Buck 503; I've had a knife epiphany!

[JD Bear]

Medix run area? That's not a very good trade off on drive time.

Yeah, it's a hike from south Jersey to upstate, middle Pennsylvania. The guy that I go with still makes the drive and I get to enjoy the scenery...for now. I'm sure I'll be trading places with him soon.

 

[jackknife]

I've always felt that most people carry too big enough a knife and being knife nuts it's like a addiction. As a knife nut, I under stand, and as I've got older the addiction has waned a great deal. I guess I'm a minimalist at heart, so I've always gravitated to the smallest tool that will get the job done. Case peanut, Victorinox classic and recruit, Buck companion and cadet. I once watched a man field dress a good size buck on opening day wth a well used 303 cadet, and it was like watching a surgeon.

I spent a childhood watching my dad use the heck out his old Case peanut, and he never seemed to be under knifed. I think there's a lot of fantasy stuff going on in knife nut and gun nuts skulls that has very little to do with reality. Truth is, unless you're a SEAL dropping in on a combat zone, or hacking your way through a equatorial jungle, there is little a modest size pocket knife won't handle in todays 21st century suburbia.

Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, who was bought out of retirement to track down Bonnie and Clyde, was a wooly old tough Texan who made a career out of taking down some very old time bad guys carried a Remington two blade Barlow knife as his pocket knife. If a modest size Barlow was good enough for Frank Hamer, that's good enough for me. His personal stuff was on display at the Texas Ranger Museum, and thy had his .45 Colt Government model, his Remington rifle, pocket watch, and his very well used old Barlow knife.

Taken on a trip to the Texas Ranger Museum, Waco Texas.

 

[sharkattacksw]

Wow! Thx for sharing. Yes, I agree with you 100%, most guys carry waaaaay too much knife. There will always be guys who swear they can’t get by with anything less than a 4” blade for day to day tasks. But if they are really honest with themselves, they’d find that they get by just fine with a 3” or less blade. Maybe even a slippie!

I’m on the hunt for a 704 now. If anyone has a BNIB 704, let me know.

 

[imafritz]

I can respectfully agree and disagree. I believe a larger knife is not needed for the best part of common uses and as I stated in an earlier post, by buddy has gutted all his deer for years with a 503. However, I like the feel of a heavier knife in my pocket so I can always feel its there. Its not so much the capability of the blade, but the comfort of holding it my hand while I do whatever I may be doing and small knives for me are difficult to work with. 112 and 500 are fine, but I find smaller than that uncomfortable. If I could carry smaller knives, it would save me buying jeans that wear through at the bottom bolster where it rides in my pocket.

 

[300Bucks]

Everyone giving an opinion and reasons, this folks is a 'normal' thread. I am going to join in. I see some posters have about a dozen knives they own to carry but favor some favorites. And then some have a basket of knives they go months before repeating a carry. ( But, usually they have several favorites if push comes to shove.) I collect model 300s but they only are maybe 10% of my dozen. You will usually find me with a small Vantage, I also will clip in a small Ti Mayo once in a while but will admit to sometimes worrying about losing it because of its cost. In a pocket pouch hung from my belt I will sometimes carry a wooden self scaled 303 or a 55. Some of my daily wear pants I have sewn knife pockets in the hem side of my front pocket and will slip in a 444 which makes for really light carry feeling. Hunting I always carry the Swiss Army Knife of Buck knives the 110 sized Selector with two extra blades, rounded tip warcliff for zipping open the likely blind and deaf deer and a saw blade. I also carry a fixed blade or two in a small backpack. Back when I elk hunted in Co and NM wildernesses I carried an emergency kit with a small axe and a multi- tool. Member Bucktool has just about every Buck multi-tool known to man. That's about it for carry. I do feel you can have too 'thick' of a blade when cutting thick and tough items. Lets say three layers of tough cardboard glued together, will cut easier with a thinner sharp blade than a thicker sharp blade. Oh, and we use three 121s I picked up in the dark ages in the kitchen (440 never in dishwasher). If you made me pick just one Buck knife I think I could live a decent life with just a 307 in my pocket. It could do it all. Good reading. 300Bucks

 

[pjsjr]

The 898 Impact with it's 3"+ blade, has been my EDC since December and has done all that I've needed and carries very nicely.

I've stated before that a Buck 118 is my favorite for all purpose outdoor activities. While I'm sure I could get by using a 503 for gutting, it sure wouldn't be my choice. I just think the job is done faster and more efficiently with a longer, blade 5-6". I carry a 110 while big game hunting but wouldn't choose that for field dressing either. After taking care of a deer or elk(it's a messy job) out in the wilderness, that folder gets put away and all the bodily fluids/parts sink in to the cracks and parts unknown. OK, I'm anal! I'll stay with my 118, thank you. Preston