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- Oct 4, 2009
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Sorry DM that you can't read this, but I'll post this for others: here is an interesting brief excerpt that sheds a little light on the design history of the Classic 111:
from "A Classic Story" by Vern Taylor
Briefly, (summary) the engraver had in mind an old style gentleman's engraved jewelry knife and wanted to use silver. The price of silver then skyrocketed so aluminum was chosen for the handle (frame). Buck had in mind something for camping and hiking so aluminum's lightness suited thier concept. (This was before titanium became useful for production knives.) They chose the 110 size blade for its popularity. So the Classic 111 was a hybrid, neither a hiking/camping knife nor a jewelry knife. It succeeded for a while, but not for the reasons either imagined. It succeeded because the urban cowboy craze came into fashion. It sold well enough to add others to the line, the 510, 513 and 515. Then the cowboy craze died out and the knives were discontinued....
(The previous excerpt I posted mentioned production problems encountered and model variations that resulted.)
from "A Classic Story" by Vern Taylor
Briefly, (summary) the engraver had in mind an old style gentleman's engraved jewelry knife and wanted to use silver. The price of silver then skyrocketed so aluminum was chosen for the handle (frame). Buck had in mind something for camping and hiking so aluminum's lightness suited thier concept. (This was before titanium became useful for production knives.) They chose the 110 size blade for its popularity. So the Classic 111 was a hybrid, neither a hiking/camping knife nor a jewelry knife. It succeeded for a while, but not for the reasons either imagined. It succeeded because the urban cowboy craze came into fashion. It sold well enough to add others to the line, the 510, 513 and 515. Then the cowboy craze died out and the knives were discontinued....
(The previous excerpt I posted mentioned production problems encountered and model variations that resulted.)
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