Pretenders to the throne!

Old Hunter

Old Hunter

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Jul 12, 2012
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No one has to tell the Buck Knife collectors/users/fans on this sub-forum that the Buck 110 is the King of Lockback Hunting Knives! However, how many "pretenders" have you accumulated/used/tested? What did you think of them? I am not saying they are bad knives, because they are not - I own all of these, but none has ever been as satisfying to me as the original Buck Folding Hunter. With the exception of the Case they all seem to be designed as virtual dead knockoffs, either to snag the unwary or in testament to the design of the original? The Case Hammerhead has been used to clean deer, the Camillus 886 is preserved due to my respect for General Schwarzkopf, the Uncle Henry represents a grand old USA brand that is gone, and the Craftsman is NIB (as I bought it) - I think it was made by Imperial. Long live the King! OH

Case_P159_L_SS_Hammerhead_1988.JPG


Camillus_886_Lockback.JPG


Uncle_Henry_LB7.jpg


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Buck_110_-_Four_Generations.JPG
 
The only pretenders I've ever owned are the Uncle Henry 7OT and 6OT, (USA and Taylor)
I carried a USA 7OT or 6OT for decades, a Taylor 7OT for a year or two.
I guess I must have liked them?

Since acquiring my first Buck 110 a couple years ago, I have not carried the pretenders, unless I did not have a 110 with me. (DaRn airlines ... I had to fly to Idaho, no checked baggage, so I had to leave my 110's in Florida.:( ) I carried my USA 7OT for about a year, upon arrival in Idaho, since that is what I had here.
I've since bought a couple 110's here in Idaho, and carry one of them. :)
 
have a rough rider white bone kinda copy and a case hammerhead. had bucks first......so while the clones copies are okay for what they are.......buck 110 is far better. as far as price point to materials and overall quality.

the case hammerhead being the best i got of the sort of copies. one thing the case doesnt do is allow the blade to touch the spring rocker bar when closed. its design is different enough to stop that. course its almost double plus the cost of a walmart 110....and once knife is open and being used as a knife doesnt matter anyways.
 
The Chicago Cultry is about the closest copy I've ever seen. .Thanks for posting it! I'm wondering now if they made one simular to the 112. Can you give us a date it was made and cost ? I toyed with the idea of displaying 112 lookalikes with mine but found my mind. .
 
bucksway said:
The Chicago Cultry is about the closest copy I've ever seen. .Thanks for posting it! I'm wondering now if they made one simular to the 112. Can you give us a date it was made and cost ? I toyed with the idea of displaying 112 lookalikes with mine but found my mind. .
Click to expand...

Well, that's the sad part. I know nothing about it. I saw it at a gun show and grabbed it right away because I hadn't ever seen one before. The seller didn't know anything about it either. Maybe somebody else here knows.

:(
 
These are the pretenders that reside here (I've thrown in a 110 for comparison):

Top to bottom - Klein Tools 44036 ~1995 (made in Japan with some outstanding F&F), Schrade LB7 1978 with serial number (ignore the smudge on the bolster, It's wax), and a Camillus 886 from ~1986 that I bought for my dad when I was in high school. He used it to tap a finish nail into a wall and dinged up one bolster.

[--
 
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I'd agree. The stainless pivot pin and the fatter/softer look to the bolsters. Is the pivot pin a little proud on the Chicago Cutlery? As if the bolster was shaped and polished and the pin left a small hump because it was harder than the surrounding brass/NS?
 
I think the Schrade LB7 is a very good knife, and I own a few. It's actually better ergonomically, at least for me. But I don't think the blade steel is as good as Buck's.
 
Schrade began by making their copy more exact to the Buck design, using a solid, one piece lock spring. Latter they changed to an inferior design; a two flat spring system, which is more prone to breakage. In examining my Camillus 886 (circa 1990) it has the two flat springs just like the Schrade. Vorpal, examine closely your Chicago Cutlery lockback, if it is a one piece I would guess it is actually an Imperial Double Eagle. Paraphrasing an old Jerry Reed song, "Lord Mr Buck what have you done?" OH
 
Rupestris said:
I'd agree. The stainless pivot pin and the fatter/softer look to the bolsters. Is the pivot pin a little proud on the Chicago Cutlery? As if the bolster was shaped and polished and the pin left a small hump because it was harder than the surrounding brass/NS?
Click to expand...

Yes, a tiny bit......at least you CAN feel it while you can't feel a thing on a 110 front bolster.

I notice the very SMALL pins in the back bolster and the close proximity of the two front pins on the slab.
 
Old Hunter said:
Schrade began by making their copy more exact to the Buck design, using a solid, one piece lock spring. Latter they changed to an inferior design; a two flat spring system, which is more prone to breakage. In examining my Camillus 886 (circa 1990) it has the two flat springs just like the Schrade. Vorpal, examine closely your Chicago Cutlery lockback, if it is a one piece I would guess it is actually an Imperial Double Eagle. Paraphrasing an old Jerry Reed song, "Lord Mr Buck what have you done?" OH
Click to expand...

Looking in the bottom.......looks like a one piece to me.......similar to 110 except the Buck tension rod actually looks like a rod but the Chicago is not rounded.

Idunno.......I can't see it very well.
:confused:
 
All I've really got is this, because if it looks like a Buck 110 it damn well better be one.



It's a Grohmann mini Russel lockback, and it's excellent.
It's probably the most comfortable folder of it's size you'll find.

It's not the same size as a Buck 110 and doesn't resemble one, but it is an old school wood handled lockback in the vein of a 110.
Great knife, but not as thin behind the edge as my Buck 110.
 
I try to keep records on all of my knives, but this G-96 slipped through the cracks. I got it from George Stinzel several years ago, so I got hold of him this afternoon. Here is some of what he had to say.


"You know that was the first lock back I owned. My Dad bought it for me at Convict Lake in the High Sierras.I. thought it was a Buck knife. He told me it was not, because it would say Buck on it. But I insisted, so he let me get it. ...

...The G96 had 2 variations of the 960 model. The early model had a little square shield in the center of the handle that said G96 brand. The 2nd variation did not have the shield. The farthest back I could trace the G96 960 is to the early 70's as advertised in some Gun magazines. ..."
 
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