Buck vs. Spyderco - why the huge price difference?

[norcalAF]

This is my most recent atypical Spyderco, not a flipper, but a heck of a knife

 

[TimButterfield]

​

When I joined BF, I also found BCCI and started collecting Bucks. While I now have a small collection, I wanted users and not drawer queens. I also ended up with duplicates/similars of a few models. I have more than one of the 110, 112, 500, and 501. These are classics. That is part of why I like them. I only have a couple of the newer designs and a couple of fixed blades,. They are also all good user knives.

For a long time, I didn't care for Spyderco and avoided them. Like some others here, the hole bothered me. I eventually got around to trying them. Guess what? I found I liked them. I had been avoiding them based on an uneducated opinion, but not real experience. Now, like with my Bucks, I am a fan of Spyderco and have a small collection of them also. These are good user knives for me as well.

While both companies make excellent knives, I feel Buck to be more classic oriented while Spyderco is modern oriented (with some exceptions of course). There are also some usage differences between the brands. For example, Spyderco offers a Salt series that works well in marine environments. I'm not sure Buck has an equivalent series of knives that fill that same role. Spyderco also offers many more serrated blades than Buck offers. I have a mix of different Spyderco blade types, both PlainEdge and SpyderEdge. Both have their usages and I like both. Of my current top 5 favorite Spyderco, two of them are SpyderEdge. None of my Bucks have serrated blades, but that's okay. I like that we can pick and choose brands and models to fit our individual needs. Not every knife we choose is a perfect fit for us, our hands, or our usages. It's good that we can try different models to see which we like better.

As for pricing, I agree many Spyderco are priced higher than many Bucks, but that generalization doesn't always apply. Just look at the BOTM offerings or the BCCI offerings as a couple of examples. Some of the special model Bucks I have cost more than many of my Spyderco. While my Buck Langford costs less than any Spyderco I own, my Buck Magnacut 501 Elk costs more than most of my Spydercos. It just depends on the specific models. And, again, these are for user knives, not drawer queens. If I chose different models, I could create a comparison of price that favors something else. Of course, if a manufacturer chooses more easily processed steels and materials, that makes it easier to keep an average cost lower than a different manufacturer that works more with wider variety of steels. These steel varieties are not just for the knife steel nerds either. As with the Salt series mentioned above, sometimes the steels are used for specific purposes. And, remember, the new hotness, Magnacut, is available in some models from both.

Overall, I am very glad we have both brands to choose from and I'm mostly happy with my choices from both of them. I'm also glad both are supporting members of BF. I will happily keep buying more knives from both brands. I just might be a little choosy about which ones they are.

 

[David Mary]

Spyderco
Buck

Both companies have my respect for what they have built.

But my opinion on the actual knives is based on how I use knives. To that end, I prefer Spyderco because of the opening hole, for extremely convenient one handed operation.

But I have never actually met a folding knife that I felt was perfect. There was always something I would have wanted to be different about it, regardless of the company or model (and to that end, I owned and modded dozens of Spydercos, until I came to the following conclusion).


Spyderco just happens to have made my favorite folding knife platform, the Resilience, but I like it as a platform, rather than as a knife in itself. In the former regard it is full of potential, with the most freedom to mod it into something close to perfect for me, in the latter, it is passable, at best. For me, folding knives are tools, and I don't keep a collection so much as a small roster of users. I like serrations, not Spyderco or any other company's serrations, but my own (because they cut like serrations are supposed to, and because they are easy to sharpen). Currently, my roster consists of two Resilience lightweights in 8Cr13MoV. I prefer a tough stainless steel that I can sharpen easily, which 8Cr is, and I like the fact that the Resilience is an inexpensive and slicey knife. I don't like how broad the blade is and how wide the pocket footprint it, or how sharp the hump is when putting pressure against it with my thumb, or how aggressively the blade snaps closed when the detent ball overcomes the edge of the tang. So I mod all these things to produce a knife I actually love, and cannot think of anything further I would want to do to it.

It has:
top of blade removed, to give it a straighter spine and pointier tip;
crowned spine;
softened thumb ramp for massively improved comfort;
plainedge coverted to my own serration pattern;
reground thinner behind the edge for better cutting performance;
detent ramp for safer and more controlled blade closing;
after market titanium deep carry clip for more discreet tip down carry.

I have to say Spyderco's bi-directional texturing is a stroke of genius. It feels comfortable in the hand, and is more than grippy enough for any kind of knife, in my opinion. And their FRN is a great material.

I have two of them in this exact configuration. I like it because it is big, light, strong and tough for it's weight, cuts aggressively and effortlessly, is super convenient to deploy and use one handed, easy to sharpen and maintain, and relatively inexpensive. One rides in my work pants, and one rides in my trackpants I wear at home. Here is one of them after opening up a package from Peter's for me:

I owned this model in S35Vn as well, but my conclusion in the end was that for me, the ratio of added wear resistance to increased sharpening time was enough of a wash that 8Cr in practice turns out to be more than sufficient for my needs, given its low maintenance needs, and I prefer to be frugal where I can. So I moved that one along to a new home, and that's also why my remaining modded S35VN Spydercos are on the exchange waiting for new homes.

