A working man's knife

In the United States for 5 decades the standard knife of the working man was of two basic types. One either carries a multi tool which is similar to a Boy Scout knife in concept but also includes a reasonably sturdy folding plier such as the Leatherman, OR, one carries a folding knife of the Buck 110 type (or a clone of).

Some working men have one of each type
.
The Buck 110 has earned a place as a classic. They retail for about $35 on Amazon.com The 3 3/4" stainless steel blade is that of a small sheath knife and it can be honed to razor sharpness. When opened the blade locks into the open position so that it will not slam shut on the owners fingers when doing heavy cutting or slicing tasks. The handle to which the blade folds is made of Rosewood with brass bolsters. The clip point blade allows fine detail cutting while the 0.12" blade thickness allows some force to be safely applied when levering. There have been literally millions of them sold. Although initially intended for outdoorsmen who wished to have a reasonable hunting and camp knife without wearing a sheath knife, the design gained immediate acceptance amongst the construction tradesmen as well as other industries in which a good knife is often an important accessory to the workman's kit or tool belt. You will find these knives in a belt pouch or a pocket of construction workers, mechanics, farmers and outdoors workers across the nation. In addition to the Buck brand name stamping on the ricasso of the blade there is also a date code which allows collectors to identify the year of manufacture. Some folks care about that, even though a Buck 110 made in 1963 is otherwise identical to one made in 2018. The complaints about the 110 design are only a few, but they do exist.

A) Learning to open the knife one handed requires a fair amount of practice and a blade pivot mechanism that has been opened and closed enough times so that it is no longer stiff. Once the technique is mastered though any Buck 110 requires only a soft flick of the wrist to open and lock the blade into position.
B) The knife is not light. It ways 7.2 ounces, almost half a pound. The handle is 0.6" thick.
C) The locking mechanism can wear and fail with time. It usually takes about 5 years of daily use 3 or 4 times a day, but eventually the edges of the locking notch can become rounded enough to fail under pressure along the spine of the blade. If your Buck 110 is razor sharp this can result in sudden pain and blood (and or finger) loss.
D) The knife's edge can be used for shaving insulation off wires, and if a copper wire is thin the knife can cut through it. However, the knife was designed for slicing softer materials and cutting wires or cables will place nicks and dull spots on the blade's edge and resharpening is probably needed after a day spent cutting phone wires or picture hanging wire.
E) There is no way to disassemble the knife for thorough cleaning. Usually however a spray of hot water can be used to flush debris out of the channels.

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Comments (16)

What's your thoughts on Gerber range? I own 2 clones of the Buck 110, leather man, Gerber multi-tool and my favourite is the Gerber Hinderer CLS.thumbs up
Luke, they say the Leatherman multi tool is of military quality. I own one and it seems to be very well built.
Mimi, those toads better be careful around you. laugh
Johnny wave

Yessss! And I eat them for breakfast!

Frogs legs rice porridge. Yummmm! smitten
Johnyyy!

Look at ‘em succulent legs! love

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My Mic-gyver tool for about 20 years has been a Buck Swiss.
Great(!) multi-tool in pocket knife form.
Sadly, it's no longer made sad

I also have a li'l thing like Mimi's because it has a tiny scissors.

cowboy


Yep. That it. My good 'ol trusty Buck Swiss!
Except I did an upgrade on that kinda flimsy chain thingy.
Don't want to lose it scold

cowboy
The Buck/Wenger Swiss is a great compact go-everywhere multi-tool in a pocket/key chain knife package - see vid posted above roll eyes

In the larger 'folding Buck genre', I MUCH prefer the Opinel No.8...



(Don't be put off by the first few seconds - it's not all in French laugh )
It's everything the review vid says it is.
Especially that razor edge part!

It's useful if one is going further afield than a trip to town.

And - get this, y'all foodies (Mimi) - between that comfortable grip & razor edge, it not so much cuts as provides a sensual gliding through food.
It greatly enhances a trip to the local steak house. smile
Rare/medium rare steak provides the most pleasurable buttery slicing - IMO.

Also -
If it's good enough for...
The New York Museum Of Modern Art...
Pablo Picasso...
and Turkish swordsmen...
I reckon it's good enough for li'l ol' me thumbs up
grin

cowboy
Mick, I don’t eat beef snooty

Never had beef ( knowingly ) my whole life!
Opinel No. 8 Peasant Knife review especially for y'all foodies...



I agree with the reviewer's preference for the carbon steel blade over stainless steel.
More traditional.
Also, I believe it takes a significantly sharper edge with less honing; very simple & easy to maintain the razor edge.

And that patina finish is cool love
And yes. The patina is easily 'applied' by cutting a lime.
grin

cowboy
We had an Opinal when I was a kid. It was Mom's. She used to work at the NYC Woolworth Bldg. during WW2 and lots of interesting stuff flowed through the upper floors there. I haven't seen it since the 70s when I left home and i forgot to ask about it before I sold that house in the 90s. Actually I hadn't even thought about it in decades. My memory is every few decades the lock collar needs a gentle squeeze with a pliers because wear makes it loose otherwise.

I can attest the Buck 110 is excellent for slicing ham or steak or just about anything edible. You can gut & skin a deer with one or slice up a roast beef and the next day whittle some wood with it. Soft and hard Arkansas keep it shaving sharp.

The slightly thinner blade of the Dewalt should also prove excellent on meat. It came already razor sharp (literally) and after 5 months of carry/daily use it is still just as sharp. That ceramic coat I think is why.
"Soft and hard Arkansas keep it shaving sharp."

True that, Ken!
That's about the only way I found to put a shaving sharp edge on that stainkess U.S. Issue knife.
It took awhile to do it and required a good technique, but once it was razor sharp it held an edge really(!) well.

cowboy
With a good hard arkansas (those white stones have gotten hard to find in a decent size) I don't even need to strop to produce an edge that can shave hairs.
I suspect those various newfangled sharpening gizmos they sell nowadays have severely cut into the market for the stones that require some degree of skill & technique.
sigh

The gizmos don't work so well on stainless, but they get the carbon steel Opinel shaving sharp.
It doesn't hold an edge as well as stainless but it's quick & easy to sharpen, so I guess it all works out.

cowboy
Mercator ...every WW1 german soldier got a free Mercator pocket-knife to take to the trenches ...NOT a toy frog
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