knife guys: buck 184 value

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always liked an big mother knife: picked this up on the cheap, there are so many variants and price ranges and hear many of these are bring big bucks [pardon the pun] it is near mint, looks unused; does anyone have a ballpark value
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I remember those from years ago, IMO it’s worth nothing as an actual field knife, maybe good for collectors but not for hard use. That hollow (survival) handle and the blade would snap right in half with hard use unless it’s an all one piece body/blade (solid billet).

Its worth as a collectible I do not know.
 
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Yours appears to have the "BuckMaster" rollmark, which puts it in the less-desirable category. Original M184's were designed for U.S. Navy SEALs.
The BuckMaster 184 is a commercial variant made popular by Rambo, and can be had for $80 to $120, depending on condition. Originals can go higher than $400. Keep yours unused and sell to a novice collector or start a Buck collection yourself...

~Enbloc
 
No box with all the survival gear aint worth much. < As far as potential value
Plus IIRC black did not come out until much later, although the black oxide is low in production numbers
Like most stuff you generally want 1st run with paper work .

The better you can date your blade the better you can find its value.
If you have a ebay account look at completed auctions.
I know people who used to get all googley eyed over 184s.
Been a long time. i sold off my collection in 2000 to have a decent down payment on my house.

You can go here also
The Buck-184 Buckmaster - The peak of survival knives!
Being a ex knife addict if i seen that today for $100 or less it would come home.
 
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No box with all the survival gear aint worth much. < As far as potential value
Plus IIRC black did not come out until much later, although the black oxide is low in production numbers
Like most stuff you generally want 1st run with paper work .

The better you can date your blade the better you can find its value.
If you have a ebay account look at completed auctions.
I know people who used to get all googley eyed over 184s.
Been a long time. i sold off my collection in 2000 to have a decent down payment on my house.

You can go here also
The Buck-184 Buckmaster - The peak of survival knives!
prices are all over the place on e bay; 150 for beaters to 600 for mint
 
Gotta ask.....what the heck is the use of the 2 spikes pointing back at you?
A quick google of the patent listed in the link from @mac1911 shared yielded this:
US4622707A - Survival knives with grapple capability - Google Patents
"A survival knife is disclosed including hook members which are securable to the knife and angled rearward toward the handle. A ring is provided for securing a line to the pommel of the handle, thereby making the knife become a grapple. Several variations of location of the hook members are disclosed including the handle, the quillon and the blade. The hook members are fixed or pivotal and may be telescoping. A skeletal knife is disclosed, with openings for securing a line, and hook members to produce a grapple."
 
A quick google of the patent listed in the link from @mac1911 shared yielded this:
US4622707A - Survival knives with grapple capability - Google Patents
"A survival knife is disclosed including hook members which are securable to the knife and angled rearward toward the handle. A ring is provided for securing a line to the pommel of the handle, thereby making the knife become a grapple. Several variations of location of the hook members are disclosed including the handle, the quillon and the blade. The hook members are fixed or pivotal and may be telescoping. A skeletal knife is disclosed, with openings for securing a line, and hook members to produce a grapple."
Hmm.

Thanks.

Wonder if that thing would actually take the weight of a human being? I'm going to say doubtful and that the grapple spikes are decorative. Lol
 
Hmm.

Thanks.

Wonder if that thing would actually take the weight of a human being? I'm going to say doubtful and that the grapple spikes are decorative. Lol
Yeah, I read it and immediately thought of Chinese quality (even though not Chinese) where the spikes just caved inward on both sides the minute you put any weight on it.
 
Hmm.

Thanks.

Wonder if that thing would actually take the weight of a human being? I'm going to say doubtful and that the grapple spikes are decorative. Lol

Ain’t volunteering.

I never did like those knives, even when the Rambo movies actually came out.
 
Those spikes screw on and off, no way they’d support any type of weight, I think the idea behind them was to help trigger tripwires from a distance while proned out, but I’m only guessing at that point.

I was on the LetGo ap yesterday looking at the knives listed for sale and saw two of these same ones, couldn’t zoom in enough to see if they were actual Bucks or knock offs, but one was listed for 12.00 and the other I think for 50.00. Meh. Not my thing.
 
i'm not a buck fan, nothing wrong with them, just not what i want now days. tastes change.
Like Mac said its what they sell for that matters.
yep, what the market brings. even i bought a couple of the larger folders, forget mod number, from a member here cause the price was right several years ago. 2 of 'em, nib, for 25 bucks for the pair. super deal as far as i was concerned. turned out they were made in their 50th (?) year and had the medallion on one of the scales. and were selling for 45 apiece at the time. gave one to a friend who likes bucks and kept the other. damn thing was as sharp as any knife i've ever unboxed, cut myself in the first couple of minutes playing with it. still own it.

eta: mr. enbloc, if i had known at the time you liked buck knives i would have given it to you. seriously! :)
 
mr. enbloc, if i had known at the time you liked buck knives i would have given it to you. seriously! :)

Lol. You have already given me a very nice "dress" Buck knife.
I put it in my front pocket when wearing a suit or dress slacks.
I call it a "SDC" knife.
Special Day Carry as opposed to Every Day Carry. [smile]

scarce-vintage-buck-515-classic-iv_1_fb9f1a241a27fcbfa290f3d62e6b871e.jpg
 
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Ridiculous knives but there is a definite set of hard core collectors for these. Bought one when they first came out when a knife dealer acquaintance told me they were getting hot with the Rambo crowd. Sold it some years later when I was liquidating my knives on the bay for stupid good money to pay for more gunzez.

