I’m Going to Carry the Buck Range for All of 2026 

That title is not clickbait – the only knife I will carry for the entire year of 2026 is the Buck Range Elite. This is a follow-up to a previous article where I discuss why I’m doing this challenge and what I hope to prove with it. Make sure you’ve read that article so you’re up to speed. In this article, I’ll break down why the Buck Range won out, what other gear I’m carrying, and what rules I’ve made for myself. 

Why the Buck Range 

There are three big reasons I chose the Range: the blade, the handle, and the warranty. Let’s break down each individually. 

The Blade 

Next year, I plan to do a fair bit of cutting work. I have a yard to care for, home repairs that pop up, camping trips planned, a Prime subscription, and plenty of other things that often call for a knife. The Range has a blade built to cut. 

First off, it’s thin, at only 0.09". Thinner knives cut easier, plain and simple. But thanks to a partial flat grind and MagnaCut blade steel, it’s plenty tough enough for harder work too. I also like that its blade steel has good edge retention so I don’t have to sharpen all the time. 

Speaking of sharpening, the grind on the Range makes it easy. My go-to sharpener is the Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust, and its jaws sometimes have a hard time holding on to full flat grinds. But the Range has a nice, wide section of non-ground blade stock, giving you rock-solid place to clamp down on the knife. That should make putting hair-splitting edges on the knife easy! 

Lastly, the edge sits behind the guard on the handle. That means when you put the knife down, you can stand it up, edge-side down, and not worry about damaging the edge. I hope to use this knife for a fair bit of food prep, and it’s nice to be able to set the knife down without worrying about damaging its edge. 

There’s also a few honorable mentions on the blade. The blade rides on polished bronze washers that drop shut like bearings but repel dirt like washers. There’s also some crowning by the jimping on the spine just to make cutting more comfortable, with a 90° corner further up the blade for scraping. For the win! 

The Handle 

There’s a line you often have to walk with handles. Thinner handles are easier to carry in the pocket, while thicker handles are often more comfortable in the hand. Then there’s the Range, which nails both. Its handle is slim enough to vanish into the pocket, but thanks to thoughtful lines, it also fills the hand comfortably for long cutting jobs. 

The handle also forgoes any agressive texture in exchange for really good handle design and a nice, grippy anodized finish. That provides all the grip you need, but also won’t shred your pocket. And if it’s going to stay in my pocket for the whole year, it had better not chew it up in the first month! 

The pocket clip carries nice and deep, all the body screws are T8 to prevent stripping, and the lack of a backspacer reduces the parts count. Buck really took their time on this knife, and it shows. It’s a masterpiece of thoughtful knife design, and I’m excited to carry it. 

The Warranty 

A lot can happen in a year. Pivots can get dirty, springs can break, edges can chip, etc. Buck is well aware of this, which is why they offer one of the best warranties in the game. I’ve visited their factory and their warranty department, and I take comfort in what I learned there. In short, if your knife gets damaged when you’re using it in good faith, Buck will do everything in their power to repair it. 

There are caveats to that for abuse and normal wear-and-tear. But even in those cases, Buck will take care of you for a reasonable fee. And the best part? It’s a forever warranty. If I die in my nineties and pass my Buck Range down to my great grandson, who does the same ninety years later for his great grandson, Buck Knives will still honor that warranty to the fullest extent. I like having that kind of a safety net for my knife, especially one I will count on for a whole year. 

So that’s why I’m carrying the Range. And be honest, if you’re read this far, you kind of want one too… 

The Other Gear 

I won’t go into quite as much detail for all my other gear, but I’ll let you know about it here. 

Leatherman Wave Alpha 

I love carrying a multitool, and I’ve carried either a Wave or a Charge for literal decades. The Wave Alpha is a new take on that platform with an epic pair of scissors. It should be fun to try out. And yes, I know it has a blade. I pinky-swear not to use it! 

Chaves/Big Idea Design Fountain EDC 

Ramon Chaves once asked me what pen I was carrying, and I showed him my brass Fountain EDC. I learned later that he collaborated with Big Idea Design to make one with his Skull Clip on it. Ramon gave me one of the first Chaves Fountain EDC pens, and I’m honored to carry it for the whole year. 

Olight Arkfeld Ultra 

The Olight Arkfeld pioneered the current trend of flat flashlights. And from the looks of it, it’s still the king of the hill. I especially like the UV light, as my wife and I are currently potty training a toddler, and the laser aids in entertaining said toddler as well.

A Watch?

I’m still mulling over the idea of a watch. Watches are really cool, but I know the danger they bring, and I’m not sure I’m ready to put my family through that. Maybe when Cam comes out with his long-overdue rebuttal, he can try and sway my opinion on that subject. He’s a huge watch guy, we’ll see what he has to say about it. If you have any recommendations, send me an email at [email protected] and I’ll consider them. I should let you know, I’m on a pretty tight budget (by watch standards, at least).

The Rules 

No challenge is a real challenge without some rules, so here are mine. 

1. I can only carry the gear listed above. All other knives, pens, multitools, and flashlights in your collection will be put into a box for the duration of the year. That box must have a hole cut into the top so you can put any other gear you acquire through the year into it. No cheating, all of it! 
2. I MUST carry the gear listed above. No "days off" of specific items. EDC means Every Day Carry. Every single day! The only exceptions to this rule are places you’re legally barred from carrying a knife (i.e. planes, courthouses, etc.). 
3. I can use other tools if needed, but try not to. I’m not about to count on my EDC to replace a spark plug or bleed a brake line. But can I pull an oil plug, open a paint can, or slice an onion? Yes, and therefore I must. 
4. No babying. At the end of the year, every piece of gear should look used and well-loved. Take good care of it, but actually use it. No safe queens! 
5. If anything breaks, it cannot be replaced until the end of the year. I don’t anticipate any of this gear breaking, but proving that I can pick quality gear is part of this challenge. If it turns out that I can’t be trusted, I want to suffer the consequences myself. 
6. This challenge cannot come in the way of my full-time job. My job is to sell knives at Blade HQ, which sometimes means demonstrating knives at work. Using another knife as part of my job does not constitute the breaking of rule 1. 
7. NO USING THE BLADE ON THE MULTITOOL! That’s pretty clearly a violation of the spirit of the law in this challenge. At the end of the year, I’ll show you its in-tact factory edge to prove that I haven’t used it!

Into The Unknown 

I understand that to many non-initiated, carrying one knife for an entire year isn’t much of a challenge. But as a knife nerd who’s been collecting blades for most of his life, this is new territory for me. Locking all but one of my knives in a box for a whole year will be hard. But I ask that each of you holds me to the rules and makes me do this challenge right! 

Onward and forward!