This review of the Coast BX300 is sort of a follow up to our review last month of the BX315. Phil, our guest contributor, had quite a few nice comments about that knife, and found it to be a great value for every day carry. But working in an office, it was felt that maybe a smaller version would be a better choice. Coast answered this by sending us the BX300 to test out.
On both knives, most of the spec is the same: 9Cr18MOV stainless steel blade with jimping on spine, TRP rubber over hard nylon grip, and easy to use lock back design. At an even three inches, the blade on the BX300 is only a quarter inch shorter. But the overall length is 7.125 inches, a full 1.5 inches less than the BX315. To give you an idea of how much smaller this knife really is, consider that its weight of 1.6 ounces is less than half that of its 3.6 ounce big brother. There is a lot less bulk, but the blade itself is only a wee bit smaller. This is great for those of us that don’t have large hands, or just want a decent knife that’s slim and easy to carry.
I’ve found that for every day carry, knives and their owners fall into two categories. My friends that are in the military or law enforcement – guys that rely on their gear for life or death matters, usually own and carry knives that cost $100 or more. The rest of us, we just want a knife that is easy to sharpen, stays sharp for a fair amount of time, and has a price tag that won’t hurt our wallet up front. After putting the BX300 through the usual tests of cutting paper, cardboard, rope, and even garden hose, it is easy to see that it fits the bill as a basic knife that does all we expect from it. Small enough for kids and adults to use with ease, large enough to handle most tasks around the house, yard, workplace, or campsite. It should be noted that the rubber grip works very well, even when wet. This, and the lock back make it a very safe knife, even for novice users. Those two features (plus the Coast lifetime guarantee against defects in materials or workmanship) are enough for us to give it a high rating, yet the retail price of under $16 makes it a value that is hard to pass up. Be sure to shop around though, as we’ve seen it being sold not just for under the MSRP of $15.99, but at least one online retailer was asking more. Coastportland.com
– Brian