Old Buck Gaffer's Knife

D

drtone

Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Messages
6
Once upon a time I lived with a woman who had been a denizen of Hollywood literally her whole life. She had been married to a lighting director who drank and drugged himself to death in his early 40s. He left her no money, having put it up his nose and lost it on the ponies, but he did leave her some things. Among his relics was a Buck knife similar in appearance to what Buck now calls its "Ranger" knife, a big, very heavy hunting knife with a 3" blade, which she gave to me. She called it a "gaffer's knife," which makes sense because gaffers (lighting technicians in movies and TV) must cut through wires, electrical tape, and a heavy-duty form of duct tape called gaffer's tape. It was incredibly strong and took a fine edge. When I've gone camping, every other guy's knife was clunky and dull in comparison. Well, about a month ago, exterminators "tented" the place I live, and the crew ransacked my apartment, stealing various odds and ends, including my beloved knife, to which I now realize I had become very attached in the 15 years I owned it. In the past couple of days, I've shopped on the web for a knife to replace it, although I despair of replacing its sentimental value. Does the current similar Buck knife measure up to my lost knife, which had to be 30 or more years old? I notice that there are a lot of knives about that size that range in price from about $35 (for a Buck "Ranger") to about $120, the outside of what I'm willing to spend (including the AG Russell lock-back knife and the smaller "Encounter" by Bob Lum). How much do I have to spend to replace the old knife with one of similar quality?

P.S. I know zilch about knives and steel except what I have learned in a day of web shopping.
 
Last edited:
The Buck 112 Ranger is still made today in the USA and in my opinion is just as good now as it was then. For sure it will have a better edge (sharper) today. You should be able to find it from many online vendors brand new for somewhere in the vicinity of $35 to $45 dollars with a leather belt sheath. You should also take a look at the Buck 110 folder which is about an inch longer overall and about the same price or even slightly cheaper. Walmart sells the 110 but usually the Walmart model comes with a nylon sheath which is not as nice as the leather sheath. Otherwise it's the same knife.

All Buck knives come with their great lifetime warranty and there is also a Buck subforum here at Bladeforums under the manufacturer's section. Make a post there and people will show you plenty of pictures of their 112 and 110 folders.
 
Sorry for your loss and welcome to Bladeforums. If you don't get the answer your looking for here you might try posting the the Buck sub-forum. There are some Buck experts over there who can probably help you. And you may want to call Buck. They have excellent customer service and I've read threads where they've helped people in similar situations before. Good luck.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=701
 
Thanks, you guys. I'm surprised I can get the same knife, even a bit better for such a low price. I saw the price and just figured it was junk. Instead it's a great deal.
 
I noticed that there's a Buck 55, a smaller version of the 110. As much as I liked it and liked its heft, my former knife always seemed a bit big for a pocket knife. I just saw a very positive video review of the 55. Does it pass muster?
 
drtone said:
I noticed that there's a Buck 55, a smaller version of the 110. As much as I liked it and liked its heft, my former knife always seemed a bit big for a pocket knife. I just saw a very positive video review of the 55. Does it pass muster?
Click to expand...

Yes, but be sure a 2 3/8" blade is long enough for you. If you want something a little bit longer but still a lot smaller than a 110 consider the 501 which has a 2 3/4" blade. It's hard to go wrong with Buck. Just pick the one you like best.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums and good luck with your decision.
I'm going to move this to the Buck forum for you.
 
drtone,

Welcome to the Buck Forum. Sorry for your loss-sounds like you had a true
vintage Buck 112 Ranger which came out in '72. You can certainly check the
auction sites and may be able to replace it with similar vintage. The new 112's
have differed little from the original design and are still of the most premium quality and carry Bucks 4ever warranty. I have a 2008 in my pocket right this second and it is tight as a drum and I expect in 30 years it still will be.
You cant go wrong with a new one:thumbup:

Fritz

ps, I assume it looked something like this
 
Last edited:
Welcome, Drtone.

I don't think anybody mentioned this, but if your old knife was made before 1981 it would have had 440C steel and that steel held an edge a little better than later steels (which might have been the reason you noticed the superior edge-holding ability that you mention).

To duplicate that you'd need to find one with the older steel. You can find the old ones on e-Bay. If they run the same way as the 110s you'd want to find one with one dot on each side of the 110 marking on the blade, I think. I think the one with one dot on the left and two dots on the right was also 440C steel, but I'm not sure if the 112s ran exactly the same as the 110s.

The 112 experts can comment on that problem.......I've never owned a 112 (Ranger).
 
drtone said:
I noticed that there's a Buck 55, a smaller version of the 110. As much as I liked it and liked its heft, my former knife always seemed a bit big for a pocket knife. I just saw a very positive video review of the 55. Does it pass muster?
Click to expand...

The Buck 55, IMO, makes a wonderful every-day-carry pocketknife. For camping and outdoors stuff, I recommend the 112.
 
Now that this has moved to the Buck forum, I have the unpleasant duty to inform y'all that I purchased an AG Russell Featherlite clip point (AUS-8). The size and weight of the Buck were always a problem for me. I also decided that I wanted a bigger knife than the Buck 55. OTOH, in the course of my shopping expedition I discovered how much I liked or even loved my previous blade, and how much I used it for routine tasks, even for eating on occasion. I'm pretty pissed off that it was stolen, and knowing more or less who stole it sticks in my craw. Consequently, I understand anyone's devotion to these knives.
 
Yes, the Ranger is heavy enough that you'd want to carry it in a sheath for more comfort. I don't think you mentioned if you had a sheath for it.

And AUS-8 is not a bad steel if the heat treat is done well. Don't know about yours although I'm sure it will not be anywhere near as rugged as the Ranger.

If it doesn't hold an edge well enough or breaks you can always go to e-Bay for the fine older Buck steel and Buck also has lightweight knives if you still wanted to go lightweight.
 
Last edited:
Now that you've found us and have a new knife don't be a stranger. Stick around here long enough and you'll have more knives than you can count.:)
 
There's also the 500 series of Bucks (501, 503 etc) (called Gents or various names) that are single blade, easy on the weight and do very well as a simple pocket knife (and Buck steel).
 
I had a Buck Ranger with 440C and wore out the blade on carborundum stones trying to keep it sharp (that was before diamond hones became common). I still have a Bucklite in 440C and it was also difficult to sharpen, though it would hold a good edge once you got it there. Buck's current 420HC outperforms 440C in CATRA tests, and is a lot easier to sharpen, plus Bucks Edge 2X technology makes current knives better cutters IMHO.
 
I've always been a 110 guy but had to scratch the itch on a couple of these 112's. Did so today, and I'm really quite impressed with them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top