Spyderco's Answer To The Buck Model 110?

[flipe8]

JD made mention of the target audience at the beginning of this thread as one of his reasons he sees the Military as Spyderco's answer to the 110, but wasn't the Military designed by Sal as a folder he'd be confident in giving to his son joining the military? I don't know what the designer of the 110 originally designed it for, but I see it as a basic working knife-like the Endura.

Just my opinion, though.

[SpeedHoles]

Maybe, Spyderco didn't need an "answer" to the Buck 110.
Maybe Spyderco isn't trying to fill categories or conform to labels, but they are trying to rewrite their own new categories and defy limiting labels. :)

[Evil D]

I'd really like to see a bolstered Police...brass bolsters with some nice burled maple inlays.

[Waco]

I've seen knives similar to the 110 with bolsters that had turned green and weren't easy to clean. Doe the 110 have the same problem if you aren't careful about keeping it dry?

[Larry_Mott]

I've seen knives similar to the 110 with bolsters that had turned green and weren't easy to clean. Doe the 110 have the same problem if you aren't careful about keeping it dry?

The Buck 110 and Schrade LB7 are prone to "grow" verdigris pretty fast when left in their leather sheaths.. I don't find it difficult to remove but it is something of a nuisance IMO

[JD Spydo]

JD made mention of the target audience at the beginning of this thread as one of his reasons he sees the Military as Spyderco's answer to the 110, but wasn't the Military designed by Sal as a folder he'd be confident in giving to his son joining the military? I don't know what the designer of the 110 originally designed it for, but I see it as a basic working knife-like the Endura.

Just my opinion, though.

And that's a good point you make there "flipe8" because I heard that was indeed the inspiration behind the C-36 Military model. But one of the main reasons I picked the C-36 Military model is that you can see the DNA of several of the other Spyderco timeless designs incorporated in that model. Just one look and you know immediately that it's a Spyderco "IN HOUSE" design.

Not sure what BUCK's story is behind the model 110 but I do remember BLADE magazine about 3 years ago or thereabout doing a 50th anniversary story on the BUCK 110 and I guess I need to dig it out and see what they said about it. But I've been a deer hunter since the mid to late 70s and I've seen dozens, if not hundreds of people using the BUCK model 110 as their main "hunter folder" so it's hard to say what BUCK's primary intended purpose of that classic design was meant for specifically.

Other than the possible exception of maybe one the Calypso models I just can't come up with anything that equals the BUCK 110 like the C-36 Military does in my opinion. However there are some very interesting debates to be made for the RENEGADE and TEMPERANCE models as well.

[JD Spydo]

Maybe, Spyderco didn't need an "answer" to the Buck 110.
Maybe Spyderco isn't trying to fill categories or conform to labels, but they are trying to rewrite their own new categories and defy limiting labels. :)

Yeah and that's a good point you make "Speedholes" because Spyderco has such a unique line up of designs you really can't compare the two companies in a "side by side" comparison. But I've made the case for the C-36 Military model based on it being a folder you can literally use for just about any cutting job you might be faced with. As well as the fact that the MILITARY model has such an iconic, IN HOUSE design that you couldn't mistake it for anything other than a SPYDERCO design.

My comparison is also based on the company's years of design evolution and that the C-36 Military folder is the result of many years of trial & error and meeting the customer's demands. Also I look at it from the standpoint if I were going to try to convert one of my good friends to Spyderco the C-36 Military would be one of the first models I personally would introduce them to.

[Larry_Mott]

Not sure what BUCK's story is behind the model 110 <snip>

I remember the 110 being sold as "Buck 110 folding hunter" when i bought mine back in 1985. I take that as a clue to the intended purpose :)

[JD Spydo]

Not sure what BUCK's story is behind the model 110 <snip>

I remember the 110 being sold as "Buck 110 folding hunter" when i bought mine back in 1985. I take that as a clue to the intended purpose :)

Larry I believe you are on target with that call>> because I can remember all the way back to high school days ( 1970s) when myself and all my red blooded male pals I went to school with all wanted a BUCK model 110 with a belt sheath. Now it's kind of funny in a way because that's not the hunter-folder I started out with. I was given ( for a Birthday present) a Kabar twin bladed, stag handled hunter folder model 1194 which I used as a hunter folder for almost 25 years before I ended up giving the knife to my nephew. Now the reason I mention that is because after BUCK released it's model 110 there were at least a half a dozen well known knife companies that also released hunter-folder models to compete with the model 110.

Now I later on did get a BUCK model 110 and I actually used it for a lot of cutting chores>> but I pretty much used my twin bladed, model 1194 Kabar for most of my hunting and fishing needs. Yeah I think it's fair to say that the BUCK model 110 was highly perceived as being strictly a hunter-folder. But many of the guys I knew that had that knife used the BUCK 110 for almost every cutting job imaginable.

