I Need A New Knife

Well, I don't need a NEW new knife. I need a knife that can live semi-permanently on my belt as I'm out doing chores. I want to try keeping my pockets as empty as possible. so my long-time favorite blade, my Buck Vantage, will get left behind. Instead I'm looking for a light folding knife with a blade length longer than the Vantage. This new knife's job is simple cutting chores around the house, and while outdoors. My first thought was something that caught my eye on the Buck Custom Shop page - a nice 110 folder with G10 scales and nickel-silver bolsters. But before going that route, I decided to see what I already had in my collection. Maybe there's something I'm overlooking in one of my boxes of knives.

Sure enough, after rummaging around and evaluating candidates, I found a winner. A 2011 production Bucklite 426 - a Buck 110 but with an orange nylon handle. This is one of two 426's I picked up over a decade ago. I don't remember why, but I'm sure they were relatively cheap at the time, maybe less than $30 each. The other 426 has a black nylon handle. 

Captured on a recent fishing trip

I've got a number of  standard 110s in my collection, picked up here and there as they caught my eye, or were gifted to me. My oldest was purchased sometime in the early 80s, at the Fort Bragg PX. It's the least lovely one in my collection, showing years of hard use. But it is, hands down, the most sentimental. I carried it on my pistol belt across a 23 year career as a combat engineer, construction engineer and a topographer (map maker). It deserves to go back to Buck for a spa treatment.

My early-80's 110. Carried on my pistol belt for most of my 23 year Army career.
Heavily used, and abused

My 110 collection reflects a number of the slightly different 110 blade profiles that Buck has released down through the years. I'll be honest and say that most of the profiles from the 90's thru the 2000's were too aggressively upswept. This profile resulted in fragile blade tips, which explains why so many broken tip 110s get returned for warranty repair, or end up on eBay. This 426 has one of the better blade profiles - far less 'swoopy', resulting in what should be a sturdier tip.

Bucklites are built to a price point, and it shows on mine. The main blade grind is rough, but even. The edge grind. however, is uneven and downright sloppy. I doubt Buck's current QC would let something this bad out of the factory. It's going to take some time on the whetstone to even things up. But that's OK, it's worth the effort.

If you have any experience with the regular 110 model, when you pick up one of these 426's you are struck by just how light they are. There's a lot of weight in the standard 110 handle - all that brass, steel and faux wood handle material. The blade itself adds relatively little to the weight of the knife. My 426 has a very lightweight molded nylon handle. The knife balances very nicely around the first finger scallop in the handle. It's very comfortable in the hand.

This is not an heirloom knife, and with use it'll suffer the fate of all folding knives that get regular hard use - the pivot pin bushing will wear, the blade will loosen up in the handle and the knife will become unusable. Or the blade will break, or the handle will crack, or I'll lose it. I figure it's good for about 10 years of honest use. That's OK, because that'll give me time to hunt down another orange handled 426, or maybe Buck will re-introduce them. Hint, hint.

Stay sharp!