The Cherrywood 119 on a foggy day

L

Lawrence Helm

Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
328
I took the recently received Cherrywood 119 for a hike (along with my dogs Duffy & Ben :D) yesterday morning. The morning was foggier than I've seen it in ages -- made a nice change from hot & muggy. The knife rode nicely in a custom sheath. I've tried a variety of custom sheaths on the knives I've purchased recently and they haven't all been ideal, but the one shown in one of the photos below is excellent. Since the Cherrywood 119 is a bit heavier than the Cocobolo 119, feels better in my hand, is perhaps a slightly better slicer, and because it fits better -- can't explain why -- in a sheath I particularly like, I "may" carry it more often than any of my other 119s.















Lawrence
 
Lawrence, cool pictures... I like your 119... You don't live to far from me...
I'm out in San Marcos south of Temecula... :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the comments. I've been toying with the idea of phasing into something else. Perhaps my welcome has worn thin on Buck forum; which is okay because I've lots of things going on. But five "nice-type" comments in row make me wonder.

Lawrence
 
Lawrence Helm said:
Thanks for the comments. I've been toying with the idea of phasing into something else. Perhaps my welcome has worn thin on Buck forum; which is okay because I've lots of things going on. But five "nice-type" comments in row make me wonder.

Lawrence
Click to expand...

I don't think your welcome has worn thin by any means, I genuinely enjoyed the photography. I wish I lived in a part of the U.S. where it is socially acceptable to belt carry any sort of knife (folder or fixed blade), maybe I just wish that the part of the U.S. I DO live in thought carrying a belt knife was acceptable. I think in suburban new jersey, your more likely to run into a disgruntled sawker mom who thinks you're a serial murder than not, which is a shame because I enjoy the few opportunities that I do get to carry my 119 (which is currently away at buck getting the spa treatment).

Long story short, I really enjoy these threads because even though I don't get to enjoy my fixed blades, it's nice to see someone else can, especially when it's my personal favorite, the 119. The cute dogs.. I mean the manly dogs :thumbup: and the scenic trails enhance the photos and the thread. The great photography doesn't hurt either.
 
Nice pictures and I really like that knife and that sheath looks great with it. I am going to have to get me one of those.

Thanks for posting. Your posts and pictures never get old.
 
155440 said:
I don't think your welcome has worn thin by any means, I genuinely enjoyed the photography. I wish I lived in a part of the U.S. where it is socially acceptable to belt carry any sort of knife (folder or fixed blade), maybe I just wish that the part of the U.S. I DO live in thought carrying a belt knife was acceptable. I think in suburban new jersey, your more likely to run into a disgruntled sawker mom who thinks you're a serial murder than not, which is a shame because I enjoy the few opportunities that I do get to carry my 119 (which is currently away at buck getting the spa treatment).

Long story short, I really enjoy these threads because even though I don't get to enjoy my fixed blades, it's nice to see someone else can, especially when it's my personal favorite, the 119. The cute dogs.. I mean the manly dogs :thumbup: and the scenic trails enhance the photos and the thread. The great photography doesn't hurt either.
Click to expand...

155440,

Well maybe my welcome hasn't totally worn out but things got out of hand in one of my threads which is always uncomfortable. Even if I am still welcome my situation isn't quite that of the normal Buck fan. I am primarily a hiker and secondarily an amateur photographer. I've been on an exercise of upgrading my hiking gear and got off on a tangent in regard to knives. I first acquired "all the knives I needed" back in the early 80s. They were Buck knives. I went overboard for the time and have a couple of things now discontinued, the Buck hand ax or hatchet and the Buck saw. While I didn't think in terms of brand loyalty the knife I hiked with day in and day out was the Buck 639 which I acquired in about 1987 after determining that I didn't like the sheaths of the 119 and 124 (the knives I most often hiked with prior to the 639) The sheath on the 639 is a sort of heavy duty canvas and while I didn't completely wear it out it was looking pretty bedraggled.

