I have an early 1987 three-line Buck 188 that I'd love to know a little more about

2bytandem · Monday at 12:03 AM

Good day all, I hope that this recent holiday has treated you well.

I own a Buck 188 that I purchased from a military connection years ago. Mostly, it has just sat in the safe. I thought it was just a very cool knife and it ended up also fitting on the end of my Mossberg 590a1 SPX come to find out, although I can't really see a use case where I'd need to fix bayonets

A previous owner had sharpened it at least once and polished the lower portion of the blade. That's my assumption, as I had not seen one quite like it before. It came in the orginal sheath and looks to have never really been used in the field as far as I can tell. All that I've done is keep it clean, had it sharpened at Apex Knife Company here in Colorado Springs and admired it.

Photos here so you call can see the material condition: Buck 188 Phrobis III M9 - Three Line Early 1987 Production

As I'm not a dedicated knife guy, a couple of my friends who are suggested that I reach out to the experts on this site to gain a little more knowledge about what I have, and what collectors value it may have.

Full disclosure, I'm looking to find a new home for this particular Buck as I've not ever taken it into the field, and once I found that it was more in the collectible realm, I wouldn't do in the future.

Appreciate any insight that you can provide, it would be truly appreciated. I know guns well, knives not so much, although I do own a few Esee, LionSTEEL, and Zero Tolerance blades.

I'd love to know if there were only ~1,200 of these made with the little chevron date code stamp in 1987, and how the polished edge will hurt collectors' value.

Best,

Allen
Colorado Springs, CO

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GPyro · Monday at 4:51 AM

5 - Miscellaneous -
WHAT IS MY KNIFE / GADGET / SPATULA / TUNING FORK WORTH ?!?!?!?!
In order to curtail potential abuse of membership privileges associated with the forums, questions regarding valuation of knives and collections are limited to those with a membership level which permits selling on this site. Accordingly, registered and basic members may not start or post in threads with such requests whether with the intent to sell or for informational purposes only. This rule applies throughout the site.

pjsjr · Monday at 7:53 AM

Best to look at completed sales on eBay for sale value. Collector value, as you already know, is lowered because of the polishing.

2bytandem · Monday at 10:36 AM

GPyro said:
5 - Miscellaneous -
WHAT IS MY KNIFE / GADGET / SPATULA / TUNING FORK WORTH ?!?!?!?!
In order to curtail potential abuse of membership privileges associated with the forums, questions regarding valuation of knives and collections are limited to those with a membership level which permits selling on this site. Accordingly, registered and basic members may not start or post in threads with such requests whether with the intent to sell or for informational purposes only. This rule applies throughout the site.

I appreciate the details. I was not aware of the rules and didn't mean to blow right by them.

I've had a number of people recommend Bladeforums to me over the past couple of years, it's about time that I became a member, which I just did.

Every time I look, there is another knife/axe/saw appearing on my workbench or safe, so I figure this is a good investment

pjsjr · Monday at 10:47 AM

2bytandem said:
I figure this is a good investment

In addition to BF, BCCI(Buck Collector Club Inc.) is also a good investment for the Buck lover.

Home - Buck Collectors Club

Reaching out and captivating Buck collectors The Buck Collectors Club, Inc. promotes the collection and display of Buck Knives. When Buck sales representative Vern Taylor founded the organization in 1988, he had an idea and a dream. Little did he know that his fledgling organization would become...

buckcollectorsclub.org

There is a lot of information, old newsletters(before digital), model history, catalogs and price lists and a discussion forum(like BF but not).

2bytandem · Monday at 10:47 AM

pjsjr said:
Best to look at completed sales on eBay for sale value. Collector value, as you already know, is lowered because of the polishing.

Thank you. Just gave it a look and the price range is quite wide, but it gives me an idea at least. With the polishing that my own saw at the hands of a previous owner, doubtful it has much collectors value. At least it is still a very robust, well-constructed knife

And it fits onto the end of my Mossberg 590a1, so I guess you can say that it does have a "pointy end".

2bytandem · Monday at 10:50 AM

pjsjr said:
In addition to BF, BCCI(Buck Collector Club Inc.) is also a good investment for the Buck lover.

Home - Buck Collectors Club

Reaching out and captivating Buck collectors The Buck Collectors Club, Inc. promotes the collection and display of Buck Knives. When Buck sales representative Vern Taylor founded the organization in 1988, he had an idea and a dream. Little did he know that his fledgling organization would become...

buckcollectorsclub.org

There is a lot of information, old newsletters(before digital), model history, catalogs and price lists and a discussion forum(like BF but not).

I can see a Buck skinning knife in my future as well. I came to hunting later in life and I love the stories of the old-timers that have processed game for generations with their dads/grandads Buck skinner. While I have more modern tools for the job, there's just nothing like old steel and wood (my rifles attest to this as well).

pjsjr · Monday at 11:06 AM

2bytandem said:
And it fits onto the end of my Mossberg 590a1, so I guess you can say that it does have a "pointy end".

Hopefully you will never have to use it in self defense If you do those nine shotshells will be enough, but...nothing in this life is certain and for sure.