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Buck folders

My Grail as a kid was a Buck 110 like my Dad had. Remember him talking about how it could cut through a nail with no edge damage. Then I started looking at the Puma copy. Then I started looking at Balisongs. Then it was 1-handed opening tactical folders. Then it was bushcraft knives. Finally a few years ago I came close & got a Buck 112 with the red paperstone scales. A while back I picked up a 302 in charcoal dymondwood.
 
i have a 301 (my second, first was sold to a guy as his first knife)
and a 309

never had a 110 or 112
perhaps one day ...

i more geeked out on my slippies anyways
and if i am going to use a large single blade folder ..well have moderns with much lighter construction *shrugs*
although i will admit there is something classy about the look of them even if i am unsure if i would actually carry one due to weight
 
I have had the same Buck 110 since the late 60's. I used to carry it to class and on field trips when I was an ecological Botany major in college in the early 70's. Sometimes I carried it in my pocket, but usually in the sheath. I never called it a "110" in those days, though I understand that some folks did. Buck advertised it as the "Folding Hunter". I used to sharpen my knives using a Washita stone. The 440C blade was annoying to sharpen on that.

I don't carry it much anymore, but I do still have it.
100_2865.jpg
 
guess im one of the odd ones who has never had a buck knife. but i didnt really start accumulating knives until this past summer so, you know, theres time.
 
I had an off brand hunting knife and pocket knife as a kid, but my Dad kept them sharp for me. Around college age, I started with the smallest Bucks ... Lancer, Knight, Executive. Acquired the 110 & 112 much later, and still carry an older 112 on my belt fairly often.

JT
 
I don't have any stories... only that I usually carry my 309. It's not too fancy, and utterly reliable. I love it.
buck309.jpg
 
knarfeng said:
I used to sharpen my knives using a Washita stone. The 440C blade was annoying to sharpen on that.
Click to expand...

I cheated a bit. My 15yo self had his grand father sharpen mine for the first 5 or 6 times :) It did take me a while to get sharpening 440C down.
 
Growing up in the mid-west, my grand-father got me into fishing and eventually tying flies. Tying flies led to this:
herters1972catalog.jpg


I blame my fascination with all aspects of outdoor equipment on the old Herter's catalogs.

I carried Ulster BSA knives all of my childhood but when I was in high school, I finally ordered a Buck 110 from Herter's. It was my first "man's knife" and I carried it hunting with my Grandfather. All of my cousins at hunting camp carried Bucks.

I like Buck folders a whole lot. I tend to carry my 500 and 112 a lot more often than the 110. If I lived in a rural setting, that might be different.


Buck Folders by Pinnah, on Flickr

Emotionally, I'm in a tough spot. I actually carry an Opinel most days. They're so much lighter. Opinels are tougher under hard use (in my experience). And Opinels scare people less than the extreme bowie style clip of the Bucks. But, the one thing an Opinel isn't is a Buck. I really need to just accept this.
 
pinnah said:
Growing up in the mid-west, my grand-father got me into fishing and eventually tying flies. Tying flies led to this:
herters1972catalog.jpg


I blame my fascination with all aspects of outdoor equipment on the old Herter's catalogs.

I carried Ulster BSA knives all of my childhood but when I was in high school, I finally ordered a Buck 110 from Herter's. It was my first "man's knife" and I carried it hunting with my Grandfather. All of my cousins at hunting camp carried Bucks.

I like Buck folders a whole lot. I tend to carry my 500 and 112 a lot more often than the 110. If I lived in a rural setting, that might be different.

Emotionally, I'm in a tough spot. I actually carry an Opinel most days. They're so much lighter. Opinels are tougher under hard use (in my experience). And Opinels scare people less than the extreme bowie style clip of the Bucks. But, the one thing an Opinel isn't is a Buck. I really need to just accept this.
Click to expand...

Sorry for steering this off topic for a minute. That old Herter's catalog made me think of my dad. He bought all our fishing and outdoor gear from a similar, although earlier, catalog. I'm looking out my back window at a Herter's canoe that is 50 years old now. It was bought from the catalog and shipped to us in Central NY. It's navigated and portaged dozens of Adirondack Lakes over the decades, and still has some life in it.

Now, on topic. I've never owned a Opinel but all the forum talk has finally convinced me I'll need to pick one up, and see what's it all about. I do own a few older Buck knives that I rarely carry. I'll need to revisit them too I think.

Thanks for jogging my memory, pinnah.
 
Grew up in a rural area during at time when it seemed like every guy had a Buck 110 in a leather pouch on his belt. I wanted one sooo bad. Didn't actually get one until I was a teenager. I used it as my hunting knife for many years. Passed it down to my son. A number of years back when I began reading these and other forums talking about Buck 110' for $29.99 I couldn't resist picking another one up. Even though I don't carry them usually (except for hunting season), the knife is very nostalgic for me, and I find that even though I have other knives that I like and carry more often, that the Buck 110 is still probably my all time favorite knife. Just something about it that harkens back to my youth, and in my mind the Buck 110 is still the standard by which I measure a knife. I've since discovered the 112 and 55. In fact today I'm carry a Buck 55 because it reminds me of the 110 only in a much more pocketable size.
 