My first foray into "upgrading my hiking knife" was with Ka-Bar knives. I thought of carrying the main Ka-Bar fighting knife, but mine had been a gift and in checking Ka-Bar I discovered they had a line that was 3/4 the size of the USMC fighting knife; so I acquired three of their models. I liked them but they seemed a bit small for my concern. I was concerned about animals more formidable than the coyote coming down from the nearby mountains during our drought; so my next foray was into Becker knives. I ended up getting their BK2, BK7, BK9, BK10, and BK12. I didn't care for the fabric sheaths and so got custom sheaths. They are indeed high quality but fairly stiff at this point and the bend of the leather around my belt pushes them out pretty far from my hip. I'll have to wear these sheaths a lot in order to get them to ride better.

After that I revisited my Buck knives and found that custom sheaths were readily available and found some that put the 119 and 124 close to my hip. The sheath above is an example. I was so happy with the idea of having "backup" 119s & 124s that I went a bit overboard in buying different models.

I still owe Becker if not Ka-Bar some photos. I did some with the BK2 but the 1052 steel has a protective coating which on my first hike with it chipped off a bit. Ethan Becker thought what happened an anomaly and wouldn't happen with my other BK knives but I've yet to put that to the test. So any photos of a hike using a Becker knife would have to be posted on the Becker forum.

Someone from some strange area like New Jersey :rolleyes: who wanted to see my hiking photos regardless of which knife I carried could see them any time at www.lawrencehelm.smugmug.com and look in the "River Photography" folder. :cool:

Lawrence
 
I like the Cherrywood handles - never seen one for sale around here, and only occasionally the Cocobolo wood handles - of course we are quite lucky to have several dealers (mostly hunting stores and hardware stores) that do keep the standard line of Buck in stock - I can handle most of their traditional models I'm interested in. OH
 
Old Hunter said:
I like the Cherrywood handles - never seen one for sale around here, and only occasionally the Cocobolo wood handles - of course we are quite lucky to have several dealers (mostly hunting stores and hardware stores) that do keep the standard line of Buck in stock - I can handle most of their traditional models I'm interested in. OH
Click to expand...

The Cherrywood 119 was a special order made up exclusively for Bass Pro. I bought several different models of the 119 and appreciate the weight of the Cocobolo and Cherrywood. The old phenolic handles now seem a bit too light. If you look at the note I wrote to 15540 above you can see that I was after something a bit more heavy-duty than the Ka-Bar line that is 3/4 the size of the USMC Kabar fighting knife. The Buck 119 is a step up but it "feels" even more so with the heavier handles of the Cocobolo and Cherrywood. Since they all use the same blade this may only be a matter of taste or comfort. I carried the phenolic & Micarta-handled 119 & 124 a lot back in the early 80s, but perhaps because I've acquired some heavier Becker knives I now prefer something a wee-bit heavier in the Buck line as well.

Lawrence
 
Lawrence,

Your photos are excellent.

How about emailing me. Click on my forum name for email address.

300Bucks
 
Lawrence Helm said:
155440,

Well maybe my welcome hasn't totally worn out but things got out of hand in one of my threads which is always uncomfortable. Even if I am still welcome my situation isn't quite that of the normal Buck fan. I am primarily a hiker and secondarily an amateur photographer. I've been on an exercise of upgrading my hiking gear and got off on a tangent in regard to knives. I first acquired "all the knives I needed" back in the early 80s. They were Buck knives. I went overboard for the time and have a couple of things now discontinued, the Buck hand ax or hatchet and the Buck saw. While I didn't think in terms of brand loyalty the knife I hiked with day in and day out was the Buck 639 which I acquired in about 1987 after determining that I didn't like the sheaths of the 119 and 124 (the knives I most often hiked with prior to the 639) The sheath on the 639 is a sort of heavy duty canvas and while I didn't completely wear it out it was looking pretty bedraggled.

My first foray into "upgrading my hiking knife" was with Ka-Bar knives. I thought of carrying the main Ka-Bar fighting knife, but mine had been a gift and in checking Ka-Bar I discovered they had a line that was 3/4 the size of the USMC fighting knife; so I acquired three of their models. I liked them but they seemed a bit small for my concern. I was concerned about animals more formidable than the coyote coming down from the nearby mountains during our drought; so my next foray was into Becker knives. I ended up getting their BK2, BK7, BK9, BK10, and BK12. I didn't care for the fabric sheaths and so got custom sheaths. They are indeed high quality but fairly stiff at this point and the bend of the leather around my belt pushes them out pretty far from my hip. I'll have to wear these sheaths a lot in order to get them to ride better.

