BUCK stories

One day when I was about 11 I was hanging around with an occasional friend and right there on the sidewalk was a Buck 110 in the sheath that the lucky rat had spotted and picked up first.
He didn't know what it was, but I instantly recognized it as a " BUCK KNIFE " and from that day I dreamed of owning a Buck 110.
A few years later another friend who lived next door to my dads house had found a Buck 110 in the cushions of a couch they had recently bought at a yardsale, and his dad let him keep it.

I could never afford it and my mom would never let me have one anyways, the problem was that my brother was severely ADD ADHD & Bipolar so my mom wouldn't let him have a pocket knife and didn't think it would be fair to let me have one.
I had plenty of cheap knives that I kept at my dads house ( she understood the importance of father son stuff ) that I never bragged about or anything ,and I always discretely kept my grandfather's yellow Victorinox classic in my pocket but even if my dad wasn't cheap and bought me a Buck 110 I could never have carried it discretely around my mom / siblings.

Then by the time I was old enough to be earning money here and there raking leaves or washing neighbors cars...etc my brother who's 2 years older had turned 18 and could buy / help me buy knives whenever so we both spent a lot of our money at this store down the street.
Multiple times I was tempted to buy a $9 110 knockoff but just knew it would not be the same, I should have just saved for a real 110 but didn't quite know yet that it was really that much better than all the various cheap knives I could buy for that $40. I knew the real 110 was better than the knockoff at least, but I was still enticed by all the cheap one handed stuff.

Fast forward a couple years and my mom asked me what I wanted as my High School graduation gift, which I instantly knew had to be a Buck 110.
The day I brought it home I was proudly showing that beautiful shiny knife to everybody, I showed it to my grandmother and will never forget what she said.
" Those were the Sh.t back in the day, and you were nobody unless you had a Buck knife ".
She knew a lot of bikers and stuff back in the 60's-70's and so I suppose in her circles the Buck 110 may have actually been somewhat of a status symbol.

When I got the knife I took a dremel and put my initials in the handle.
Then a few years back my aunt bought me a metal stamp set and mentioned something about " you can even stamp something onto your knife there ", I said yeah maybe but could tell she was feeling like I didn't like the gift, so when I went out to my uncle's workshop to see the Go-karts he was building I brought those stamps along and stamped my 110 to show her how well they worked.
20240904_120606.jpg

20240904_120615.jpg
 
That's a great story. I just discovered this morning that BUCK came out with the 110 in 1964, with a bejillion clones to follow. So.... I went to the man cave and got out my one and only 110 and it is slated to go with me to Canada on a canoe trip of a lifetime in a few days. I have it on my hip now and practicing-- Look out thar ya darn beaver!!!

bl3.jpg
 
One day when I was about 11 I was hanging around with an occasional friend and right there on the sidewalk was a Buck 110 in the sheath that the lucky rat had spotted and picked up first.
He didn't know what it was, but I instantly recognized it as a " BUCK KNIFE " and from that day I dreamed of owning a Buck 110.
A few years later another friend who lived next door to my dads house had found a Buck 110 in the cushions of a couch they had recently bought at a yardsale, and his dad let him keep it.

I could never afford it and my mom would never let me have one anyways, the problem was that my brother was severely ADD ADHD & Bipolar so my mom wouldn't let him have a pocket knife and didn't think it would be fair to let me have one.
I had plenty of cheap knives that I kept at my dads house ( she understood the importance of father son stuff ) that I never bragged about or anything ,and I always discretely kept my grandfather's yellow Victorinox classic in my pocket but even if my dad wasn't cheap and bought me a Buck 110 I could never have carried it discretely around my mom / siblings.

Then by the time I was old enough to be earning money here and there raking leaves or washing neighbors cars...etc my brother who's 2 years older had turned 18 and could buy / help me buy knives whenever so we both spent a lot of our money at this store down the street.
Multiple times I was tempted to buy a $9 110 knockoff but just knew it would not be the same, I should have just saved for a real 110 but didn't quite know yet that it was really that much better than all the various cheap knives I could buy for that $40. I knew the real 110 was better than the knockoff at least, but I was still enticed by all the cheap one handed stuff.

Fast forward a couple years and my mom asked me what I wanted as my High School graduation gift, which I instantly knew had to be a Buck 110.
The day I brought it home I was proudly showing that beautiful shiny knife to everybody, I showed it to my grandmother and will never forget what she said.
" Those were the Sh.t back in the day, and you were nobody unless you had a Buck knife ".
She knew a lot of bikers and stuff back in the 60's-70's and so I suppose in her circles the Buck 110 may have actually been somewhat of a status symbol.

