Hard to beat the Buck 110 as an all around folder.

Alone said:
Good Lord! That's one I hadn't heard in a bit.

My original '82 "P.K. Ripper" got a resto about a decade ago and still sits (*under about two pounds of dust) in my garage.



*My apologies for the threadjack. Carry on...
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Bushleague270 said:
The Kuwahara is long gone, but I do still have my late 90's Ryan Nyquist Bactrail Pro still hanging in the shed. At that point they were trying to build them bullet proof at any cost, and I'm sure that bike weighs about 45lbs. Always hoped one of my kids might want it, but alas...* threadjack over*
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Let me add my own apologies for the threadjack, but hot damn! Alone Alone - I knew you were a badass, but knowing you’re into 80s BMX ups the ante. And B Bushleague270 - Kuwaharas are awesome.

I’ve been riding the things forever and restored a bunch with my son as he got into it.

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My son’s ‘83 Expert:

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And to answer the OP - yes, it’s hard to beat a Buck 110. I love the things and have several.

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My Dad (*RIP) was a LIFELONG Hunter and Sportsman. For as long as I knew him, he hunted and fished...and only had ONE knife on his belt...his trusty Buck 110. If he was afield, that black leather sheath was always on his belt. I can't even count how many whitetail that I saw him gut/skin/quarter with his trusty 110.

He never took advantage of Buck's "Lifetime Warranty". He would just score a new 110 about every decade or so. I reckon that he probably scored his first one from the "BX", just before he got out of the Army.


Here's his second-to-last, whooped-ass "4-dot" (*and sheath), complete with broken/"reprofiled" tip...



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*Dad was a "Man's Man", and I wouldn't trade the above 110 for ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD.
 
At one time, a Buck 110 was my EDC work knife . . .and I used hem. When I first entered the workforce in the early 1970s, that was THE knife to have on your belt. I worked for a tree surgery company, climbing, pruning and doing take-downs. I wanted a reliable le rope cutter close at hand.

A few years later, in the early 1980s, I changed career paths and worked on oil rigs in the desert and offshore, both domestically and in The Middle East. . . . a drilling fluids specialist ("Mud Man") . This often had me cutting open 100 pound sacks of additives for the mud . . .sometimes 50 or more sacks one after another. Other times it was bags of cement.

I wore out or broke more than one of these knives doing that work. The blades would wear down to a recurved profile. The handles would listen up at the pins and pivot.Sometimes a good squeeze in a bench vice would help. Sometimes not.I managed to snap off a few blade tips getting something done "right now." Sure, the right tool for the job is a prudent and professional approach to work . . . but when it comes down to it, tat times, the "right tool for the job" is what you have at the time.

Back then, Buck, Schrade and maybe Case were what was available in a locking folder. I preferred Buck as the best of the lot, but found the 110 and 120 to be barely up to the task in the 198i0s. Even when not being destroyed by abuse, the brass would tarnish and pit, and the beautiful Rosewood scales turned Ebony black pretty quick (but not a good Boney black). The early models had sharp corners and edges that wore out pockets if not in a belt pouch . . .and I never did like the clip point profile.

Left the oil business when it all crashed in the late 1980s.. Retrained and hanged career paths again to work in a hospital setting doing cardiac treadmill stress tests with isotope (Nuclear Medicine) . . .and switch my EDC to a Leatherman tool.

Don't know what would really do the job and stand up to it today. Synthetic handle for sure. My current EDC continues to be a Leatherman, now a Wave+. I have that with me whenever I put my pants on. Have a few pocketable folders, Buck, Spiderco, and CRKT, but they stay home.
 
Railsplitter said:
Back in the late 70’s when everybody and their brother had a 110 on their belt, I had a 112.

Nowadays, I have a 3 inch blade restriction in my area but I would still prefer the 112 even if I didn’t.

I have three or four 110’s and they are impossible not to like.
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Come and live in Texas. In public, we can openly wear about any blade except for maybe a Japanese Katana or a Roman Gladius.
 
VorpelSword said:
At one time, a Buck 110 was my EDC work knife . . .and I used hem. When I first entered the workforce in the early 1970s, that was THE knife to have on your belt. I worked for a tree surgery company, climbing, pruning and doing take-downs. I wanted a reliable le rope cutter close at hand.

A few years later, in the early 1980s, I changed career paths and worked on oil rigs in the desert and offshore, both domestically and in The Middle East. . . . a drilling fluids specialist ("Mud Man") . This often had me cutting open 100 pound sacks of additives for the mud . . .sometimes 50 or more sacks one after another. Other times it was bags of cement.

I wore out or broke more than one of these knives doing that work. The blades would wear down to a recurved profile. The handles would listen up at the pins and pivot.Sometimes a good squeeze in a bench vice would help. Sometimes not.I managed to snap off a few blade tips getting something done "right now." Sure, the right tool for the job is a prudent and professional approach to work . . . but when it comes down to it, tat times, the "right tool for the job" is what you have at the time.

