Choosing Classic Cutlery: The Great American Pocket Knife Part 5

 Buck 110 Lockback Hunter

    Jumping back 20 odd years from the Spyderco Worker, another iconic American knife appears on the scene. The Buck 110 was designed to fulfill a seemingly straightforward task: combine the portability of a pocket knife and make it tough enough to stand up to tough use for hunting, camping, etc.

I'd argue the only knife more recognizable than the 110 is the Swiss Army Knife

    This was, apparently, a fairly difficult task. Other companies had tried, resulting in an assortment of failed knives. Buck brought in samples of several of these knives and spent over a year examining, reengineering, and improving them before moving the knife into production.

    The key to the 110's success was developing a strong, precise, mass producible lock. While the lockback mechanism is pretty simple:

That tiny tension bar is killer

    No one had succeeded in creating one that was durable and easy to depress before. In the first half of the 20th century, knife locks were much less common than they are today, and often difficult to use/fragile (I have several knives from the 30s and 40s with broken locks). 

    Besides that (according to Buck) the other company's predecessors were ugly knives. The 110 is a looker. Nice wood grain handles set off by the brass bolsters. Something I think people overlook about it is also how comfortable it is to use. The lock is nice, but the basic hand feel is exceptional. I have a few other lockback hunters, and none of them hit that nice hefty curve the right way.

    Long story short, the Buck 110 made a locking pocket knife a mass production reality. It straddles the line between a dedicated hunting knife and an every day knife very effectively. It's designed for sheath carry, but it is pocketable (if a bit big). Buck does make some smaller models (the 112, scales it down from 4 7/8" closed to 4 1/4"). They also have some modernized variants with thumb studs, auto opening, light weight materials, POCKET CLIPS!, etc. It was one of the first specific models of knife (as opposed to a style or pattern) to be widely recognizable. Even today, a lot of people call any knife of the general style a "Buck knife" regardless of who manufactures them.

Rating:

Age: **** Not as old as the Stockman, but older than the LM and Spydie.

'Merica: ***** Made and designed in America, and illegal to carry in most of Europe.

Popularity: ***** Buck sells ~80,000 of these things a year. In the 1960s, it was the best selling sports knife in the world.

Total: ***** ***** **** 14/15

When I started, I wasn't really sure which one of the four designs I was looking at was going to win. I did all the scoring on Tuesday, and I marinated on it for a little while. I don't think I'd have moved the scores, but I would've been willing to say, "X won, but I really think Y is a more iconic knife." But I think the 110 is the right answer. Every locking hunting/every day carry knife out there today owes something to the 110, and that's an awful lot of knives. The Spydercos are the clear next step in the line, but you can see the Buck lineage in them. I hemmed and hawed over giving the LM a nod for a while, but I think more people carry Buck influenced pocket knives than do multitools.