Real stories of Buck knives saving the day.

300Bucks

300Bucks

Joined
Apr 19, 2005
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How about telling a story about how your Buck knife was used in a real emergency. I would prefer Buck stories since this is the Buck forum but if you have a good story on how your non-Buck knife saved the day go ahead and tell it. Just don't make it a story detailing how the other companies knife is so great and better than Buck knives.

I will start, not with the story told to me in person how a guy saved his life by killing a Alaskan brown bear with his 110 but something that actually happened to me.

I did outdoor/ LE work and only carried a small Buck knife, unless it was deer season. I only needed it in real trouble once. During deer season I carried a Buck lite 422. Usually only had a 303 or later a Vantage on me the rest of my years. Was doing work in a Bat Cave once, three of us and I (the big talker on mountain climbing) was lowering myself into a hole down in the cave and wasn't paying attention and got my shirttail jammed in the ascender (brake) . The other two guys were stout enough to act as dead men (sitting down with feet on rocks) but not to hand pull me hanging, back up. So out comes my 303 and off goes the piece of shirt-tail. Carefully whittled enough off near the rope to let is go ahead and slide so I finished the twenty five foot drop. I looked underneath the bottom lip, no bats, so carefully used ascender to half climb and half be pulled out of hole. The next time we did that, I was dead man and the smallest guy went down hole. Also made sure he had knife. (Later we realized that hole edge was just a big flat rock balanced on the edge and covered in mud on one end).......
300
 
Great "tale" 300.

Surely you know what a Prusik knot is... Don't climb without a length of cord.
 
This subject title reminds me of the 1980s Remington Bullet Knife advertisements and the artwork that depicted a Bullet knife "saving the day". In the spirit of this thread, here are a few of those great ads. Surely, a Buck knife could do everything those Remingtons are doing. ;)


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On my way to the lake, I once bought a new pair of polarized fishing glasses from Wal-Mart. They had that little plastic tag retainer on them. You couldnt just pull it off without breaking the cheap sunglasses, so I pulled out my trusty 110 and cut it off. Then I got to go fishing.
 
I was dating a real hottie a few years ago who lived an hour from me and while visiting one Saturday she somehow put a fist size hole in her bathroom wall by moving a rod. I didn't have all my tools with me but I did have a Buck 110 on my belt and a few other things in my truck. Drove to the local hardware store and bought a square piece of sheet rock. Came back and used my 110 to cut it to size and patch the hole up within the hour. It must have really got her attention because I got lucky that night... That's why I call it my "lucky 110".
 
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(repeat post) Not much of a story and not my own. This would be mid late 60's. My oldest brother related to me that he gifted a Buck 120 to his best friend when he went to Vietnam. Story was his friend used that Buck General to escape a downed helicopter, getting out on the side opposite where being fired upon. As I recall, my brother and his friend tried to join up together but my brother didn't qualify because of a hand injury.
 
(Tongue firmly in cheek)
Pondoro2310 said:
I've already told you the terrifying stories of cooking with Buck knives when my wife and (adult) kids did not do the dishes and left me with no clean kitchen knives. Here is a different urban survival tale.

My wife and I are on a Valentine's Day trip and we ate at a nice restaraunt. I finished my steak but my wife brought half of her lasagna back to the hotel in a doggie bag. Later in the evening she said I could eat it as a snack, but our hotel had no plastic cutlery! I had a Buck 345 and a Buck 55, plus a Bucklite out in my truck.

*%#*+! NO! I did not eat with them! They're sharp as all get out. But our hotel has these great coffee cups made of thick cardboard. It was a simple matter to cut a crude spoon out of a coffee cup.

I've still never had to baton...
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The wife and I are Cincinnati Reds season ticket holders. In 2015 the Reds hosted the All-Star game. Our tickers are in our Champions Club where food and drink are all included. For the ASG, they fancied up the menu, but not the plastic flatware. Options were plastic spoon, or plastic fork. They have strict rules about knives in the park. For the ASG they really stepped up the security. On Home Run Derby night they served a fancy chicken dish but neglected to cut the chicken to pieces easily managed with a plastic fork. While everyone else was skewering their chicken and gnawing bites from the whole, I remembered I had my "always with me" Nano Bantam! I became pretty popular at that moment and scored a couple of drinks in barter for use of my Buck.



I guess "saving the day" is a matter of perception...
 
In the fall of 1982 many of my family were camped and deer hunting in West Texas, Pecos county. One afternoon I hunted the brushy draw behind camp as a large buck had been seen quietly walking the draw. So, I made my way to a spot on the draw from camp. I was only a short distance away from camp and had not chambered a round when I looked up and noticed a Grey Fox stalking my trail right toward me. He was between me and camp so I just watched him thinking, he'll spook and depart the area. Instead, he kept coming straight down my trail. At 6 ft. away he leaped for me, mouth open. My reaction was to raise my rifle to block him. He latched onto the shoulder sling and we began wrestling. I managed to sling him free and he hit the ground and shot back up at me for another round. I realized he was not right and I needed to dispatch him as quickly as I could. So, the next time I slung him to the ground I swung the rifles barrel down on him as I knew there was not enough time to work the bolt and chamber a round. This addled him and allowed me time to swing again. Then in one quick draw I pulled my Buck 120 and run him through. Which settled the matter. Now taking stock I found, that during the tussle I somehow acquired several bites and scratches about my hands. So, I headed quickly to camp to wash and relay the story. By radio we contacted the ranch manager and he came and bagged the fox and took it straight to the nearest Veterinarian, an hour away. The Vet was waiting and took it to the nearest Necropsy Diagnostic Facility for testing. 2 1/2 hours away. The ranch manager visited us the next morning as we were breaking camp to head home and walked slowly over to me. Leaning toward me, he spoke in a solemn voice saying, "David the fox was positive." I gasped as I knew what that meant. I would now have to take the Rabies vaccine. Still, my Buck knife had helped me in a real life struggle. DM
 