Back then, Buck, Schrade and maybe Case were what was available in a locking folder. I preferred Buck as the best of the lot, but found the 110 and 120 to be barely up to the task in the 198i0s. Even when not being destroyed by abuse, the brass would tarnish and pit, and the beautiful Rosewood scales turned Ebony black pretty quick (but not a good Boney black). The early models had sharp corners and edges that wore out pockets if not in a belt pouch . . .and I never did like the clip point profile.

Left the oil business when it all crashed in the late 1980s.. Retrained and hanged career paths again to work in a hospital setting doing cardiac treadmill stress tests with isotope (Nuclear Medicine) . . .and switch my EDC to a Leatherman tool.

Don't know what would really do the job and stand up to it today. Synthetic handle for sure. My current EDC continues to be a Leatherman, now a Wave+. I have that with me whenever I put my pants on. Have a few pocketable folders, Buck, Spiderco, and CRKT, but they stay home.
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Somehow I knew we would hear from you in this thread. I was thinking about your use and probably the 110 was as good as anything you would have found back then. Even today with all our choices, if you are wearing out knives it might be a good choice as inexpensive and easy to find as it is.
 
Wheni was a kid, my dad had a cool hunting buddy that drove an iroc and carried his 110 upside down so it fell into his hand when he popped the button. He had some trick for opening it one handed quickly that involved his pants leg, apparently. One night at the Elks lodge after a bunch of bud lites he was showing off and cut through his jeans and his leg. He wrapped it up and drove straight to the hospital for a bunch of stitches.
 
DMG said:
Somehow I knew we would hear from you in this thread. I was thinking about your use and probably the 110 was as good as anything you would have found back then. Even today with all our choices, if you are wearing out knives it might be a good choice as inexpensive and easy to find as it is.
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Thank you . . you've nailed it right open the head.

Back then it was "just a tool" . . .and in the context of '70s & '80s oil field work, everything was used pretreat roughly to do rough work expediently.

It was common to see a pipe wench large enough to have a three foot long handle that had been slightly bent from repeted use with a pipe cheater.

My apologies for being predictable. On ly have q few knife experiences but do have a lot of time to share them now-a-days.
 
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VorpelSword said:
Thank you . . you've nailed it right open the head.

Back then it was "just a tool" . . .and in the context of '70s/'80s oil field work, everything was used pretreat roughly to do rough work expediently.

It was common to see a pipe wench large enough to have a three foot long handle that had been slightly bent from repeted use with a pipe cheater.

My apologies for being predictable. On ly have q few knife experiences but do have a lot of time to share them now-a-days.
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I generally like your stories. I also like busting your balls occasionally. If you worked in the oilfield you are probably used to it.
 
DMG said:
I generally like your stories. I also like busting your balls occasionally. If you worked in the oilfield you are probably used to it.
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Well yes. However any follow up to that would be an egregious sidetrack of the topic, so . . . .

Lets just say that I have been well schooled in the art by world class professionals.
 
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Can someone give a brief rundown on the "collectable" variations on the Buck 110/120 line?

I have read references to three dot/four dot and variations in handle contour or blade profile and blade steels etc. From what I've written intros thread, you can understand that my knowledge of these knives breaks off around 1990 or so.
 
AntDog said:
Let me add my own apologies for the threadjack, but hot damn! Alone Alone - I knew you were a badass, but knowing you’re into 80s BMX ups the ante. And B Bushleague270 - Kuwaharas are awesome.

I’ve been riding the things forever and restored a bunch with my son as he got into it.

View attachment 2929445

My son’s ‘83 Expert:

View attachment 2929446

View attachment 2929447

View attachment 2929449

And to answer the OP - yes, it’s hard to beat a Buck 110. I love the things and have several.

View attachment 2929450
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That Mongoose is bringing back some serious memories!
 
I could write a big long love letter to the Buck 110s and 112s, but I have said those things in other threads so won't do so here. I will say that when I was younger, I had a Buck 110 as a belt knife while I was in the Boy Scouts and loved them, among others. When I moved to an office job after college, I understood that a belt knife wasn't going to be ideal so I moved on to countless other folders. Recently, I obtained a few different slips that allow me to carry a Buck 110 or 112 in my pocket and since then I haven't been without one. That, combined with the countless neat special editions Buck has put out in the last couple of years (many of them with Magnacut blades), I carry a 110 or 112 every day. On days when I post a pic in the EDC thread, even if I don't post it up, it's in my pocket. There aren't many knives that cut as well (in my use and experience) as a 110, and I just can't say enough good things about them.

I love and enjoy plenty of other knives in my EDC rotations, but there's always a Buck in my pocket these days as well.
 
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