Finally at long last I review my Buck Hoodlum designed by the legendary Ron Hood. I wanted to use this hard before reviewing. This is a big knife with a blade length of 10 inches and an overall length of 15 and 1/2 inches.The knife weighs 14.6 oz but feels even less than that. It’s made of 5160 carbon steel powder coated for rust resistance.The Hoodlum comes with removable canvas micarta handles. Inside the handles the handle is hollowed out making Ron’s Shock mitigation system. Come with a nice MOLLE compatible sheath.Best of all its made in the U.S.A!
I love big survival knives. I would always prefer to have more knife than less. It’s just easier to make due with the bigger knife on having problems doing fine carving than trying to make a smaller knife perform the job of a larger knife. The later usually results in damage to the smaller blade. For me it find using a large knife for batoning to be a primary concern in the woods. I had been shopping for an upgrade for my Chinese Kabar knock off for months and was trying to decide what the best choice for my needs was. After watching and reading several reviews I had I narrowed down between The Buck Hoodlum and the ESEE Rat 7. Two factors finally made my decision. An amazing Buck Hoodlum review by Nutnfancy. It’s a long ass video where he really beats the heck out of it. Secondly was the passing of Ron Hood. I was a big fan of Ron and hopped one day the meet him at an event. I was truly saddened to hear of his passing. Supporting his family by purchasing the knife he designed. Once I had the money saved I happily ordered and do not have a single regret.
The knife really takes an edge and keeps it. I got it shaving sharp on the WorkSharp before heading to a secluded spot to test the knife. After cutting some branches and wood carving the knife was still razor-sharp. I was with some friends grilling out and sliced tomatoes as thin as a restaurant with no problems.
I used it to baton some hard freshly cut cedar. The wood was knotty as could be and the hoodlum went right through it. 
The Hoodlum was made for batoning. The span on it is amazing for splitting larger diameter pieces of wood. The full flat grind has no issues gliding through the logs and splitting them.I was easily able to process a small log into kindling in just a few minutes.
I had heard that the Hoodlum does not perform well chopping wood. Which is not a huge issue since I carry saws for that purpose anyway. But while I was testing I decided to see how well it actually did do. I was able to get through this branch quickly with the Hoodlum. It was throwing out big chunks at a time. I was actually impressed. Maybe because this is the biggest knife I’ve ever chopped with, or because I was led to believe it would perform badly. I would prefer to save energy and time by using a saw and to save the edge on my blade normally but the hood did very well. After all the chopping the blade was still sharp even.
I did some testing as a draw/push knife to see how well it would perform at that. The knife feels really comfortable in the two-handed grip. I had great control of it. Very useful for making shavings and planing the wood flat.
I played around a bit making a feather stick and was able to get some good curls. I’m not the best at feather sticks though. Definitely something to work on.
The last thing I tested was the claim that the notch in the back was good for breaking barbed wire. It is very much so. I had no problem at all. It eats through barbed wire like butter. The notch is sharp and cuts into the wire while twisting back and forth. Taking down a whole section of fence would only take a minute at the most.
In closing I can not recommend the hoodlum more. It meets all my needs for a large survival knife. In my ideal situation I would be carrying two fixed blade knives. This and a smaller one for delicate tasks. If I were to have to lose one though it would be the smaller on the Hoodlum can fit the one knife solution nicely. If you have been looking for a good quality bigger fixed blade knife give the Buck Hoodlum a try I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.
