[Doug S]

I posted this in a couple of other forums, but thought some here might be interested. After reading all of the praise reports on the Buck 110 on Blade Forums, I couldn't help going to Walmart and picking another one up. For $29.99 I think the Buck 110 is a true bargain. It seems to be very well put together heavy duty knife. Fit and finish are excellent, especially considering the low price, and it looks good to boot. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a classic American made, somewhat traditional (wood and brass) heavy duty folding knife at a great price. I've used the 110 to dress deer, small game, pheasant, fish. The nylon sheath works pretty well either vertical or horizontal. Pictured is my new Buck 110. It's a bit blurry because I took the picture without a flash, handheld with my little Canon Elph.


http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp42/dmattaponi/Buck110FoldingHunter.jpg

[mptrimshop]

i think the pic looks great

[Doug S]

Thanks.

[ArfinGreebly]

Yup. Arguably one of the most copied knife designs on record.

Never hurts to have a few of those.


http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2008_0420-Knife/Smaller/2008_0420-Knife001.jpg


http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2008_0420-Knife/Smaller/2008_0420-Knife009.jpg


Heck, even Buck copies that design.

:D

[X-Rap]

Keep checking the lock mechanism, the 110's that I saw in the late 70's and 80's didn't hold up well. I have no idea how they are now since I gave up on them.
I know of 6 knives that wore out, Buck was happy to replace but that is little comfort if one folds up on your fingers.

[chrisb507]

It's a great knife at a great price. If you get tired of your standard 110, you can spend $500+ on a "custom" version: http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm?event=customKnife.build
(http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm?event=customKnife.build)

[ArfinGreebly]

One of the "standard" custom builds is the rosewood, nickle-silver bolster, hidden rivet version of the 110 pictured above along side a common, vanilla 110 with brass and rivets showing.

[thunder173]

One of my constant companions......I work knives hard,..and use them for a lot of things they weren't necessarily designed for. One of my 110's IS from the 70's and except for a kid breaking the tip off,..has never failed me. Buck offered to replace it,..but it had so much sentimental value to me,..I asked them to regrind the tip for me,..and they did. Has been an excellent knife. Have severl different Buck's in fact,..and have NEVER had a bad one.

[GENTLEMAN OF THE CHARCOAL]

Yeah, I know of a guy that has (had) the Buck Folding Hunter. He cleaned 3 deer with it one morning and never had to sharpen it, He (and me) was really impressed until he had just started good on the 4th deer and it closed up on him. (very hard to I might add). This was years and years ago. It sure made me glad I'm a fixed blade man I can tell you that..Pretty knives pictured though...,

[AKElroy]

I have cleaned more deer with my 110 than any other blade. It should last forever. Just don't put it in the dishwasher like I did when I was 18; I still use it nearly 25 years later, but it is now worn & ugly as a mud fence. Still takes a diamond grind to a fine edge & does the job when needed.

[Limeyfellow]

I have the same Buck 110 from Walmart bought about 5 years ago. It is one of my knives I use in the garden. A bit too heavy for everyday carry, it still gives you a nice cut, especially with the weight backing it up. For the tiny amount it actually costs it hard to bit the value.

[X-Rap]

Try this test and see what happens.
Take the 110 and open it.
Hold by the handle and rap the back side of the blade fairly hard against the sole of your boot.
It might change your views on this knife.

[Deltaboy]

Dad picked up one used years ago and keeps it in the work truck. Never had an issue with it.:D

[PRM]

I have been carrying Buck 110s for close to 30 years now. They are a classic go to knife when you want a belt knife that does not have the bulk of a fixed blade. The Company is also top shelf. My last one was a Buck Custom Shop 110 with Elk Scales. Beautiful knife, got it off of Ebay. When it came in the blade had been aggressively buffed and was not shown accurately in its pics. I loved the handles and contacted Buck to see if they would put a new blade in it. Ten dollars (including return postage) and a couple of weeks turn around, I had what looked like a brand new Custom Shop knife.

Good choice.

[Averageman]

that closed on my hand while stationed in Germany.
I threw it away and bought a fixed blade knife down on the "economy" and still have it.
I won't own another folder that sized anymore, they aren't practical.
I just don't feel the lock mechanism is capable to hold on for continued use.

