Minority report

[toker]

Hipsters.

 

[norcalAF]

Hipsters.

Knifesters!

 

[brianv]

By obsolete I mean left behind to the point that the function of the model no longer fits the needs and demands of most people purchasing a knife. Like we just wrapped up an old hot rod car show here. These are cars built in the 20s and 30s. The look cool, sound cool, and generally truck down the road mostly. However, there is a running joke as to you know that it's August when you see all the hotrods broken down on the interstate trying to make it to the show. They are iconic but obsolete as to what people want to purchase in terms of practically and reliability.

The Buck 110 is a heavy chonker of a knife with a thick brass frame sporting a steel that most would consider useful but nothing groundbreaking. The blade cannot be tuned to center if it comes out of whack from the factory. The blade cannot be easily opened with one hand. The knife requires a pocket sheath or belt sheath lest it lay weird in your front pocket (my dad had literal holes worn in his jeans from his 110 laying diagonally across his thigh in his pocket as he finished concrete back in the 80s.)

All of these things do not make the 110 less iconic. I love the knife. I have at least half a dozen of them. My childhood memories revolve around my old man taking his knife and all the change out of his pocket and laying it on the kitchen counter. I would line his knife up and stack his coins largest to smallest next to it as a habit while he got a shower before dinner. Only decades later did he tell me he purposely left that stuff out because he always got a kick out of his knife straightened out and his coins piled up. It was sort of our thing when I was little. We didn't get a lot of time together in the evenings, and that little ritual with his 110 and pocket change is something he still brings up 40 years later.

The 110 is probably the most sentimental production knife in the world to me. When my dad passes on, I will 110% (heh...) get a tattoo of one on me because that's how I think of my dad..that's where my mind goes. There is nothing that oozes "work knife" more than a beat up and worn down Buck 110 with dirt in the pivot and dings up and down the scales.

That said...
It's still a big ol' heavy knife that isn't easy to pack. There are knives that pack easier, cut better, lock up tighter, and are made of better materials with tighter tolerances. If you are looking for a strong 3+ inch folding knife, there are quantifiably better options out there than the 110.

That doesn't detract from the 110. It just means that for all intents and purposes it is obsolete when compared to other cutting tools. There is nothing wrong with that. It is what it is. It's the hotrod of the 20s and 30s that reminds us of days gone by even if it is broken down on the Interstate. I still love the knife, but I don't mind seeing what can be done with the design. It may not be what my dad would carry...but my dad is 70. There aren't a ton left who would still pack around a bruiser like the 110, and that number is sadly shrinking every year.

So in closing, I say long live the 110. Long live the brass and it's 420hc glory. May it never be paved over and forgotten and always left in production...but I still don't mind seeing what could be done in the spirit of the folder to keep it viable beyond "well yeah it's heavy as a dead pig and cuts ok, but my dad carried one so it's good enough for me..."

If none of us wanted to see something more than that, then we all would still be fine using man's oldest tool as a bit of sharpened flint.

I very much agree with you. When I carry a 110, I carry a 112 in G-10. My "main squeeze" are traditionals preferably in Micarta.

 

[DangerZone98]

The dude who designed the AFCK said the axis lock is unsafe...just to throw some spice in your life

"if the Axis is the one they showed me then you can bet your LIFE it can easily close by accident by your fingers inadvertently hitting the release."

Thread 'Chris Caracci on Liner Locks and Emersons.......'

Oct 3, 2001

Chris Caracci, designer of the BM AFCK, has his own forum here, as you probably already know.

Here are his thoughts on the AXIS lock and on liner locks, and Ernie is mentioned too:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171286

Quote:

Bench-who?
Wild Bill,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to such a juicy question.
I will however restrain myself otherwise I will give my friend Mr. Prisco a heart attack!
I am not totally sure what the axis is but I believe it is the button that slides in a groove/cam.
I do not stay up with benchmade...

• Brigadier
• Replies: 49
• Forum: Emerson Knives

I’m not a Benchmade guy, but the Axis lock is unsafe? First time I read that.

 

[calm]

What we need is more Titanium Framelocks.
I am shocked nobody has thought of using that design, apart from CRK................

and button locks!

Anyway, as you all know, from this forum, all folding knives are already broken and you all should use only fixed blades.
If your need something small just get a mini fixed blade

 

[Delta-v]

I don't see this as an issue with the Axis lock. It's really just the market saturation with knives in general. There are a lot of players now just pumping out new and often indistinguishable product.