Last week, we took a look at the new knives being released this year by CRKT, but this week, we’re looking at the new Buck knives of 2014.
Buck has always been a reliable name in the knife industry because they never rest on their laurels (and lord knows they can). Although Buck Knives didn’t do anything drastic this year, the new products are broadening their line of knives. In addition to the items below, there will be a few additions, redesigns and the commemorative edition of the 110 we told you about two weeks ago.
726 Mini SpitFire
The original SpitFire was introduced last year with enough success to prompt a smaller version for this year. The new lockback folder weighs 2.1 oz, as opposed to the original SpitFire’s weight of 3.2 oz. The anodized aluminum handle of the sleek knife comes in the three colors above. Like the original version, the Mini SpitFire’s blade is made of 420HC steel.
183 Alpha Crosslock
The Alpha Crosslock is not a new knife per se, but it underwent a drastic enough redesign to warrant a mention here. This knife has a spear point blade and saw blade with integrated gut hook, which makes it great for hunting. The alterations made to the Alpha Crosslock involve a more durable locking mechanism and more control when conditions are wet (since the original had aluminum grips). Available in orange and green.




There aren’t many useful smartphone apps out there that pertain to knives—in fact, there aren’t more than a handful.
The app is a knife steel composition and name cross-reference database for all types of alloys used in knife blades. According to the description, the app features about 5,600 alloy names and more than 930 compositions, which covers pretty much anything you could ever want to look for. Some of the things you won’t find are proprietary steels, which are classified. For those who like to get deep down and dirty, there is a composition comparison that has a bar graph with three different options that show the mass percentage, molar masses and atomic count per 1,000 atoms.