[Deltaboy]

IMO as many that have posted on here about them closing; I wonder since I have known hundreds of owners over the past 30 + years if most of you who had them closed either got a lemon or you were misusing or overstressing the knife.

[X-Rap]

I'm not trying to put down a good american company, I'm just saying what I have encountered and seen with my own eyes and offered a simple exersise to test the integrity of the lock.
It looked to me like the lock parts become rounded with use and then fail to remain engaged. I still use folders at times but the mechanisms are different than the Buck.
Misuse may well be some of the issue but a knife as heavy and robust as the 110 seems to be will have some of that with daily farm and ranch/construction carry.
The old Schrade that I have uses what looks like a very positive lock, I wonder what kind the copy had.

[GENTLEMAN OF THE CHARCOAL]

Averageman. I'm not surprised you threw it away. By the time you got through with sick bay and came off of light duty and your platoon commander or company c.o. had gotten finished with chewing your ass out and threatening you with an article 15 I'm quite sure you were ready to let it go....!!

[ArfinGreebly]

For those of you who have had the lock on a large folder fail, permit me to ask:

What activity -- what application -- requiring what stresses on the knife cause these failures?

I own several knives of that size (Buck 110, Kershaw 3140, Schrade OT6, etc.), all of which are lock-backs and of similar design.

If there is some activity of which I need to be aware, or some application I need to avoid, I'd like to know about it before the band-aids have to come out.

I should also note that the last time I closed a blade on my fingers was back in the sixties, using a scout-style knife that had no lock. I've never had anything else close on my hand, including sodbusters (no lock), scout/camp knives (no lock), and a host of other non-locking slipjoint knives. I've not had any of the locks on ANY of my locking knives fail in more than twenty years of using locking folders.

So, could someone please provide some illumination on what causes lock failures?

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

The only knife that has ever failed the spine whack for me was a newish Gerber bolt action the I got on Walmart closeout for $5. Can't remember the model name-but it has a freakishly large hole to stick your finger through---what do you expect for a cheap knife?

Got a Custom 110 a couple years back for the huge sum of $85 j/k---NS bolsters---Oak scales--BG42 blade. All that is a screaming deal for the price paid---excellent knife.

[Stainz]

I lost my oldest 110 in a move, but Nixon was President when I got it. I've had several more - some Custom Shop models and WallyWorld specials. From my careless early days to my recent years - when I discovered knives were for cutting and prybars are for prying, I've never managed to damage a Buck 110. I have had to resharpen them - not often, however. I use them for utility cutting - mail packages to reducing appliance boxes - as well as camping/hiking chores. Here are a few of my 110s:

http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/Stainz_2007/IMG_3529.jpg

I have some nice Benchmades, Boker Tree Brand Classics, Kershaws, Spydercos and Victorinox SAKs, but the Buck 110 is my idea of my last pocket knife to part with.

Oh - I've cut myself, nothing worse than a paper cut, more on my dull SAKs than all other knives combined... at least until I got a Spydie Sharpmaker and sharpened them. Dull knives are dangerous.

Stainz

[444]

I have one that was modified into an automatic.

[eldiabloe1]

I have yet to have one fail but that is because I use them as intended. The lock, on any knife, is a stop gap for those who forget what the knife was meant for.

[Doug S]

Not discrediting those who have had problems, but I've been using 110s since I was a kid, and haven't had one go closed on me. I guess cutting up deer/small game/fish and veggies at camp is not an application in which you have to worry too much about the lock failing. Even if it did, I use my knives mostly for making slicing cuts, so I can't imagine using it in a way that it would rapidly close on my fingers. Also, with all the Internet forum talk on the Buck 110, you'd think if this was common, it would be a known issue. Makes me wonder how all those generations of slipjoint users managed to survive without a lockblade.