Here are the sold ebay listings so you can see where yours fits. Take a few minutes to review them. The more specifics you can determine and photograph the better. BuckMaster 184 | eBay
 
Ridiculous knives but there is a definite set of hard core collectors for these. Bought one when they first came out when a knife dealer acquaintance told me they were getting hot with the Rambo crowd. Sold it some years later when I was liquidating my knives on the bay for stupid good money to pay for more gunzez.

Here are the sold ebay listings so you can see where yours fits. Take a few minutes to review them. The more specifics you can determine and photograph the better. BuckMaster 184 | eBay

Those prices amaze me. I never would have thought it.

Go for it, OP! Get paid!
 
Those prices amaze me. I never would have thought it.
wow! good thing i was already sitting down, holy shit. i can't swear on it but i'm sure i've seen that exact buck knife in the op's post on the tables of a couple of vendors who do the show circuit. i only go to the wilmington show so they were there. don't know what generation they were but always south of a 100 bucks...~80-85. only reason i remember them is personally, i think they're silly with those spikes. i wouldn't trust them with my life. but hey, different strokes they say. any buck sells well i found out when i use to set up and sell knives at the shows. usually because everyone knows the name, they have great brand recognition. and seriously, if i had a limited budget, i'd choose a buck folder over a boutique brand, say kershaw just throwing the name out, cause i think buck is more knife for the dollar for a hard use blade.

eta: I should have mentioned those were pre-owned prices.
 
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Came across this post going thru the archives........ So I figured I would put these 2 cents in
Carried one of these overseas, Not the Seal issued ones, Bought this in a normal store. Went thru Saudi Arabia and Iraq with it.. The spikes were for help securing gear by wedging in rock's or piling's or whatever else a Navy Seal could use for emergency gear retrieval....Not a grappling hook,
The serrations are not for cutting wood but cutting the aluminum fuselage of aircraft..
I put mine thru hell overseas and would still trust it today even with all the friction tape it still has on it, And yes it sits in the safe with the rest of my knives..
Don't have the compass or spikes. But do still have the original box and receipt for it.............
 
Came across this post going thru the archives........ So I figured I would put these 2 cents in
Carried one of these overseas, Not the Seal issued ones, Bought this in a normal store. Went thru Saudi Arabia and Iraq with it.. The spikes were for help securing gear by wedging in rock's or piling's or whatever else a Navy Seal could use for emergency gear retrieval....Not a grappling hook,
The serrations are not for cutting wood but cutting the aluminum fuselage of aircraft..
I put mine thru hell overseas and would still trust it today even with all the friction tape it still has on it, And yes it sits in the safe with the rest of my knives..
Don't have the compass or spikes. But do still have the original box and receipt for it.............

Dude.

You know the rule. PICS!
 
Had one years ago, pre roll mark. Horrible knife. Too thick.

But cool, sold it many- many years ago. But somehow had a spike left over. Sold it (the spike) at a gun show for ~ $50
 
I remember those from years ago, IMO it’s worth nothing as an actual field knife, maybe good for collectors but not for hard use. That hollow (survival) handle and the blade would snap right in half with hard use unless it’s an all one piece body/blade (solid billet).

Its worth as a collectible I do not know.

F you. Rambo not 'spendable!

(My dad took me to that movie in the theaters. I have to wonder what his adult mind thought of it. Talk about over the top.)
 
Dude.

You know the rule. PICS!

I'll show you mine - If you show me yours!:p

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I saw this thread the other day and had to remember where I stored this. I found it tonight. I bought mine new back in late 85. I no longer have the box or paperwork but do remember there being a note with it explaining that the compass was no longer mounted in the cap but was now separate and in the pouch. Compass was a Silva Type 12. My sheath only came with one pouch and there was no survival kit in the handle as I've heard some had. I put para cord through the other slots on the sheath.

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I kept the compass and the spikes in the pouch. On the back of the sheath there was a sharpening stone with a black nylon webbing cover.

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The cap had a rubber O-ring to seal the handle compartment and make it watertight. It also had a thick metal tab with a hole in it for a lanyard.

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This pic looking inside the end of the cap where the early models had the compass shows the piece of sandpaper I put there.....

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.......the sandpaper was for helping to light the wooden matches I kept in the handle.

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Like SS1 mentioned above, I also used friction tape on mine. I wrapped the handle with the tape as the finish made it slippery in the rain. I used to do a lot of solo backpacking before adding a wife and kids to my life and the tape also helped grip it when camping and hiking in the cold and snowy months as I hated wearing gloves. I used it working around whatever site I decided to make my home for the night and would cut Hemlock boughs to use as insulation under my mountain bag and to cut down saplings to make a lean-to. I wound up getting tree sap stains on the blade as you can see below. It's not corroded or damaged it's just stained and smudged. Back in the day I tried cleaning it off but was hesitant to use anything too robust or scrub it with steel wool or anything for fear of damaging the finish. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to clean it and get it looking better I'd be most grateful. Oh, the bulge under the friction tape midway down the handle is a spare O-ring I put on there in case I needed it for the cap and it helped with the grip too.


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Other side of the blade

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In the sheath with the spikes

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What it looks like without the spikes (the way it would normally be used)

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Yeah, I read it and immediately thought of Chinese quality (even though not Chinese) where the spikes just caved inward on both sides the minute you put any weight on it.
I don’t think there are any grapple systems on the market I would trust my life to. Nothing you would carry in your ruck anyway.

This to me looks useful to assist in climbing a steep hill maybe. It wouldn’t take all of your weight, but be tossed up to hook on some roots or something. Just thinking out loud.
 
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