Buck’s Best Small Folding, Assisted Open, and Keychain Knives With Blades Under 3 Inches
If you’re hunting or fishing, odds are pretty decent you have a Buck in your pocket. You can’t really ask for better than the 110 Hunter or the 120 bowie knife for outdoor work. But those are pretty big blades, on the whole, and as much as we love pulling out our big knives and swinging them around for all our friends to marvel at, sometimes all you really need is a couple inches.
Fortunately, Buck seems to understand that, and makes a pretty decent selection of small knives with blades falling at or under the 3-inch mark. So if you’re looking for a reliable blade to put on your keychain, sit around your desk, or just need something that won’t scare people at the office, you should be able to find something around here.
If Buck’s not your style or you need something bigger, you can check out our article on Great Hard Use Folders. We cover a few more brands in there, but if you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for Bucks anyway, so I’ll stop wasting your time and get on with it.
Buck Manual Folders
The bulk of Buck’s line is manual, and even two-handed open in some cases. In recent years, though, they’ve finally started to embrace modern times with thumb studs, holes, and even assisted open, when they’re really feeling adventurous. This is their manual stuff that’s mostly between two and three inches. We get into assisted open at the bottom.
The 55
| Overall Length: | 5.72″ |
| Blade Length: | 2.236″ |
| Blade Steel: | 420HC |
| Blade Style: | Clip point |
| Grind: | Hollow |
| Handle Material: | Walnut w/ brass bolsters |
| Lock Type: | Lockback |
| Carry System: | |
| Made in: | USA |
The 55 is basically a tiny 110 Hunter, which makes it a smaller 112, because Buck can’t help but make every variation of these knives they possibly can. As redundant as this seems though, I think it actually has a good place in the Buck line up as a classier alternative to something like the Buck Bantam.
It doesn’t have a pocket clip or case, and it’s treading into the dangerous size that gets lost at light speed the minute you look away, but when it turns up again, it’s cool to have around. You probably won’t be dressing deer with it, but a hollow grind with Bos 420HC steel is more than enough for your standard household uses.
722 Mini Spitfire
| Overall Length: | 6.5″ |
| Blade Length: | 2.75″ |
| Blade Steel: | 420HC |
| Blade Style: | Drop point |
| Grind: | Hollow |
| Handle Material: | Aluminum |
| Lock Type: | Lockback |
| Carry System: | Tip-up clip |
| Made in: | USA |
This is another one of their more original designs in a couple subtle ways. The recurve blade adds a lot to the swerving look of the knife overall, although it also adds some sharpening nightmares to the mix. But it also has a steep drop point with a hint of a false edge on the back to make what might otherwise by a stout point into something with a bit more poke to it.
The aluminum handle adds a lot to the style of it too, and Buck was smart enough to make this in a few different colors that come out really nice. Even the orange doesn’t come off all that obnoxious. They’ve also kept the handle shape pretty standard and put in a small choil so you have some options in how to hold this thing. Not much, since it’s only six inches open, but more than you would have otherwise.
The Mini Spitfire has also been discontinued.
325 Colleague
| Overall Length: | 4.88″ |
| Blade Length: | 2.0″ |
| Blade Steel: | 420HC |
| Blade Style: | Drop point |
| Grind: | Hollow |
| Handle Material: | Stainless steel |
| Lock Type: | Frame |
| Carry System: | Tip-up clip |
| Made in: | China |
If the 55 is a classier version of the Nano Bantam, than the Colleague is just a classy alternative in a more modern direction (although, the Bantam is the only one you can put on a keychain).
It’s the smaller version of the Nobleman, which we’ll talk about next, but has all the usability you should expect from a two-inch blade, only with an all-stainless-steel body. It’ll be a little bit heavier and a little bit sturdier, if a little more plain. You even have a similar drop point blade style to the Bantam, so it really becomes a matter of taste, and how much you want to have thumb studs and a pocket clip on a tiny knife.
327 Nobleman
| Overall Length: | 6.38″ |
| Blade Length: | 2.63″ |
| Blade Steel: | 440A |
| Blade Style: | Drop point |
| Grind: | Hollow |
| Handle Material: | Steel or carbon fiber |
| Lock Type: | Frame |
| Carry System: | Tip-up clip |
| Made in: | China |
You could call this the larger version of the Colleague, but there’s a very important difference in the choice of handle materials, namely that you have one. As far as I know, the Colleague only comes in stainless steel, but the Nobleman can come in stainless steel or carbon fiber, plus it has a removable pocket clip.
Another odd difference though is that it’s made in 440A steel. That’s a bit of a disappointing budget compromise since 440A is a softer steel, and it just feels weird to get a Buck knife without their signature 420HC. But it’s part of what keeps the knife under $30, which is maybe good for a knife this size just from a business perspective. Beyond that, though, this is a decent gentleman carry.
341 Vantage Avid Small
| Overall Length: | 6.38″ |
| Blade Length: | 2.63″ |
| Blade Steel: | 420HC |
| Blade Style: | Drop point |
| Grind: | Hollow |
| Handle Material: | GFN |
| Lock Type: | Liner |
| Carry System: | Tip-up clip |
| Made in: | USA |
The regular sized version of this knife is definitely underappreciated as a solid, mid-range knife. That’s partly because of its unassuming design. It doesn’t really stand out until you start handling one or sizing it up with other similar knives. It has such a simple look and manages to house a pretty tall blade in a thin handle that you barely feel in the pocket.
It does have a couple of issues, though. For one, the uncharacteristic flipper design is a little harder to work on a smaller size since there’s less weight and less material overall to work with. And you don’t get the same durability out of this that you do in other Bucks.
A few people have complained it tends to loosen up quite a bit after dropping it, and the screws are so small it makes it tricky to tighten back up. But those are the kinds of things you can usually expect from a $30 and under knife, if not necessarily from Buck overall, so I still think this is a perfectly fine casual carry in context.
Buck Assisted Open Folders
Buck is not especially well known for their AO designs, but they’re out there. There aren’t many, especially in the under-3-inches category, but what they do have is interesting, if not actually kinda good.
At the very least, they all seem to have a specific purpose in mind, which goes a long way to making the designs worth looking at. One of the big perks of getting assisted open from Buck is the lifetime warranty, because they’ll usually repair or replace the spring once it wears out years down the road.
750 Redpoint knife
| Overall Length: | 7.13″ |
| Blade Length: | 2.75″ |
| Blade Steel: | 420HC |
| Blade Style: | Drop point |
| Grind: | Hollow |
| Handle Material: | Rubber |
| Lock Type: | Plunge lock |
| Carry System: | Tip-up clip |
| Made in: | China |
The Redpoint is incredibly useful. Any knife with a decent blade and a bottle opener would be. I’ve heard a few people have gotten this with a faulty locking mechanism, but it’s pretty easy to send it back and get another one thanks to Buck’s lifetime warranty.
This knife is great in a lot of ways: it has good jimping, a thick spine, a grippy rubber handle, and halfway decent serrations. I could find tons of uses for this knife as an outdoor or urban carry. But I’ll be damned if I can get past the way it looks. It looks like a Tonka toy shrunken down to the be the most dangerous baby present ever invented. I hope there are people out there who can learn to love this knife, because it deserves to get used. Maybe that person is you, and I fully accept your life choices. But that person isn’t me.
