Buckmaster

Overview of the Buck-184 Buckmaster Survival Knife The Buck 184 "Buckmaster" is a large Bowie-bladed survival knife, allegedly developed at the request of the US Navy SEALs. I received the following photo from a visitor to this webpage which shows a Navy SEAL with a Buckmaster strapped to his hip.

The knife has a blade that is approximately 7.5" (19cm) long, and is of the classic Bowie shape. The hollow-ground main edge is about 6.5" (16.5cm) long. The false edge is serrated on one side. The back of the blade features a very aggressive 3" (7.5cm) long sawback. Maximum blade width is about 1.5" (3.7cm), and the blade is .288 - .290-inch thick. The blade is forged 425mod steel. The handguard is about 6mm thick, with both ends curving slightly towards the blade. Each end is drilled and tapped for a 2" (51mm) long, 10mm diameter "point" which is designed to allow the knife to be used as an anchor when a line is attached to the lanyard ring at the pommel. The grip is 4" (102mm) long and 1.25" (2.8cm) in diameter, knurled and grooved for a sure grip. The grip is hollow, with a usable internal opening secured by the threaded pommel, which in turn is knurled, slightly larger in diameter than the grip, and sealed with a black rubber O-ring. The threaded pommel also secured a 4.5mm thick steel stamping which is pierced to provide a lanyard/rope hole.

Regarding the grappling hooks, these are described it the patent which CAN BE SEEN HERE. In brief, the patent discusses the attachment of the grapples to the quillon with sufficient strength to support a load of 600 pounds and reference is made to a casting line. With this said, it is generally accepted that using the knife as a grappling hook, which implies the act of tying a rope to the pommel and throwing the knife, could be very hazardous! In fact, the last of the BUCKMASTER knives came with small flyers saying that using the knife as a grappling hook would void the warranty. A better use of these hooks are as anchor pins where knife can be wedged in some rocks or the crotch of a tree and used with a securing line off the lanyard loop attached to the hollow handle cap/pommel.

The sheath is of black rigid fiberglass-reinforced plastic. Attached to the front of the sheath are two removable black nylon pouches; the smaller one contains a full-size Silva Type 12 compass with a red cord lanyard. The back of the sheath has an inlaid sharpening stone. Heavy black nylon webbing is used to cover the stone, secure the two pouches to the sheath, secure the knife in its sheath, and provide a loop for a leg tie. An additional loop of black nylon webbing, with a Fastex-type closure, provides a quick-release belt loop.

As for the knife's production, the Buckmaster was tested by and issued to the Navy SEALs for a short time. I have read that the knurled metal handle did a number on hands while chopping; it didn't do too well in salt water tests; and it was very heavy. Commercial production lasted 13 years but cheaper copies led to the end of the Buckmaster. These days the Buck 184 "Buckmaster" is extremely popular with collectors and I personally use one as a camp knife. These knives are extremely rugged and the blade holds a sharp edge making them an excellent example of a Rambo era survival knife.

There are four finishes that I have seen on these knives. The most common are matte stainless steel silver and a black oxide finished as shown in the picture above. I have also seen a few polished stainless steel blades. Beyond these I have seen highly polished blades, gold plated blades, and even a damascus blade Buckmaster that came from Buck's Custom Shop. Photos are at the end of this post!

