Introducing the Buck 110 Slim Pro -- My New EDC Knife

[Echo40]

Awhile back I was in the process of selecting a new EDC Knife to replace the very large and intimidating Cold Steel Ti-Lite VI that I had been carrying for the past few years with something smaller, lighter, and more practical for EDC.

I had narrowed my choices down to three knives; The Buck 110 Slim Pro, the Buck Vantage Avid, and the Buck 841 Sprint Pro.

Well, as I had expected, it appears that the decision has been made for me, as yesterday I received a Buck 110 Slim Pro as a Christmas Gift from my brother.

I just carried it today for the first time and I love it already, it's so thin and so light compared to the Ti-Lite VI that it was as if I weren't carrying a knife at all.

Under other circumstances, this might be somewhat disconcerting, but I've already experienced first hand just how sharp it is when it accidentally snapped closed on my middle finger the other day, so I'm perfectly confident in it.

Initially, I was somewhat concerned that it wouldn't feel as comfortable in my hand as the thicker classic Buck 110 did, but having handled it I can safely say that it fits my hands just as well, so evidently it was the length of the grip rather than the width which made it fit so well.

I was also initially concerned after handling it that the action was too stiff for fast deployment, or otherwise too hazardous to attempt to deploy quickly after it had sliced my finger wide open, but I've worked the action a bit since then and it appears to have smoothed out quite nicely.

I'm confident that it will serve as an excellent EDC Knife which will fulfill any role that I should need it for, from slicing open packages to self-defense against the minions of darkness.

It's an excellent upgrade to the classic Buck 110 Folding Hunter which I would recommend to anyone who loves the classic, yet finds it too heavy or too slow to deploy for EDC in the modern day.

 

[John in Bismarck]

Nice knife. I like Buck knives and own several. One of my two EDC’s is an 841 Sprint Pro. I liked it so much that I bought one for each of my two brothers in law earlier this year. Made in USA!

 

[mauser9]

Nice! Great and practical gift. I switch sometimes myself and decided to carry my Buck #249 which is the folding Alpha. Good rubber grip and blade just about right. Good sturdy feel to it.

 

[Racer X]

I carried a Ka Bar 1189, which was similar to the skinny Buck 110. They revived it as the 3189, but it isn't the same, and they use ****** soft Chinese steel now. Great for a butter knife blade, but not an EDC or emergency tool.

 

[oink]

I got a cheap Chinese Gerber for Christmas. They call it an Air Ranger. I had it in my pocket while out yesterday. I don't know how poor the steel is (They call it 7Cr) or how well it will hold up. However, I'll be darned if it isn't the perfect size for EDC, at least for me. I like it very much so far. It also comes with a little keychain tool that looks pretty much worthless and is still sealed in the package where it will probably stay. I don't like to bulk up my keys although I do have a P38 on my keys.

 

[Green Frog]

My EDC knife is Boker Plus tm that is apparently one of the few affordable ones not made in China. The blade is marked 440s Stainless. I’m carrying my third one now. Lost the first, pictured is the second (still good but worn a bit and missing the “shield”) and I still have a new one sealed in the box. After over 50 years of carrying a pocketknife about daily I’ve settled on this design for all around EDC. Needless to say I’ve accumulated “a couple of others” for special needs!
Froggie

 

[Echo40]

So here's an update after a few days of handling/carrying the Buck 110 Slim Pro...

I absolutely love how easily it carries. It's so light and the pocket clip isn't too tight so it clips securely to my pants pocket without me having to struggle to get it on or off. (Which was a big problem with the Ti-Lite VI, the clip was always too tight, to a degree that putting it on or taking it off required a bit of jostling.) However, to use a phrase which I typically despise but feel fits quite well here; "now that the honeymoon phase is over" I've noticed that the lockup on this knife is extremely tight, as in excessively so. It requires a fair amount of pressure on the thumbstuds to get the blade to deploy and flicking it open with the wrist is also a challenge. So I've been trying to break it in lately by opening/closing it, cleaning it out, and repeating. I'm making progress, but it's taking longer than I'm used to.

I've read that when these were first released, there were many complaints about blade play, so me thinks Buck is tightening these suckers down as far as they'll go these days in order to address that. To be fair, it worked, because my Buck 110 Slim Pro has absolutely no blade play in any direction whatsoever, but the action is terribly stiff out of the box, and personally I'm not nearly enough of a blade snob to care about a teensy bit of blade play in exchange for a smooth action.

