Buck 655, best knife for the buck?

S

Stubai

Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
1,146
My newest acquisition is a Buck 655, and it is a nifty blade which has held up to just about everything I've put it through. I am very happy with it and feel it might be the best user/tactical blade on the market in that price range. It has a very solid feel and cuts well. Where else can you get a well made stainless all-purpose survival blade for around $40?
 
Is yours the serrated version?

If so,,,how do you like the serrations?
 
This new one I purchased features the combo-edge, the one in my tool box was acquired second hand at a pawn shop and has seen severe use. The older knife has been reprofiled and you can hardly see the original serrations.

I think Buck should offer this style knife in a plain or combo-edge variety, and then perhaps provide a 5/16 blade. Such a knife would create a lot of 'buzz' in the cutlery circles, especially in the military. Some of the smaller Busse blades and Swamprat products would be the competition, although I am well aware that stainless does not offer the lateral strength or toughness resident in my Basic 9 or Dogfather. Perhaps one day we will witness the advent of a stainless-supersteel which will give INFI a run for the money while steering clear of those dreaded rust blemishes that plague our beaters.

The serrations are fine by me although the larger Night Hawk seems to work better in some applications. My Mission blades also have the serrated sections which were designed to slice rope for naval/marine use, and they do cut better than the Buck variety, but not by much. There is such a major difference in price! I am really impressed with the 655's lines, blade configuration and price tag. Somebody shot me an e-mail about the Night Hawk being abused on some odd end web page...it seems the Buck held up in sterling fashion. I imagine the 655 would be tough to destroy unless an arc-welder were to step up to the podium.
 
Stubai...
The Nighthakw is a great knife. I traded one (650) and missed having it in my Buck herd so I obtained another one.
The one I have now is a 650 with all black handle and silver blade.

Personally, I don't care for serrated blades. I like my Nighthawks plain.
 
Good info Stubai,

From what Goose has said in the past here, and what you have said, I may put more effort into finding one, or two, or.....

I think I would like the big and little one in both plain and serrated. I can see times where I might like the serrations.
 
The 655 is a great knife. Ergonomics are perfect. I actually broke the blade on mine but it was replaced under warranty with no hassle.

There have been some good threads on the 650 and 655 in the past. Do a search here for "Nighthawk" and you'll find lots of info, including the story of my broken blade.
 
Messersmith said:
The 655 is a great knife. Ergonomics are perfect. I actually broke the blade on mine but it was replaced under warranty with no hassle.

There have been some good threads on the 650 and 655 in the past. Do a search here for "Nighthawk" and you'll find lots of info, including the story of my broken blade.
Click to expand...

I thought about bringing up the Messy Meter (Baton Test).
The Judeo Christian voice in my inner soul (WAY back in that inner soul...can barely hear it most of the time) told me not to.
Didn't want you to have flashbacks or Post Traumatic Stress Messy ;)
 
The cold sweats and nightmares hit me almost every night. ;)

I'm actually working myself up to batoning with my replacement 655. I have heard so many tales about how indestructable these things are that I just gotta try it :D

As someone else posted a few months ago, there is a Nighthawk destruction test on the web that is pretty amazing. Here is a link to it:

http://www.knifetests.com/page20.html
 
Messersmith said:
...
I'm actually working myself up to batoning with my replacement 655. I have heard so many tales about how indestructable these things are that I just gotta try it :D
...
Click to expand...

DO IT!!! DO IT!!!! DO IT!!!!


Note that I don't volunteer mine :) I'm standing on the sidewalk yelling "JUMP!!!".
But I think you HAVE to do it Messy in order to bring closure and move on LOL.
 
I am going to have to avail myself of the post where the 655 was broken, not that it can't be done, but that it must have been a superhuman effort if the job was accomplished with bare hands. The spine is sufficiently thick to thwart a variety of assaults, yet the tip, like my Buckmaster, is woefully thin (compared to the remainder of the blade) and could be the Achilles heel of the tool. It goes without saying that Buck allowed the tapered tip to facilitate the perforation of some unfortunate item...and thin tips slice and puncture much better than a thicker, more robust extremity. There is a trade-off as in all things pertaining to life and knife collecting.