History of the Buckmaster

The Buckmaster was actually invented by Qual-A-Tec, a small R&D company formed in 1981. Fred Schumacher was a high-powered tax attorney who was looking for "acceptable" R&D developers. He met Charles A. (Mickey) Finn and talked him into starting the company. Mickey's intensions were to develop products in support of the U.S. Special Forces. (This was before USSOCOM was formed.) The shop started in one small bay in an industrial complex at 3204 Production Ave. in Oceanside, Ca. The R&D money flowed well for a couple of years then started to dry up as tax laws changed. Mickey was looking for other markets to develop products for and decided to go into the knife development business. At that time there were several people involved in the company. Wendy Finn (Mickey's wife) ran the front office. Bob McDonald ran the shop and he and his son produced the prototype knife components. Doug Olson remembers them milling the "hollow grind" in the blades with a rotary table on the mill (no CNC equipment). John Holm did all of the research and kept records for the office. Harry Camphuysen helped work on guns and since he also owned a pawn shop in Oceanside which was a dealer for Buck Knives, he had the ability to arrange for a meeting to show the prototypes knives to Chuck Buck Jr. Doug Olson worked out of a shop in Indiana and produced all of the drawings and helped in design of several components including the scabbard. The "Rambo" movies were just out and Mickey obtained three of the original knives to study..
The saw tooth look was "in" so it was used for the prototypes. Several blade shapes were looked at as well as handle designs and pommels. The design for the guard and the anchor pins came from Qual-A-Tec's association with the Seal Teams. The desire was for a way to use the knife underwater to anchor the swimmers gear to a pier or other underwater anchor point.
The prototype was shown to Buck and Qual-A-Tec created a new company to deal with the license to Buck and to distribute the royalties. That company became Phrobis, Ltd. Buck was looking for a product to spark the dull knife market they were in and the Buckmaster really brought them publicity. They tried to hide the origin of the knife which is one reason the history of the development was kept quiet. Qual-A-Tec also wanted no publicity so the two company's goals worked together.
Buck started production of this knife in late 1984 making 2600 that year. When Buck started production, the width of the blade was a real problem. This was before water jets and laser cutters became available so the production options were limited. Their first attempt was a die set that would blank the part from sheet stock. It lasted for only a few hundred blades then they had to abandon that idea. They had some machined out of sheet but they finally went to a forged blade. Knives from this era are stamped BUCK, 184, U.S.A. and will have a sand blasted finish. This finish differs from later versions with a shiny glass bead finish. In addition, there is a tiny dime sized compass which will be located in the pommel which was the case until approximately mid 1985. The sheath will be marked BUCK.
In 1985 it occurred to Qual-A-Tec that they should protect this knife with a patent. The stamp was changed in late 1985, to BUCK, 184, U.S.A., PAT. PEND. A new larger compass, made by Silva, was added and the tiny one was dropped. This new compass fit in the small accessory pouch on the front of the sheath. PAT. PEND. was also added to the sheath mark. In 1985 Buck made 53,000 of these knives, while the following year knockoffs became to appear and sales plummeted.In 1986 the knives were stamped BUCK, 184<, U.S.A., PAT. PEND. This is also the time that Buck switched to forged blanks instead of conventional blanks. The only way to distinguish a forged blank from a conventional is to look at the end of the tang, which is not possible on an assembled knife. In mid 1986, records show a change to adding the rope cutting serrations after bead blasting. They would have a ground finish whereas the rest of the knife, excluding the edge, would have a bead blasted finish. The 184BK was added in September 1986. This knife was identical in all aspects to the previous version except for a black oxide finish. Effective November 1986, all Buckmasters were identified with U.S. Pat. #4622707. This identification was done by means of an adhesive sticker placed on the box. In Early 1987, this same designation was forged into the relief groove in the blade. Buckmasters from this point on did not have a date code.By the time they were discontinued in 1997, Buck had made 110,000 of these Knives in the various configurations. Mickey, of Qual-A-Tec also built some prototype knives without the hollow handle. The solid handle knife had a series of holes in it and bumps to separate the fingers. Once Buck started forging the blades, this was an obvious addition to the product line. They built another forging die and the result was the Buckmaster Lite as shown above.

During the period that the Buck-184 and Buck-185 Buckmaster knives were made, the Qual-A-Tec folks found out about the Request for Proposal for a new Bayonet for the US Military. They took the Buckmaster as a starting point and redesigned the blade, scabbard and changed the handle to plastic and added a steel backbone through it. They originally took M7 bayonet latch assemblies and modified them to work with the new handle. You could see the rectangular hole was drilled out to a round hole that fit over the steel backbone. They went through several iterations of wire cutter and ended up with the one on the end of the scabbard. The first cutter plates were machined from thick plate to leave the bosses on the end. When Buck went to production they had the cutter plate fine blanked which allowed them to displace the button only part way through the plate. This worked so well that if you section one after heat treatment you can not even tell that the button was not built that way. The cutter turned out to be very reliable. The file/saw surface was another matter. The bayonet could not have the broad open teeth of the Buckmaster. Since the sides of the blade are parallel and flat, when you cut through something the width of the cut is the same size as the blade leading to binding. When the first blades were made the saw teeth were milled in and a burr was formed at the point where the cutter left the part. If this burr is left on the saw works well as it essentially makes the saw wider than the blade. Buck built the first few thousand blades that way then eventually changed to a broached cut which left no burr. No burr meant that the cutting went much slower and the required energy went way up.

