Knives Illustrated July/August 2022

Hiking, camping, and general woods wandering are never far from my mind. It was front and center a few months ago when my daughter was assembling her backpacking gear. She was planning to tackle as much of the Appalachian Trail as she could before the next stage in her career would force her to cut the hike short. As with most long-haul backpackers, she was obsessed with taking nothing but the lightest equipment. She carefully compared and weighed every piece of gear until she had what she believed was her minimal loadout. “What are you bringing for a knife?” I asked. Yes, she knew that I’ve been guilty of overpacking for outings. But I also had some experience with minimalist camping, carrying only what I could fit on an army…

1. Honey Badger Knives Honey Badger knives initially came in only 8Cr13Mov stainless steel, in line with founder Marc Ager’s vision of making an affordable knife for everyone. Due to user demand though, the company also makes D2 versions now as well. All the Honey Badgers follow the basic design with a flipper operating on a ball-bearing pivot and a liner lock engagement system. They use nylon and glass fiber handles available in an array of colors and a honeycomb pattern that is attractive and provides a good grip on the knife. You can pick from Drop Point, Wharncleaver, Hook (guthook), Claw, Leaf, or Tanto, which just recently became available. Each model comes in three sizes—small with a 2.81-inch blade, medium with a 3.19-inch blade, or large with…

Leggenda is the Italian word for legend. While it takes time for a knife to become a legend, the Woox Leggenda has what it takes in the way of quality build, good looks, and flawless performance to be a very good knife. So, let’s just say it’s off to a good start in living up to its name. NOT MY FIRST WOOX I was looking forward to getting my hands on the Leggenda. Last year, I reviewed the Woox Forte Axe and was very impressed with that brute of a mid-sized axe in an age when more products in that arena tend to be built to be slim and lightweight rather than heavy duty, real-world performers. “WITH THE LEGGENDA, YOU HAVE A WORKING TOOL THAT COMES WITH A CERTAIN PRIDE…

For many of us, that ubiquitous folder with the brass bolsters and woodgrain scales was our first real knife. Simple, understated, but a definite workhorse. It can do everything from cutting fruit for your lunch to field dressing a deer. Even non-knife people know what you mean when you call it a “Buck knife.” The Buck 110 isn’t just one of the most common folding knives in the world. It is also one of the most copied. Any flea market or pawn shop is all but guaranteed to be swimming in clones, many of them stamped Pakistan and all of them of dubious quality. But even the most casual once over will tell you whether you’re holding a real Buck knife in your hand. HISTORY OF THE 110 Buck Knives…

Being one of the most common folding knives in the world, it isn’t a surprise that it has been seen in countless movies and TV shows over the years. Here are just a few. “The Dukes of Hazzard” On numerous occasions, Bo and Luke Duke use their 110s to cut rope and such. Even if they’re not using the knives, the belt sheaths are visible in just about every episode. “Longmire” The titular character, Walt Longmire, carries his 110 everywhere he goes. “Survival Quest” This film stars Lance Henrikson as a survival instructor at an Outward Bound sort of school. Things go awry during a week-long class in the field. He and his students end up being tracked and then attacked by a competing school that has a much more…

While the 110 is the most well-known knife in the lineup, if we’re going to talk about Buck, we should also mention the 119. If you were to ask the average person to sketch out a fixed blade hunting knife, odds are that picture would look pretty close to the Buck 119 Special. Hoyt Buck produced his first knife in 1902 using an old file that he fashioned into a workable blade. Over the next four decades, he dialed in the design, tweaking it here and there. Then, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government requested donations of knives for troops heading to war. Hoyt began making knives in the basement of a church in 1942. The design was intended to be a do-it-all field knife, suitable for…