After that I revisited my Buck knives and found that custom sheaths were readily available and found some that put the 119 and 124 close to my hip. The sheath above is an example. I was so happy with the idea of having "backup" 119s & 124s that I went a bit overboard in buying different models.

I still owe Becker if not Ka-Bar some photos. I did some with the BK2 but the 1052 steel has a protective coating which on my first hike with it chipped off a bit. Ethan Becker thought what happened an anomaly and wouldn't happen with my other BK knives but I've yet to put that to the test. So any photos of a hike using a Becker knife would have to be posted on the Becker forum.

Someone from some strange area like New Jersey :rolleyes: who wanted to see my hiking photos regardless of which knife I carried could see them any time at www.lawrencehelm.smugmug.com and look in the "River Photography" folder. :cool:

Lawrence
Click to expand...

I checked out the link and went through several albums. It's pretty cool that you can go hiking and run into something like a coyote or a large bird of prey pretty often. There really isn't much wild life or large parks in south jersey, it's too highly populated I guess. I really like the Phenolic handles on my buck fixed blades, I never have to worry about cracking, and my largest, the 119, weighs roughly the same as a Buck 110. I don't mind how the stock sheaths ride either. I just got a 118 in D2 in the mail today and I'm pretty excited about that. Have you found that the brass guards and pommels of your fixed blade patina quickly?
 
155440 said:
I checked out the link and went through several albums. It's pretty cool that you can go hiking and run into something like a coyote or a large bird of prey pretty often. There really isn't much wild life or large parks in south jersey, it's too highly populated I guess. I really like the Phenolic handles on my buck fixed blades, I never have to worry about cracking, and my largest, the 119, weighs roughly the same as a Buck 110. I don't mind how the stock sheaths ride either. I just got a 118 in D2 in the mail today and I'm pretty excited about that. Have you found that the brass guards and pommels of your fixed blade patina quickly?
Click to expand...

In Marine Corps Boot Camp and combat training it was drilled into is not to carry anything that rattled and might alert the enemy. I just got into the habit, and the standard 119 sheaths do enable the knives to rattle when one walks. Partly it is just a matter of having that drilled into me, but also in modern times I like to be able to spot the anyone coming through the brush before they spot me -- so I can veer aside. I rarely see anyone else down there, but rare may be once ever second or third hike. Anyway I understand most people like the standard Buck sheaths fine.

As to tarnish, whenever I notice any I use a bit of Flitz polish. It polishes not only the pommel and guard but the handle material as well. This by contrast goes against advice from wars earlier than the one I was in that you shouldn't carry anything shiny. I just don't remember being told that in boot camp -- maybe because the Marine Corps issued us everything we were allowed to wear of carry and none of it was shiny.

I think I may have mistakenly referred to the 121 in something above. I do have a 121, an excellent fishing knife that may have been discontinued, but it is the 120 that I will occasionally use hiking. I never acquired a 118 partly because I had the 121 but also because I had several other smallish hunting knives when I wanted to go light.

Lawrence
 
Lawrence Helm said:
Just one final word to anyone interested. I'm going to discontinue posting or being part of this forum.

Lawrence
Click to expand...

Hi Lawrence,
I would like to hereby apologize to you for my part in our disagreement.
You take really wonderful photos.
I also enjoy hiking with my dogs and buck knives.
If you enjoy posting and talking about Buck Knives, please continue to do so.

After all, I am pretty sure we could both learn a few things from one another, and I feel that is what life is really all about anyway.
(I just sometimes forget that though)

PS.... as a side note, for just $10, a person can join the Buck Collectors Club with an annual electronic membership. That will get you access to all the old.catalogs, a bunch of model history data sheets, and all the past newsletters. Other benefits as well.
A treasure trove of information.
 
Last edited:
Undoubtedly I gave the impression of going off in a huff and while it was partly that, I am being nearly overwhelmed with taking my semi-invalid wife through an unending (it seems) series of tests and consultations to determine whether she is an appropriate candidate for liver transplant. So perhaps I was looking for projects to let my mind take little vacations from all that.

Then too I'm not just a Buck person. I am heavily into Becker knives and on my last hike took a Becker BK10, and will be posting photos (on the Becker site) in a day or too. It seemed a good time to take my fevered brain off to Becker, but I apologize for the huff.

Lawrence
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top