minded folks out there (numbers taken from Buck's website) :
Blade Length: 3 5/8" (9.2 cm)
Blade Material: Satin Finish 420HC Stainless Steel
Carry System: Stainless steel pocket clip
Handle Material: Glass reinforced nylon, black
Locking: Yes
Weight: 3.1 oz. (88.3 g)
Fittings
The handle is made of black, glass-reinforced nylon. It is slightly textured. It feels good in hand, the texture is very comfortable. However, it doesn't feel as ''grippy'' as some of my other knives, but the handle ergonomics offset that. The handle is long and ergonomically-made (is that a grammatically-correct word ?). It has a few small grooves that offers to the wielder's fingers a nice, comfy but firm grip.
The blade is 3 5/8'' long and made of 420HC stainless steel, satin finish. It is a drop-point style blade. The edge is sharp. Not the sharpest blade I have seen out of the box, but it will nicely cut paper, boxes and other stuff. It is a slightly slender, good-looking blade, in my opinion. One interesting aspect of this blade is the false-edge (althought I 'd advise to not do that because the false edge is completely exposed when the blade is closed). This edge goes for nearly the last half of the back of the blade. It isn't sharpened, but the metal is so thin that it is almost sharp. It will tear through paper with some effort on the wielder's side and could be easily sharpened by someone looking for a true, cutting false-edge. I may add that this unsharpened-but-almost-sharp false edge might cut you if you aren't careful (for example, by firmly pushing the back of the blade to better cut something).
The blade has big thumbstud, on the right and left-hand side. It is easy to access but other characteristics of this knife don't help when you try to open it up.
The lock is a lockback design. It is very, very stiff. So stiff that it makes one-hand opening very difficult, it takes too much strenght to overcome the lock's resistance. Worse, the slender design of the blade makes one-hand opening a bit dangerous for your finger ; a few times, my finger slipped off the thumbstud (while trying like a madman to open this folder one-handed) and slipped between the rapidly closing blade and the grip. Luckily, both times I only got a dented nail, but my finger could have been easily, deeply cut. Another bad thing about this lock is that there is no screw to loosen or stiffen the lock (a strange fact, all my other folders locking-mechanism have a pivot screw that can be played with, to loosen or stiffen their locks).
So, in the end, I always open this knife with my two hands.
Handling
This knife is very, very light for its size. I carried a few times in my pocket, and I was surprised by how I completely forgot its presence. The slim shape of the handle and its very light weight help a lot. Once opened, the knife feels great in hand. Its handle fits nicely in my hand, its ergonomics are very good, they are above what I expected from such a low-cost knife.
***Disclaimer : I will now speak a little bit about possible tactical and/or self-defense aspects of that knife. Although I have trained for some time in knife fighting and other martial arts, I have absolutely no real-life experience on these two subjects. What I type there, are my personnal opinions and hypothesis. Take them with a fair amount of salt and get some real expert's advice (rather than mine) if you want to buy a knife on which your life might depend on. ***
With the serious part done, let's now keep going... One of the reasons I bought this knife was because I wanted a knife that might feel like a last resort self-defense or other emergency tool. To me, the long handle and the long blade, made this knife look like a decent low-end tool of that kind.
Overall, the grippy handle and the moderately-long blade are appreciated characteristics for this kind of use. The thin false-edge would allow nice, strong thrusts. However, the nearly-impossible one-hand opening seriously decreases this knife quality as a SD tool.
Conclusion
Pros
-Sharp, long blade
-Long, well-made handle
-Very lightweight
Cons
-Stiff lock-up, nearly-impossible one-handed opening
-Thin false-edge, could be a bit unsafe
In the end, I believe this is a nice EDC folder. It is light and comfortable, and comes with a nice, sharp edge. However, since blade lenght isn't that important, with an EDC knife, I think buying the medium or small-size Bucklite folder would be an even better idea for EDC. You would get a cheaper and lighter knife for your needs. Those looking for a knife that is quick and fun to open and foul around with will be disappointed and should look elsewhere.