By: Max Schulte

What do you think of when you think about Buck Knives?  You should be thinking of exceptionally sharp and durable knives that are made in the USA and come with Buck’s forever warranty.  In 2010, Buck Knives teamed up with renowned survival instructor and expert Ron Hood to produce the Hoodlum Survival Knife.  Out of that collaboration came the Hoodlum’s little brother, the Punk.

When being called "a Punk" isn't a bad thing.

Not too small; not too big. Good sized standard field knife.

The Punk is a survival knife through and through.  This is a very straight forward knife.  It has a straight edge, 5-5/8^th inches blade with a non glare finish.  The Micarta  Scale Grips can be removed to create a spear by lashing the one piece, 5160 carbon steel  blade/tang to a pole.  While the Micarta grips look like wood, they are a laminated composite material.  There is a vibration dampener between the tang and grips that Buck refers to as their Shock Mitigating System (SMS).  The SMS helps with reducing vibration while chopping.  The butt of the knife has lanyard hole if you so chose to attach one.

The sheath for the Punk is made of nylon and can be worn in a high or low position on the belt or it can be secured to a vest or pack using MOLLE.  When carried on the belt, a four foot piece of paracord is provided so that the bottom of the sheath can be tied to the leg to prevent it from bouncing.  That paracord as we know can be used for other purposes as well.  I recommend carrying the knife with the handle up when carried on MOLLE gear.  The sheath has a polymer insert to prevent cutting of the nylon but, the knife sits loosely in the insert so it should be carried handle up.  The knife is secured in the sheath by a strap with a snap.  For extra security, a cord also goes around the handle and has a quick adjust slider.  The cord can be removed or wrapped around the back to keep it out of your way if you choose.  A pouch on the outside of the sheath has a quick release buckle.  The pouch will hold a sharpening stone, smaller knife, or multi-tool nicely.  It would also serve nicely as a place to carry a small tube with fishing line, small sinkers, hooks, snare wire, matches, etc.

Author used the Punk to whittle these tent pegs. He reports that it was not difficult work.

This is a substantial knife that can hold up to pretty much anything you’ll be able to throw at it.  Although this is a beautiful knife and I didn’t want to do this, I thought it was only fair to you to give it a good toss.  I threw it across my yard and on to my gravel driveway.  I cringed when it landed but, there were no issues.  I then used it to easily cut down a previously cut, still green, sapling.  I placed the knife against the sapling and used a broken tree branch to hammer on the spine of the blade.  This method made short work of the tree.  To check its ability to do detailed work, I fashioned four makeshift tent pegs.  They turned out nicely and only took about ten minutes.  While making the tent pegs, I noticed that the handle was not so comfortable in my hand.  The webbing of my hand between the thumb and index finger was getting a bit sore.  I also tried chopping at a tree branch but, I found that the light weight and overall short length does not lend itself very well to chopping.

This knife is not on the Buck Knives website, at this moment but, you’ll be able to find it at retailers for about $120.

If you’re in the market for a high quality knife, check out Buck Knives at: http://www.buckknives.com/

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