110 observations and questions

bigbcustom · Jan 30, 2006

I am new to this forum, and have never owned a Buck knife before. After reading about the virtues of the 110, I bought one of the "commemorative sets" at wal-mart for 23.44. The knife is razor sharp, highly polished bolsters/liners, and is beautiful to look at. The blade exhibits considerable sideways slop (almost like a loose baby tooth, it will move side to side as much as the space between the blade and the liner will let it with very little pressure) when closed, and more slop when open than any other folder I own (several cold steel misc folders, schrade two blade hunter, six or so spydercos, and four saks) even though the sideways slop when open isn't huge, it is about 1/8" both ways at the tip. The lock feels extremely solid, I don't have any fears about the blade closing accidentally. For the money, I think it is okay, but it is kind of a let down

after all the great stuff I have read about the knife. Is this normal for the 110's? or did I get a defective one that I should return to wal-mart? I am not bashing Buck at all, and from everything I have read, they seem like a stand-up company, I am just wondering if I got a typical 110 or if I got the bad apple in the bunch. I am also wondering if the quality of my 110 is indicative of what I might expect from other of their more inexpensive products (was considering a vanguard, but am wondering about it now). Any comments and/or opinions are welcome. Remember, I am not bashing Buck at all, just looking for honest feedback to my observations/questions.

DarrylS · Jan 30, 2006

...Definitely NOT TYPICAL for Buck in general or for the 110 in particular. You haven't made a mistake in buying a Buck at all. You should be able to return it to Walmart and get an immediate replacement and I'm sure you'll see the difference in the replacement at once. If you do not want to go that route you can send it to Buck for repair and they'll send you a replacement that's rock solid and tight all the way around as well. I just sent a Buck 112 ( a smaller version of the 110 ) in for rebuilding as it got all wobbly too...but it took almost 30 years for it to get that way from my abuse...LOL...Welcome to the forum...

Pack Rat · Jan 30, 2006

Darryl is absolutely correct.

Walmart should immediately make it right. That is very unsual for a new 110 to be sloppy like that. And it's unsual for one to have any side play when the blade is locked open after years of use.

In all the 110's I have, only one has ever been like that and it is one that I picked up that had been severly abused. I sent it to Buck after putting up with it a year or so, and it came back all nice and tight and polished and buffed a bit.

65hoss · Jan 30, 2006

I agree, 5 or 6 110's and none of them have slop like that in the blades. Get it back to wally world or Buck.

mfinden · Jan 30, 2006

That is unfortunate. I am glad you are looking to get it resolved and giving it a chance. Pretty certain you will be pleased that you did. What you have is not typical at all for a new 110. I put them through hell...things that would have my Totin' Chip or Eagle Scout card revoked...and never had that much play.

Just did a quick QA on my three 110 EDC tools and a Cold Steel Voyager and Grande Vaquero. All are tight. The 110 units are from 1980, 1998, and 2001 (the 1980 is actually a 111...but has the same locking config). The Voyager is at least ten years old and the Vaquero about five years.

Once you get it resolved, please post with the results.

Mick57 · Jan 30, 2006

Ditto to what's already been said. Go back to Wally & get another one. Every now & then one slips through the cracks with too much blade play. I've seen a few myself, most recently the model 55.

bigbcustom · Feb 3, 2006

Finally got around to taking it back to Wal-Mart this evening/morning. Gave receipt and knife/box to manager went back and got a new one off shelf, asked if I could check out the new one before we did the exchange. Pulled the new one out of the tin, and it had the exact same sloppiness as the first one did. Asked manager if I could try a different one, she said no problem. I went back and got another one out of the middle of the stack, brought it to the front, same problem again. I got a refund. Then, I went back to the knife counter and asked to see one of the plain non commemorative 110's in the regular box for the $29.99 price. Pulled it out of the box, it was solid as can be no play unlocked or locked. I then asked manager if I could switch one of the bad knives for the good regular one for the same price. She said no because they weren't the same sku. I said have a good day and left. Apparently the "commemorative" 110's that this particular wal-mart got in their last shipment were part of a bad batch or something. In case anybody from Buck is reading this, the offending "commemorative tin" 110 came from the Westminster, Colorado Wal-mart just north of 92nd Avenue on Sheridan blvd. Not happy about this at all. Has anybody gotten a good "commemorative tin" 110 in the denver area, and if so, which wal-mart?

Watson-349 · Feb 4, 2006

I bought my "tinned" 110 at a Wallmart in Milwaukee. It has the same "when closed" slop that you describe and very slight movement side to side, an almost forced movement when opened.

Also, when opened and held to a light/light backround, I can see a slight gap or space throught the handle between the brass liner and wood on one side.

I have a 112 that I bought in 1987 that is tight and well made, as opposed to that 110 in the tin that I paid $23.44. I should of not been a cheapskate and paid the extra 7 bucks and change to get a good one that I could have checked out without opening every tin and gotten a "REAL" sheath to boot.