119 in Vietnam?

K

kidwholaughs

Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
1,189
I heard that the 119 was used in Vietnam by certain American forces. Does anyone else know about that at? That is interesting because my 119 special is so reflective that someone would spot me from half a mile away.
 
There were lots and lots of shiny blades in Vietnam. Westerns hunters were very popular where I was. All black 'tactical' knives are a recent thing...
 
During the Vietnam Conflict, regular troops were not issued knives... only bayonets that accompany their issued rifles. On top of that, since Vietnam is in a very wet and humid region, many who were entitled to issued knives often opted for stainless steel blades. Anything that was commercially available, from a well known custom maker, and even home-made knives would have found it's way into service. Buck and Gerber would have been very common, along with Japanese and Taiwanese made blades that would have been picked up when guys went there for R&R. Also, remember there were Korean, ARVN and ANZac troops and whatever knives that might have been bought or traded from them as well.

I think that if anyone produced a knife from the period and said "This was used in Vietnam", chances are they're probably being truthful... However, I don't think that statement would really add value to a knife unless the knife is documentably rare and important in it's own merit.
 
kidwholaughs said:
I heard that the 119 was used in Vietnam by certain American forces. Does anyone else know about that at? That is interesting because my 119 special is so reflective that someone would spot me from half a mile away.
Click to expand...


There is a book called "A Contagion of War, The Vietnam Experience Series". Quite a few pics of Buck 120s and similar knives in the hands of the soldiers there. From what I have been told by frineds and family who were there, the most common carried knife there was the Buck 110.

Josh
 
I carried a Buck Special in Vietnam , mid sixties. It was a fine field knife ,stainless steel so it never rusted in all of that humidity. The only problem I ever had was the stiching rotting out of the black sheath. I wrote Buck about the problem and they sent me another sheath sewn wth fishing line , it worked very well.
 
>"From what I have been told by frineds and family who were there, the most common carried knife there was the Buck 110."

====================================

FWIW, knife expert Steven Dick did a two-year tour in Vietnam beginning in '67. In his book "The Working Folding Knife," he writes: "I have been told many times that the Buck 110 was extremely popular with troops in Vietnam, but mine was the only one I ran across during the period I was in the country. Almost everyone who saw mine wanted to know where they could obtain one for themselves."
 
I carried a original Rigid folding knife called the Apache model. Saw quite a few Buck 110s during my time in Viet Nam 69-70
 
Hello CR and welcome to the forums. I hear from time to time about Buck knives that were carried and the 119, 120 and 110 are the most common i hear of.
 
Buck 110's were military issue for the U.S. Army in Vietnam, I saw a surplus one on LOST, and if it's on TV it HAS to be true! :D

USArmyKnife.jpg
 
lol, tlc, i thought that too but i had my suspicions so i went googling, and found a lost forum and some info about how that was printed specially to fit with the plot of the show. Or something. But hey, it might be true, or at least to some extent - why shouldn't the us army print their name on buck 110s, even if they're not issue?
 
CRBell said:
I carried a Buck 119 (private not issued) in Viet Nam. I still have it and carry it yet today.
Click to expand...

Welcome to Bladeforums.com CRBell!!! :D Please take a moment or two to visit our benefactors, Buck Knives http://www.buckknives.com/ and One Stop Knife Shop http://www.onestopknifeshop.com/ (Kevin owns this Forum!) ;) Please consider upgrading your membership and keep BladeForums.com open!!!

Buck has a very interesting Virtual Plant Tour at http://www.buckknives.com/plant_tour.php , a guide to Tang Stamp Codes at http://www.buckknives.com/collectors_vintage.php , a discussion of Steels used in Buck Knives at http://www.buckknives.com/technical_steel.php, you can order a Custom-Built Buck Knife at http://www.buckknives.com/custom_knife_shoppe.php, and there is a brief introduction to the Buck Collectors Club at http://www.buckknives.com/collectors_club.php. The Buck Collectors Club commissions special and unique versions of Buck knives for member sales only, so you might want to consider joining to gain access to some of these truly awesome knives!!! :)

If you have a problem posting pictures, there is a Quick & Dirty tutorial at Photobucket For Dummies. If you don't have a digital camera, but do have a scanner, lay your knife on the glass and throw a light colored towel/t-shirt/cloth over it and scan it. Save the pic, and follow the above instructions for posting pics.

