The most copied knife design?

D

DeckardB26354

Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
43
I think it has to be the Buck 110 folding hunter. I don't know for sure who the original maker of that design was, with the brass bolsters, wood handle covers and upswept tip, but Buck must have sold 10 times more than anyone else. There must be a hundred different makes that look at first glance like the 110.

It was one of my first knives, and it's probably 30 years old now, still have it. The blade must have lost 1/16" in width from sharpening. Also had a Buck stockman, a nice little knife that was lost a long time ago.

It seems that Buck had a lot of designs that other makers have copied over the years. It must be hard to patent the look of a knife, if you don't have a unique gizmo incorporated into the design.
 
Last edited:
Also perhaps ka-bar and other historical knives such as fairbairn sykes dagger
 
Speaking of the 110, I have one on my desk waiting to be sharpened. It's my dad's old one from 1970-something. It has ZERO edge on it; the edge is completely round and doesn't look like it has ever been sharpened at all. Well, his son, some 30 years later, became a knife nut and will do the piece the justice it was never served :)
 
I think Buck 110 would be a good guess. Nearly identical knives have been released by most major manufacturers and have sold very well. It might be possible that the no-name "Made in Pakistan" 110-copy lockbacks are the most common knife on the planet. :D
 
I'd probably agree about the 110. The Ka-Bar is not an original design (it's a variation on the English Sheffield Bowies of the late-1800s); Loveless' drop-point is a variation on the earlier Randall modell 11, and the Fairbairn-Sykes is a modification of earlier bayonets and trench knives, which are themselves variations on stilettos dating back to the mid-1400s.

Since Buck, for whatever reason, didn't patent the lock-back design of the 110, though, it was quickly copied by just about every knifemaker in the world.
 
Truthfully a lot of the old slippie patterns have been copied probably a lot more than the Buck 110 but its sure been cloned a lot too. I sometimes wonder if we had forums available like today when Schrade started making the LB7 copying the Buck 110 if there would have been the kind of threads going round here like we see when Cold Steel or some other company makes something that looks similar to someone else's knives. The Kabar Fighting knife seems to have a lot of clones out there too and ironically the very military that contracted with Kabar to make them contracted some of them out from other companies much like they did after they got a contract for the Willys Jeeps giving those to others after signing the deal taking over the design.

STR
 
"Well, his son, some 30 years later, became a knife nut and will do the piece the justice it was never served."

It's amazing how solid the 110s are, if you can get that restored to original condition, and get the brass gleaming again, it's almost a work of art.

Mine fell into the hands of an over-zealous sharpener who put scratches high up on the blade. It's not a knife I use any longer, more of a sentimental keepsake now, but I'm bummed it isn't in cherry condition.
 
Last edited:
30 Years At Gun & Knife Shows as well as Flea markets you could buy a poor quality knock off from Pakistan for around 2 for a dollar.

Semper Fi

Oldbriar
 
Probably the SAK. You can't go through a gas station or grocery store checkout without seeing a rack of red handled ripoffs.
 
I think we have the new front runner. SAK knockoffs are everywhere. The only reason it didn't occur to me is that there are so many SAK models that all have the same overall design, just with different tools.

So what's being copied is the brand, rather than a particular model. :thumbup:
 
DeckardB26354 said:
"Well, his son, some 30 years later, became a knife nut and will do the piece the justice it was never served."

It's amazing how solid the 110s are, if you can get that restored to original condition, and get the brass gleaming again, it's almost a work of art.

Mine fell into the hands of an over-zealous sharpener who put scratches high up on the blade. It's not a knife I use any long, more of a sentimental keepsake now, but I'm bummed it isn't in cherry condition.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to go off-topic, but I have a few questions:

What can I do to get the bolsters shiny again? Some of it has got that blue oxidation or whatever it is.

Also, When in the closed position, the tip sticks out of the handle; it doesn't close as far as it should. In addition to that, I can push the blade into the handle against the force of the lock bar and get it to hit the backspacer.... That can't be normal.

Is there anything that can be done? If so, it would have to be done on the outside because the whole thing is riveted together; I can't open it.

Other than that, it seems like it should work fine as a knife once I'm through with it.
 
The Schrade Sharp Finger design would certainly be a contender as a most copied style.

Paul
 
You should try this stuff call "Brasso". I believe ACE hardware has it, but I don't see it at many places, so you should probably call first. This stuff is awesome for brass, it'll make it shine like gold. The stuff you want comes in a can of cotton wadding impregnated with a chemical. You just tear off pieces as you use it. If you're going to keep the 110 looking new, you're going to need this stuff.

Also I've found that auto polishing compound works.

When you said that you can push the blade into the handle, that is normal. When the knife is closed and you push on the blade tip, it will continue to move down about 3/16" of an inch until it hits the spacer. Completely ok.

The tip of the knife barely goes below the edge of the bolster, like 1/16" or less, that's just the way it's made. So if yours doesn't quite clear the edge, it could just be some gunk or corrosion preventing it from closing all the way.

I would just give it a good cleaning with some degreaser around the pivot, and make sure there isn't gunk down inside the knife, that should probably do it.
 
Last edited:
110.
Camillus copied it
Schrade copied it
Chinese copied it
Pakistanis copied it
When we get to Mars, we'll probably find that even the Martians copied it.
 
Add Puma to the list of Buck 110 copies.
In the last 50 years I think the 110 takes the prize as most copied.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top