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I carried a Schrade bear paw/LB7 for over 20 years which is a close match in size and weight to the 110.I used it for everything from work tasks at my farm jobs as a teen to cleaning Squirrels,Pheasants and dressing/skinning Deer along with camp chores while on Canoe trips.I'ts not uncommon for me to carry my 110,or my Case Mako now.I don't mind the weight and living in a rural town it doesn't cause alarm if I happen to have it on while I'm getting grocerys or hardware.As a matter of fact it didn't cause the teachers or principle to feel the need to call swat either.My shop teachers even borrowed it on occasion.
Anyway I don't mind the weight to carry or blade size to use.To me it's (LB7 and 110) my favorite "do all"blade shape and size.
I Sure miss Schrade!
 
I've got a 301 My dad bought for me in 1982,carried it for about 15 years,I've since put it up and plan to pass it on to my grandson when he gets old enough.
Stan
 
I bought this Buck 112 sometime between 1975 and 1980 while in the U.S. Navy. I had several buck knives before buying this one and have bought several since buying it. They (all Buck folding knives) are good knives and have served me well over the years.

1970sbuck112nonailnick1.jpg


Whenever I was stationed in San Diego, CA, I'd go out to the old Buck factory on Weld Blvd. in Santee to visit their Buck Store. There was plenty to look at out there and plenty to buy. In 1981 while on the USS Ranger, I broke the tip off a 501. I went out to Weld Blvd. to see if they'd exchange it. Not only did they exchange it with a new 501 and sheath but they let me keep the old sheath. I particularly liked the display of Buck knives (old, rare, etc.) that they had in their lobby.
 
I for one am appalled at the negative consensus of Buck knives at my local level. Most guys around here still complain that they're too hard to sharpen and pretty much worthless for most practical purposes (this is even the case in their minds with the new 420HC not just the old 440C). Then in the same sentence they'll inform me that they'll never purchase another Case knife seeing as the steel is too soft. I for one never had a problem sharpening Bucks, and in the scheme of modern steel, Buck's 420HC is pretty mild. I for one enjoy a plethora of Bucks, and this 309 Companion is my favorite for when I feel like being a minimalist.

001-4.jpg
 
A member posted a thread asking, "If you could only have one knife?"..That thread really had me thinking, and after a lot of serious thought.. My answer was the Buck 110.
My old Buck 110 gutted and de-boned about 4-5 deer,PA whitetails weighing 140-175lbs...Cleaned and skinned several rabbits and squirrels..Its a little heavy but I knew plenty of guys who pocket carried their 110s everyday when I was a kid..Todays plastics and polymers really make the pappy 110 feel heavy but I prefer mine in its belt sheath..There are better pocket knives , better hunting,fishing,survivial,field knives etc...But the Buck 110 in my opinion is the best "do-it-all" made...
CD
 
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Never actually owned a BUCK folder. Given a few as gifts over the years, but for about 20 years when I was accumulating folders I was a CASE and Boker man. Didn't buy anything else.

But, around '72 I bought a 119. That knife has canoed, camped, hunted, fished, and bush crafted more than any other knife I own. For years it was the only big sheath knife I owned. Even when I could afford another knife, I didn't see any reason to buy one as that knife did everything I could want it to do and then some.

I don't use it as much as I did when it was my only large sheath knife. But even now I would never feel under knifed taking that on any of the above mentioned activities. To me, that is just one of those rare designs that they just "got right".

Robert
 
I was also stationed in San Diego and a few other places. Many of the guys on the boats and the tender carried Buck 110's on their belts. I found the Buck knives shop by accident one day when I got lost in Santee over by El Cajon. I had a Buck hunter that somebody had used to beat a can with and severly dented the edge of the blade. I took it in to their shop and handed the guy my knife. He never asked for a receipt or anything and just went in the back and handed me a brand new Hunter in a nice new sheath. I was impressed and very happy!
 
I've owned a couple Buck folders and have a couple of their modern folders and fixed blades.

As for traditional folders I have two. My daughter bought be my first 110 for Christmas last year. I never got one for myself as I had other large folders and they just didn't carry well enough to justify the size. When dad passed away I got his Camillus 886 (fat cousin of the 110) that I bought for him back in the mid 80's. A tank of a knife that bit me immediately after cleaning up and sharpening. That knife, being so close to the 110 also kept me from buying the Buck.

Pardon the bad photos. They were both cropped from older, larger pics.

100-1.jpg


A few years ago a very good friend passed his Buck 510 on to me. He carried on the job as a truck driver for a while so it has some handling marks and the sheath is a little darker but it's still a beauty.

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I do have a 55 and a 112 on my short list.
 
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