I was in Chicago for a night on the town from Great Lakes Naval Training base where I was in school for my rating of ETN (electronic tech communication) ...After 3 separate massive errors in judgment me and another sailor were pulled out of the car and we're in the process of being robbed. Two of the 3 guys we were riding with had my companion draped across the hood of the car and was taking his wallet and something out of his shirt pocket. I'm walking backwards saying "You got my money just let me go" the 3rd guy picked up a short piece of 2×4 with scraps of chicken wire on the end and told me "You ain't going nowhere " . So I turned and started running. Fast. He cut across and run down a little hill at me. I had a smaller pocket knife (3-4" blade ) in my coat pocket and pulled it out and made a huge swipe at him missing by at least 3 feet but it made him stop and holler "Watch it he's got a knife!" I turned and run as fast as I ever had in my life and as I hopped over a fence I got hit in my right shoulder by a chunk of concrete or rock...I lost that knife fishing on Chesapeake Bay Bridge pier a few years later. I never did find out what happened to the other sailor as I only knew his first name. The joke around my house is ' Ask Pap to use his knife, he's got his pants on' this all happened in the winter of 1973.
 
Back about 1991 I was helping out in a downtown rescue mission in Florida. I had talked Miss Florida into coming and singing for the people, there. The two of us, one a gorgeous, well put together woman, and I, were walking down the side walk in that seedy part of town when I spotted, up ahead, a very large man walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. As soon as he saw us he suddenly crossed the street and I knew we were in for trouble. Without thinking about it, I thrust my hand down into my pocket where I carried my stag handled 501. When I made that move, the man said, "Oh, excuse me!" and quickly moved back to the other side of the street. That little Buck never had to come out, but it saved us that day.
 
I was eating at a Foster Freeze back in 82ish with a buddy and a pretty decent accident happened in front of us. One car ended up on its roof. Lady inside was trapped by her seatbelt and I cut her out with my 110. She was not hurt and in no imediate danger....and I was stoned out of my mind. I learned a great lesson that day....My knife needed sharpening really bad.
 
Wish my dad was still around as he served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam....was working out of an SF base in Vietnam. Pretty sure he would have some killer stories as he was a Buck guy from the get-go. However, some of the stories on here are absolutely great.....thanks 300 for starting such a relevant thread!!
 
Once, driving down a dark highway outside of Anchorage, AK back in the early 80's we came upon a van that had hit a large moose head on. It destroyed the van and seriously injured the driver and passengers. The police showed up right as we did. I used my Buck 103 (modified) to cut some seat belts and other entanglements to get people out where I could safely provide first aid until the ambulance arrived. The police officer put down the still thrashing moose with a shot from his revolver. A moose will destroy a car. They are so big up there it is like hitting another car. They can weigh between 1400 and 1900 lbs and stand 7 ft at the shoulder!
 
Was stationed in Anchorage a while back....and yes, moose there are truly immense. I followed a moose for 5 miles one time in Hope because I was on a one-lane road and the moose came out and ran down the road in front of us.......he seemed to be a bit miffed that we were following!! I made sure not to tailgate him though......my dogs were going nuts the entire time!!

DocT said:
Once, driving down a dark highway outside of Anchorage, AK back in the early 80's we came upon a van that had hit a large moose head on. It destroyed the van and seriously injured the driver and passengers. The police showed up right as we did. I used my Buck 103 (modified) to cut some seat belts and other entanglements to get people out where I could safely provide first aid until the ambulance arrived. The police officer put down the still thrashing moose with a shot from his revolver. A moose will destroy a car. They are so big up there it is like hitting another car. They can weigh between 1400 and 1900 lbs and stand 7 ft at the shoulder!
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I think more than anything else having a knife with you will give you a feeling of confidence that a would be bad guy will pick up on. My dad was afraid of a knife much more than a gun and told me many times just the thought of a blade sticking in him gave him what he called the ' hebbie jebbies' . This was a guy who fought in Korea and had been under artillery fire. I give all the girls and women in my family knives because just having one might save them like it did me. Even a really big mean criminal might pause that critical second and give you a chance to get away. In many places all you can carry legally is a small knife. ..it might be be enough.
 
The ARK is an example of a small knife meant to get attackers off of you and one you can have with you at all times. A Buck Hartshook, while smaller, would probably work in a pinch. However, I think the caping knife would be better if it had a sheath that could be carried in the pocket or on the neck.
 
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