110 Stories

A good friend and fellow BCCI life member sent me a bunch of knives about a year ago. I called him to thank him for the gift and asked why he gave them to me. He thought I was worthy of his friendship so was worthy of those knives. One of the knives is a 110 from the late 60's complete with sheath. That one will be staying with me until I need to pass it along.

My friend recently passed on after a long bout with cancer. I will miss him, but the knowledge that he is up there trading knives (and stories) with John Miner makes me smile.
 
Since this thread seems to be active again, I'll post my story.

I bought my first 110 back in '73 just before I graduated from HS. Kept and used it for the next 10 or so years. It rode in my back pocket vertically next to my wallet.

I abused this thing in the oilfields in Wyo. It was a hammer, and metal band cutter among other things. Finally the lock back broke while cutting some metal banding. The blade just flopped around like a fish. :)

I stuck it in a drawer for the next 5 or 6 years. I missed it badly even though I bought (110 w/ finger grips) a replacement. So I decided to get if fixed no matter the price. I sent it in asking them to fix it, but keep the wood.

Man, this thing was in bad shape! But Buck replaced the blade and lock, polished the brass and the wood and sent it back to me N/C!! :eek:

Pretty awesome, huh? I still have and use it often.
 
In the late 60's, anyone that was "cool" wore a 110 on their belt. I went to the local sporting goods store to get one and noticed that for the same $18, a 119 Special could be purchased. At that time I spent a lot of time in the woods making camp fires, cooking food over them, etc. so I bought the 119.

One of my buddies, had his brand new 110 and we were in the woods preparing a fire to cook up some food and cutting some sticks to roast our hot dogs with. I proceeded to find an appropriate forked stick and with one swift swipe of my 119 cut it cleanly from the tree. My buddy proceeded to do the same, but what happened was with the swift swipe of the 110, he severed the pin and the blade fell off on the ground! We had a good laugh at his expense. Even though the 110 was NOT designed for that type of task, Buck repaired the knife at no cost to my buddy.

When I realized that I couldn't wear my 119 everywhere without risking getting arrested, I went back and bought a 110. Over the years my Buck collection has grown significantly and Buck has always been my favorite knife company.

Peter
 
I was working as a hv testing 'trician and had some days off due to an accident at the plant I was at. So I was at the front of the garage at a desk and took out the 110 my brother had given me and 'scratched' some images of ships in the brass. Next day was still sunny so I got some of the thin ivory I had, shaped/cut it out then inlayed it in one side. Looked good so I did another shaped ivory inlay in the other side again the next day! Still had day light so proceeded to scrimshaw ships and other sea going stuff in the ivory over the next day or so and … it looked good to me! Turned out well as I had done this before on gun grips and a rifle stock and sold silver rings and necklaces I had made years before with scrimshaw on the ivory on them… I used this knife a lot the rest of the summer doing high voltage stress cones cutting the layers of tough jacket with the 110 instead of the kiln knife in the ‘kit’.

Got lots of question of was it real ivory – were did I get the engravings done and why was I using a nice custom as a work knife!!! I did not tell any one I did the work as I had did that before and got WAY to too much “ oh come you can do one for me- your bud cant you? Oh come on …” and hated the up set/ hurt feeling they put on when I said no and that they could not pay me to do it… I did that before for money and that takes from it for me… I do it for me or for some one and if I charged I would not charge much … if I don’t want to do it for them I jest wont… one brother is still waiting for a knife with ‘scratchin.. and my son-in-law gave me his 45 colt gun grips “jest in case I felt like doing some for practice one day…” and you never know i might... one day...
Well I laid the old beat up110 down side of me one day late summer jest before hunting season in florida and did not pick it up after I had turned to work in a easer position and after about 15 to 30 min or so I reached behind me to get it before I went on a break and …. U guessed it … gone… never did see it again of coursr no one else saw any thing ... and so pissed off never did another knife again with ivory and ‘scratchin. Sure would like to get it back…

I should let it go I guess and jest do another but my eyes have gone south now and with out correction are over 150 and 200 /20 so I don’t think I could see well enught to do the ‘scratching still… oh well so it goes …
 
