General, model 120, vintage fighting/survival/camp knife

I don't know.

:)

On a deal like that you just wait and see what you get......I hope it's good, whatever it is.

As far as mine go.....no, all I have as to date is the same info you have on them.
 
The rest of the story: I took possession of the sheath today, met the vendor at the Albany, OR show, and it is as new and terrific:

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There are two places where the tip of the blade has gone right thru the sheath. Put the knife into the sheath as careful as can be and peek-a-boo the tip of the blade pokes out a bit:

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Inside the snap, female side, is stamped "RAU F CO PROV RI" and there is this hoop of copper wire.

Note: No "BUCK" imprint on the snap's outer face. It is smooth.

Interesting font used on the "BUCK" stamp on the flap above the snap. Looks western-like.

I'm tickled that the knife and sheath are in such great condition.

A happy ending.
 
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You couldn't be more right Mitch W. The tip of the knife's blade goes right thru the sheath as if it was designed to do this. Perhaps this is one of the reasons Buck began making sheaths in house at this point.

Do you think that there is any doubt about the correctness of the sheath? It looks like an in-house buck sheath so 1969 seems right to me.
 
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Oregon, There is for me no doubt your 120 sheath is an Atkinson sheath. That company was the only one which used that style snap and made sheaths for Buck in 1968. I was a little suprised a flap over was in use at that time. So, I made a note of it. All is correct for that year model. Thank you for showing us this piece of valuable history. DM
 
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The sheath is Atchison not Atkinson.

It is correct for that knife, as Atchison made sheaths for Buck from some point in '67 to some point in '69.

The slashes in the sheath look like accidental slashes from the outside rather than originally coming from the inside.

The fact that the blade protrudes, I'd say, is coincidence.

I hope you got a discount for that sadly damaged sheath. The seller had an obvious reason for holding it back to be sent along later (represented as new condition)......not real ethical selling.

What a great knife, though.

I have at least two of these sheaths......found them recently when a question was asked.

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I have three 2-line knives with the red bone hard fiber spacers. A #119 and a #104 twin set (102 & 103). Both sheaths are flap sheaths with BUCK on a silver snap. Both have a black smooth rivit as shown on the 119 sheath below. My 119 is identical to your 120 in appearance except for length. All my 2+2 3-line knife sheaths are like the 102 sheath on the right with the dimpled rivit.

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I have three 2-line knives with the red bone hard fiber spacers. A #119 and a #104 twin set (102 & 103). Both sheaths are flap sheaths with BUCK on a silver snap. Both have a black smooth rivit as shown on the 119 sheath below. My 119 is identical to your 120 in appearance except for length. All my 2+2 3-line knife sheaths are like the 102 sheath on the right with the dimpled rivit.

BuckSheathsa.jpg

That would be correct. The 4 spacer configuration with a three line stamp wouldn't have been till '72. The embossed belt loop ended in '69, So the dimple rivet would have followed and that would make your knives have the correct sheaths.
 
Sky, Your 2 liner knives could have sheaths from 1969-71 as the 'Buck' on snap is present. DM
 
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I hate to be presumptuous in my first post here but I have the same 120 and sheath complete with "slices". Thank you for your work on the historical life for the 120. I was just wondering why Buck would design a sheath that could be damaged.

Again thanks for the in-depth info.
 
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A hearty welcome to the forum PVSSTDI and thank you kindly for spelling that fancy word. :) I'm pretty sure that I would have missed the second "u" on the first go.
 
I do thank you. I just got this 120 and I hate to admit it from flea bay but the price was under 55. Sometimes you get lucky... interestingly the knife was shipped from the state above you, last Monday.. A little elbow grease and some shoe polish has brought the sheath back to life. The 120 blade is in near perfect shape and as a whole I am pleased.

As I previously indicated the sheath design is very far from being acceptable. I have seen 2 others in the same sliced condition. It is comforting to have the 105, 119 & 120 side by side abd see the differences.

ps like the Rev'it gloves I am an Ironbutt rider and uses QWI gloves.
 
I'm impressed that a guy went back and proof read his post, caught the spelling error and corrected it. DM
 
Beating the Buck forum bushes a bit of history/dating information popped up.

Joe Houser, talking about "bone hard fiber" on 3-11-2010, "Buck switched from BHF to micarta in late 1970". This fiber is no longer available.

Joe Houser, typing about Atchison Leather sheaths on 3-16-2010, "model number stamped ON the belt loop", "have a plain snap", "in 67-68 timeframe Buck had a company called Atchison Leather making there sheaths. In 1969, the operation was brought in house."


The correct sheath for this vintage 120 General should have a sheath with the model number stamped on the back of the belt loop, a plain snap on the keeper strap (no "BUCK" stamped on the snap) and it was made by Atchison Leather and not in house by Buck.


I have a 120 that I purchased either in the latter part of 1966 or very early in 1967 at the Special Forces book store at Ft Bragg while in the SF Qualification Course. I graduated in April, 1967. It looks like your knife. The sheath that it came with doesn't have 120 on the belt loop, it has Buck stamped on the flap, and Buck stamped on the snap. The knife and the sheath have been in my possession since I purchased it.


After years of hard field use, the sheath was never cut/sliced by the blade.
 
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Arise! I command you to arise and live again!

HaHa! Just kidding.

I do love that 120 my father bought me so many years ago and I have never felt the need to buy any other big knife. I was at the same place you were, E19, only a decade later.
 
Kind of interesting...I have the exact same sheath & knife with two similar cuts on the outside in the same location. I don't think they go through as they seem split from the outside.
 
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