I bought a Buck knife about 10 years ago when I went to an outdoor writers’ conference. I bought it from the Buck Knives booth in the vendor area. The surprising thing about that booth was that it was manned by CJ Buck himself. CJ is the CEO of Buck Knives, and he’s the great-grandson of Hoyt Buck, who was the creator of the Buck Knife back in 1902.
That was a pretty memorable experience, and not only because I got to meet the actual top executive of arguably the most famous knife company in America. It was notable mostly because before CJ had introduced himself to me, he let me take a closer look at one of the knives he had on display. I pushed the blade release to close the knife, and the blade swung down. Unfortunately, I had my fingers across the front of the handle, where that blade needed to go. If you know anything about Buck knives, you know they come from the factory with incredibly sharp blades. And that blade was as heavy as it was sharp. It would have cut me deeper across my ring and middle fingers if the bone hadn’t stopped it.
I ended up buying that knife, and not only because I felt bad about getting blood all over it. It was my favorite knife I’ve ever had. It held that razor edge for years. It survived a lot of hard use, but the assisted-opening function eventually stopped working. Buck guarantees their knives for life, so I emailed the company last week. It turns out that knife has been discontinued, but they let me pick out a new one. Now I’m like a kid waiting for Christmas, waiting for my new Spitfire to come. It’ll have a brown Cerakote blade and a gold handle to match my favorite college team’s colors. I have a feeling it’ll be my new favorite knife ever. I just hope it gets here soon.
