Name of Buck Knife

L

Leanwolf

Joined
Mar 18, 2001
Messages
368
Recently a friend of mine died and his wife gave me one of his knives. It has a five inch, slender blade, and is marked "Buck, 105, U.S.A." It is in a black leather pouch sheath with the fold over flap. On the flap is the word "BUCK".

Is this the knife that was called the "Pathfinder"? I have an 1967 Buck Special which I've used extensively, but I've forgot the names of some of the other models.

Many thanks. L.W.
 
The Buck 105 is called the Pathfinder. Real nice knife, too!
The Buck website www.buckknives.com lists all their current models.
If you check E-bay, you may be able to find an old Buck catalog for sale.

Steve
 
Thanks, Steve, I thought that it was the the Pathfinder, but wasn't sure. It's sharp as a razor and will be used by me, out in the hunting fields.

L.W.
 
The old standbys that did not have any marking except BUCK up until 1968 are the 120 General, 119 Special, 121 Fisherman (later "Guide"), 105 Pathfinder, 118 Personal, 103 Skinner, 102 Woodsman and the 116 Caper (listed by decending size). Those and the 110 and 301 were the knives in the Buck line when I went to work for Buck in 1965.
 
Mr. Taylor, thanks for the info. Buck Co. must have begun stamping the tiny "USA" beneath "BUCK" sometime before 1968, as I was given my Buck Special for my birthday, August 2, 1967. I have pictures (dated by photo developer) of me using it both in camp, and on a deer I killed in Oct. of 1967.

One reads the two words, "Buck," over very small "USA," by looking at the side of the blade pointed DOWN.

FWIW. L.W.
 
I thought I had one of the first Buck 110s marked with the "USA" beneath "Buck". I bought mine in Aug, 1968 at Sportmart, La Mesa, CA. Didn't know Buck was stamping "USA" in '67.
 
It has long been said that Buck started stamping USA in 1968. I imagine that that may be true for some of the knives but for many, it was actually sometime in 1967. I have some dated photographs as well showing the BUCK, USA stamp. Which knives were stamped BUCK USA in 1968 and which were done in 1967 was most likele decided based on inventory levels. If there were blades on hand, stamped only BUCK, to last into 1968, then those models will not show the USA until sometime in 1968.
I hope this helps.
 
OK, time to clear this up; I was there, but only as an observer. For the sake of simplicity, we say Buck started stamping USA in 1968. The fact is that we got our first order for shipment outside the USA in the summer of 1967. We shipped the knives and they were turned back by Canadian customs because they did not have the country of origin on them. As I recall there were 110's, 105's, 118's and 119's on the order. We had the USA stamp made and hand stamped a replacement order but every knife in the batch of each model got the same stamp. Al Buck, Don Ham (influenced by Don's assistant, a British subject by the name of Phil Coley)and two other men present (I cannot recall who), made the decision to add USA to the tang stamp. By the time of the NSGA show in February we had all of the knives stamped with BUCK / USA except the 116. What we are doing here is splitting hairs gentlemen; but yes, some knives were made in 1967 with the USA stamp.

Vern Taylor
 
Vern makes a great point about splitting hairs. Remember that knife manufacturers are more concerned about profitability and sales than they are about neat breaks for future collectors. They will often use existing materials before implementing some change. Those of us who try to pin down dates of changes must always consider the possibility that such a "window" was in effect. When it comes to Buck Knives, it is a certainty that many changes across a product line were introduced on a rolling schedule. A good example is the 110 and 112 models. Generally, Buck implemented 112 modifications in tandem with 110 changes. However, there are a couple of minor mods which can be found on 110s but not on 112s. The explanation that knowledgeable collectors make is that the 110 was a better seller and it is likely that Buck did not sell 112s fast enough to be able to implement every update. During the time between two production runs of 112s, there could have been changes made in two or three (or more) 110 production runs and the 112 model never was produced with a certain update. I hope this rambling makes sense!!
 
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