Buck Vanguard Walnut Fixed Blade 18

Beautiful and functional knife with great sheath. My other Bucks fixed blades are in the “119 Special style”, ie black handled - and they are very good. This is more of a traditional hunting/general purpose style and very well suited to that role in both size and blade shape. But it’s a very nice looking thing too and makes a fine collector’s piece for that reason alone. Relative to other knives that can cover all these bases, it is reasonably priced and of course comes with the Buck Forever Warranty, so I expect it to outlive me!

This Buck Vanguard with walnut Dymalux handle, is a really beautiful knife. Everything about it is practically perfect. The hollow grind, 4 inch drop point blade came scarily sharp out of the box, and is just the right length and thickness for the knife. The grind angle is so shallow that sharpening will just need a quick strop, and I've read that other owners have never had to sharpen this knife with a stone. The balance is about one inch into the handle, so the knife is not blade heavy, and the contoured handle with its palm swell is perfect to hold, even with large hands. It just feels right. The brass guard and pommel will need polishing occasionally, but they shine up easily. The brass metal will ding and dent if you abuse this knife, so don't use it as a hammer. The high profile, good quality leather sheath wraps around the handle snugly, but is over wide for the knife, needing a strip of Velcro taped inside on the curved side to make a tighter fit. My sheath came with neat stitching on the back of the belt loop instead of a rivet, which is another sign of good quality. Overall, this is a lovely little fixed blade knife. I'm not a hunter so I won't be skinning animals with it, but it is such a joy to use and just to look at and hold that it's now the baby brother to my Buck 119 with the Cocobolo handle, and I find ways to use it every day. It's a great little knife you will want to take care of, for a long life of use.

A beautifully made knife with a superb leather sheaf

Just a good all round knife looks and feels nice in the hand, I do a lot of outdoor stuff so this knife is ideal for the job..