Which in turn a lot of people have perceived Spyderco's C-36 Military as strictly a tactical knife and I'm here to tell you as a guy who has EDCed one continuously for almost 8 months that it is truly a very versatile multi-purpose blade which is one of the main reasons I find it comparable to the Buck model 110. But you're right about most people thinking of the BUCK 110 as being a hunter folder>> but like the C-36 Spyderco Military it's far more than that I can assure you.

[Bill1170]

Endura

[Bill1170]

JD made mention of the target audience at the beginning of this thread as one of his reasons he sees the Military as Spyderco's answer to the 110, but wasn't the Military designed by Sal as a folder he'd be confident in giving to his son joining the military? I don't know what the designer of the 110 originally designed it for, but I see it as a basic working knife-like the Endura.

Just my opinion, though.

This states what I wanted to say, better than I said it. A basic working knife.

[JD Spydo]

JD made mention of the target audience at the beginning of this thread as one of his reasons he sees the Military as Spyderco's answer to the 110, but wasn't the Military designed by Sal as a folder he'd be confident in giving to his son joining the military? I don't know what the designer of the 110 originally designed it for, but I see it as a basic working knife-like the Endura.

Just my opinion, though.

This states what I wanted to say, better than I said it. A basic working knife.

Another item of consideration you can add to that concerning the C-36 Military model>> is not only is it a premium, multi-purpose knife which it would have to be in order to be an ideal Military type knife>> because most guys in the military use their knives much more for basic cutting chores rather than for tactical, battlefield type uses like most of the public would believe that military guys and gals would use their knives for.

Another great aspect of the C-36 Military model is that it has a blade so big that you would have to use a fixed blade of some type if you needed something bigger than a C-36 Military model. And if the Folder is ideal for cutting chores that one of our finest, bravest soldiers would use it for then just think of how great of a folder it would be for most civilian uses :cool: I still maintain that the C-36 reminds me more of a BUCK 110 than just about any of their other models.

Although I do think there is a case to be made for the RENEGADE model and the CHINOOK model both as being competitors for the BUCK model 110. This thread has been extremely interesting and I do thank each and every one of you for making it that way. But don't stop now :D

[PiggyBackJack]

Interesting topic!

IMO there are two ways to look at the question at hand.

Knife people will, as made evident by the replies in this thread list models similiar to the 110 in performance as well as design. Good cases have been made for several Spyderco knives in this regard.

However, most NKP will not know the 110 by number, or by the fact that it was originally sold as a folding hunter. They will simply refer to it as a "Buck knife" and I think it's in that vein we have to make the comparison. We need a Spyderco model which is both iconic and easily recognisable as a Spyderco with both these crowds.

Therefore my answer must be the Delica/Endura.

[BDNX]

Personally I would say Delica...

[JD Spydo]

Interesting topic!

However, most NKP will not know the 110 by number, or by the fact that it was originally sold as a folding hunter. They will simply refer to it as a "Buck knife" and I think it's in that vein we have to make the comparison. We need a Spyderco model which is both iconic and easily recognisable as a Spyderco with both these crowds.

Therefore my answer must be the Delica/Endura.

Hey "PiggyBackJack" first of all I want to thank you for your well thought out response. It wasn't a "knee-jerk" reaction at all in fact your response was weighed out very carefully and looked at from both the knife afficionado's viewpoint as well as the layperson's>> and it wasn't laced with an adversarial response to where you took offense to it because your favorite model wasn't picked to be Spyderco's answer to the BUCK model 110.

You are so right in saying that most people who are into hunting, fishing, backpacking and survival type activities that require a man and/or woman to be equipped with a high quality piece of cutlery>> and you want that to be a blade that can take a lot of abuse and still function. And for that I can't thank you enough. Now I do very respectfully disagree with you on your picks of the Delica & Endura models from that standpoint that neither one of them are made with the same high quality construction and materials as BUCK put into their classic 110 model IMO.

That's why I'm taking a second look at a few models like the POLICE, RENEGADE or even one of the older Sheepsfoot designs from a standpoint of a unique blade style that only Spyderco would do. But so far I'm not seeing anything IMO that would outright dethrone the C-36 Military model. And I just don't see one of their FRN models as being equivalent to a BUCK model 110. But again I really loved your post and I hope people read it carefully

[bearfacedkiller]

The recent thread on a different forum about choils (we have many similar threads here) basically revealed yet again that the Delica and Endura do not have choils because they are designed to be a mass market knife and the general buying public prefers a finger guard over a choil. This similarity in itself carries a bit of weight for me. The Endura is meant to be an everyday, everyman's working knife like the Buck 110. Considering that when the Endura came out that the Buck 110 was still very much a benchmark by which many other knives were judged I would be inclined to think that the blade length and dimensions were possibly chosen because of the success of the Buck 110 at that time. They have a very similar blade length and a very similar handle length and both lack a choil. Hmmm...

