Old vs New

M

Mitch W.

Joined
Aug 11, 2010
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One of the recent visits to the local knife shop brought to my attention one of the recent issues of a 124 Frontiersman. I have been told that when they are done now, a 120 handle is put on to keep the cost down. My question is this: Does this detract from the looks of the knife or not? I thought the knife and handle look out of proportion and didn't even recognize it until i noticed the blade shape and realized it was a 124 blade. Sorry, I don't have a picture. The knife was an LE with a chip-flint blade and a silver inlay in the handle. The cost was way above my pay grade.
 
I've seen that knife and didn't think it looked out of proportion. Somebody has that one and I don't think a 120 handle was used. DM
 
Yes, the newer 124 handles are smaller than the old 124 handles.

They look ok, I think.

Buck saves a penny or two wherever they can. The older 120 blades were slightly longer, as were the 110s, 102s and I suspect we'd find more if we looked for them.
 
Here's a comparison picture for you. Two older ones and a newer LE. As you can see, the handle of the LE is shorter and smaller and it's not a full tang like the older ones. The handle is virtually identical to the 119 and 120 as you can see in the third photo. That's a 119 with it and the handle size is the same as a 120.

frontiersmansa.jpg


frontiersmansb.jpg


frontiersmansc.jpg
 
And yes, in my opinion, it's not near the knife in looks or feel that the original is.
 
Mitch W. said:
One of the recent visits to the local knife shop brought to my attention one of the recent issues of a 124 Frontiersman. I have been told that when they are done now, a 120 handle is put on to keep the cost down. My question is this: Does this detract from the looks of the knife or not? I thought the knife and handle look out of proportion and didn't even recognize it until i noticed the blade shape and realized it was a 124 blade. Sorry, I don't have a picture. The knife was an LE with a chip-flint blade and a silver inlay in the handle. The cost was way above my pay grade.
Click to expand...

Is this what you saw? Looks like the 119/120 handle on this one.

KGrHqNoME63ZIiNBO3ZvGIgEg60_3.jpg
 
Yep Dave,

I think you have it nailed. Mitch, look at the old Buck catalogs & price list. If that is at a pawn shop offer 25% of it's value....they can only say no and most pawn shops do lay aways!
Buffchipflints.jpg

jb4570
 
That is the knife I saw. It was at the knife dealer in town who had bought a collection. The only knife I acquired from the lot is the Gen 5 that I showed in the SPS on the 25th. I couldn't afford any of the other knives.
 
Actually, Buck is saving more than a few cents with their 'newer' version of the now classic 124. It would be MUCH more costly to produce the original model with the same specs that we all enjoyed for years. The handle (in my estimation) is what made the old 124 stand out, and of course the full tang made it the most robust of the Buck line. The newest incarnations don't provide the same heft, nor the strength. They are, very good looking but still leave me cold. For my taste, I wish Buck would revive that wonderful handle design and retain the full tang construction. If I had to pick one knife by Buck to keep in my collection it would certainly be an original 124 or Nemo with those sweet black handles!
 
My personal preference is for the older versions too. IMO if the handle width at the guard is narrower than the width of the ricasso, it looks "out of proportion". Even though the stag on the newer version in the top pic is a very nice piece of stag, it is considerably narrower than the blade and doesn't have a "flow" from handle to blade that looks right.

Peter
 
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