I've posted before of my long love affair with the 110 :) . I started off with my big brother's. I don't know where he got it, but he never used it and left it around the house when he moved to Califonia, so I took it over. That was around 1973 or 74. I carried that knife everywhere for years. The guys I hung with liked it and we all became little clones in bluejeans, square-toed 'dingo' boots (with straps and brass rings on the sides), long hair and Led Zepplin. We were just shy of 'real' troublemakers. We did a lot of trespassing hunting arrowheads. Though we scrapped a lot those knives were never drawn as weapons. Don't remember what became of that first one. I bought another and another as I used them hard in construction (framing, roofing, brick) and as a bill board poster. As a nurseryman I used one constantly and it was always on my hip. The sheath was always a bit loose from pushing a ballpoint pen (to write up sales tickets) in next to the knife. I used and abused and always bought another. I dropped one from a ladder to the concrete and snapped the blade near the base. That was the worst damage I ever managed despite hammering with the bolsters. I 'tipped' a couple others and took a half-moon chunk from another cutting heavy chicken mesh to free a kitten (still carry that 1986 model). Another that was left at a buddy's house I never got back due to his murder at a bar where he was the doorman. Overall I would guess I have had at least 10 of which I still have 3. 2 are still users and the third needs profiling to fix the tip.
 
Back in 69 a friend was showing me his opened 110 while we waiting for algebra class to start. I had never seen anything like it. He pushed against the back of the blade to demonstrate how the lock worked. Strangely, the lock decided to choose that moment to malfunction! :eek: He jumped up and quietly left the class to avoid a scene. The few of us that witnessed the event sat quietly looking straight ahead for fear of becoming involved! :confused: He managed to make it back about half way through the class after he got the bleeding stopped. None the less, I was so impressed I bought my own 110 a few days later. It was about $20 and came in a plastic case with a brown washita stone, a small hard Arkansas stone (translucent grey) and a can of honing oil. I remember when I carried it ...it made me feel like a character from a Hemingway novel. :)
 
All of these great stories about the 110, I registered just so I could stick in my 2 pesos worth.

My first 110 is laying on the sink in the rv out at the hunting camp. I can't wait to retrieve it since I have learned the date codes from the great info you guys are so full of.

I can generally date it to me coming back out of the service in late '67 and going back to work with a bunch of guys that hunted. I needed a knife and fortunately bought a 110. Started hunting with them around '69 or '70. Not sure exactly when I bought it.

An uncle was a butcher and taught me how to sharpen and keep a good angle on the blade. Just no telling how many deer that thing has gutted and skinned.

But the fun part has been the last few weeks of lousy weather and my playing on ebay to kill time. Well, I think I am up to seven 110's, three 112's, a whole handfull of 300 series, a couple of Mentors, and several of the "one of something" limited edition customs.

So the 110's have been a blast checking out the date codes and playing with them in general. I have a couple picked out to send in for a blade upgrade. Will remain my favorite use knife.

Now, if any of you run across a crazy woman making internet post about a husband that has gone nutso buying Buck knives on ebay just ignore and hide the article from your wives. the post would go something like "my husband is an ebay junkie and I am looking for an ebay anon group"...

Women just don't understand... We need our knives and guns!

Oh, this is my first post so gimmie a break if it is totally screwed up.
 
LFH...welcome
That message could just as easily come from my wife. Best to just ignore anything you see that has that tone to it.
 
LFH,
Welcome to the forums! You sound like someone who would greatly appreciate the Buck Collectors Club newsletters. If you will email me and provide your snail mail address, I will send you a few past issues to sample.
Larry Oden
BCCI Vice President
 
I went looking for a 55 the other day and ended up with a new 110. First one I've bought in @ 15 years. Darn. Now I am back up to 4. (1 '86 & 2 '87s) As a Texan, I am not too sure about this Idaho tang stamp, but it shore is purty an' shiny sharp. Used my old one to cut it out of the package. Went directly into the old well-worn sheath as my edc.... :D
 
Thank You for the "Welcome" to the forum guys. I hope to be here asking foolish questions more often. and I have applied for membership to the collectors club. I look forward to it.
Thanks
Larry
 
I've already posted my 110 story here a while back, but like so many others, my one and only 110 from back in 1968 and my 112 from 1972 have now blossomed up to about seven at last count. This knife thing is beginning to become a standing joke between my wife and I. I hope she doesn't laugh too loud when the Buck Mayo TNT arrives!! :D
 
Hi Guys, Me again. I was just brousing another forun and it was asking about girl friends or wives that were into their own knives. Reminded me of another 110 story. I posted a version of this in that forum and thought I would tell the rest of the story here. so here goes...