The scabbard also changed to provide a way to quickly remove the scabbard and knife from the uniform to allow the wire cutter to be used. Again, we looked at several scabbard designs including one from John Bianchi. We ended up using the Bianchi belt clip but went with our own scabbard design.

The new company formed around the M9 Bayonet was Phrobis III, Ltd. We were the successful bidder and went on with Buck to deliver 315,600 bayonets on that first order. It was a very busy first year, getting the entire production going and delivering to the Government a full technical data package.
After about a year of production, we went back to the drawing board to develop an improved scabbard. It had a molded belt clip that swung and a rubber molded secondary catch. (I have one of these prototypes and one of the engraved knives from Buck on the plaque held by an M4 barrel. (I will send photos later.) We also developed a smaller version of the knife and tried to market it as a Seal weapon. Phrobis III folded just a these were produced and they all went to Dan Olson (no relation), an ex-Seal who also worked for Phrobis III.
You can find additional information on the M9 Bayonet at M9Bayonet.com!

Types of People.....

I have been called many things in my life time of which only one I feel is true and that is that my belief in people is childlike.

I always see the best in people, believe in their goodness only to have my heart broken when I find out that in fact this is not the case. Time and time again it happens, time and time again my heart is broken, I never learn, I always hope.

There comes a time when reality checks in, when a persons true colours shine through and one see’s them finally for who they really are. People always seem to walk this planet with alterer motives, their selfishness is personified, finding friends, true friends is trial and error.

In this world, as I have said before, you get 3 types of people - there is always three…

The first type are the MMM’s (me me me’s), they are the most common, they are inherently selfish, they do not take the time out of their lives to query whether a friend is ok, they are only interested in what you can give to them.

The second type are the G&T’s (give and takers), they are the ones that can give and take, there is a a medium if you will of give and take.

The third type are the GGG’s (give give giver’s), they are the ones that give all but expect nothing for themselves, they give selflessly and unconditionally.

My theory is that there are more type one people in this mad world which explains why in life you will come across them more on a day to day basis. The second type swings between the first and the third so they are more difficult to categorise but at the end of the day there are fewer of them. Now the third type are a rare species I find, I have only ever known a couple in my life time, sad as it is they are hard to find, but the fact is, when you find them they are like the blossom on a cloudy day.

Think about it, in reality there are no bad people, just people that make you feel more grateful for finding a GGG…

Giant Skeleton Hoax

Giant Skeleton Hoax
Category: OsteologyPosted on: December 15, 2007 12:52 PM, by afarensis, FCD
This is equal parts funny (that people were taken in by it) and sad (because it doesn't say much about scientific literacy). The hoax revolves around a picture of a giant skeleton. The picture was part of a photo manipulation contest but rapidly took on a life of its own. Here is the picture:
According to the person who created the photo:
IronKite started with an aerial photo of a mastodon excavation in Hyde Park, New York, in 2000. He then digitally superimposed a human skeleton over the beast's remains.
The later addition of a digging man presented the biggest technical challenge.
"If you look, he's holding a yellow-handled shovel, but there's nothing on the end," IronKite said.
"Originally, the spade end was there. But [it] looked like it was occupying the exact same space as the skeleton's temple, making the whole thing look fake.
"Now it looks like he's just holding a stick, and people don't notice. It's funny."
IronKite also altered the color of the man's clothing to create a "uniform tie-in" with the white-shirted observer peering down from the wooden platform.
What happened next is that a number of media outlets and internet sites reported the find as real. People from various religious backgrounds around the world believed it because it confirmed religious myths about giants in the past. As the National Geographic article puts it:
David Mikkelson of Snopes.com said such hoaxes succeed when they seem to confirm something people are already inclined to believe, such as a prejudice, political viewpoint, or religious belief.
A hoax also needs to be presented "in a framework that has the appearance of credibility," he said in an email.