[X-Rap]

I haven't carried a 110 since 1981, it was the 2nd one I had the 1st was returned to the factory with lock failure. The 2nd met the same fate but was sent to the place broken tools go. I knew 2 brothers and one was on his 3rd and the other his 2nd. I don't think any of us ever had a collapse but as I said take the blade and rap the back of it against your boot sole and if it holds your good but if the lock slips your on your own.
I had a Stockman fold on me once while punching out bolt holes in some rubber gasket material and that was the last time I carried a non locker.
I carry Schrade and CRKT as well as the leatherman products and have no problems. My hunting knife is a hand made Wescott from New Mexico.
Call me a liar or what ever, I have knives and know how to use them. Its funny in 25 yrs I have no other problems except with those buck locks, go figure.

I've cut meat, been an iron worker, farm/ranch and still have all my fingers so I guess I didn't do to bad so far.

[Deltaboy]

Amen AG. I just know they were doing something Boneheaded.

[ArfinGreebly]

I haven't carried a 110 since 1981, it was the 2nd one I had the 1st was returned to the factory with lock failure.

So, I'm curious to know . . .
What activity -- what application -- requiring what stresses on the knife cause these failures?


The 2nd met the same fate but was sent to the place broken tools go. I knew 2 brothers and one was on his 3rd and the other his 2nd.
Because . . . ? What was the application that led to failure?


I don't think any of us ever had a collapse but as I said take the blade and rap the back of it against your boot sole and if it holds your good but if the lock slips your on your own.
Is that the application that caused the failure?


I had a Stockman fold on me once while punching out bolt holes in some rubber gasket material and that was the last time I carried a non locker.
I carry Schrade and CRKT as well as the leatherman products and have no problems. My hunting knife is a hand made Wescott from New Mexico.
Call me a liar or what ever, I have knives and know how to use them. Its funny in 25 yrs I have no other problems except with those buck locks, go figure.

I've cut meat, been an iron worker, farm/ranch and still have all my fingers so I guess I didn't do to bad so far.
Your creds are not in question.


I want to know what makes locks on the Buck 110 fail. I own something like a dozen of them.

Your assertion that they're unreliable leads me to inquire what things I should avoid doing.

I would consider it a courtesy if I could get an answer to that.

[X-Rap]

Application?
Simply a daily carry that got lots of use from cutting lunch meat and cheese to gutting deer and no doubt some shop work that would make some cringe.
The test, it is simply a test that proved in my mind the safety of the mechanism. I have a Kershaw that is very much the same as a 110 if not a little smaller and the lock does not fail using the same test. I have used this knife for about 10 yrs under approximate use and conditions I subjected the Buck to.
If you choose to carry the knife more power to you, my courtesy was to simply point out a flaw I had seen and pass it on not to drag your knife through the mud.
Have you tried the test?

[ArfinGreebly]

I see.

I wish I could say that clarifies the matter.

I haven't tried the test. I'll give it a go. Let you know what I find.

[Averageman]

it's kind of jumping to a conclusion that someone was doing something "Boneheaded" just because something might have slipped through quality control.
I was also unhappy with the blades side to side travel when "Locked" I found it sloppy and an irritant while using it.
Your good luck with them and my bad luck with them sounds an awful lot like the Ford vs Chevy debate.
I will continue to carry a small fixed blade instead.

[AKElroy]

Try this test and see what happens.
Take the 110 and open it.
Hold by the handle and rap the back side of the blade fairly hard against the sole of your boot.
It might change your views on this knife.

This is about proper use in IMO. What you describe is not intended use. I have never had a lock on a 110 fail, but I have never considered it proper use to use the back of the blade for anything. I don't expect my rifle barrels to serve as crowbars, either.

[Doug S]

Well, I'm still happy with my new Buck 110.:neener: In fact it's on my hip as I type this.

On a serious note, none of my 110's have any noticable blade play. They are solid, and I've only purchased (in recent years) over the counter Walmart specials (3 of them to be exact). When I bought the one that caused me to start this thread I did look at two specimens, and the first had a slight amount of side to side play when locked open. Since they had multiples, I took the second which had none. If they'd only have had one it stock, I would have bought it anyway because it was so slight. I haven't actually checked my 2 Founder Edition 110's for blade play as I only bought them because the $20 price tag was too good to pass up, and they remain in their tins.