My wife of 37 years, has seen the importance I place on knives when we are at the hunting camp. Has watched me clean many a deer and heard the complaints about good, bad, and ugly knives. Has seen the bald spots mysterously appear on my legs and arms around the start of hunting season, but has stopped short of offering a place for a sharpness test.

We roamed into an Oshmans Sporting goods one day and naturally we tend to go our separate ways. In a few minutes here she comes with a hand full of knives like the ones I like best. And she had picked out the best looking wood. She kept one of the 4 that she picked out that day, and it lives in her back pack, along with her own hunting gear, next to her own fitted Mohwak 600. She picked up 4 Buck 110's and insisted we buy all 4. Who was I to argue...

For the rest of the story, they were all the 100 year 1902-2002 model with the emblem in the handle and the pin that comes with it. Unfortunately they all came in the plastic packages instead of nice boxes. I had forgotten about these until I was reading that forum. Am wishing we hadn't opened that one. I just looked and the other 3 are tucked away in the back of the safe. But yes, some women are cool about our knife obsessions.
 
My 'story' is pretty generic I guess. I have had my 110 forever it seems , one of the first real knives I got when I was a pre-teen lad.
It has been used just about everywhere I've went , I have lost it and found it again while creek fishing (thank God) , it has been a good friend.
Not too long ago I wanted a new blade on it but didnt think I could get it replaced because I long ago lost any reciept or warranty info , but I sent it to Buck on a whim and got it back just the week before last with a brand new blade and nicely polished !!!! Thank you Buck ! :) :)
I will keep this great knife dear to me until I have someone to pass it on to.
Quite sincerely,
Todd A Fries.
 
I had my first 110 back in high school. I used to carry it everyday in my back pocket (it didn't have a sheath). Try doing that today! I loved that knife and foolishly traded it for a pair of nunchaku, I'd love to have it back. I got my second after becoming a small town cop and still have it on my duty belt. As time wore on and I got more into knives I started to like Buck more and more, now that's pretty much all that interests me. My 110 for work has done all I have asked of it and when everyone started switching to multi tools, I stuck with the 110, it does the job and has the "old school" look I like. I was at an accident scene once years ago and one of the paramedics needed to cut someone's seat belt, he looks at me and says, "hey, let me see that big Buck to cut this belt", one swipe and it was done. I have switched to a Bucklite now that I am in plain clothes but the 110 is always there on my duty belt, ready to go. This is only my second post but I've been lurking for awhile. I told my wife, "hey, a whole forum just for Buck knives, how cool is that?" She didn't think it was as cool as I did, but she bought me a Tempest for our anniversary all on her own, so I think that makes her pretty cool.
 
My 110 has seen service as a police officers knife, worked on a Montana dude ranch, cleaned five white tail deer and has worked around the house cutting twine and carpets and who knows what else. Hard to think of a better all around knife at the price Buck sells them for. Also easy to get wicked sharp on a spyderco sharpmaker.

I recently picked up a ouple of XLTIs and I can't wait for the custom shop to re-open to get them all re-bladed with premium steel.
 
Haven't used either of my 110's, but when I was buying my 110 custom stag handled damascus, I was looking it over while at the stand of the guy I buy from, and I asked him how much he wanted for it. He said he didn't have the box, so he would take 50 bucks for it! Well, I immediately gave him all of the money in my pocket, and he said, 150! I misunderstood him, and whenever I see him, and ask what the price of a certain knife is, he always says the price in a loud voice :D.
 
I just purchased my 110, so I don't have to many stories to go with it. I am definately looking forward to making memories with it!
 
Got my first 110 in late 1968/early 1969 as a Xmas present from my best friend. I reciprocated with a gift of the same. For the next 15 or so years, I never left home without that knife. Because I eschewed pouch carry, the right back pocket on all my jeans had a permanent faded 110 imprint. The 110 left (with many others) when I sold my collection a few years ago. I've now begun rebuilding the collection, starting with a red micarta handled 124, a black micarta Camp Axe, a 107, and (hopefully) a NIB Kalinga in a few days. Long, long way to go, but a 110 will join the new group before long. Just wish it was the same one I had those many years.
 
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