Why are Bucks dated

eveled

eveled

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I didn’t want to sidetrack the other thread.

Does anybody know why Buck dates their blades? Why are they in code?

The only other knives I know of with dates are the old MLK demo knives by Camillus and others. They had the year stamped on the blade not in code. I think that may have been in the military spec.
 
I am no way an authority but here are some of my opinions why they are dated. They are a physical method of dating a blade. This works for inventory records and catalog identification. It can help in warranty validation. It also is a Bain in my Buck collecting existence. As a collector it is that trigger that makes me drool at the possibility of obtaining that exclusive dash, dot or horizontal stamp. If it was not for the date code on Buck knives I might possibly be collecting butterflies. (not)
 
I think it's also a great marketing and selling feature for a knife. Many people like to buy a knife for themselves or as a gift to commemorate a special year (i.e. birth year, graduation, anniversary, etc.). This way they know for sure the knife was made in that specific year.
 
Buck Customer Service is top notch and a real asset to the brand of Buck. I cannot speak more highly. They have never asked if I was the original owner.
 
Puma dates their knives too. They use to have serial numbers on their earlier ones, but now they etch the actual two digit year. A date code is a much simpler way to keep record of production and date of manufacture. I do suppose it may also have something to do with warranty. Either way I am glad Buck does it. It also aids those of us who collect them.
 
Reitwagen said:
Case uses a date code, as well. I assumed they did it because some customers just like to know how old their knife is.
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I was not aware of this. The case charts I have seen are lists of tang stamps and the years they were used. Not really an actual date stamp but still a way to date them.

bertl said:
What I was thinking is that the date might help with parts replacement.
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Engineering stamps are used to mark changes is designs and usually don’t follow any pattern but can be used to determine date of manufacture. I think that was the origin of the dot system. Before the actual date codes.

TAH said:
I think it's also a great marketing and selling feature for a knife. Many people like to buy a knife for themselves or as a gift to commemorate a special year (i.e. birth year, graduation, anniversary, etc.). This way they know for sure the knife was made in that specific year.
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For that purpose an actual date would work better. I bought my kids birth year Camillus knives. It is a nice present.

As collectors we love the dates I guess Buck realized how to get more of our money. Thanks for the replies guys. Ed
 
Well i know i started buying a Buck 110 or two or three, every new year and 2019 will be the 3rd year of doing it. I also want to get one from 1990 and one from 1994 the birth years of my two sons.
 
Yet, in many cases, the date code on the blade has absolutely nothing to do with the date that the knife was actually produced. Take, for example, a number of 112 3-dot blades that Joe Houser has recently used in the limited number of build outs he has done recently with that model.
 
Tin Sue said:
Yet, in many cases, the date code on the blade has absolutely nothing to do with the date that the knife was actually produced. Take, for example, a number of 112 3-dot blades that Joe Houser has recently used in the limited number of build outs he has done recently with that model.
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Well it would still mean that the actual blade was manufactured sometime between 1980-1982. Doesn't a build out just mean that he's using that 3-dot 112 blade and building out a different knife, maybe different scales or handle material. I don't think it means that his 3-dot blade would be stamped and manufactured now in 2019.
 
Ya I would assume the date code was evolution of the dots denoting changes. Probably a multitude of reasons.

I like them!
 
eveled said:
I was not aware of this. The case charts I have seen are lists of tang stamps and the years they were used. Not really an actual date stamp but still a way to date them. Ed
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They use a series of x's and dot's...Math is involved??:eek::eek::eek::eek::confused::confused::D:p

Tin Sue said:
Yet, in many cases, the date code on the blade has absolutely nothing to do with the date that the knife was actually produced. Take, for example, a number of 112 3-dot blades that Joe Houser has recently used in the limited number of build outs he has done recently with that model.
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For some collector's the date helps tell them the type of steel that was used...It still tells you when the blade was made which IS the knife...
 
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