Jacknife,
This is a great thread! I missed this one when it first came out due to my little mishap when I was laid up without my computer. Thanks to 338375 for resurrecting it this morning I was able to read through it and enjoyed it immensely. Great sheath knives eveyone! Thanks for sharing all these.
I too have had a love for fixed blades, formally known as sheath knives, forever it seems. Like jackknife my Buck #102 was one of the first stickers that I really could count on. It was always belted to my right side in camp during all manner of hunting, fishing or hiking trips. This knife was the most useful in nearly every situation. I have very fond memories of making shelters, cleaning fish, skinning game, cooking and other kinds of outdoor woodsman chores. It really is the perfect size for a good using cutting tool and because of its 4 inch blade and just shy of 8 inches overall it is so comfortable to carry. I still see myself washing her up after a satisfying trout and eggs breakfast down by a rustling stream in the Blue Ridge mountains back in the early 1980's with friends on an overnight hike.
For all of the multiple sheath knives that I have owned and used through the years, Randall's, Ruana's, Dozier's and countless others, this is the one I always come back too. I recon its just because its so darn reliable and useful. Lord knows its not the prettiest, the biggest, the newest designer steel,, but for just a plain old cutting chores user,, it works!. I purchased this one in the 1970's at Harry Beckwith's Gun shop just outside of Gainesville, Florida. Harry sold two brands of knives, Bucks and Schrades..This is one I will never get rid of and my son has already borrowed it several times and has called dibs on it for the future.
From what jackknife said in the original post on this thread I tend to believe that his Buck #102 is from the very late 1950's or very early 1960's. Those knives are fetching pretty big Bucks(no pun intended) these days, but I bet he wouldn't part with it anyway. And that's the way I feel as well.
