Buck CSAR-T Knife

It's a folding knife with fixed blade rigidity. Modified tanto blade shape for maximum penetration / cutting ability. Made with high quality materials (154CM blade, G10 Rocky Mountain scales). Holds an edge very well. Comes with nylon case and pocket clip. Several different varieties (EMS, folding, neck knife, fixed blade). Nearly indestructible...

Ask anyone who spends any appreciable time in the outdoors, "What is the single most important tool you need on your person in an survival/emergency situation?" I would wager that 90 percent of respondents would say, a good fixed blade knife. In fact, you may find that they have very strong preferences as to the make, model, blade steel and length, handle material, type of tang (rat tail, full), grip pattern, and on and on...

I was one of those individuals. It had to be a fixed blade, full tang, 1095 carbon steel, blade length of no less than 6", etc., etc..... I had my full measure of the "kool-aide" and drank my fill. Then I happened across a TOPS / Buck CSAR-T folder "destruction video" on YouTube and I "saw the light'....

The person in the video was trying his best to destroy (make it fail) this folding knife. He punched holes in sheet metal, batoned huge logs with knots, chopped metal and wood and anything else he could get his hands on. He struck the back of the blade... repeatedly. Dug the tip into 'hard wood' and tried to bend it like crazy. Yet, the best he could accomplish, through all of this unimaginable abuse, was to bend the liner lock slightly.... I was hooked.

My first CSAR-T was the folder from the video. It was a folder (NOT fixed blade) and had no tang, was made with 154CM stainless steel (NOT 1095 carbon), had a blade length of slightly over 3" (NOT 6")... I had just spent well over $150 on a knife that met none of my selection criteria, and truthfully, could not have been happier.

This folder became my go-to tool in the outdoors. I had a couple of good fixed blade knives, but this tool met every task I threw at it and then some. It held an edge like no one's business, but made me better my sharpening skills to keep it razor sharp. I tended to avoid "liner lock" knives as a rule, but this knife made me reevaluate my stance. The liner lock on this tool is crazy strong. It is so strong that several folks I showed it to were not able to close it as they lacked the thumb strength.

Over the next several years, I bought all the other knives in this line—the fixed blade, the EMS version with the window breaker and cord cutter, and the neck knife with the skeletonized handle. I still have the initial folder that I bought back in 2013, and it still is my outdoors go-to option.

Every once in awhile, something comes along that redefines a long held belief...that makes you reevaluate your position on how something should be done/built/used... For me, that was the TOPS / Buck CSAR-T series of knives. Hold one, get one... you won't be sorry.

Background

Had it since buying it new in 2013. Been on dozens of outings over the years and have yet to find a task outside of its capability. I have the full CSAR-T series. They'll go to my son when I croak.