[Stainz]

As a result of some of the negative statements here, I posted a question yesterday concerning 110 lock failures on the Buck sub-forum at bladeforums.com. To be brutally blunt, the lock failure 'problem' is all but non-existent. Anyone now bothered by the negative posts here should read those posts. To be sure, the Buck 110 is a fully functional - and dependable - classic knife, even making Blade magazines 'Top Five' favorite Vietnam-era knives, which also included the old KaBar. Of course, I stand by my original statement - a knife is a cutting tool - not a prybar - or even a die. Prying, battoning, or twisting is ill-advised with any folder.

What Kershaw resembles a 110? All but one of my collection of Kershaws are frame or liner locks, the contrary example being my only Seki, Japan made Kershaw - a 1993-2 'Gentleman's Folder'. It is certainly a lighter duty design lockback than the 110.

If you have a loose 110, send it back - they'll repair or replace it gratis.

Stainz

[ArfinGreebly]

What Kershaw resembles a 110?

The Kershaw 31xx line.

The 3140 "Black Gulch" is a full-sized lockback folder of essentially the same design.
108635

The 3120 is equivalent to the Buck 112.

The 3110 and 3100 are smaller, but of the same pattern.

[JeffLrrp]

My wally-world Buck 110 has been great. Buck and Victorinox are all I carry (mostly Vic, though :D )

[TimboKhan]

I have had one of these since I was a kid, and still have it. To be honest, it hasn't seen much use, though I did cut up my first elk with it. That is more of a matter of A: misplacing it in my moms basement for over a decade and B: owning other knives at various points that were used. Certainly, I trust it to do the job it was intended for with no reservation.

Of course there will be guys who have had failures. A folding knife is a mechanical thing, and mechanical things can and will fail, period. There isn't a single folding knife on the market that at some point, due to human error, incorrect usage, ordinary wear and tear or something else that doesn't have the potential to fail if it hasn't already. Some knives are better than others, obviously, but if it moves, it can fail.

I don't know where this knife ranks on the list of failures, and I don't know that I care. I am a recent convert to the joys of the simple slipjoint, and I don't worry about those closing on my hand, so why should I worry about the Buck? I am not pointing fingers at anyone and implying improper usage, but speaking for me, I don't know that I could worry less about this design closing up on me.

[X-Rap]

I have a question, how would one test a lock?
I have only stated a simple test that I have used to check the integrity of a safety devise. I do not open beer kegs and oil drums with the back of my knife blades, only hit it against the rubber sole of my boot to see if the lock indeed engages and holds against a little stress.
While that is indeed not an intended use I personally know of no other method quite as simple. I suppose you could send it to the manufactorer and have them test it.

I don't know what has every bodies pantys in a knot, I simply put out a heads up on an issue that I found compelling enough for me to stay away from a certain model knife for over 25 yrs.
I have found others to fill that niche that don't have the same problems and I'm happy with that. If you don't wish to give my test a try and think your knife is to fragile then thats fine, I didn't wake up and say "I think I will trash Buck 110's for no reason".
What Kershaw resembles a 110? All but one of my collection of Kershaws are frame or liner locks, the contrary example being my only Seki, Japan made Kershaw - a 1993-2 'Gentleman's Folder'. It is certainly a lighter duty design lockback than the 110.

If you have a loose 110, send it back - they'll repair or replace it gratis.

Stainz


You are indeed right, it is a 3120 and while I don't have a collection nor am I a knife designer the Kershaw is hardly a lighter duty design only because it doesn't have the girth of the Buck. I would say the SS is easily as sturdy as the other and a big plus is the lock has a solid audible engagement and doesn't come undone with a little pop to the bottom of the boot.

[JeffLrrp]

+1 on the awesomeness that is the classic 110

EDIT: I've already posted on this thread :o oops.

[22-rimfire]

The only knife that I have had fold onto my fingers (and only barely as I caught the movement) when I was not expecting it was a Case slippie. That knife is gone. That was when I was a kid carving my initials in Beech trees. Might be fun to go back and see if I can find any of them. My Dad was always proud that one of his survived 30-40 years when he as a kid and we'd see it from time to time.