I bought a Buck 110 folding knife over 35 years ago. I tried to gut a deer with it when new and ended up using my brothers Case knife to finish. I never used it after that and never bought another Buck knife. I never could get it as sharp as I like or hold an edge as long as I wanted. I never liked Buck or Gerber steel and I learned that I prefer a fixed blade knife.
I use a Havalon Dual blade folder. Regular blade for cutting around the knee to remove the lower legs, and for cutting between the neck vertebrae and cutting sliding along the rib bones while removing the backstraps. Everything else... the replaceable scalpel blade side. And the regular blade on this thing rocks! Holds an edge very well when subjected to breaking down cardboard boxes, which is arguably one of the quickest ways to dull a blade.
Hi Lowg08.
I’ve had good luck with Buck knives. Been using them for over 40 years. They are basic, plain vanilla, but usually work just fine. Buck uses 440C stainless for most of their blades. There are better steels, but 440 is ok for most purposes. I have a 112 lite and like it a lot. (I have a few buck knives and few other knives too). My 112 lite has processed 2 whitetails without needing to be resharped. They are reasonably priced, light weight, and fit my hand well.
I like mine. Thanks-Rufus