[JD Spydo]

Say BFK you raise a great point to be considered about whether or not Spyderco's Icon blade would have a choil or other enhanced grip factors and it is interesting to think about>> but I'm looking at the comparison to the BUCK model 110 from more of a quality construction with quality materials and a model that is recognized as being a kingpin among it's peer models in the Spyderco line up ( past & present). Comparing the C-36 Military to me is a no-brainer from the quality of the construction because it is a folder literally designed for abuse and harsh environments. To meet "military" demands is quite a huge order because if any knife can hold up under some of the demanding conditions you would encounter in the military it would have to have superior construction.

The quality of handle and blade materials I've found from all of the C-36 Military models I've had over the years have surpassed many of Spyderco's other models IMO. As far as handle material I've found every Spyderco knife I've had with G-10 of Titanium handles to be about as rugged as anything you could ask for. Again I can sort of compare Spyderco's POLICE models to compete with the C-36 Military but the blade steel selection of the MILITARY model is unbelievably good. I still cast my vote here on "Super Tuesday :D " for the C-36 Military model to be Spyderco's Icon folder>> I'm sure we'll see the results later on the election newscasts later this evening :rolleyes: :D

[PiggyBackJack]

Interesting topic!

However, most NKP will not know the 110 by number, or by the fact that it was originally sold as a folding hunter. They will simply refer to it as a "Buck knife" and I think it's in that vein we have to make the comparison. We need a Spyderco model which is both iconic and easily recognisable as a Spyderco with both these crowds.

Therefore my answer must be the Delica/Endura.

Hey "PiggyBackJack" first of all I want to thank you for your well thought out response. It wasn't a "knee-jerk" reaction at all in fact your response was weighed out very carefully and looked at from both the knife afficionado's viewpoint as well as the layperson's>> and it wasn't laced with an adversarial response to where you took offense to it because your favorite model wasn't picked to be Spyderco's answer to the BUCK model 110.

You are so right in saying that most people who are into hunting, fishing, backpacking and survival type activities that require a man and/or woman to be equipped with a high quality piece of cutlery>> and you want that to be a blade that can take a lot of abuse and still function. And for that I can't thank you enough. Now I do very respectfully disagree with you on your picks of the Delica & Endura models from that standpoint that neither one of them are made with the same high quality construction and materials as BUCK put into their classic 110 model IMO.

That's why I'm taking a second look at a few models like the POLICE, RENEGADE or even one of the older Sheepsfoot designs from a standpoint of a unique blade style that only Spyderco would do. But so far I'm not seeing anything IMO that would outright dethrone the C-36 Military model. And I just don't see one of their FRN models as being equivalent to a BUCK model 110. But again I really loved your post and I hope people read it carefully

First off, thanks for your kind Words, JD! I did actually put some thought into my answer and I'm glad it showed.

You make a compelling case for the Military and especially so when we get down to material selection and quality of construction. I'm apt to agree with you here. The Buck 110 was after all using premium quality materials of it's time and was far better than your average plastic handled thrift store blade. The reason I chose to go with the Delica/Endura route was recognizability with both afficionado's and NKP's but then again I'd have to ask myself if a person who knew enough about knives to recognize a Delica as a Spyderco product wouldn't also be able to recognize the same thing if they saw a Military? The answer is probably yes and that makes an even better case for the Military being the equivalent to the Buck 110. All things considered I may have to revise my standpoint! :)

[JD Spydo]

From a product recognition standpoint I can see where you all think the Delica & Endura models would stand out and be considered iconic. But I make the case that if you look at it from that criteria that the POLICE model even outshines both of those models>> because what has a more Spyder-like look than the stainless handled, full Spyderedged POLICE model. Before I even bought my very first Spyderco knife which I got in 1995 I had seen so many advertisements and pictures of the POLICE model that I literally couldn't get it out of my mind. I had seen at least a hundred pictures of the POLICE model before I even knew that the Delica and Endura models even existed. And I'll bet I'm not the only one either.

I wanted a Spyder that would be recognized as a multi-purpose type blade that could be used in a wide range of cutting jobs. I also wanted the model to be well constructed with high quality materials and be recognized as a very rugged but yet versatile cutting tool. And to this day I haven't found a model of Spyderco folder that fits all of those qualifications like the C-36 Military does.

Oh I have models that I actually like better from a style standpoint and sentimental favorites>> the C-60 Ayoob comes to mind immediately. I also love the style and looks of just about all the Calypso models and especially the C-54 big Calypso. But the C-36 Military covers many more bases than any of those others I mentioned and I'll stick to my original pick.