I have spent thousands on knives. When it is all said and done I say you cannot beat a good Buck Knife. I even use some special editions, as long as I have one tucked away. It is not becasue their steel is better, but for me, the way they make their knives. Here is why:

One of Buck's great resources is Paul Bos, who has been performing heat-treating since 1956. Paul is a nationally known heat-treating authority and has developed proprietary processes. Paul's link to Buck Knives goes back to the late '50s when he worked on custom knives for Al Buck. Paul oversees all of Buck Knives' heat-treating and performs heat-treating for a great number of custom knife makers. His shop is located in the Buck plant, where he is readily available to consult with Buck's engineers. Clearly, the Paul Bos touch is an integral part of Buck's great blades.

Buck Knives takes each blade through a carefully controlled three-step heat-treating process that brings the blade to a blend of properties appropriate for the end use of the knife. To ensure uniform heating, the blades are separately laid out on a continuous, slow moving conveyor belt.




[ol][*]First, the blades are heated to a high temperature (then cooled to room temperature).[*]Next, the blades are lowered into a cryogenic freezer where they are subjected to below zero temperatures (then brought back to room temperature).[*]After that, the blades are placed in an oven where the temperature is slowly raised to between 350°F to 950°F, depending on the end use and steel type. [/ol]This tempering process toughens the steel and brings 420HC blades to 58 on the Rockwell scale, the preferred hardness for edge holding. ATS-34, BG-42 and S30V blades can be hardened to Rc 59.5-61. To achieve the desired properties, some blades are tempered more than once. Only after this rigorous heat-treat process is a Buck blade ready to be edged-the other vitally important process in creating a great blade.