The Buck MiniBuck 425 is a nifty little pocket knife with contemporary styling. When you pick up a MiniBuck, the first thing you notice is the texture of the black thermoplastic handle. Your thumb falls naturally on three vertical stripes by the blade hinge with grippy cross-hatching for a secure grip. I found the tactile feedback of the handle design reassuring when digging the knife out of a full pocket.

As your gaze moves backwards along the body of MiniBuck, the design evokes skeletonized knives with three windows that allow the user to see the folded blade at rest. The entire body of the handle is textured for easy handling. At the tail of the MiniBuck 425, a lanyard hole is provided to allow the knife to be securely attached to a key chain. At the bottom near the end of the knife, you can press a stainless release to unlock the blade and fold the knife. The design of the 425 MiniBuck is attractive, modern, and supremely useful with a hint of tacti-coolness.

The 425 MiniBuck lives up to its mini moniker. It features a 1 7/8-inch stainless steel drop-point blade. The MiniBuck 425 is only about 3 inches long with the blade closed and 4 7/8 inches long with the blade open. In my opinion, the MiniBuck is a useful size for most tasks without getting into troublesome serious concealed weapon sizes. Of course, in this era, you have to be very careful about local laws and employer policies regarding any weapon.

Of course, a knife is only as good as its blade. Fortunately, the MiniBuck 425 has a pretty good blade for everyday purposes. It is made of heat-treated 420HC stainless steel with a standard hardness of Rc 58. The blade material is chosen to be easily resharpened and to offer good resistance to corrosion. According to Buck MiniBuck packaging, their trademarked Edge2x Technology ensures that the MiniBuck has a "sharper edge out of the box, stays sharp longer and is easier to re-sharpen." The MiniBuck blade has a new shape with a 26 to 32 degree angle between blade facets as opposed to the wider 25 to 50 degree angle of previous generations of pocket knife.

Perhaps the best feature of the 425 MiniBuck is its price. A MiniBuck doesn't cost many bucks. A MiniBuck 425 can be bought for about $10. Even though this humble 425 MiniBuck lock blade knife is intended for mundane everyday uses, Buck still covers it with their 4-Ever warranty. If the knife is ever found to contain a defect in materials and workmanship, Buck will repair or replace it without any conditions.

Overall, the Buck MiniBuck 425 is a great little lock blade folding knife. You can carry it even more proudly knowing that the MiniBuck is an American-made product.