Still, I believe that Buck has a winner here, I'd just enjoy seeing them go to 5/16th stock and a more substantial tip. The grip is near perfect for me.

But do thicker blades really solve anything? Perhaps we can revisit that idea in the second chapter of the quest for the undiminished champion, a wedge of sovereign quality, rust-proof and impervious to any micro-fissures that may crop up during my next outdoor foray.
 
Stubai said:
I am going to have to avail myself of the post where the 655 was broken, not that it can't be done, but that it must have been a superhuman effort if the job was accomplished with bare hands....

The spine is sufficiently thick to thwart a variety of assaults...

Still, I believe that Buck has a winner here...But do thicker blades really solve anything? ...
Click to expand...
Hey Stubai...
Go through the thread below. You need to start at the beginning post to really get the effect it must've had on poor Messy. I gave him some poop about it cause I almost pee'd my boxers when I saw what happened within an hour of his new toy arriving. I just looked at the pic again and am still laughing. I love Messy, but it's tough love. Or maybe I'm really just the ass peeps tell me I am...who cares...it was (and is) a hoot to me. I guess it was more funny than sad as I knew Buck would step up and they did.

Don't get any wrong perceptions here. I can't recall anyone that doesn't like the Nighthawk. It is a great knife and, IMHO, for the price, can't be beat! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4408870#post4408870
 
Buckaholic said:
DO IT!!! DO IT!!!! DO IT!!!!

Note that I don't volunteer mine :) I'm standing on the sidewalk yelling "JUMP!!!".
But I think you HAVE to do it Messy in order to bring closure and move on LOL.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your support Goose - and if I break another one I'm sure you will be the first to laugh er I mean send condolances. LOL

Stubai said:
I am going to have to avail myself of the post where the 655 was broken, not that it can't be done, but that it must have been a superhuman effort if the job was accomplished with bare hands.
Click to expand...

I can't claim superhuman strength Stubai.... I might push the scales to 135 lbs with wet boots and my pockets full of 110's. Kind of like Peter Parker (Spiderman) before the spider bite.
 
Checked out the photographs, and they are disturbing. A knife like that should not break under such use. This could have been an anomaly in the grain structure, but, who knows? Gross failure is a problem here! I wonder if anyone else on this forum has had such a problem with the 655. The pieces resemble one of Cliff's bizarre torture sessions.

I am delighted that Buck took care of the matter in prompt fashion.
 
Buckaholic said:
Stubai...
I traded one (650) and missed having it in my Buck herd so I obtained another one.
The one I have now is a 650 with all black handle and silver blade.

Personally, I don't care for serrated blades. I like my Nighthawks plain.
Click to expand...

Strange, I traded for a nighthawk 650 and love it! I still have it in my Buck herd and liked it so much I went and bought a 655 that is unserrated.
Although I try not to abuse them they are a sturdy, well built knife for the money. I also prefer them to be plain...
 
theducksings said:
What kinds of uses do you use the Nighthawk for?
Click to expand...

Hey SingingDuck...
Who ya asking?
If you're asking me(carta), I used my newer model one for quite a few things.
I have dug termites out of wood with it, cut out a piece of carpet where my dog threw up, scraped some crud outta a horse shoe on my kid's horse, fished out a ring out of a toilet, unglogged a shower drain full of hair and who knows what, cleaned a waste drain at my buddy's pig farm, cleaned chicken dung out of a cage, scraped old used kitty litter out of my cat's litter box, and whittle.

Great knife.

Actually, I used it for normal chores like cutting boxes, kitchen work, cutting plastic pieces while working in the garage, etc. I just wrote all the groady stuff up top to gross out Jim. Don't have any buddy's and certainly no cat. I traded it to Jim and was hoping he'd be using the knife to eat vienna sausages out of a can as he was reading this post. :D
 
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