A Bargain, A Beauty & A Whatzit

I trundled my bundle to terrific/provincial Polk County fairgrounds today for a show and came away with a great, near mint, Buck 442 ($10), mfg. 2001, some pics for your amusement and good time with my sweetie (note her hand modeling of the combo whatzit)(prices removed from tags by magic):

Bargain:















Beauty (mint in box, didn't look for paperwork):




Whatzit:





Thank you for looking in on part of my Saturday. I hope that you all have a rewarding weekend.

 

Thank you sitflyer. I was lucky. You guessed it, ding ding ding (a winner's bell sounds lougly) and, brace yourself, you have 1/2 a beer coming next time I see you!!! The stamp on the handle reads "Thomas MFG CO. Dayton, Ohio." A cowboy fence tool, I didn't buy, $65 label on it. The background kind of gives it away: Spurs, halter parts and such.

The 442n is very near perfect. I found this needle in a stack of needles, pile of dirty folder held only one Buck. My first 442. Cleaned it with alcohol, toothbrush, Q-tips, cotton cloth and then applied a tiny bil of food-grade mineral oil to the pivot. A real Bucklit gem. Unused and not resharpened.

Thank you kindly. I was luck to spot this jewel because it was back in a labyrinth of a side room in a packed to the rafters by attendees venue. I thought that once I veered off the main floor I'd get stuck in a corner of this anti-chamber. Fought my way out. The 442 it tip top. The handle checkering is crisp, no play in the open blade, self-close keeps the blade tip within the handle when closed, pocket clip it tight and without scratches or divets, no rust, the blade lettering is as new (liked the word "Intrepid" and I cannot find anything not to like about it. The nice guy vendor had $15 on it and agreed to $10. This knife was one out of 100 (99 non-bucks) so he might have agreed to sell by the pound!!!

I really conside the 442 buried treasure. I was so tickled to find. Couldn't believe the asking price of $15 and since I didn't have my BUCK hat on I horse traded a bit. It was literally under a pile of dark knives (all of other marques and all in need of cleaning) in a poorly lit back room. Good guess on the cowboy fence tool. I wonder how old it was?

Now you make me want to go back and get it. The vendor wanted $65 and that is more than my mother lets me spend on mystery tools. It caught my eye. Heck, since legendary Oregonian Tim Leatherman rules the multi-tool market in this neck of the woods, most multi-tools appeal to me. Do you collect such tools?

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=thom...bnh=129&tbnw=225&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:82

buckmaster96,

The above link puts mfg near 1910. The more I look into this multi-tool the more interesting it becomes. I think that the prybar/screwdriver was bent judging from the pic in the above link. I don't think that the tool had a name. There is one similar to it, by another mfg, named "Plammer." Nickel plated I think.

 

While at this show I offered a Buck date code card, wallet-sized, to any vendor displaying Buck knives. I was surprised to find that everyone accepted the card and dropped what they were doing to examine it and then launched into a discussion about how it would be used, who would use it and its value.

One person said that they couldn't read it due to the small size. I suggested a seeing-eye dog, in jest, and he said it was out in the truck!!! You can kid a kidder but they kid you right back. Yes they do.

Anyone who wants a card just ping me. http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/oregun/Buckdatecodecards03-09-2012003-1.jpg