Buck Knives 301 Stockman Three Blade Folding Pocket Knife - EDC, Camping, Hiking & Outdoor Survival Tool

A nice pocket knife for everyday use . Very good qualityI have owned many knives of various steels. After all that is said, the American made Buck knife, with its legendary 420 HC Paul Bos heat treatment is the knife that I count on the most. It is a knife that will never fail you. I can recommend any American made Buck knife whole heartedly This Stockman is the perfect pocket size and will stay sharp a long time after its sharpened. Its an everyday carrier and wont let you down. Ive never owned any other Stockman because frankly if Im going to spend 60 dollars and up on a small pocket knife I go with the name thats never let me down - that name is Buck.I have many Buck knives that I’d never give up, but this one disappointed and got returned. I bought the US made version rather than the China version thinking that the extra $20 would surely mean Buck’s best effort. Almost double the price. What was described as “rosewood” felt like cheap plastic. It may have wood fibers in it, and it takes a nice picture, but it's very disappointing in person. Why not the new Ebony? I did love the feel in hand. It isn’t heavy for a knife this size but has a very satisfying “heft” to it. I almost kept it for that reason. I like the individual springs for each blade, should also make for easier cleaning. Unfortunately: I read the reviews mentioning the weak springs but figured that I’m probably less picky and that it would be fine. It isn’t fine. The blades pop out with a limp-wristed action that is incredibly disappointing. My old 110...now that’s how a knife should feel. This isn’t a lock blade, but even a pocket knife should feel better than this. Clearly a lot of people feel the same, so why not just FIX IT? My Case knives feel better, the Boker I replaced this with (also has real wood), Victorinox...all pocket knives that feel “right”. Give me some real wood, like the Ebony so many Bucks now have, stronger springs and I promise I’ll proudly add this back to my collection with my other treasured Bucks. Keep the brass and heft, that much is already right. Maybe I'll get a 55 or 112 in the meantime.edit: I did order the 55 and it's one of the best knives I've ever bought. The 112 in carbon, less so. I kept thinking about the 301. I gave it another chance and ordered a 2nd one. Same issues. I decided to contact Buck about the 301 and the 112 and they were extremely responsive. I heard back within an hour by email. They offered to send me a shipping label for the 112 (my initial reason for contact) but I decided to send both the 112 and the 301 in with their warranty/repair form listing my issues with each. They have been received as of 2 days ago. With the Corona virus issues, I know their manpower is severely cut, so that's an understandable factor in turn around time. I'm hoping they'll fix the snap and movement in the 301, which is surely the grind on the base of the blades not having enough contact with the springs. The 112 on the other hand barely wanted to open or close. I'll report back with the treatment these get.Update 4/23/20. The 301 and 112 are back a month, to the day, after Buck received them. The 112 got repair and spa treatment and came back perfect. The 301 got replaced, subject to inspection by QA. Both covered by warranty. The 301 is a different knife, but feels like the other 2 I've had and still lacks the snap a good slipjoint should have. Still lacking holding strength. I suspect that's the blade, not the spring, and it just doesn't have enough steel on the rounded end to engage the spring as it should. There might not be a way to fix that without a custom ground knife or Buck retooling. It passed inspection, so I guess this is what Buck wants it to be like. Otherwise, a great knife that I'll keep. I'll watch to see if they one day rework it and then I'll get another hoping they pay more attention to feel. Very sharp knife, great looking knife (I've grown accustomed to the "rosewood") and I still love the heft of it. It won't replace the 55 that's in my pocket every day though. That remains an incredibly impressive knife and more what I expect from Buck.Incredible value for the old time craftsmanship. A must for every avid sportsman/woman. A treasure you can someday pass on to your grand children.I purchased one of the 301 models from Amazon to add to my small collection of EDC slip joint pocket knives. I tend to favor the old US made brands, particularly Schrade, makers of Old Timer and Uncle Henry knives. The best place to find these old US brands is on ebay where you can generally pick up a very good quality knife for $25 to $35 depending upon condition.That said, this 301 is definitely a tank. It is built for heavy everyday use. Most good quality knives have brass liners and carbon steel springs. In the 301, these parts are all stainless steel. The blade hold area of most knives is prone to corrosion over time, but I suspect with stainless springs and liners that won’t be a problem with the 301. Most stockman models have two springs which means that the small blades are bent at slight angles to each other to prevent the blades from rubbing when closed. The three spring design of the 301 eliminates this problem. I also suspect that designing the knife with the bolster pins completely through the bolsters is a stronger configuration than the alternative hidden bolster pin models.The fit and finish of the knife I received was good with the exception of the center pin which extended beyond the scale on one side of the knife and was not peened. I filed the pin down and peened it with a nail set with pretty good results. All three blades were razor sharp, and the scales, bolsters, blades, and springs were bright without scratches. I did notice that there were very small paper thin gaps between the springs, liners, and bolsters. I suspect that this is because of the stiff stainless steel liners, instead of the usual brass liners, which require more pressure to hold tightly together. This is probably why the blades don’t have the hard snap found on other knives, also. The other notable design feature is that the notched edges of tang ends of the blades, which are not rounded, sit above the liners when the knife is closed. This creates rough edges on the closed knife that can snag on clothing or pocket items.If you work on a farm, ranch, or in construction, and if you wear jeans and coveralls to work, this is the knife for you. It is a strictly heavy duty EDC that will stand up to the toughest jobs. If you wear Dockers to work and use your pocket knife to open the mail or clean your fingernails, I would suggest you take a look at the smaller Cadet (303) or Lancer (305) models.Also, I understand that the 301 and 303 series Buck pocket knives are made in the USA, while the 37x series knives are made in China. The 301 is stamped USA on the clip blade tang.