All about Bucklites and Selector's & 110's & 112's LTs and Slims ...

424 Blaze Orange with 501 Blade from the year 2000

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Oregon, great picture like always... I like the 501 blade on a 424... There's a black 424 out there with a 501 blade too...
We need that chart here too... Thanks for sharing... ITE ... :thumbup:
 
Haven't posted here on Armand's thread for a while. I thought about it when I looked at this 486 BuckLite Max that I was taking a few pictures of in the garage this afternoon.











 
Thanks DeSotoSky, for sharing... I could use 4 of them for my collection... :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Stumps said:
Haven't posted here on Armand's thread for a while. I thought about it when I looked at this 486 BuckLite Max that I was taking a few pictures of in the garage this afternoon.

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Stumps, I've been looking at your pictures of your Max Bucklite... I'm really liking the color of it and the look of it...
So I guess I should try one of these new Bucklites out... :eek:

Thanks for sharing it... ITE ... :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
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Here's a sweet 426 Clear Blue handle Bucklite...

426 clear blue...








Thanks for looking...

:) :) :) Allyson :) :) :) ... ;) ;) ;) Sam ;) ;) ;) ...
 
Hello all, here is something cool to read, it's all about Bucklites... By Steve Sullivan a BCCI member... I'm sure some of you already have...
Steve sold all his Bucklites a few weeks ago on the bay in big lots... I'm sure some of you seen them on there... But he did keep about
4 or 5 of them... He had a nice collection of over 130 of them... I did buy a few of them before he put them on the bay...
Thanks to Steve (Skelator88)... Thanks again Steve... I sure hope you don't stop collecting... You sure could find some sweet knives...
You always had some beautiful knives to share on the SPS... Anyway have a look and post some pictures of some Bucklites... ITE...

Part 1...

The BuckLite: A Technical and Personal History

by Steve Sullivan

In 1971, GE Plastics introduced Valox™, a new polyester resin designed for making injection-molded plastic components. It combined excellent electrical properties, high strength due to low water absorption, and very good heat resistance. Valox™ immediately became widely used by manufacturers of everything from power plugs and electronic components to car parts and home appliances. Throughout the 1970s, companies used polybutylene terephthalate polymers like Valox™ because they allowed for easy molding of strong, lightweight, oddly-shaped components. In addition to an ability to withstand harsh chemicals, Valox™ also delivered very high color stability, which led to its widespread use in the making of consumer products. Until the invention of liquid crystal polymers for optical applications in the mid-1980s, Valox™ represented the state of the art in modern, space age, engineering-quality thermoplastics.

In the early 1980s, Buck engineers were looking for a new handle material that would allow them to achieve several important goals as the company's product line expanded. First, they needed a material that would allow for lighter weight knives. Second, this new material had to deliver the same strength and rugged durability for which Buck knives were already well known. Finally, it had to allow Buck designers a way to deliver new, modern-looking knives that could be delivered at lower price points, thus expanding the market. GE's Valox™ was the clear choice, and the BuckLite was born.

First introduced in 1984, the BuckLite family of knives started small, with just three models in two handle colors. The model 422 BuckLite was fashioned after the finger-grooved 112 Ranger and used the same modified clip style blade of that model. The handle surface of these first generation BuckLites featured a very small crosshatch pattern to improve grip, with the finger-grooved side and back edge left smooth. All of the first three models were available in a rich, dark, "chocolate bar brown" color and the 422 was also offered in olive drab. These new knives came standard with an entirely new sheath design to boot, essentially a canvas pouch with a belt loop sewn into the upper half and a Velcro closure at the top. The brown knives came standard with a tan and brown sheath, and the olive drab model 422 came with a green camouflage sheath. Both sold for $12.35, and sold quite well.

The model 424 BuckLite II was essentially a thermoplastic handle version of the 501 Esquire, and used the same size and style drop point blade. Overall length of the BuckLite II was 3.75 inches, just like the 501, but sold for seven dollars less. This made for an extremely light, affordable, and very compact folding knife, and extended the BuckLite family "down-market" just enough to address the needs of the penny pinchers or those simply looking for a little less blade to clang around in their pocket. The 424 is clearly the direct ancestor of the 425 MiniBuck, which was introduced in 1987, and this earlier model helped verify that a large market existed for very small and inexpensive blades.