When I got the knife I took a dremel and put my initials in the handle.
Then a few years back my aunt bought me a metal stamp set and mentioned something about " you can even stamp something onto your knife there ", I said yeah maybe but could tell she was feeling like I didn't like the gift, so when I went out to my uncle's workshop to see the Go-karts he was building I brought those stamps along and stamped my 110 to show her how well they worked.
View attachment 2653633

View attachment 2653635
Your grandmother was correct. I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota and used to frequent Sturgis in the 80's through about 2003 and back in the good old days, you'd see Buck 110's on everyone's belt, especially 1%ers
 
That's a great story. I just discovered this morning that BUCK came out with the 110 in 1964, with a bejillion clones to follow. So.... I went to the man cave and got out my one and only 110 and it is slated to go with me to Canada on a canoe trip of a lifetime in a few days. I have it on my hip now and practicing-- Look out thar ya darn beaver!!!

View attachment 2653804
If you're only going to have one 110 that's definitely a good way to go.

Personally if I was going on a canoe trip
I think a 110 more like this might be my choice, because that one is just too nice.
20230127_112653~2.jpg
 
That's a great story. I just discovered this morning that BUCK came out with the 110 in 1964, with a bejillion clones to follow. So.... I went to the man cave and got out my one and only 110 and it is slated to go with me to Canada on a canoe trip of a lifetime in a few days. I have it on my hip now and practicing-- Look out thar ya darn beaver!!!

View attachment 2653804
Your 110 has just the right amount of decoration - excellent!
 
Motorcycle Clubs, often referred to by some as outlaw motorcycle gangs.
You mean the guy that wears the leather jacket on the weekend and sits in an office chair during the week?

😁
 
You mean the guy that wears the leather jacket on the weekend and sits in an office chair during the week?

😁
Haha! Oh yeah, I've seen plenty of those types over the years. Especially after 2000. A lot of doctors, accountants and lawyers trailer their bikes up or rent bikes and dress like bikers for the week. The only surefire way to spot a real biker is to see one with a legitimate club patch, theyre the real deal.

Back in the 80's, outlaw MC clubs were the coolest dudes on Main Street Sturgis. I was always enamoured by their swagger and club patches. Everyone showed respect to them, even the Police. They didn't look for trouble, but they were ready to handle business if they needed to.
 
There is a much darker side to motorcycle gangs, the reputation engendered thereof is well deserved. There is a range, of course. Some of the warmer fuzzier guys host fundraisers for children, for example. But the originals have always been heavy into drugs, prostitution, violence and theft. Don't let the macho nostalgia ticket fool you into thinking otherwise. I rode a Harley for years and met a lot of people of all types.
 
Well, I have a leather jacket, a Buck 110, my neighbors cat is named Harley and I work with a guy who’s last name is Davidson !
I don’t have a bike but I do have a four wheeler! 😝
 
Seriously, though... What a long, strange trip it's been.
When I was in the Navy the 110 was very popular. I thought it was a pretty nifty knife. I went to a hardware store in Groton, CT, and bought one. That was circa 1975 and after careful examination I'm pretty sure it is a V5V4 from 1974, the first of the two-dots. I wore out the original sheath crawling around under cars and trucks and such, and found a replacement sheath for it in Jackson Hole, WY.
That was my only Buck until 1989, when I decided that I needed a nice pocket knife and bought a 703 Colt. Then around 1991-92 I got a hankerin' for a fixed blade and bought a 119.
Things were quiet until around 2018 when I again got the fever and decided I needed a new knife of some kind. Shopping around a sporting goods store I came across a 503 and bought it.
It was about that time that I first stopped into the local knife shop. Pat carries lots of new knives and lots of old knives. He goes to a lot of shows and does a lot of trading. I've long wanted a 112 and was about ready to order one when a two-dot showed up at his store and I bought it. Things kind of got out of control after that. I've added a 112FG, a 112LT (bought at another store), and a 112 Slim Select (nail nick version, ordered from Buck). And I've bought a 532 (and later found a matching sheath for it in his store), and a 105, 102, 117, 309, and 305.
My latest find, just last week, was a 1978-80 501 (440C. old English script, maroon linen "Buckarta," and SS liners and bolsters).
And that original 110? It's been in two different black leather sheaths and a nylon/poly sheath. Then about six weeks ago I found (again at Pat's store) this brown leather snap-flap sheath that I understand was a limited production in the early 1980s. Perfect!

The first...
53876966386_b465819fc9_b.jpg


and the latest.
53960176977_ff3d5f9b80_b.jpg


(I might just get around to ordering a sheath for the 501 later this year.)
 
Back
Top