I purchased this stag Buck 110 in early 2001, back when the Buck custom shop was called Pete's Custom Knife Shoppe. I ordered the blade partially serrated, because I was doing a lot of rope work back then, but still wanted some plain edge for general outdoor use. All in all, it's probably the only combo edge I've ever not regretted purchasing. Buck ground some great serrations, and it has always excelled at its job.
The Sambar stag that Buck chose is absurdly thick and beautiful. I guess it was just easier to get huge chunks of gorgeous stag back then, before the 2003 export ban began. Buck seriously earned bonus points on this knife, perfectly shaping the stag with finger grooves. Between the finger grooves and stag thickness, the handle provides a grip security and comfort I've rarely felt on a folding knife.
The steel is BG-42, which doesn't seem to be very popular anymore, but I still love it. BG-42 takes a very nice edge, and holds it quite well. Buck/BOS got the heat treatment just right, and the edge is ground nice and thin, this knife being made just after Buck introduced its newer thinner Edge 2000 grind.
It's hard to capture in pictures, but Joe Houser from Buck had the blade engraved for me at one point, with its name The Angry Beaver. It got this name one weekend in the Adirondacks, while I was whittling away out in front of our cabin. My father-in-law made a remark about it cutting like an angry beaver, and the name just stuck. After that day, any time I pulled out my trust 110, someone would yell, "Beware the angry beaver!!!"
I've wanted to retire this knife many times, but it often comes back from the archives and into use. It's just too great a knife to be stored away, I guess. The brass has a few dings and scratches, and I haven't polished it recently, but even so, The Angry Beaver is still a beauty to behold.
