The original Protege consisted of the rubber covered handle (it was Santoprene over polypropylene); the blade was the size of a 112 and was the shape shown in the photos on this sub-forum (basically a straight clip style with no chamfer); the blade finish was a bead blasted finish. They originally came out in '94 as I recall; we did some dealer feedback on samples at one of the SHOT Shows in Dallas. I was the project manager/engineer for the Protege and the Mentor (large version of the 475 still available- sort of); the Protege and Mentor were introduced at the same time.
About '98 we gave the Protege a face lift, at least as far as the blade is concerned. That is when we began producing the "humpback" version of the blade with thumb stud. I think that is when we also began using the blue BUCK logo shield in the handle (this is actually the sub-structure handle). The original version was red- both had the black rubber overmold.
It is no mistake that the blades look similar to the 112; the geometry of the lock are identical in the Protege,thus the blades are completely interchangable.
Bill Keys
Director of Manufacturing and Engineering
Buck Knives, Inc.
