Buck Selkirk fixed blade

[Gary W. Graley]

Right now being less than abounding in funds, I found myself looking for an inexpensive fixed blade knife and happened upon this very nice Buck Selkirk fixed blade knife, model 863.

It boasts a nice full flat ground blade with stainless guard and end cap which has some texture placed there for use as a hammering/striking tool. These are attached to the tang by means of being welded on.

The scales are layered micarta and are held in place by screws with mating threaded tubes, center one being longer due to the thicker material, so make note of that if you happen to remove yours.

The blade steel is Buck's 420HC and seems to be heat treated pretty good, some use in cutting branches and such did not result in any noticeable wear on the edge. And the edged did arrive pretty sharp too, kudos to Buck's crew for that attention.

The knife is fairly handle heavy, which suits me fine, with the flat ground blade it slices like crazy!

The blade is about 4 5/8" long when measured from the center of the guard to the tip, with the handle being about 4 1/2" long.

The blade is about an 1/8" at the spine.

Measuring at the top of the edge bevel is about .030" so not too thin but not too bad either, cuts great and actually feels thinner than that measurement to me, but that's what it measured.

The sheath is a plastic formed sheath that retains the knife very well, it has a place on top for your thumb to push against to draw the knife out. The sheath comes with a belt loop thingy, but I removed that and added a static cord...inspired by Joe Paranee, saw that in one of his well done videos of Matt Gregory's Tanto and that led me to this. The paracord wraps around either a belt loop or my belt, with the knife removed from the sheath, I slip the sheath into the paracord loop so it's now held captive by what you wrapped it around. Then slipping the sheath in between my belt and body, the knife rides there fairly safely, a pull on the handle and the knife/sheath will pull out until the paracord reaches the end of it's tether and the knife pulls free of the sheath.

It does leave the sheath dangling, but returning the knife BACK to the sheath I find it to be a whole lot safer, as you have the sheath out and you can hold it while putting the knife back into the sheath. Nice Joe And Matt Gregory!

The sheath also includes a fire starter that has a whistle at the end, works well, haven't started a fire yet but I don't think it will be a problem.

Here are a few images of the knife

There is a small notch before the edge, this is intended for you to use to strike the firestarter there instead of the spine of the blade. And the guard is pronounced so it does provide protection of your hand sliding up and onto the blade.

Handle is nicely contoured too with some texture along the edges, it could stand to be sand blasted for better grip which I might do down the road, or just some coarse sand paper to rough up the surface.

All in all, this is a very affordable fixed blade that is well made.

And a side note, there is a smaller version in the works, with a 4" blade, not out yet but that should be interesting as well. Also Buck makes a folding version of this knife too.
G2

 

[jkwithawave]

Good write up G2. That's a good looking knife that I've never seen before. The folder looks nice too. I may pick one up eventually, could make a great for someone who doesn't have a good fixed blade.

 

[deskil]

That's a well-photographed and beautiful design. The only reason I don't have one is the size, so I'm happy to hear of a smaller version in the works. Most of my medium fixed blades, with kydex sheaths, have been carried with a static cord for several years, either in pocket, inverted, or IWB, upright, depending on length. Like you, I find it the easiest and safest way to carry them, but I'd have to lose the fire striker, myself. Looks like it would definitely be a problem, for me.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks guys and deskil, you're right about that fire starter, I will most likely remove that and carry it in a kit and not on the sheath, while handy it isn't always handy to wear. And if they come out soon with the smaller fixed blade I may give that one a whirl too.

G2

edited to add I removed the fire starter and it makes it far more comfortable to wear inside the belt carry with the static cord, just have the fire starter in my small kit bag now.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Nice review, thanks. Hard to go wrong with any Buck IMHO.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks and I believe you are correct sir

Here's a Link to the knife at our friends at Blade HQ

G2

 

[JD Mandrell]

Nice, the Selkirk has been one of my favorite Buck fixed blades, great setup. I had a real wrestling match reversing my sheath for lefty carry, hope it went easier for you!

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I agree, it seems like a maze of hardware and stuff when you get to these type of sheaths, but I've simpled it down (if that's even a real word ) to where it's just the sheath and a bit of paracord loop at the end to carry it as a static pull type sheath, slipping it between my belt and body to keep it from going anywhere.

G2

 

[chiral.grolim]

For those struggling with the sheath attachment, there is an alternative:

The UKE 2.0 accommodates the Selkirk-sheath, is height- and angle-adjustable, accessory-adaptable, and can be worn dangler-style (shown) or hard-mounted, and also is available in right- or left-hand carry. More information in my sig-line. The pics above are from a customer who carries his selkirk as shown, but the UKE simply increases your options, might be worth a look to some.

 

[buckfynn]

I have had my Selkirk for around 9 months. Overall I like the knife and find it to be an excellent value for the money. It has reasonable ergonomics and for the most part a good enough fit and finish. Mine did come with one very minor cosmetic defect, the truncated "China" tang stamp, which doesn't effect functionality of the knife, nor does it warrant a return or an exchange.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

One reviewer on line mentioned that his scales moved when he was batoning with the knife, got me to thinking last night about that, I figured when they made the knife they drilled the holes for the screws slightly larger to aid in assembly, so today I took some shim stock and a pair of scissors and cut up some narrow strips to wrap around the threaded tube, this makes the fit up more precise so there should be less shifting during use, seemed to work pretty well but was a pain to do

G2