Buck Knives 371 Stockman 3-Blade Pocket Knife with Woodgrain Handle

very nice small knife , easy to carry.

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,GeorgeBTW. 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.)