The "ancient giant" has both elements, according to Mikkelson.
"It appeals to both a religious and a secular vision of the world as different and more fantastic than mere science would lead us to believe," he said.
Because worm eating fungi and tool using chimps aren't fantastic enough...

Aerial Views
Since the bones were to be removed from the pit that Saturday and Sunday, a cherry picker was present to aid in documenting their positions before removal. Here are a couple of views from the overhead bucket of the cherry picker.
This overview of the pit shows the catwalk and dams. The skeleton itself is mainly in the upper left quadrant of the image, with one tusk behind a dam below and to the left of the main skeleton. You can get some idea of the wet conditions; the green hose at the right center is perhaps 3 inches in diameter and is constantly pumping water out of the pit. Click on the image for a high-resolution version (973x875, about 1.2MB).

Finally, a detailed view of the skeleton itself. This find is interesting because of the completeness (at least 90% at last report), preservation state, and articulation of the skeleton. Articulation means that many of the bones are still in their original positions relative to each other.
At the top left, the pelvis is visible. At the bottom center of the image, several vertebrae are still articulated, as are several just to the right of top center. An array of ribs is visible between these two groups. At almost the exact center of the image, the lower jaw is visible, with most teeth intact. The skull, which was in good condition, has already been removed from the pit. To the right of the jaw, among the ribs, a hole in the mud is visible; this is actually a spring, spewing water into the pit continously. Click on the image for a high-resolution version (1258x1032, about 1.4MB).
At the lower right is an intact tusk behind a plywood dam and under a protective coating of mud. A major challenge is to allow this tusk to dry without having it shatter into fragments. In fact, the whole skeleton was periodically re-wetted with a garden hose to keep it from drying in an uncontrolled fashion.

The Best Resignation Letter Ever

FYI......

Actual letter of resignation from an employee at Zantex Computers, USA, to her boss, who apparently resigned very soon afterwards!

Dear Mr. Baker,

As a graduate of an institution of higher education, I have a few very basic expectations. Chief among these is that my direct superiors have an intellect that ranges above the common ground squirrel. After your consistent and annoying harassment of my coworkers and me during the commission of our duties, I can only surmise that you are one of the few true genetic wastes of our time.

Asking me, a network administrator, to explain every little nuance of everything I do each time you happen to stroll into my office is not only a waste of time, but also a waste of precious oxygen. I was hired because I know how to network computer systems, and you were apparently hired to provide amusement to myself and other employees, who watch you vainly attempt to un derstand the concept of 'cut and paste' for the hundredth time.

You will never understand computers. Something as incredibly simple as binary still gives you too many options. You will also never understand why people hate you, but I am going to try and explain it to you, even though I am sure this will be just as effective as telling you what an IP is. Your shiny new iMac has more personality than you ever will.

You walk around the building all day, shiftlessly looking for fault in others. You have a sharp dressed useless look about you that may have worked for your interview, but now that you actually have responsibility, you pawn it off on overworked staff, hoping their talent will cover for your glaring ineptitude. In a world of managerial evolution, you are the blue-green algae that everyone else eats and laughs at. Managers like you are a sad proof of the Dilbert principle. Since this situation is unlikely to change without you getting a full frontal lobotomy reversal, I am forced to tender my resignation, however I have a few parting thoughts.

1. When someone calls you in reference to employment, it is illegal for you to give me a bad recommendation. The most you can say to hurt me is 'I prefer not to comment.' I will have friends randomly call you over the next couple of years to keep you honest, because I know you would be unable to do it on your own.

2. I have all the passwords to every account on the system, and I know every password you have used for the last five years. If you decide to get cute, I am going to publish your 'favorites list', which I conveniently saved when you made me 'back up' your useless files. I do believe that terms like 'Lolita' are not usually viewed favorably by the administration.

3. When you borrowed the digital camera to 'take pictures of your Mother's birthday,' you neglected to mention that you were going to take pictures of yourself in the mirror nude. Then you forgot to erase them like the techno-moron you really are. Suffice it to say I have never seen such odd acts with a sauce bottle, but I assure you that those have been copied and kept in safe places pending the authoring of a glowing letter of recommendation. (Try to use a spell check please; I hate having to correct your mistakes.)

Thank you for your time, and I expect the letter of recommendation on my desk by 8:00 am tomorrow. One word of this to anybody, and all of your little twisted repugnant obsessions will be open to the public. Never f*** with your systems administrator. Why? Because they know what you do with all that free time!

