The 254 Odessa Buck knife doesn’t live up to standards.
Like I have said before, I have had many everyday carry knives in the past. Over the last 20 years most of them were Smith and Wesson, Gerber, and a few Kershaw. I am very happy with the Buck 870 Bones knife I purchased, but I want a drop point blade, not the Tonto blade. So, again, while walking through a navy base exchange I decided to impulse buy the 254 Odessa Buck Knife. Here is my Odessa 254 buck knife review.
See my review of my Smith and Wesson BORDER GUARD SWBG2TS knife here.
See my review of the Buck 870 Bones knife, model #0870CMX-B here.
Online I found a lot of reviews. A lot of them were positive. Amazon 76% 5 star and 12% 4 star. Not bad right!? Because I am impressed with my other buck knife, I decided to trust the name and quality, and try this knife.
The Stats – The blade is advertised as .13″ thick, at 3 1/8 inches long. The blade shape is a drop point and is bladed only. It is made of 7Cr17 stainless steel (what ever that means). The handle is made of the same, and is of a solid taper type design. It has an overall closed length of 4 3/8 inches and a weight of 4.9 ounces. The carry System design is a tip-up, discreet, deep pocket carry, pocket clip. This is a common feature on most every day carry pocket knives.
Observation:
It wasn’t light and has a little weight, which I liked. The stainless steel body looks impressive and the blade feels sharp. The quick opening frame lock, folder design, looked impressive.
In size and dimensions it is smaller than my Buck Bones knife. It fits inside the palm of my hand, but not comfortably. It feels small in both the opened and closed position. I find my hand and fingers having to move more to manipulate the knife.
Upon opening the blade, it swings open in a nice mechanical way. The blade lock worked as designed. The screws holding it together seem strong and tight. There is no side to side movement of the blade when it is open which I am happy about.
My complaints:
My first impression after opening the knife and holding it, was unimpressed.
The body:
The 254 Odessa Buck knife is not easy to grasp. The handle/body design did not grip or grab my hand. It didn’t slide around in my hand, but didn’t feel comfortable. The body seems small and/or not shaped in a way that was comfortable to hold or manipulate. The body design of the knife is tapered and small. It has a very slim profile. It is bigger at one end than the other. Sounds normal, but in your hand the blade follows the reducing contour which doesn’t happen on other knives I’ve had. I relate the closed body shape to holding an ice cream cone. Wide up top, small on the bottom.
I really feel like I am going to cut myself with this knife, when I close the blade. Because the body doesn’t fit my hand, when the blade comes down I have to be very careful and move my fingers away from the blade slot. I really feel like I have to manipulate the knife in my hand more than any other knife I’ve had.
The blade assist:
The opening mechanism for this knife is a waste of time. There are the common ambidextrous studs on the blade for the thumb to rotate the blade up and out. This works as it should. The finger assist is a joke. It doesn’t open the blade and I found when I tried to use it, my fingers got in the way. When trying to actually manipulate the knife to use it, and open the blade, the blade grazed my finger and made a very small cut. Blade is sharp, YAY! When you open the blade, the assist opening design almost creates a finger guard. It is strange.
When you close the blade be super careful. Because the body of the knife is slim, when the blade closes my fingers hang over the body into the blade slot. If I am not careful I will cut off my finger tips!
In my opinion it is a bad design all around.
The pocket clip:
The pocket clip is designed so tight to the frame of the blade, I couldn’t get it to slide over my pocket seem. I had to carefully bend the clip out so I could slide it into/over the edge of my pocket. If I bent it a little it works like it should, to much and now its to loose. I shouldn’t have to do that.
In Summary:
The 254 Odessa Buck knife sadly doesn’t live up to standards.
I wouldn’t recommend this knife to the everyday carry individual. If you are going to have it engraved and give it as a gift that is more ornamental than functional, than sure.
If you are in the market for a folding knife that looks great, feels great, and will make you happy to use it, do not consider this knife. This will be the knife that if/when I loose, I wont miss. For $30 ish dollars, I shouldn’t be to unhappy as it is a low end knife. I didn’t feel I could go wrong with a Buck knife, even a cheap one. . . It is not what I expected from a buck knife.
After having this knife for a few days, I really feel like I am going to cut myself with this knife. The amount of movement I have to do with this knife to open and close it, with my fingers and palm, is to much. If can return this knife I am going to.
As a Prime Member on Amazon, you can pick this knife up for 25$ with no shipping. The 254 Odessa Buck knife is for sale by other sellers or locations on the web for 25-30$ + shipping. See the following.
Amazon link to Buck knife store.
Amazon reviews:
“Customers find this folding knife to be of great quality with an extremely sharp blade that’s easy to maintain. They appreciate its beautiful design and consider it good value for money, with one customer noting the pocket clip makes it easy to reach. The blade durability and lock-ability receive mixed feedback, with some finding it sturdy while others report durability issues, and some praising the locking mechanism while others have concerns. The knife’s weight is also mixed, with customers describing it as heavy.”
It is kind of inline with my opinions.
For what the warranty is worth, the following is copied and pasted from their website:
FOREVER WARRANTY
We warranty each and every Buck knife to be free of defects in material and workmanship for the life of the knife, and we will repair or replace with a new Buck knife, at our option, any Buck knife that is defective. Buck Knives does not warrant its products against normal wear, misuse, or product modifications.
If you have this knife, or have any comments about the Odessa 254 buck knife review, let me know below.