Part 1...
 
Part 2 ...

Finally, the model 426 BuckLite III was the real pig sticker of the family, intended for those needing more steel than the mid-sized 422 but who were not willing to accept the weight of a traditional full-sized knife. Based on the finger-grooved 110 Hunter and delivering the same overall dimensions, the 426 was really just that, a plastic handled 110 with the same blade length but a huge weight savings. I recently stopped at the post office and weighed a 1984 BuckLite III (3.4 oz.) against a 110 Hunter (7.4 oz.). The 426 delivered the same size blade at less than half the weight! The name "BuckLite" really could not have been more appropriate. Clearly, this was the lightest way to get a 110-sized blade in your pocket or on your belt, and it certainly couldn't hurt that the 426 cost (in 1984) just $13.25 compared to the 110's $21.00. There was another difference between the 426 and the 110, though. For the first two years, the 426 came with a 3.6-inch drop point blade, and of course the 110 had a 3.6 inch modified clip. But in 1986, the BuckLite III was changed to use the same exact blade as the 110, which makes the drop point style 426 somewhat of a harder find for the collector.

Part 2 ...
 
Part 3 ...

All of the models made during this first generation of BuckLites (1984-1987) were built from two pieces of Valox™ sandwiched on either side of the blade, a standard lockback "rocker" and a small tension bar extending from an inner plate that formed the end of the handle. This was all held together at the end with two brass rivets. The blade rotated on a slightly larger brass rivet up front, and the rocker pivoted on a small steel pin positioned about one-third of the handle length back from the blade. This was a very elegant way to apply the new material to an existing design, and one that allowed for the re-use of a number of components, such as the blades and rocker. It turned out to be a design that helped sales of the BuckLite take off from the very beginning, too, since the overall dimensions and operation so closely matched those of the other models, and were thus very familiar, but with a nice savings in both cost and weight. BuckLites weren't just lighter on your belt; they were lighter on your wallet too!

There were some interesting additions to the BuckLite family during this first generation, including a bead-blasted, black-handled 422 intended for law enforcement, special versions created for customers such as Nikon Cameras and Penn State University, and even a 1986 "scrimshaw" model, which featured a white Valox™ handle and a beautiful scene of trees, mountains, and a soaring eagle on one side. Now, technically, this was not intricate carving on real ivory, but the art scene micro-painted on the side of this inexpensive plastic handled knife nonetheless created a very attractive piece of work. This model is somewhat harder to find these days, but there are seemingly dozens of interesting members of the BuckLite family out there that pop up from time to time.

Part 3 ...
 
Part 4 ...

By a wide margin, the best-known "custom" BuckLites during these first four years were those created for the Boy Scouts of America. Just one year after the first BuckLite hit the streets, Buck introduced the model 412 ScoutLite, using the same design, size, and materials as the 422, but with a gorgeous bright red handle and the BSA's "Official Knife" designation etched on the blade. It came with essentially the same canvas sheath as earlier BuckLites, but in Green and Khaki with the BSA logo stitched on the outside. One year later, the ScoutLite was joined by the model 414 CubLite, intended for younger scouts and, of course, based on the 424 BuckLite II, but this time with a really nice dark blue Valox™ handle and, as expected, an appropriately stitched blue and yellow Cub Scout labeled sheath.

In 1988, the BuckLite family was redesigned. For the next eight years, this "second generation" of models saw evolution mostly in the area of handle color, but no radical physical design changes were made beyond this new iteration. The 422, 424, and 426 all used the same size and style of blade as the previous generation, with the primary change being to the construction of the handle. Instead of the two pieces of Valox™ used in the first model, Buck was able to injection-mold a single piece of thermoplastic for the entire handle. This new design was solid at the handle end and open at the front to accept the blade, which is held in place with and pivots on a single brass rivet. An open groove formed along the back accommodates the rocker, and the tension bar for the lock is inserted into a small hole formed at the base of the handle just for that purpose. This eliminated both of the handle end rivets needed in the previous model to hold the "sandwich" together, and allowed for a lanyard hole, which no previous BuckLite had. This so-called "unitized" handle also delivered a further weight reduction, and the 426 dropped from 3.4 to 3.1 ounces. A series of four small horizontal stripes along the back edge of the handle and a new pattern to the texturing completed the redesign, and this generation is easily identified by these features. Another hallmark of these second generation BuckLites is that they were made available, starting in 1991, with bright orange and even camouflage handles, allowing any BuckLite owner to either more easily find, or more easily lose, their knife, depending on whether the knife was dropped in the woods or in a truck full of pumpkins.