Wishing you a grand and glorious day,

Cecelia

Karizma (The King of Bikes)

Origin of the Hero Honda Karizma:

The Karizma was launched in 2003. Like the other offerings of Hero Honda, Honda was responsible for providing the Hero Group with the technical know-how. Now did Honda design the engine of the Karizma especially for Hero Honda and for the Indian market..??

Honda CRF230F

In a bid to search for the origins of the Karizma, I came across a model from Honda called the CRF230F. The CRF230F is basically a 4 stroke dirt bike from Honda and sold in countries like Brazil where off road bikes are quite popular. Now by going through the official specs of the CRF230 and comparing it to the specs of the Karizma, it looks that both the engines share the same DNA. Published below are the tech specs of the CRF230 and the Karizma. Even the two engine blocks look similar.

2008 Honda CRF230F Specifications

Model: CRF230F
Engine Type: 223cc air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke
Bore and Stroke: 65.5mm x 66.2mm
Compression ratio: 9.0:1
Valve Train: SOHC; two-valve
Induction: 26mm piston-valve carburetor

2008 Hero Honda Karizma Specifications

Engine Type: 223cc air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke
Bore and Stroke: 65.5mm x 66.2mm
Compression ratio: 9.0:1

Bajaj Pulsar 220 Vs. Hero Honda Karizma

Overview

The Bike looks good & it’s stunning. It feels big when you sit on it, infact it gives you a big Bike feel the moment you sit on it, mainly due to the clip-ons & slightly backwards footrests. BAL as again has got a winner here, the fit & finish levels are very good infact much better than HH or for that matter ZMA. The digital Speedometer console looks great & the self test looks charming The first things that you notice are missing choke lever, fuel knob & a new pass beam switch along with the backlit switch panel & of course the LCD Digital console.

The Riding experience

My biggest worry was since this Bike doesn’t have kick starter how good would the self be & am glad to say that the self starter lived up to its expectation. The Bike starts very smoothly & almost effortlessly.

The gear shift is smooth & precise but still doesn’t not slot like CBZ\ZMA, some like it some don’t. I was fine with it as I had used this type of shift on my pulsar 180, but yes this one was better than the one on mine. Not a leap change in the gear shift but nevertheless a good one. Those who like slotting gears may still crib but I was happy with it as I had no false neutrals & no wrong gears.

The engine is smooth really smooth & the Bike picks up really sweetly, the exhaust note is nice but whether one likes it or not may differ from person to person. Once revved up the Bike gets the typical pulsar vibes near tank & fairing though they are minimal but can still be felt on the knee touching the fairing near tank. These vibrations come around 70kph & above.

Just like its smaller siblings (other Pulsars) the Rear View Mirrors on P220 become useless at these speeds as they vibrate so much that you cant make out what you see in the mirrors but since you cant see much anyways its not much of a problem. Oh, that reminds me that did I tell you guys that the Rear View Mirrors are absolutely useless especially if you are wearing a minimalist riding gear, reminds me of classic Pulsars which had stylish mirrors but very poor visibility with respect to the ones sported by DTSI versions, Yeah BAL did it again.


The Bike picks up really well on roll-ons, the most amazing thing was that even at 5th gear the Bike picked up at 25kph, though it pinked a bit but still picked up without any jerks.

Riding Comfort

I found the suspension to be a little stiffer than the ZMA while Pawan felt otherwise. The roads had no bad patches so cant say about how they would feel under bad road conditions.

The Bike has very sporty feel to it. The seats have good support & it holds you well. The Bike is really good if you want to ride it fast (which of course you would). I rode the P220 for around 10-15 kms & my right shoulder started to pain, does it make it really bad for long riding ?? To answer this, it reminds of the first two days when I had bought my 180 DTSi (which was my first Bike ever) & when my arms pained like hell for two complete days. So it’s just a matter of getting used to. So does this make the P220 a good tourer..?? Or to say will it be more comfortable than a ZMA for long rides ?? In my humble opinion with a guy of my height (am 5’10”) NO. Although the engine is really refined with enough power to take long stretches effortlessly the riding posture is not what you would want for such long rides. Having said that it’s still a matter of personal choice.

