371 Stockman

This could have been a perfect little pocket knife. All of my knifes are much larger, but I was looking for a little unassuming knife I could just drop in my pocket, that shouldn't cause any concern to anyone. The sheepfoot blade is centered in the handle to give a good grip when opening packages. The clip point blade will be useful for opening letters or other office tasks, and there's a third blade should one of the others get nicked or dulled before I have a chance to sharpen the knife. While stockman knives often come with bone scales, I wanted one with wooden scales. This Buck 371 comes with brown wood or burl wood scales. I wanted to burl wood scales and was pleasantly surprised when I first looked at it as the burl on the scale was even nicer than in the stock photos. Unfortunately that happiness quickly changed when I looked at the other side of the knife and it looks like it just as the normal brown wood scale. Bummer. At least Amazon is good about returning defective items. Hopefully the replacement I'll order will be correct. While disappointing, things like this happen from time to time. The knife certainly could have been very nice. The pictures are admittedly pretty poor. I turned on the flash to clearly show the differences between the two sides. The blades are sliver, not black like these pictures make it seem. Update: Very easy return of the first knife, and the replacement order arrived within a week. Very nice wooden scales, and similar on each side. Much nicer figuring than in the ad's pictures, but perhaps more brown-ish than amber-ish colored. Still, very attractive. With real wood, especially a burl, no two pieces are going to be the same. All three blades were sharp enough to pass the paper test right out of the box. Nail nicks are deep enough so I can easily open all three blades, and the blades do snap in place without any wobble. Slip joint knifes aren't as safe as a knife with a locking blade, but for the tasks I will use this for it's more than adequate.

Nice useful pocket knife with three capable blades whose different grinds afford different capabilities

So I just got this knife, so here's some initial impressions... 1) The Buck 371 is a Chinese-made model, and it's very well made, definitely on par with Rough Rider, which to me is probably the best of the Chinese knife manufacturers. I see very small gaps between the springs on the back, but no light comes through. The backs of the spines align very well with the springs when the blades are opened. The pins are all properly flush with the scales. There was a small amount of grinding dust, which came right out as I gave the knife an initial oiling and wipe down with mineral oil. 2) The blades were definitely sharp, and I just gave them a quick touch-up on ceramic rods. No obvious flaws on the grinds. 3) Walk and talk is good...the 371 doesn't have half-stops, but the springs are appropriately stiff and I feel safe using the blades (with the appropriate amount of care you'd use with any slipjoint). I'd say the clip blade is a 6 out of 10, the sheepsfoot a 6.5 and the spey a 7. 4) I'm a little disappointed in the burlwood scales...they look better in the pictures than in real life. They are well-finished and properly fit, but they look more like laminate (paler, less polish). If I were to order again, I might just go with the brown. We'll see if they pick up any patina in the pocket over time. 5) It feels good in the hand and comfortable in the pocket...I was afraid it might be a little too big to comfortably carry in my pocket, but it fits well. Overall, I like this Buck knife...it may be made in China, but I can certainly detect the Buck DNA in it. The walk and talk isn't quite as good as my US-made 110 or 55, but it certainly is as good as any of my Rough Riders, certainly better than a Frost Cutlery. I can't speak to edge retention yet, and I'm curious to see what Buck's heat treat can do with a middling steel like the 420J2 used here. My feeling is it has to be at least as good as Rough Rider's 440A, but we'll see.

Well folks, I'm going to make an extremely long story, somewhat short. Over the past few months I've been on a knife-buying frenzy. I would guess that the last 4/5 months I've bought at least thirty knives. I've bought about 15 GECs, several Case, Opinels, eight or so Rough Riders (made in China and great knives), SAK, Douk Douk (sp), well, you get the idea. Until recently I've never carried a knife around; however, for the past 45 years or so I've always had a Swiss Army Knife (SAK) Classic on my keyring. If you don't have one of these knives, you should get one. Also, they make great gifts for the gentlemen as well as the ladies. Everyone needs a Classic. Oh, yes. Back to Buck knives. I've owned a Buck 303 (same as this knife except a little over three inches long) for about 40 years. Even though I haven't used it all that much it is one of the nicest knives I own. In fact, when I started this buying frenzy I bought all the "colors" of the 303. My 40 yo knife is black. I also bought the made in China version of the 303 which I couldn't see any differences between it and the US made versions. When I bought the 371 I knew it was made in China. I had stopped by here several times and read the reviews and was amazed that people complained that when they got the knife they found it was made in China. So after ordering the knife a couple of days ago, I read every word of the information describing this knife. And, dang, there it was... "Made in USA" I hadn't noticed that before. Sooooooooooooooooo, next I fired off this note to Amazon. "Hi Folks, Your description of this knife says it's made in the US. It isn't and if you read some of the comments you'll see you've pissed off a lot of people. "Some" Buck knives are made in China. And, Buck has a US made version always at a fairly substantial price increase. Surely someone has brought this to your attention before now. I'm assuming that as soon as you get this note you'll correct the description. BTW, the US made version of this knife is a 301. Regards, George " As I type this Amazon has put a hold on selling this knife. Pretty darn amazing. I feel sort of bad that maybe some folks want to buy from Amazon (Prime two-day shipping) and can't. But, at least there hopefully will be no further complaints when Amazon shows this knife made in China. I buy far-too much from Amazon. But, as most of you know they have the world's best customer service, period. No company is better, at least in my experience. Back to the knife. This knife is the made in China version of the Buck 301 (pretty sure I have the numbers right). I can find no fault with this knife and can't see any difference between how this knife is made and how my US Buck knives are made. If you want a great knife with a 4-ever guarantee, and there's a Buck model you want., buy it. The US version is more expensive and how you spend your money is your business. I'm surely not going discuss any kind of...well, I'm just not going to discuss it. So folks, buy knives, carry knives, use knives. It's an interesting hobby especially when you learn the histories of how the various patterns/models came to be. Regards, George BTW. Let me add that this is a knife that folks have been buying for years as their only "working knife." Yes, a knife that people use everyday and all day long and it will keep performing day in and day out. And, hey, have a problem with it, Buck is there to fix or replace. This is a "heck" of a good knife. Nothing fancy, just a well made knife that's ready to do what you need it to do. (OK, so it won't prepare your breakfast.)

Buck knives is known for having great products so I wasn't surprised about how good of a pocket knife this was. I was however surprised at the price. I would've thought it would be more expensive however I ik not complaining. The blades are sharp out of the package and the weight om this pocket knife is satisfying, I love the design as well, wood like handles. It can withstand the most difficult job any small pocket knife can from opening boxes to wood carving. It's size is not to bad either it fits comfortably in my hand yet it's bigger than I thought it would be from the pictures on the description. The Golden color is a great touch as well making it look far more expensive than it is. Great product. Will definitely get another one to give to my son when he's older.

Item as described and please with the Buck knife but shipping was really slower than hoped. Christmas gift. It all turned out fine in the end though. But recipient was happy regardless.

Best pocket knife ever. Maintains sharpness. Extremely useful (I use it almost every day)

Good quality