 

[jbmonkey]

got both on me today....

 

[Quiet]

jbmonkey

Great minds, sir. Great minds.

These are two of my favorite knives to actually carry and use in my entire collection. One or both of these is on my person or at least in my daybag every day. Both take and keep a screaming sharp edge, and I just love everything about 'em. I couldn't tell you which one I like more, because candidly, neither of them will ever leave my collection.

 

[jstrange]

Spyderco
Buck

Both companies have my respect for what they have built.

But my opinion on the actual knives is based on how I use knives. To that end, I prefer Spyderco because of the opening hole, for extremely convenient one handed operation.

But I have never actually met a folding knife that I felt was perfect. There was always something I would have wanted to be different about it, regardless of the company or model (and to that end, I owned and modded dozens of Spydercos, until I came to the following conclusion).


Spyderco just happens to have made my favorite folding knife platform, the Resilience, but I like it as a platform, rather than as a knife in itself. In the former regard it is full of potential, with the most freedom to mod it into something close to perfect for me, in the latter, it is passable, at best. For me, folding knives are tools, and I don't keep a collection so much as a small roster of users. I like serrations, not Spyderco or any other company's serrations, but my own (because they cut like serrations are supposed to, and because they are easy to sharpen). Currently, my roster consists of two Resilience lightweights in 8Cr13MoV. I prefer a tough stainless steel that I can sharpen easily, which 8Cr is, and I like the fact that the Resilience is an inexpensive and slicey knife. I don't like how broad the blade is and how wide the pocket footprint it, or how sharp the hump is when putting pressure against it with my thumb, or how aggressively the blade snaps closed when the detent ball overcomes the edge of the tang. So I mod all these things to produce a knife I actually love, and cannot think of anything further I would want to do to it.

It has:
top of blade removed, to give it a straighter spine and pointier tip;
crowned spine;
softened thumb ramp for massively improved comfort;
plainedge coverted to my own serration pattern;
reground thinner behind the edge for better cutting performance;
detent ramp for safer and more controlled blade closing;
after market titanium deep carry clip for more discreet tip down carry.

I have to say Spyderco's bi-directional texturing is a stroke of genius. It feels comfortable in the hand, and is more than grippy enough for any kind of knife, in my opinion. And their FRN is a great material.

I have two of them in this exact configuration. I like it because it is big, light, strong and tough for it's weight, cuts aggressively and effortlessly, is super convenient to deploy and use one handed, easy to sharpen and maintain, and relatively inexpensive. One rides in my work pants, and one rides in my trackpants I wear at home. Here is one of them after opening up a package from Peter's for me:

I owned this model in S35Vn as well, but my conclusion in the end was that for me, the ratio of added wear resistance to increased sharpening time was enough of a wash that 8Cr in practice turns out to be more than sufficient for my needs, given its low maintenance needs, and I prefer to be frugal where I can. So I moved that one along to a new home, and that's also why my remaining modded S35VN Spydercos are on the exchange waiting for new homes.

That looks really nice!

 

[Danke42]

 

[texpat]

The trick with Spiderco is that they're always on the cutting edge when it comes to offering the latest OMG-1337 super steel, whereas buck primarily still offers knives in 420HC. Sure, you can also get them in older super steels like S30V and S35VN, with some limited runs of more modern high end steels, but then the cost starts to go up substantially on those models.

420HC can literally be stamped/pressed from sheets, which obviously brings down the cost dramatically compared to steels which require machining. So while a Buck 722 Spitfire looks similar to a Spyderco Wuteva and perhaps even more aesthetically pleasing due to the colorful anodized aluminum handle, it's still just a plain old 420HC blade unless you placed a custom order for one in S30V or S35VN, and even then those steels aren't very expensive compared to OMG-1337.

Points taken, but if you're mainly looking for premium steel and a bonus hole in the blade, lol, the 722 does the job, and not that expensive, got this model in S35VN for 65 bucks shipped to my door from SK blades a few years ago, great blade, I feel it's an outstanding value for that price, far cheaper than some other brands:

 

[BJE]

I have a Buck 841. (Carbon Fiber Scales) (S45VN Blade). I have a Spyderco PM2. (Aluminum Scales)
(CTS BD1N Blade)

Similar in price.
Similar in QC.
Similar in Fit and Finish.

'Similar'.

The former is great. The latter is perfect.

Don't ask me to pick a favorite.

Colorado is great. Idaho is perfect.

YMMV

(Ohio is my Utopia. Hint, hint)

I mean Hinderer.

'vs' threads are fun, but...I may have to order a knife made in another state and hope Julie from UPS delivers it!

Blonde hair, blue eyes, off topic...

Quoted for posterities sake since I live in Ohio.