- Joined
- Oct 21, 2021
- Messages
- 151
I recently received my own personal Grail Knife as a Christmas Gift, the Buck 639 Fieldmate!
Those of you who may be familiar with the Buckmaster 184 and 185 LT may recognize the similar profile of the blade.
The Buck 639 Fieldmate was essentially a miniature Buckmaster sold at a lower pricepoint. The major difference is its size, as the 639 is more in line with the Buck 119 Special Purpose Knife while the Buckmaster was more in line with the Buck 120 General Purpose Knife. Also, the 185 was skeletonized full tang with a polymer coated grip whereas the 639 has a hidden tang with a Kraton (molded elastopolymer) handle.
From what I can gather, (information on this knife is quite scarce online and rather difficult to verify) the Buck 639 Fieldmate was manufactured for just under a decade from about 1986 until 1994, when it was discontinued by Buck in the midst of a lawsuit between Buck and Phrobis -- the designers of the Buckmaster knives -- who claimed the 639 Fieldmate as an unlicensed derivative of their Buckmaster design. Unfortunately, for all the clones of the Buckmaster 184 floating around on the market, nobody ever bothered to make any clones of the 185 LT or the 639 Fieldmate, which is a shame because they're both excellent knives.
The Buck 639 Fieldmate features a 5-½" 425M Stainless Steel clip point blade with sawteeth milled into the spine. Being a derivative of the Buckmaster Knives, these sawteeth were designed for cutting through thin aircraft aluminum and canvas rather than wood, although they can obviously still saw through wood in a pinch.
My particular example has "639<" stamped on the ricosso, with the < being a date code indicating that it was manufactured in 1987, making it an early example of the knife. Later examples have a variety of differences from black rubber handles or black phenolic handles rather than the OD Green Kraton handle featured on mine. In addition, there are other models which lack the sawteeth on the spine, as well as a few special edition one-offs made from leftover blade stock once production had ceased.
While the 639 Fieldmate is thankfully nowhere near as scarce nor expensive as the 185 LT on the used market, it's still harder to come by than a 184, albeit significantly less expensive, so it makes for a decent alternative for those who desire a Buckmaster but don't want to pay hundreds of dollars or purchase a cheap clone like the Rothco Ramster.
I really wish that Buck would bring back these knives, or at the very least offer sawtooth spines as an option for Custom 119s and 120s on their website so that folks could sort of special order something similar.
Yes, I'm aware of the so-called "Buckmaster 2.0 Combat Diver" which is supposedly in development, but it has nothing in common with the original Buckmaster knives aside from the name, and although I might get one if it ever surfaces, (pun intended) it's just not the same thing and wouldn't scratch the itch for me.
Fortunately, the Buck 639 Fieldmate has satisfied my desire to own a Buckmaster knife (even if it isn't quite a Buckmaster) and I'm extremely happy to finally have my hands on one!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Those of you who may be familiar with the Buckmaster 184 and 185 LT may recognize the similar profile of the blade.
The Buck 639 Fieldmate was essentially a miniature Buckmaster sold at a lower pricepoint. The major difference is its size, as the 639 is more in line with the Buck 119 Special Purpose Knife while the Buckmaster was more in line with the Buck 120 General Purpose Knife. Also, the 185 was skeletonized full tang with a polymer coated grip whereas the 639 has a hidden tang with a Kraton (molded elastopolymer) handle.
From what I can gather, (information on this knife is quite scarce online and rather difficult to verify) the Buck 639 Fieldmate was manufactured for just under a decade from about 1986 until 1994, when it was discontinued by Buck in the midst of a lawsuit between Buck and Phrobis -- the designers of the Buckmaster knives -- who claimed the 639 Fieldmate as an unlicensed derivative of their Buckmaster design. Unfortunately, for all the clones of the Buckmaster 184 floating around on the market, nobody ever bothered to make any clones of the 185 LT or the 639 Fieldmate, which is a shame because they're both excellent knives.
The Buck 639 Fieldmate features a 5-½" 425M Stainless Steel clip point blade with sawteeth milled into the spine. Being a derivative of the Buckmaster Knives, these sawteeth were designed for cutting through thin aircraft aluminum and canvas rather than wood, although they can obviously still saw through wood in a pinch.
My particular example has "639<" stamped on the ricosso, with the < being a date code indicating that it was manufactured in 1987, making it an early example of the knife. Later examples have a variety of differences from black rubber handles or black phenolic handles rather than the OD Green Kraton handle featured on mine. In addition, there are other models which lack the sawteeth on the spine, as well as a few special edition one-offs made from leftover blade stock once production had ceased.
While the 639 Fieldmate is thankfully nowhere near as scarce nor expensive as the 185 LT on the used market, it's still harder to come by than a 184, albeit significantly less expensive, so it makes for a decent alternative for those who desire a Buckmaster but don't want to pay hundreds of dollars or purchase a cheap clone like the Rothco Ramster.
I really wish that Buck would bring back these knives, or at the very least offer sawtooth spines as an option for Custom 119s and 120s on their website so that folks could sort of special order something similar.
Yes, I'm aware of the so-called "Buckmaster 2.0 Combat Diver" which is supposedly in development, but it has nothing in common with the original Buckmaster knives aside from the name, and although I might get one if it ever surfaces, (pun intended) it's just not the same thing and wouldn't scratch the itch for me.
Fortunately, the Buck 639 Fieldmate has satisfied my desire to own a Buckmaster knife (even if it isn't quite a Buckmaster) and I'm extremely happy to finally have my hands on one!
Happy New Year, everyone!
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I would love to see pictures of your knife and Happy New Year to you as well.