****************************************************************************

Post a pic of that 119!!! :)
 
There were numerous fellows who carried model 110's, quite a few 119's and the odd end 120 with a longer blade. The steel held up well in the wet environment, but they were known to be somewhat difficult to sharpen. Vintage Bucks from that era seemed like they were hand polished and had subtle differences in blade length and thickness. I recall some of the spacer material varied in color and style, sheaths were hand fashioned, handles were well formed and super comfortable for serious use. I still think the 119 is one of the best all-purpose knives I have ever had the pleasure of owning.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums.com Stubai!!! :D Please take a moment or two to visit our benefactors, Buck Knives http://www.buckknives.com/ and One Stop Knife Shop http://www.onestopknifeshop.com/ (Kevin owns this Forum!) ;) Please consider upgrading your membership and keep BladeForums.com open!!!

Buck has a very interesting Virtual Plant Tour at http://www.buckknives.com/plant_tour.php , a guide to Tang Stamp Codes at http://www.buckknives.com/collectors_vintage.php , a discussion of Steels used in Buck Knives at http://www.buckknives.com/technical_steel.php, you can order a Custom-Built Buck Knife at http://www.buckknives.com/custom_knife_shoppe.php, and there is a brief introduction to the Buck Collectors Club at http://www.buckknives.com/collectors_club.php. The Buck Collectors Club commissions special and unique versions of Buck knives for member sales only, so you might want to consider joining to gain access to some of these truly awesome knives!!! :)

If you have a problem posting pictures, there is a Quick & Dirty tutorial at Photobucket For Dummies. If you don't have a digital camera, but do have a scanner, lay your knife on the glass and throw a light colored towel/t-shirt/cloth over it and scan it. Save the pic, and follow the above instructions for posting pics.

If you are getting a blank screen (no hits) when using the Search function, follow these instructions courtesy of Cougar Allen [paraphrased] -

Click on "Search This Forum" (in the Forum you want searched); then click "Advanced Search"; select "Search Titles Only"; and put your subject in the keyword field. If you search all of Bladeforums for every occurrence of the subject that will overload the search function and you'll get no results, but if you follow these directions you'll find what you want.

****************************************************************************

Stubai said:
The steel held up well in the wet environment, but they were known to be somewhat difficult to sharpen.
Click to expand...

I have an eBay 119 that was carried (and has glyphics) from Iraq, so dry environment doesn't bother it either. ;)

Buck knives from that time used different steel than today's 119's/120's. I'm no expert, but it was probably either 440 or 425...
 
I know this is a old thread but here is a question, why did the Mac v sog units not just buy a buck or contract for unmarked buck knives, seems like a buck has the perfect shape blade and edge retention to do what they did sneaking around the jungle taking out vc with knives, the buck has a better shape for that, so why contract for sog unmarked and probably inferior blade steel when buck probably would have just given them to sf guys if they asked.
 
fanofsteel said:
I know this is a old thread but here is a question, why did the Mac v sog units not just buy a buck or contract for unmarked buck knives, seems like a buck has the perfect shape blade and edge retention to do what they did sneaking around the jungle taking out vc with knives, the buck has a better shape for that, so why contract for sog unmarked and probably inferior blade steel when buck probably would have just given them to sf guys if they asked.
Click to expand...
If I recall accurately...
Because of Buck's strong Christian faith, Chuck would not allow a knife to be made whose intended purpose was to take human lives.
I thought that odd considering the M9/Phrobis bayonet project, but technically, the M9 is a utility knife first. Semantics...

Leroy Remer told me he designed the Palm Skinner as a fighting knife but Chuck wouldn't allow it so he made a couple of tweaks and called it a skinner.
20230130_153841 (1).jpg
 
Holy necrothread!

Looking through old catalogs you can see that the 120 was originally billed as a fighting knife.

That said, MACV-SOG did what they did because they could. They literally had "get out of jail free" cards and were mostly made up of younger men; many of whom (in military tradition) liked the idea of having a unique (but really pretty subtle) identifier as "someone special". Likewise the sterile blades and sheaths allowed them to disavow their US military affiliation/presence if they were captured or the knife lost. The original SOG knives were not made by the modern day "SOG" brand and have nothing to do with that brand.
 
I know my older brother gifted a Buck 120 to his HS buddy leaving for Vietnam. They graduated HS in '64 so sometime after that. My brother had a hand injury and couldn't pass the physical.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top