FIXED & FOLDING New from Buck Knives
NEW FROM BUCK KNIVES
Buck’s fi rst fully automatic tactical folder By Tactical Response Staff
B
uck Knives is famous for their model 110 Hunter, the fi rst folding knife that locked open. In fact, “Buck knife” became a generic description for all such locking folders, some that Buck did not make and even some that didn’t lock. The Buck model 110 is still alive and well, has passed its 50th Anniversary. Buck simply defi nes hunting knives.
Recently, however, they have branched into police and military-ori- ented ‘tactical’ knives, both fi xed and folding. For 2015, Buck lists two dozen knives in their Tactical line. T is does not count the knives in their Survival, Hunting and Everyday lines that could easily perform patrol and SWAT tasks. Tactical Response Magazine has reviewed many of Buck’s police-ori-
ented fi xed and folding knives including the 822 Sentry, 626 Intrepid, 690 TOPS/CSAR-T, 830 Marksman and 847 Vantage. Every one of these is a credible duty knife.
For 2015, however, Buck Knives has become much more serious
about law enforcement blades. Proof of this is two new ‘assisted open- ing’ folders, the 293 Inertia and 294 Momentum. Buck has had assisted opening knives in their lineup for a few years, but these two new ones have a handle clearly designed for law enforcement. T e really big news, however, the move where Buck tells police offi cers that they are ‘all in,’ is the 898 Impact. T is is Buck’s fi rst fully automatic folder. All three of these tactical folders are defi nitely made in the USA. In law enforcement, that is important.
Restricted Possession
Laws vary state to state when it comes to push-button or slide-pull auto- matics. Of course, the term “switchblade” immediately comes to mind. In the past, switchblade has meant the blade comes out of the handle point fi rst with a button push or slide pull. An automatic, however, was where the blade rotated open in its normal arc, again with a button push. Today, however, in almost every jurisdiction, both kinds are considered the same. Both are heavily regulated.
ARTICLE DEBRIEFING SUMMARY
Buck simply defi nes hunting knives. Recently, however, they have branched into fi xed and folding police-oriented knives. For 2015, Buck introduced two new “spring assisted” folders and their fi rst “automatic” folder.
MORE INFORMATION
www.buckknives.com
Even where all forms of automatics are banned by state law, virtu-
ally every state has a public safety exception of some kind. T at means police, fi re and EMS (with a variety of hoops to jump through) can pur- chase, possess and use an automatic. Check local laws. Buck’s very fi rst automatic, the 898 Impact, is clearly geared to law enforcement, one of the only legal end users. So while Buck folders mean hunting, the Buck automatic means police.
Assisted Opening T e 293 Inertia and the 294 Momentum are quite similar. Both are spring-assisted tactical folders. Buck calls this ASAP opening technology. Both have oversize, heavily textured aluminum handles. T e 293 Inertia has deeply machined grooves for better grip. T e 294 Momentum has relief-cut handles with high-friction ‘wing-walk’ inserts. Both the Inertia and Momentum have a reversible, stainless-steel pocket clip. Both use 3.1-inch-long, 0.120-inch-thick, drop point blades. T e main diff erence between the Inertia and the Momentum is the blade alloy—and this is a huge diff erence. T e 293 Inertia uses 420 HC stainless steel. T is is only an ‘OK’ or ‘acceptable’ blade steel, maybe even an entry-level blade steel.
Buck self-rates their knives as Good (Select), Better (Avid) and Best (Pro). T e 293 Inertia is rated as Better, but probably because of the ASAP assisted opening. However, the 420 HC blade steel is only Good, no better.
On the other hand, the 294 Momentum uses S30V blade steel.
T is stainless-steel hybrid blade alloy is arguably the best production steel available for hard use knives. Buck rates their 294 Momentum as Best and the S30V alloy makes it even better than that. T is S30V has everything we want for a severe-duty blade steel-
S THE 293 INERTIA IS A NEW ADDITION TO THE BUCK ‘SPRING ASSISTED-OPENING’ LINE OF TACTICAL FOLDERS. IT USES A 3.1-INCH, 420HC BLADE AND DEEPLY MACHINED ALUMINUM HANDLES.
14 Tactical Response Winter 2015
S THE 294 MOMENTUM IS A NEW ‘SPRING-ASSISTED OPENING’ TACTICAL FOLDER. THE MOMENTUM USES A S30V ALLOY BLADE, THE BEST BLADE STEEL AVAILABLE, AND WING-WALK INSERTED ALUMINUM HANDLES. HIGHEST MARKS FOR THIS AFFORDABLE S30V FOLDER.
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