All those who got disappointed here’s another way to look at it. Those who are shorter in height may find the Bike to be better than the ZMA for riding comfort since they wont face the issue which taller guys like me faced i.e. crouched position & knees touching the fairing. So I think it can be safely put that it would be more comfy for shorter people that taller people for long rides.

Handling

I took the P220 on ghats & on straights; the Bike has really good handling when compared to the smaller pulsars especially because of the better swing arm & the riding posture & not to forget wider tubeless tires. The Bike is very eager to lean when compared to previous Pulsars. So is this the new Handling champion ?? Sadly No, here where I hated BAL the most, they have actually ruined a great handling Bike into a non handling one, the reason ?? The stupid main stand. I am very sure (infact the mains stand scrapes at slightest of the lean) confidant that if the main stand is removed the Bike will be an awesome handler.

Ok just before somone shouts that he has taken curves without scraping the stand, I will like to make it clear that the stand scraping happens when you are taking tight twisties uphill or downhill i.e. it won’t affect much on straights but then you only need the leaning aspect on such twisties


Braking

Full marks here no comments it simply rules here Excellent braking supported by a wide profile rear as well as front tire(Yes the front tire is broader too )


Headlights

10 out of 10 or may be 11 out of 10. The lights everywhere including the headlights are superb. Let it be tail lamps or the LCD or the backlit switches

Drag Results

Frankly speaking the drags which we had were very amateurish & should be taken only as indicative & not as a proof because:

- The bikes had different mileage on the odometers

- The drag was done on a strip which was barely 100-200 mtrs

- We had no timing device. And a few launches were not synchronized properly

- My Karizma is stock but has heavier & broader rear tire.




Result 1: P220 VS My ZMA

• P220 won on 2 runs
  

Result 2: P220 vs. Modded ZMA

• ZMA won 3 times

Disclaimer: Posted from different Web pages for information to friends only.

Hero Honda Karizma

General information
Model:	Hero Honda Karizma
Year:	2004
Category:	Sport
Rating:	76.6 out of 100. Show full rating and compare with other bikes
Engine and transmission
Displacement:	223.00 ccm (13.61 cubic inches)
Engine type:	Single cylinder
Stroke:	4
Power:	17.00 HP (12.4 kW)) @ 7000 RPM
Torque:	18.40 Nm (1.9 kgf-m or 13.6 ft.lbs) @ 6000 RPM
Max RPM:	7500
Fuel system:	Carburettor
Fuel control:	OHC
Starter:	Electric & kick
Cooling system:	Air
Gearbox:	5-speed
Transmission type final drive:	Chain
Physical measures
Dry weight:	150.0 kg (330.7 pounds)
Overall height:	1,160 mm (45.7 inches)
Overall length:	2,125 mm (83.7 inches)
Overall width:	755 mm (29.7 inches)
Ground clearance:	150 mm (5.9 inches)
Wheelbase:	1,355 mm (53.3 inches)
Chassis and dimensions
Front tyre dimensions:	2.75-18 - 42 P
Rear tyre dimensions:	100/90-18 - 56 P
Front brakes:	Single disc
Front brakes diameter:	276 mm (10.9 inches)
Rear brakes:	Expanding brake (drum brake)
Rear brakes diameter:	130 mm (5.1 inches)
Exhaust system:	Single Stainless Steel Pipe
Speed and acceleration
Top speed:	125.0 km/h (77.7 mph)
0-100 km/h (0-62 mph):	14.200 seconds
Power/weight ratio:	0.1133 HP/kg
Other specifications
Fuel capacity:	15.00 litres (3.96 gallons)
Reserve fuel capacity:	2.00 litres (0.53 gallons)
Fuel consumption pr. 10 km (6.2 miles):	2.40 litres (0.63 gallons)
Color options:	pearl compose red,myth gold metalic,silver,turquoise blue,candy blazing red,black, moon yellow

LOVE....

when I first saw you
I was astonished
If I can kneel down to you
For you just to be mine.

Always guarding
Always waiting
I don't know what to do
For your heart to love me

I will do wathever
What you want me to do
Even though its hard or it hurts me
For you I will do

What I feel for you is love
Because of the power of your love
Now were loving each other
I will make sure that this love will never end.