Another sterling gift from my old friend Ordnanceguy and his lovely wife. This Buck 105 Pathfinder sat in his father's desk since purchased at Zipp Sporting Goods in South Miami. An older brother worked there and bought the knife as a gift many years ago. Never used, never spent much time out of the box. I ran into a model 120 General one liner in the same condition several years ago and have been accumulating early Buck knives ever since. Last year Ordnanceguy passed on his father's .32 Hand Ejector to me-his father was a mentor to me and this knife means all the more as I remember all that he did for me as I was growing up. They don't come any nicer or more significant than this.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

Very nice and great finding a older mint piece such as this. Thank God I hung onto my Puma Skinner I bought back in 68. $25 back then. Plan to pass it to my son someday.

I have a Buck similar to the one in the photo, no box, and don't know the model. It has a 5" blade and I've owned it since the late 60's early 70's. The holster is rough, but the knife is good.

Have a blessed evening,

Leon

What a great gift! You have a good friend in him.

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On the Oak Savannah

Very nice! Some times simple things mean the most.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

That's awesome- have always liked Buck knives especially vintage ones. When things like that are gifts they just seem to be a bit more special.

If the blade is five inches, your knife is a 105 like the one pictured above. Which was an absolutely wonderful gift that reflects a great friendship.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Leon-

Look at the blade tang. This is called the ricasso by clasical edged weapons authorities. If it's like this one, it'll say Model 105. They also call that knife the Pathfinder. It does have a five-inch blade.

What you called a holster is called a sheath. SHEATH, not "sheaf", which I've seen on gun boards. Usually posted by men who spell "knives" as "knifes."...

A "sheaf" is a bundle of wheat.

Buck will sell you a new sheath. I hope you take good care of it, and of the knife. BTW, they also refinish scratched- up knives for very reasonable prices. I sent them a Model 120 that I rescued at a gun show. It came back looking new, save for one tiny ding in the handle that was too deep to entirely eliminate without making a dent in the handle.

Like that line of Buck knives myself. Wonder what the steel used in the older one utilized? I know 420 HC is used now in many of those phenolic handle fixed blade models. They look like great deer knives.

Thanks for a great memory. The Buck 105 was the first knife I bought for myself. I was stationed at Mt Home AFB in Idaho and bought the knife at the BX. It has been with me since 1969 and still works like new.

Old Joe Clark's look alike also could be a 121. The biggest difference is 121s are made from thinner stock. At one time 121s were sold as fishing knives. The Buck sporting/sheath that makes the best kitchen pare knife is the 121. They are great for preparing meals out of doors.

Texas Star,
I thought that if the blade edge is lower than the tang creating a safe place in front of the handguard for a finger then the bottom of the tang is a ricasso. No?

I'm pretty sure that's just a finger cut out. Almost sure the ricasso is the thicker part of the blade just in front of the guard. I've seen books on classical swords that refer to ricassos on swords that did not have that finger cut-out.

On pocket knife blades, the thicker part at the rear is just called the tang. But on sheath knives, the tang is the part of the blade that runs back into the handle. A full tang knife has an exposed edge. Mortised or narrow tang knives have the tangs covered by the handle material.

Some full tangs are tapered for balance. R.W. Loveless made that a popular feature on custom knives.

Since turnerriver opened up this trip down Buck memory lane here is a Model 309 I found mixed in with ballast along a Rock Island track in the early 70's. It cleaned up pretty nice and travels with me a lot.

Great old knives.

I still have a 301 Stockman that was a gift in 1971, which I still use at brandings; and a 7 1/2" fixed blade that I got with Christmas money in 1968. Back then I thought that longer was better.

The handle on the fixed blade "Phenolic??" cracked soon after I got it but of course Buck replaced it. Very hard blade steel.

You guys started this. Ever since I saw this post I've been digging up old (good ones) memories.
The Stockman 301, I carry almost every day. The lockblade 501 belongs to my wife, can't remember the name.

The Pathfinder? does not have a model number, and the sheath, (I stand corrected) looks bad. I probably bought it in the mid to late 60's, (that's last century). The spine is about .115/120 thick and it is very hard to sharpen.

I consider these "working" knives, any information will be greatly appreciated.

Leon

Then there is my old fishing buddy. The Buck 123

Leon,
I'm 99% sure your sheath knife is a 105 Pathfinder. My 121 is not handy for measuring its blade thickness but 105 blade tips are a little more upswept. The first knife that I bought for myself was a 301. Bucks were expensive pocket knives when spending paper route money. I still have it.

I do not see a stockman's sheep's foot blade rising up out of your Case so I'm guessing it is a jack knife. Jacks have a clip point master blade and secondary pen blade. Your Case looks like either a 4.25" (closed) 75 pattern or a 4" 92 pattern. If it is a 75 pattern is the most expensive collector item in your picture. Case's tang numbers are basically 4 or 5 numbers. The first is the handle material, 6 being bone. The 2nd is the number of blades. The nest 2 or 3 are the pattern number. I won't get into the sufix or prefix numbers and letters that are sometimes present. Assuming your case has bone scales and is a 75 pattern jack one of its tangs will be stamped 6275.

On pocket knives, oil the joints. Smooths them up and avoids rust. Use a pipe cleaner with the tip bent (to avoid scratching) to clean the interior of folding knives.

Joe-

That sheath is a mess. You can try shoe dye and Kiwi polish, but it looks shot. Buck will sell a replacement. I think they now offer both Cordura (cheap) and leather, better. For better sheaths, see ads in the back of Blade magazine. Custom sheath makers...

Joe, the stamp on that sheath knife indicates it was made between 1961-67, like mine. The Buck Knife website has a date of manufacture page. While I'm no expert, I agree that your knife is a Pathfinder model.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver