Buck 110 vs Modern Folders

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Bear Claw Chris Lappe said:
$39.99+tax for another one, vs $4.95 to send it to Buck and get it fixed, or exchanged for a new one?

Honestly not trying to be a wisea**, but I don't follow the logic here?

Although, as much as I like the 110's, I can see both sides here. As far as it "holding up" against "modern folders", I think if used for what a knife is supposed to be used for, cutting, it will do just fine. Pocket clips and thumbstuds have nothing to do with how well a knife "holds up", so I won't address those, the only real point here is the locking systems. And "if" someone goes beyond the cutting tasks that the folding hunter was intended for, and starts treating their knife like a splitting maul or hatchet, then yeah, I can see a 110 developing play. A few twigs or sticks, no, mine have done that many times with no problem, but brass bolsters with a brass pin, were never intended to be beat on, or hacked with against wood.
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I can explain the logic, at least for me.

Several years ago when RAZORBLADEs (or was it BADHAMMER? It was the commercial fisherman from Nova Scotia) complained about vertical play on a new 110 (custom, I think) it kicked off a long and lively thread in the Buck subforum. This was back when Joe Houser still participated in the forum.

At that time, I mentioned that I had 2 Bucklite Max folders that had each developed scary amounts of vertical play in less than a year each. I sent mine to Joe so they could figure out what was going on but told him to keep them. By that point, I had already concluded the design was weak compared to the Opinels I was also using and I knew that unless Buck changed the design or materials used in those knives, I would just wreck any fresh ones. It just didn't make any sense to ask for new ones as I wouldn't trust them or want to gift them to anybody.

I disagree with the assertion that this is all about lock strength. It is not.

There are three ways a folding knife can develop play and they're different:
1) Vertical play from hard cutting forces
2) Lateral play from hard lateral or twisting forces
3) Accidental closure (aka lock failure) from strong closing forces

I'm only concerned about the first 2. I treat all folding knives like slip joints and try to never rely on the lock holding.

I DO NOT consider the first 2 to be "abuse" - my Opinels have taught me that. In terms of hard cutting and lateral play, the Opinel is something like a stick tang fixed blade. Either the blade or the wood handle itself will break before the joint will.

I think what can be said is that the soft brass pins and brass bolsters were made for hunting and general use and for that, they hold well.

But they weren't made for hard cutting (large cutting and lateral forces). Other folding knives (the Opinel is one) are.

Like I said in my first post in this thread, "horses for courses". I carry my 110 for hunting and love it for that. But that doesn't mean that hard use above what the 110 can handle is "abuse".
 
OK.^
I use a knife for cutting, basically, and like traditional and modern folders the same. But, I do prefer pocket clip .
That's all.
 
People didn't have to start in their 110's have been used hard for years, no blade play. They did and I say it's not so. buckman110 said he'd send me a choice example to try out, I agreed. Then nothing from him at all. I used a Buck 110 and it just about fell apart. Someone with great experience told me those people saying that their 110's hold up are full of crap. They all loosen up and the users hammer them back, then they loosen up again , they wind up sending them back to Buck, or throwing them in a drawer. They also told me if the Buck was over 100 dollars those same people wouldn't buy them. They do because they're cheap. I'm all for the truth, my experience with a new Buck 110 is it does not compare to modern folders, even the cheaper ones at all. I know there's a lot of romance and history behind the knife, but if people can't handle how it's durability stands they shouldn't brag beyond it's capability. I've no problem with the 110 cutting things just fine. But, it can't handle even moderate hard use without loosening up and my other modern folders ALL handle it with no loosening at all.
 
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My mom fell over with a heart attack last night, i will get to u when i can. This is not my top priority right now.
 
buckman110 said:
My mom fell over with a heart attack last night, i will get to u when i can. This is not my top priority right now.
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Hope she recovers and is fine. You can email me when ever you get the chance, I had no idea as you showed online here long after our agreement to send a solid 110 out to me to try and report back. I can even mail back your 6 dollars it cost you to send it, when I return it.
 
backpedal-post.gif
 
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jill jackson said:
People didn't have to start in their 110's have been used hard for years, no blade play.
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That goes along with "Hey You'll I have taken my bucK nife and skinned 45 of them there deer and never had to sharpen it yet"..........

And

"I have had my buck nife 4er 30 ears and and karred it everday and it's still like brand new.... U shud get U 1 of them there buk nives dern at the wal-mart...."
 
buckman110 said:
My mom fell over with a heart attack last night, i will get to u when i can. This is not my top priority right now.
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buckman you should really get offline and help the rest of your family out in this time of need. Your green light beside your name shows you've been on over an hour since you posted this. Priorities you know.;)
 
jill jackson said:
buckman you should really get offline and help the rest of your family out in this time of need. Your green light beside your name shows you've been on over an hour since you posted this. Priorities you know.;)
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BTW Jill, Buckman's second to the last post was 11 hours ago if I'm not mistaken...
 
I'll look forward to trying out your 110 and seeing if it indeed is a lot tougher than mine was. Hope your Mom is Okay.
 
Never thought I'd have to use the ignore function on these forums. Huh...first time for everything I guess.

The Buck 110 is a fine knife for its designed purposes. One sample of a Buck 110 can be and has been used for decades for use as a hunting knife. No, it is not designed for hard use as many of the modern folders today are. As such, it would not hold up nearly as well to hard use as a modern folder that was designed with those purposes in mind.

Now, if you're talking about cutting things, if I put up my Strider SNG in S30V against a Buck 110 in S30V from their custom shop, I'd be interested to see what would be more useful for cutting. My money is on the Buck 110.

Gutting/Skinning a deer? I'll take the 110.

Going to war? Construction worker? I'll take the Strider.

It's all about personal usage. Some people subject their knives to hard use on a daily basis, others use them just for light duty cutting. The choice of knife has to coincide with that person's usage.

This is kind of a dumb discussion. The Buck 110 is not a modern design and was not designed with hard use in mind. It obviously will not hold up to hard use better than modern folders that are specifically designed for that.
 
Snap cutting little thorn limbs no more than 1/4" across is something I use a knife for more than anything. (that's all I bother cutting, as the ones without thorns are easily brushed to the side in passing) As they overgrow my hiking trails all the time. The 110 cut them very well, but it also loosened up like crazy, I'd hardly call that use hard use at all. Who wants to use a knife with a blade that's loose in 4 directions? I sure don't when there's so many other choices costing no more than the 110, or even less that hold up just fine. Yes it's a dumb discussion, but I find it made that way by the ones in the thread that claim they can use a 110 hard for years without any blade play whatsoever.
 
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NYOutdoors said:
Never thought I'd have to use the ignore function on these forums. Huh...first time for everything I guess.

The Buck 110 is a fine knife for its designed purposes. One sample of a Buck 110 can be and has been used for decades for use as a hunting knife. No, it is not designed for hard use as many of the modern folders today are. As such, it would not hold up nearly as well to hard use as a modern folder that was designed with those purposes in mind.
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Yeah if used as the typical hunting knife that might actually get used maybe once or twice a year.....


NYOutdoors said:
Now, if you're talking about cutting things, if I put up my Strider SNG in S30V against a Buck 110 in S30V from their custom shop, I'd be interested to see what would be more useful for cutting. My money is on the Buck 110.

Gutting/Skinning a deer? I'll take the 110.

Going to war? Construction worker? I'll take the Strider.
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The 110 has better blade geometry than the typical SnG.....


NYOutdoors said:
It's all about personal usage. Some people subject their knives to hard use on a daily basis, others use them just for light duty cutting. The choice of knife has to coincide with that person's usage.

This is kind of a dumb discussion. The Buck 110 is not a modern design and was not designed with hard use in mind. It obviously will not hold up to hard use better than modern folders that are specifically designed for that.
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It actually turned into one once the BS stories started to fly like they always seem to when threads like these come up...

If a person uses a 110 daily under normal use it will loosen up over time and develop blade play, normal wear will cause that, the brass bolsters and pin along with the lock back design will develop play.....
 
NYOutdoors said:
...

....The Buck 110 is not a modern design and was not designed with hard use in mind. It obviously will not hold up to hard use better than modern folders that are specifically designed for that.
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Yup agreed, trouble started when somebody started saying otherwise.

But I guess you have me on ignore...:p
 
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