I knew I'd find something here on Buck Knives, my favorite brand of knives. I have owned (and lost
) Buck knives since I was 10 years old, the first being a 110 which my dad gave me for my tenth birthday in 1966. He had good taste.
I carried that until I was in the Navy and lost it hiking somewhere in the San Jacinto Mts in Southern California. I had forgotten to completely zip one of the compartments on my pack and it must've dropped out. To say I was sick when I realized it was missing is an understatement. I considered back tracking to see if I could find it but it would've set me back at least six hours and I needed to be back in San Diego that night. I hope someone is still enjoying that knife today. I immediately went to the base exchange the next day and bought another 110 and while I was paying for the 110 ($18, as I remember), a 119 Special caught my eye so I bought them both. At the time I was stationed in San Diego, I was a short drive from the Buck factory in El Cajon where they were at the time. I got to tour the factory and they would sharpen knives for free back then when they had an open house. Now they are in Idaho. It seems it was a good move for them.
I still have the 110 but I seem to have misplaced my 119 that I bought that day. I think I took it to one of my kids houses and never retrieved it. I still believe it's around somewhere and it and I will find each other again someday. In the meantime, I bought another one a few months ago.
Funny story about that original 119...In the late 80's, like an idiot and I knew better, I was using it to try and cut a block of frozen hamburger in half tapping the back of it with a plastic headed hammer (not really hard) when the blade broke in half. I sent it to Buck, telling them exactly how it broke and could they replace the blade and charge me for it. A few weeks later I got a brand new knife in the mail. That's service! I even called them when I got the knife back and offered to pay for it. All they said was the one I sent them was certainly not the worst they had seen
and that it should not have broken like that, even tapping it on the back with a hammer..."bad steel" he said... LOL.
Over the intervening years, I have bought a Buck 117 which is a smaller version of the 119 Special and I also just recently bought a Buck 212 (with the phenolic handle, not the fancy one they came out with a couple of years ago) which I love but don't really like the scabbard/sheath. I have been looking for a decent one for it but have come up empty handed. I'm wondering if anyone knows someone that that makes knife sheaths? I don't like fancy leather work, just a simple leather sheath that's wears well and holds the knife in with a strap and snap. The one that came with the 212 is kind of flimsy and just doesn't feel secure.
I just ordered another standard 110 the other day from Copper and Clad so I can put my older one in the safe. It's been my EDC since I bought it in the mid 70's and I really don't want to misplace it, which I seem to have a penchant for doing. I even have the original leather sheath that it came with.
All this to say, Bucks are great knives!