Buck Knives371 Stockman 3-Blade Folding Pocket Knife with Wood Handle

This could have been a perfect little pocket knife. All of my knifes are much larger, but I was looking for a little unassuming knife I could just drop in my pocket, that shouldn't cause any concern to anyone. The sheepfoot blade is centered in the handle to give a good grip when opening packages. The clip point blade will be useful for opening letters or other office tasks, and there's a third blade should one of the others get nicked or dulled before I have a chance to sharpen the knife.While stockman knives often come with bone scales, I wanted one with wooden scales. This Buck 371 comes with brown wood or burl wood scales. I wanted to burl wood scales and was pleasantly surprised when I first looked at it as the burl on the scale was even nicer than in the stock photos. Unfortunately that happiness quickly changed when I looked at the other side of the knife and it looks like it just as the normal brown wood scale. Bummer. At least Amazon is good about returning defective items. Hopefully the replacement I'll order will be correct.While disappointing, things like this happen from time to time. The knife certainly could have been very nice.The pictures are admittedly pretty poor. I turned on the flash to clearly show the differences between the two sides. The blades are sliver, not black like these pictures make it seem.Update: Very easy return of the first knife, and the replacement order arrived within a week. Very nice wooden scales, and similar on each side. Much nicer figuring than in the ad's pictures, but perhaps more brown-ish than amber-ish colored. Still, very attractive. With real wood, especially a burl, no two pieces are going to be the same.All three blades were sharp enough to pass the paper test right out of the box. Nail nicks are deep enough so I can easily open all three blades, and the blades do snap in place without any wobble. Slip joint knifes aren't as safe as a knife with a locking blade, but for the tasks I will use this for it's more than adequate.

So I just got this knife, so here's some initial impressions...1) The Buck 371 is a Chinese-made model, and it's very well made, definitely on par with Rough Rider, which to me is probably the best of the Chinese knife manufacturers. I see very small gaps between the springs on the back, but no light comes through. The backs of the spines align very well with the springs when the blades are opened. The pins are all properly flush with the scales. There was a small amount of grinding dust, which came right out as I gave the knife an initial oiling and wipe down with mineral oil.2) The blades were definitely sharp, and I just gave them a quick touch-up on ceramic rods. No obvious flaws on the grinds.3) Walk and talk is good...the 371 doesn't have half-stops, but the springs are appropriately stiff and I feel safe using the blades (with the appropriate amount of care you'd use with any slipjoint). I'd say the clip blade is a 6 out of 10, the sheepsfoot a 6.5 and the spey a 7.4) I'm a little disappointed in the burlwood scales...they look better in the pictures than in real life. They are well-finished and properly fit, but they look more like laminate (paler, less polish). If I were to order again, I might just go with the brown. We'll see if they pick up any patina in the pocket over time.5) It feels good in the hand and comfortable in the pocket...I was afraid it might be a little too big to comfortably carry in my pocket, but it fits well.Overall, I like this Buck knife...it may be made in China, but I can certainly detect the Buck DNA in it. The walk and talk isn't quite as good as my US-made 110 or 55, but it certainly is as good as any of my Rough Riders, certainly better than a Frost Cutlery. I can't speak to edge retention yet, and I'm curious to see what Buck's heat treat can do with a middling steel like the 420J2 used here. My feeling is it has to be at least as good as Rough Rider's 440A, but we'll see.