Budget Gear Review: Buck Selkirk Knife

Buck Selkirk

 The Dirt:

Buck Selkirk Knife

What is it? Fixed blade Survival/Bushcraft knife

Comes with: Sheath and ferrocerium rod with attached whistle

Size: Blade length 4.625". Overall length 9.5". Thickness 0.135"

Weight: 7.6 oz.

Materials: 420 HC Stainless Steel. Micarta handle. 

Price: $43.78 at Amazon.com

The Selkirk is a mid-duty fixed-blade survival knife named after one of my favorite places in the world, the Selkirk mountains of the Idaho panhandle. Not coincidentally, north Idaho is also home to the famous Buck Knife factory, where most of Buck's beloved knives are made. The Selkirk is not one of those knives. In fact, the name "China" is stamped on the blade. Some people won't consider the Selkirk for this reason alone. Despite its country of origin, the Selkirk is a solid knife that should warrant consideration when shopping for a bushcraft style knife under fifty dollars.

The knife's weight is the first thing I noticed. Previously I was almost exclusively using a Mora Companion. The Selkirk is heavy, and not particularly well balanced, owing to the steel-filled handle. The hammer on the pommel takes some of the blame for all that weight. It looks cool, but I found it not as practical for hammering as say a rock or heavy bit of wood. Though it certainly adds to the overall robust nature of the knife.

Hammer time.

Speaking of the handle, the textured Micarta has a nice wood-grain look, but feels a little too slick for my liking. Despite this, the grip is mostly comfortable. I say "mostly" because although the shape is fine, the spine isn't quite flush with the micarta. The result is an uncomfortable contact of skin and steel when I'm using certain grips or performing certain tasks. You can see in the photo below (and above) that the spine is raised just slightly above the micarta along the handle. It doesn't affect how I handle the knife. It's simply an annoyance. Call it nitpicking, but to me it shows a lack of attention to detail on the part of the manufacturer. 

Spine not flush.

Enough about the handle. Let's talk about the blade. That's where this knife really shines. Out of the box the Selkirk was shaving sharp. The edge retention is great and so is the ease of sharpening. In fact, the Selkirk is one of the easiest knives I have ever sharpened. It doesn't take much with a fine stone to hone the blade back to bad-assery. Credit the flat grind and 420 high carbon stainless steel. A lot of people knock Buck for using 420, but I have been continually impressed by the razor's edge of this knife. That said, I did roll the edge near the tip several months ago. I'm not sure what I was doing when it happened because I didn't notice it until I was cleaning my knife at the end of the day.

Feather stick

Deformed

Let's not forget that the Selkirk is billed as a bushcraft knife. As far as carving, chopping, batoning and food prep, the knife performs exceptionally. The problem comes with the fire starting capabilities. The accompanied ferro rod is small, but it has to be. The rod is designed to be used in the choil of the knife, rather than the spine. To me, this is a total design flaw. For starters, the space to work with is tiny. Worse, you have to work your hand under the business end of the blade, which just increases the likelihood of an accident. Finally, if you prefer a larger rod, chances are it won't fit the tight opening of the choil. Now, the spine of the knife is not 90 degrees, but the angle is such that you can produce a small amount of sparks. Of course, you could always grind it flat on your own, but why Buck wouldn't do that in the first place is just silly.

Ferro rod is designed to go through the choil.

Finally the sheath. On other sites I've seen people knock the injection-molded sheath, but I think it's one of the stronger features of the Selkirk. It looks good, can be configured for a variety of carries, and holds both the knife and the ferro rod securely. Plus, like the knife itself, it can really take a beating. 

Overall, the Selkirk is worth considering for casual knife users, or buyers on a budget, especially if you're willing to modify the spine. Although rough around the edges, the blade is excellent, and you can count on the durability. Design flaws and sloppy manufacturing may deter some. If money isn't a concern, look elsewhere.

Leather Sheath for Mora Knives

Leather sheath for Mora Knives from Self Reliance Outfitters

A few months ago I purchased my first ever Mora knife. As some of you may know, Mora knives are extremely popular in the bushcraft/survival community mainly because they are razor sharp, hold an edge well, and are easy to sharpen in the field. These knives are also very inexpensive compared to what we (or at least I) normally think of as top shelf knives. For example, my 4.1 inch carbon steel fixed blade Mora Companion (shown below) was purchased on Amazon.com for around $14. My last knife purchase before then was a small stainless steel Benchmade 530 folding knife that I paid around $100 for. So the Mora knives are great quality knives, and super inexpensive compared to other brands, and that is undoubtedly another reason why people love them so much.

The problem with Mora knives is the sheath they come with. I've purchased two so far, and both of them came with a real cheapo looking plastic injection molded sheath. Functionality wise, the plastic sheath's work just fine, but to me they just seem... well, cheap. My first thought when I unboxed the Mora Companion was, "I'll have to get a new sheath." And when I gave the Mora Classic Craftsman 612 as a gift to my stepdaughter I felt the need to apologize about the cheap sheath.

Last week I was browsing around the Pathfinder Store at Dave Canterbury's Self Reliance Outfitters (looking at knives of course) and I came across a leather sheath specifically made for Mora Knives which I promptly purchased for $12 (now going for $16)... And finally I've arrived at the whole purpose of this post. I know based off of user reviews and what I've read on discussion boards that as much as people love the Mora knives they hate the Mora sheaths, and so I wanted to make my readers aware that here is an option to significantly upgrade your sheath at what I would consider a very reasonable price. I've only had the sheath for about a week, so this is not a product review by any means, but it certainly appears robust, well made, and just really nice looking, and it holds my Mora Companion safely and securely. According to the website the sheath fits most Mora knives, so if you have one and hate the sheath, definitely give these a look (link below).

http://www.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/brown-leather-pathfinder-mora-sheath/

Mora Companion with leather Pathfinder sheath

Mora Companion with Mora plastic sheath