A Buck Pair
9 June 2008
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When I was in high school and The Dukes of Hazzard was all the rage, nearly every kid I knew wanted a “Buck knife” like Bo Duke’s. I know I did. So when I was 18 I went out and bought one and still have it. A while later I found the same model but with plastic grips which made it lighter and easier to carry and it became one of my favorites. Of course, through the years Buck has continued to design and manufacture new knives. I recently realized that I have a pair of Buck Knives that often accompany me on my outdoor treks. Let me tell you a bit about them.
The first was the Buck Knives Folding 110 Hunter. Most of you will recognize it in the picture to the right with it's 3.875" clip point blade, brass bolsters, wood grain grip slabs and rear lock near the back end (it's the one on top without the finger grooves). How many of you guys who are now in your late thirties, forties or early fifties remember wanting one of those? It was the "classic" on-your-belt in-the-brown-leather-sheath folding knife. There you were at sixteen years old and you just KNEW you had to have one. Unfortunately, you couldn't walk into the sports shop and buy one until you were eighteen. Of course, some of us got away with it because that was early on before everyone started suing everyone else and parents usually didn't care if their kids saved up the money to buy a knife.
Those handles are 4.875" long and if you opened the blade up the knife has an overall length of just over 8.5 inches. It is, to this day, a good standard field use folding lockblade. Having a blade under four inches means you can carry it in most places without violating a Deadly Weapons Law. Carrying it on your belt in a sheath means you're not concealing it. Because it doesn't swing open quick and easy like many knives with thumb-studs or assisted opening do, it's rarely viewed as the kind of weapon a dirt bag on the street would gravitate toward. That means that carrying it USUALLY won't get you into much trouble. The blade is made from 420HC steel which is easy enough to maintain but holds its edge pretty well too.
About the only thing I eventually came to not appreciate about it was the weight. Metal and wood is heavy compared to plastic and other synthetics. Then one day I found a Buck 110 Folding Hunter that had synthetic grips. They were (are) foliage green and are shaped with the finger grooves like the lower knife in the picture above. True to its synthetic "form", the knife came with a nylon sheath instead of a leather one. I still have that sheath too. Same blade length. Same blade material. Same blade shape. Same handle shape. Same strong locking mechanism. Just plastic (synthetic) handles with the finger grooves was the only difference. WAY cool.
That new knife became my favorite to carry. It had all the same advantages of the regular Folding 110 Hunter but I hardly noticed it on my hip. These two knives became my regular (daily carry) knives for nearly a decade. It was only when I stopped wanting to advertise that I was carrying a knife that I gravitated away from them and toward "pocket" knives with thumb-studs (or holes) and clips on the sides.
I still have both and quite often the plastic / synthetic version goes into the field with me in the utility pocket of a fixed blade knife. More than likely my sons will inherit these - one each - when I pass on. So they have a long way to wait!!
A quick search online found Buck Folding 110 Hunters available new today for just over $40. That's a pretty reasonable price for a traditional standard utility Buck. I'm SURE you can think of SOMEONE who wants one for Father's Day?
Find out more at Buck Knives online.
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Don't forget to check out our Tactical Equipment Review of the new BLACKHAWK! SERPA holster for your TASER X26 or X26C.
This week's Feature Article discussing Washington DC's recent strategy of stopping EVERYONE coming into a given neighborhood.
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