I'll keep on working with it though and hopefully it'll be smooth soon enough.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

I gave my grandson a 110 Slim Pro for Christmas last year, and last time I saw it, his dad (my son) had commandeered it, so I guess I'm gonna have to buy another one now. Might as well get one for myself while I'm at it.

 

[Onomea]

FSW, you might try some graphite solution, such as used in locks so keys will turn more easily, in the joint.

 

[ike1518]

I have the slightly smaller 112 Slim Ranger pro. After decades of trying different knives for EDC this is finally the one for me.

 

[Echo40]

I'm still breaking it in during my free time. I just open/close the blade as I'm watch videos until it starts to feel gritty/sticky, then I rinse it out with oil, and repeat.

I can tell that I'm making progress because the black goop just keeps on flowing out around the pivot. Hopefully it will be all broken in and functioning smoothly soon enough.

 

[SF VET]

When I rotated back to the States from Germany in the summer of 71, for a class at Bragg on being a MACV advisor in Vietnam, I wandered over to the small PX at Smoke Bomb Hill, in the SF area, where I would return a year and a half later from my year in Vietnam, to be an A Team CO for another 18 months. Back in the fall of '69, before I went to Infantry and Airborne and Ranger school at Benning, I had bought a Buck General, the long sheath knife, and a custom sheath for it.

But at the small PX, I bought a Buck 110 folding Hunter, and a Puma White Hunter, more about that later. I wore and used that 110 in Vietnam, and it was useful every evening when I used the point to clean out the spark plug on my 1.5 KW generator. Continued to wear and use it, and took it again to Desert Storm, where it acquired a few more nicks and scratches on the brass bolsters, having to use it to tap in pins when putting up our hospital tentage.

About a decade ago, sent it back to Buck to have it "tightened up" and asked them to NOT polish out any of the nicks nor my name I had etched on a bolster years before. They assured me they would not remove any memories on my 110, and it is as new. I then decided I just did not want to risk losing it, so since then that faithful knife resides with other mementos in a shadow box.

It looks to me like the early 110's had a more pointed clip point than on later ones, and also, the bolsters are not radiused.

So, here a half century later, my trustily 110.

All the best,,,, SF VET

 

[Smoke]

Buck 110 that I carried in the Army/National Guard and as a Security Guard.

Buck 110 LT that I carry as a Retired Career Security Guard

Buck 110 Slim that I carried at my last security gig.

I really like the Modernized 110 design

 

[Eddie Southgate]

Mine is so early it is not a 110 and is not marked as one, just Buck USA . It was bought new in 1964 at the post exchange at Sewart Air Force base in Smyrna Tennessee . Been carried every day since.

 

[mauser9]

Buck 110 gotta be one of the most popular out there. Always use the pouch for my Buck Alpha. Satisfied until I saw that new Sog Trident. Had to have it!

 

[LoboGunLeather]

My all time favorite Buck knife was the Squire model. Very slim and lightweight, but the usual Buck steel in the blade. Got a good 20 years of service every day, broke about 1/4" off at the tip of the blade and re-ground it to a new point and kept on using it.

I think Grandson #2 still has that knife. I'm about on year 15 using a Gerber SLG 3.25 S, about the same size and weight but with a thumb-stud and pocket clip.

Picked up a Boker "Magnum" automatic a couple of years ago. Good knife, but about like carrying a roll of quarters in my pocket.

Of course, there will always be a Victorinox Swiss Army knife in the truck console, and another in the fishing tackle box. Great little tools! The old Leatherman multi-tool is in my fanny pack with an old Mini Mag Lite and a Gerber diamond steel sharpener, stuffed under the truck seat.

 

[Echo40]

So having worked with the blade extensively, it have become substantially smoother to deploy over time, albeit not quite were I would like it to be.

I think that the reason for the gritty feeling is because the 110 Slim Pro lacks any form of washers between the pivot and micarta scales, so it's just steel rubbing against canvas micarta, which obviously isn't a recipe for smooth operation. However, a bit of oil in the pivot point goes a long way.

Unsurprisingly, the Buck 110 Slim Pro has recently received a revision with hex screws in place of the pins, thus enabling the end user to loosen the pivot and disassemble the knife for cleaning.

In addition, Buck has also released yet another variant of the Buck 110 Folding Hunter, with aluminum in place of brass, G10 in place of wood, hex screws in place of pins, and thumb studs in place of the old nail nick.
So if anyone who reads this thread is considering getting a more modern take on the Buck 110, I would recommend checking them out.

The 110 Slim Pro is an excellent general purpose EDC knife based on a classic design, and I'm glad to see that Buck continues to stick with it after all these years, making little tweaks/updates to the design to stay in line with the features of more modern designs.