Two or three years ago my brother gave me a beat up Buck 110 that he found. It probably was sitting in the bilge of a boat — the bolsters were corroded and looked to be pitted from electrolysis and the blade was over sharpened, probably on a grinder. A section of it chipped away and I had to sharpen past it. There was a small but pronounced recurve that I had to file to get the angle back to something I could sharpen. The dymondwood scales were swollen and sat proud of the bolsters. I personally find it easier to put a knife with blemishes to work than a brand new knife, so that became my everyday carry knife. I used some triangle files to “checker” the scales just because. I literally carry it everywhere. It’s been up a couple of mountains in Vermont, in the woods in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, it comes with me on fishing trips, and to the beach. I’ve carved spoons with it, cut bait with it, and used it to dig clams in the sand.
I tend to find something I like and stick with it, and often that leads me to “stockpile” a few in the event that I lose or damage one. Needless to say I have a few 110s, some older models and some brand new. Yeah, there are ”better” knives, with better steel and pocket clips and that are lighter and able to be opened with one hand. I don’t buy a lot of stuff—I enjoy knives and guns, so I budget and save for them. Occasionally, if I see a good deal online, I succumb to temptation and snap it up. But a free, beat up knife can’t be passed up, and it came on a lot of adventures and performed a lot of mundane tasks. To me a 110 is like a Smith and Wesson revolver. It’s simple and it gets the job done.
I lost my very first 110 that I bought in 1995 at Stoddards on Temple Place in Boston many years ago, probably during a move. The next one I bought was from the now-defunct Yankee Tackle in Gloucester, MA. Incidentally, I got a bunch of 442s with the drop point blade, a few 119s, and a few 110s, as well as a few Penn reels and two bottom fishing outfits at something like 75% off when Yankee was going out of business sometime around 2006 and they were liquidating their inventory. I retired that second 110 after using it daily for years on the party boats and whale watch boats and lobstering in the summers because it, too, accompanied me on some adventures.
I have another 110, also somewhat beat up but just as serviceable, an early 1992 model, on deck, but I hadn’t committed to retiring the one my brother gave me. But over the last few days, having been laid up with the virus, I had some time to tighten the blade play and sharpen it up, and it seems like the right time to retire the one given to me by my brother. I have a box of a few used knives, none of much monetary value, but ones that I did a lot with and have some sentimental value because of the memories they hold of all of the little adventures they've been on. The old checkered-side 110 has joined them.
I tend to find something I like and stick with it, and often that leads me to “stockpile” a few in the event that I lose or damage one. Needless to say I have a few 110s, some older models and some brand new. Yeah, there are ”better” knives, with better steel and pocket clips and that are lighter and able to be opened with one hand. I don’t buy a lot of stuff—I enjoy knives and guns, so I budget and save for them. Occasionally, if I see a good deal online, I succumb to temptation and snap it up. But a free, beat up knife can’t be passed up, and it came on a lot of adventures and performed a lot of mundane tasks. To me a 110 is like a Smith and Wesson revolver. It’s simple and it gets the job done.
I lost my very first 110 that I bought in 1995 at Stoddards on Temple Place in Boston many years ago, probably during a move. The next one I bought was from the now-defunct Yankee Tackle in Gloucester, MA. Incidentally, I got a bunch of 442s with the drop point blade, a few 119s, and a few 110s, as well as a few Penn reels and two bottom fishing outfits at something like 75% off when Yankee was going out of business sometime around 2006 and they were liquidating their inventory. I retired that second 110 after using it daily for years on the party boats and whale watch boats and lobstering in the summers because it, too, accompanied me on some adventures.
I have another 110, also somewhat beat up but just as serviceable, an early 1992 model, on deck, but I hadn’t committed to retiring the one my brother gave me. But over the last few days, having been laid up with the virus, I had some time to tighten the blade play and sharpen it up, and it seems like the right time to retire the one given to me by my brother. I have a box of a few used knives, none of much monetary value, but ones that I did a lot with and have some sentimental value because of the memories they hold of all of the little adventures they've been on. The old checkered-side 110 has joined them.
