Today, we're going to take a look at a very interesting little piece from SKBlades and Buck Knives, the CPM154 and Burlap Micarta 'Goodfella', based on the Buck Squire.
It's great to see more Traditional Style Knives with Premium Modern Steels, coming into the market place for EDC, especially ones made in the USA... !!
I've found that Steve at SKBlades is incredibly accommodating. You can tell he takes a lot of pride in knives. I like what they're doing with the small batch runs of production knives.
Nice review of a nice knife. Buck's QC does seem a bit hit or miss. I have four, and three of them are great. Of course the one custom knife I bought from them is the not-so-great one.... I probably have about 15 pocket knives in my collection. First was the Buck 55. After subsequent Spyderco, Benchmade, GEC and other acquisitions, I realize I really didn't need to buy anything more after that 55. It is such a sweet little knife for the $. But then of course this obsession is not about need :)
Good review Nick. For most tasks I do not need a high speed ninja flipper moves, and I have a renewed interest in traditionals. I think I might have to get one....
I know this vid is three years old, but I had to comment, as I just purchased a 501 squire and had some QC issues. Now the knife I purchased is this knife, just without the upgrade. The basic 501 squire. The first knife I received, one of the scales was so loose, it would rock back and forth extremely easy and had a clicking noise when it rocked. I returned and gave them a second shot, as I really do like this style knife. The second one almost made it, the issue with this one is as nick was saying.. the back of the knife has a gap in the same spot the one In the video has. A good size gap. I am going to keep it, as it’s to much of a pain to go through returning… and I think it should hold up ok. It’s just WHY BUCK? You guys have such a great name and story For American knifes. WHY the QC issues? Comon BUCK step it up! Because there’s a lot of ppl that will turn to a new company if they encounter these QC ISSUES!!
I know this is WAY in the future, but you should check out the buck 501 “larrin” that came out. I have one and I love it. It comes with a slip and magnacut along with a clip point blade. Otherwise it’s configuration is similar to this
SK Blades are good peoples. Well, person, I think it's just one guy. I have their "Lil' Jack" version of the 112 in a D2 blade and nickel silver bolsters. Thanks for another good review.
The Best thing about Buck Knives right now IS the Paul Boss heat treat, he is one of the Best , I wish another company would pick him up . Buck knives is slowly killing themselves, it's obvious they don't care , they just need to sell off some of their classic designs to another US company that does.
I love this knife, and I think its well worth the $95. In the gentlemans folder arena this is a solid contender. I just wish the QC was better, especially on custom runs like these. And really, from here there is what, maybe some GEC's but thats it until you get into the Mnandi market.
Good looking knife. How is the Micarta treated to give it that gloss finish, is that a coating of a type of resin? I've never seen micarta like that. Although it must reduce it's ability to grip the knife as securely as traditional micarta, it looks great.
Amen! I love traditional and micarta. And would really enjoy seeing much more coverage of the neo-trad knives that blend oldish patterns and newish features. I work in a Chicago office... so 2.5 inches is an official ceiling. I bet lots of us live in non-ninja and non-hunter niches.
I already have the Italian made Fantoni Dweller slip joint with leather slip case for $125, mine is Cocobolo wood handle. For under $100 this is a contender for more modern gentleman suit carry. My normal EDC is the Spyderco Chaparral FRN (around $90), thus the under 3 inch, slim, great slicers seems to be where I am at with another option being the Dividend in M390 around the $90 price tag.
Great idea of SKS to offer upgraded Bucks, I especially like the SKS Buck 110 drop point. I also like that SKS didn't check it before sending; that way you get an honest consumer experience rather than getting the cream of the crop for review whilst the rest of us get the lemons. Hats off to SKS. But the QC issues mean this knife is an avoid from me. I shouldn't have to factor in high likelihood of poor (Buck) QC when buying an 'upgraded' knife. I have plenty of $20 knives with great f&f, why the heck is it ok to spend $95 and not? Buck really just don't seem to care. A real pity. I think you should have pressed that point harder Nick.
Anyone who has a 110 Buck is going to say "you think this has blade play?" I have purchased several knives from SKBlades. They are great to do business with.
I had the same experience with the Buck #841, blade rock and off center, fortunately this Buck is unusual in the respect that you can adjust the pivot but even at that to eliminate the rock the blade remained off center so All I can say is Buck, step it up, the problems I encountered were the same ones I had heard from other folks but I went ahead and gave you a chance and you barely made the cut, why, why, why Buck when others can execute the basics after all these years you sadly cannot? As much as I like this knife and even with the end conclusion due to the negative I am going to pass on this otherwise beautiful knife. Sorry Buck but QC does matter.
Picked this up when for $76 when SK Blades had it on sale for 20% off. Mine has a few F&F issues, a little bit of blade play being chief among them, but the upgraded blade steel over the standard 501 and the look of the micarta contrasted with the nickel bolster in this ageless and attractive design make it a winner and a great value! I have a feeling mine will be sticking around for a long time...
I'd had my eye on the Squire in the custom shop, saw the preview of this in one of your previous videos, and after this review I knew this was the pint sized Buck I'd been waiting for. As a side note, I would love to see Cedric and Ada do some steel testing on the Bos heated versions of the premium steels they offer, especially CPM-20CV.
yeah...I love it too. its really damn nice. I would love to try and find one on the secondary market if thats my only option. I would love to see a re-release or a new version of this.
If you can't live with a little blade play, then you're going to miss out on so many great knives out there. I used to be the same way, but eventually started caring less as it never really was an issue during actual use - and am happier for it.
I got a question and this seems like the place to ask it. I'm a service plumber and I'm around all different sorts of people. what pocket knife do yall recommend for me. its gotta be something that's tough as hell, something that I can pry a faucet off with, cut packages/ boxes, open all kinds of crap , not scare people, no fixed blades. I got 150 to 200 dollar budget. nothin fancy as I'm just gonna beat the hell out of it. I've carried case, buck, ontario, spyderco, benchmade, kershaw, boker and I've broken or just destroyed all of them. so alas .. my conundrum. any ideas and recommendations? no Medfords, no cold steel.. not goin that route at all! thanks yall
@@joeallen2354 I know that. but that's what I need em to do. I dont have the luxury of being gentle on my tools. I need my tools to be tough as nails but razor sharp as well. hence my dilemma. do u have any advice.
Well man, I'm not a plumber so I don't really know the extent of what you need it to do. I can't really think of a knife that worth much as a prying tool. I've seen but never used knives that have a squared off tip (looks more like a chisel than a knife point) and often wondered if they would be more sturdy for that kind of work but I don't know. Only thing I can think of is either that or using a different tool for prying than you use for cutting. If you need a fine edge to get in the gap between the sink and faucet maybe you could take a small pry bar and use a belt sander to put a fine edge on it. Wish I had better ideas but I don't know much about the work itself so it's kinda complicated to come up with them.
I've had Buck and Schrade knives like this that had much better fit and finish for half the price. There's really no excuse for it. Please review some Case knives. They're really underrated for EDC. EXCELLENT WORK NICK!