Part 4 ...
 
Part 5 ...

Now that you know a short history of the first two generations of the BuckLite family, let's talk about collecting them. The third generation, introduced in 1996, is the same as the BuckLites being made and sold today, so from this collector's standpoint, they aren't quite as interesting as the earlier models.

So what's the attraction to collecting BuckLites? They certainly don't offer the jewel-like beauty of a Yellowhorse, or the history and rarity of a pre-incorporation Al Buck hand-made fixed blade, but for me they offer several distinct advantages. First, they tend to be fairly inexpensive to this day, even the earlier first generation models. Second, they offer a wide variety of sizes, handle colors, and custom versions to potentially track down, which can keep your knife collector's radar quite busy. If you're not sure what you'd like to start collecting next, I can assure you that trying to find one of each model BuckLite ever made is no small task, much less getting them all "new in box" or never sharpened and with their original sheath. For instance, I've been looking for a 1985 bead-blasted black-handled 422 (catalog #898) for a long time, and still can't find any. But for me, the fascination with BuckLites is very personal and goes back over 20 years, to the very beginning. Cue the wavy lines and flashback sound effects...

In the spring of 1984, I was 14 years old and very active in the Boy Scouts. My older brothers were all scouts, too, but none of us had a real Buck knife. One of my brothers had an official Boy Scout sheath knife, which was a fine blade, but the rest of us were using cheap imported Buck 110 knockoffs we got for $5.00 apiece at the Vermont State Fair. I couldn't afford a real Buck Ranger or Hunter with the snow shoveling money I had saved over the winter (and this was not helped by my constantly spending it on firecrackers either), but with some financial help and permission from my parents, I was able to order a model 422 olive drab BuckLite for my birthday. I bought it mail order, direct from Buck, and was thrilled the day it arrived. My imported Buck knockoff had fallen apart earlier that year anyway, but after getting my BuckLite, I didn't even care. No other blade would ever be needed again!

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Part 6 ...

The very first thing I did with my new knife was to bring it with me to school. Nowadays, that would never fly, and I'm sure I couldn't even get it on the school bus, but I hadn't brought it in for any nefarious reason. My freshman shop teacher, Mr. Watkins, had offered to engrave my name into it along the back, in one of those three-eighths-of-an-inch-think slices of polyester resin. He did a great job, too, freehand, and I'm sure he thought I was a little crazy for reminding him fifteen times that I spelled my name "Stephen," with a "ph," NOT with a "v." Hey, who could blame me, this was my first real knife! The last thing I wanted was for it to have some other kid's name on it!

I then spent the last four summers of my Boy Scout years working as a counselor for a Cub Scout and Webelos camp in Benson, Vermont, and my trusty BuckLite never left my side. I used it for everything. I cut rope for knot-tying class, split candy bars right down the middle when two scouts argued over having to share, opened letters from home, and even taught knife safety to the younger scouts using my 422 for demonstrations. I absolutely loved that knife, and nobody that I knew the summer of 1984 had one other than me. Few of the other scouts that year had even seen one. It was pretty neat, being the first kid able to show off a brand-new, super-awesome, ultra-modern GREEN Buck knife. A Velcro-topped camouflage sheath labeled "Buck" was the height of scout camp cool that year. Over the years, a lot of kids showed up with ScoutLites and CubLites on their belts, but I never owned a 412 or 414 until recently. I had never desired another Buck knife while I was a teenager because for me, that original olive drab model 422 was the only knife I ever needed. Even now, a full 20 years later, that trusty BuckLite is my favorite knife. It still locks up nice and tight, with a satisfying click, and cuts anything put to its blade. The blade, however, has more than it's fair share of scratches. I have to admit, I didn't give it the best of care all the time, and it still has a nasty scuff mark from where I repeatedly lit survival matches against the side of the handle. Can you imagine doing something like that with whichever is the prized knife of your collection? Ouch! Of course, it's precisely because this is the knife I did that to that makes it the prized knife of my collection. People develop strange attachments to things, and I guess in that respect I'm no different from anyone. Buck knife collectors, I suspect, probably understand this better than most people.

