One of my earliest pocket knives was either a Buck 110 or 112, or a clone thereof. I don't know whatever happened to it, sadly, but it was my first locking knife. I don't remember how old I was, maybe 10 years old?
In any case, I wouldn't choose a 110 or 112 for anything, and haven't since then. Don't get me wrong, they are great knives for what they are, a classic design that is very nostalgic for a lot of people, very well made, reasonably priced, all that. But to say that a Buck 110 is "hard to beat" is a very subjective measure that doesn't answer the question, "Hard to beat...at what, exactly?"
For about the past 20 years, I've carried a Gerber Harsey AirFrame as my "big pocket knife". It's about the same size as a Buck 110, 3.875" blade length, also US made. I own two of them, one a First Production Run in the original machined titanium, and one in the later cast aluminium one, that I reserve for "dressy occasions", mainly because it's much lighter weight, and since it rarely gets carries, is in much less worn condition, so it just looks nicer. Being a liner lock, it's both easier to open and close than a Buck 110, pleases my aesthetic tastes better than a Buck 110, and it has a blade of 154CM steel, which is arguably better steel than a Buck 110's 420HC (though 420HC is a wonderful steel, too). It has a tip-down pocket clip, which is the only style of pocket clip I will even consider, because it's inherently safe.
An aluminium scale version of this knife just sold on eBay the other day for $45 USD, brand new, never used. My eyes just about fell out of my head when I saw there was only one bid on the auction, and I missed the notification. FTR, I paid about $150 for mine, over 20 years ago. Whoever won that auction got the deal of a lifetime on one of the best mass production pocket knives ever made.