The Hoodlum from Buck is created and designed to be the best survival tool. The knife is designed by Ron Hood and was created with the excellent standards of Buck, giving this Hoodlum the best survival in the extreme outdoors conditions. This knife is lightweight just enough that it can be carried in sheath, but is still heavy duty and sufficient for several tasks in the wilderness. The handle or grip of the knife is created with the SMS or the Shock Mitigation System working to minimize the shock as well as the wasted energy while using it for chopping. The huge finger choil is also present giving users enough control while whittling or other related and detailed usage. There is a notch present that acts to cut to the spine of the blade for the scoring bone, removing pots from camp fire, bending wire and other tasks.
Whom is the product for?
This knife is equipped with a Micarta® grip or handle that can be removed in order to create a tool similar to spear. This then can be lashed in a branch to the blade’s tang. The knife also has an integrated lanyard hole and hammer in the lower portion of the grip and it is compatible with M.O.L.L.E.
Plus, it has a nylon sheath that is truly heavy-duty. This Hoodlum knife model will definitely serve as the all-around survival tools that users will needs from food preparation to protection while being out in the wilderness. The Hoodlum knife is also considered as a Pro Level knife – meaning it was created with the company’s century old methods of developing and crafting knives to the unprecedented level and is designed to be used in the most demanding conditions. It is made with premium materials with the excellent quality of the American craftsmanship. This knife from Buck is a part of the Ron Hood line of outdoor survival knives.
Main Features
This knife weighs about 14.6 ounces and this value is less than what people would expect from heavy duty knives. The knife is mainly designed for chopping purposes. The SMS will make sure that the user can safely baton while using the Hoodlum. The over length of the knife is around 15 inches and this length plus the design of the handle makes it somewhat awkward to be utilized for non-chopping tasks. The material used in the blade is 5160 Carbon Steel.
This type of steel is extremely tough because of the content – about 0.5% carbon with high amount of chromium and this makes it ideal for usage on chopping blades and axes. This type of steel does not keep edge and hence, there is a need for sharpening provided that you will use this knife for any tasks aside from chopping. Fortunately, this type of steel can be sharpened easily. In addition, the lower carbon content will mean rust will not be much of a problem and most of the time, there is a coating used in order to prevent rusting.
Product Specifications
- Blade Length: 10″ (25.4 cm)
- Blade Material: 5160 Carbon Steel
- Carry System: Black, heavy duty nylon, M.O.L.L.E. compatible sheath
- Handle Material: Micarta
- Weight: 14.6 oz (22.0 g)
The blade of the Hoodlum knife is ten inches in length with full tang and flat ground with plain edge. The design of the knife features huge finger choil located on the ricasso and in this place, the balance point is also located. In the middle of the blade’s spine, you will find the notch of bone marrow and this enforces the knife. The performance of the blade of this knife is greatly when use as a chopper or chopping tool, but it can have lesser performance as batoning knife.Nevertheless, if you decide to make use of this Hoodlum knife for batoning purposes, it is recommended that you will wear a pair of thick gloves for protection.
The scales of the grip or handle are built out of theenormouslyhard composite material called the Micarta. These scales are linked to the Hoodlum knife through the two screws that are located at the bottom and the top of the handle of the knife. Being attached by screws, you can detach them using flathead screwdriver and use them as for lashing.The shape of the grip or the handle is definitely working to help the overall function of the knife in chopping.
Product summary
It is also set and positioned at slight angle with respect to the blade and will then curve downward. The presence of the deep finger choil and jimping located near the handle will provide variety of gripping/handling options. The handle/grip is considerably thick and this can fill the hand. The scales are then separated from the tang using red spacers giving the knife a pleasing style. In addition, the handle or grip provides amazing traction for the user’s hand even when it is wet. The Hoodlum knife from Buck also comes with a sheath. This sheath is constructed using the excellent quality of nylon and is compatible with the M.O.L.L.E.
The sheath comes with a non-removable plastic liner. Also, this sheath can be subject to adjustments in order for this knife to ride high or low. The presence of multiple pockets is also in the sheath that can be used in storingother knives such as folding knives that can serve as back up. The knife is being held in the right place using the main and secondary retention strap. However, without the straps, the knife will not be held in place. All in all, the sheath has great features in terms of styles and designs.
Product Cons
One of the drawbacks of this Buck Hoodlum knife is that it lacks heftiness, which means that users will be able to achieve lesser power while using this knife in cutting. Most of the time, when you will purchase this knife, you will possibly get a knife that is unsharpened and hence, you have to be ready to sharpen it first before you can use the knife.
Product Pros
The handle or grip of the knife is well built and solid and will definitely provide the users with the good and right grip but some users reported that it does not fully absorb the impact at all.