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Part 7 ...

My BuckLite also played a key roll the last summer I worked at Camp Sunrise, the summer I had graduated from high school and was heading off to college. Scouting makes use of a lot of symbolic rituals, and our camp staff was no exception. On the last day of camp each week, many of the scout's parents would drive up into the woods and stay over that last night, then take their sons home the next morning. The big activity on these Friday nights was, of course, a huge campfire with songs and skits, and my Eagle Scout ceremony was actually held at one of the campfires that summer. I had barely made it, having finished my last merit badge less than a month before turning eighteen, and I proudly wore my BuckLite on my belt as I received the award.

During the Friday night dinner before the campfire at the end of each week, we asked everybody attending to do something special on their way to event. Each person was to pick up a twig from the ground and bring it with them. They were never told what it was for until the end of that closing campfire. At the conclusion of the festivities, after the last song, all of the scouts, their parents, and the staff would walk past the campfire in silence, heading back to their camp sites, and ceremonially toss their twig into the burning mass of wood, leaving a little reminder of themselves behind. The ashes from that fire ring were never removed, and it just got a little bigger each year. Our camp director took this ritual very seriously. I remember several times when we had to shovel all of the ashes out of the fireplace in the dining hall and carry them down the hill to the outdoor campfire ring because the closing ceremony had been held indoors due to a torrential downpour.

Part 7 ...
 
Part 8 ...

The last summer I worked there, I picked up a small stick every Friday morning and spent my free time that day carving rings and names and other designs into the wood with my BuckLite. They were pretty simple at first, just a little bark taken neatly off each end, and maybe a checkerboard pattern for an inch or so in the middle. Every single one went into the flames during those Friday night campfires. Over the summer, my carvings got more and more elaborate, to the point where I finally had the names of all my friends, the year (1987) and some pretty intricate designs going up and down the stick. When I delivered my final wooden offering into the flames at the last campfire of the summer (what would be the last campfire of my whole Boy Scout career), I wanted to leave behind a little something extra.

I felt I was offering a piece of myself to Camp Sunrise, a piece of me carved into existence with my BuckLite. Maybe it was a little part of my soul, maybe just the crazy idea of some high-strung teenager heading off to college, and maybe it was just a carved up stick. For some reason, it just felt right to do this, to pour my energy and creativity into something that, through its destruction, could take on a greater meaning. To this day, I still think fondly of my Boy Scout days, and the unlimited possibilities available to a good scout with a sharp knife. Knowing that the ashes from those carvings are still in that campfire ring on the edge of Lake Sunrise, along with those from the twigs of thousands of other scouts over the years, brings me peace.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about the BuckLite family of knives, and of my personal connection to these great products that bind the extended Buck family together.

-end-

Very Cool... :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
Thanks Steve, for the great write up... It was great talking with you on the phone and Thanks for the Bucklites that I will post soon...
(Steve wrote this a few years ago)... He knows a lot more about Bucklites then I will ever know... Can't wait to talk with him again...
 
The Bucklite is the only 110 format knife that can accept a push pin lanyard anchor because it is molded in one piece. The absence of rivets and the presence of a lanyard hole means that you can size the hole to accept a push pin.
People who sky dive, are circus acrobats, gallop on horses, ride pogo sticks, bounce on trampolines, etc. like to have a safety lanyard. People who gut fresh carcasses like to have a detachable lanyard to avoid blood on the bloody thing.
The Bucklite solves all the problems. A 3/32" hole accepts the push pin. The push pin anchors the lanyard. We are having cake and eating it too.View attachment 387394
 
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