Look what I found today! Buck 311 Trapper

[Baykeeper]

Baykeeper,

There's another 315 for you to get: no bolsters, no pins.

Bert

315 Yachtsman barehead, no pins, no escutcheon (1).jpg

You teach me something every time Bert. I had no idea there was a version both with no bolsters OR pins. Sigh, yet another search parameter to remember, but that's ok, I'm clearly addicted! Since I got this newest one I was wondering why I felt so weird, and realized it was because I didn't have another knife coming in the mail right now! Time to remedy that, off to look for pinless/bolsterless 315's!

[Baykeeper]

What do you do if you are a junker at heart and need to store a bunch of collectible knives? Do you purchase a nice appropriate glass display case? Do you store them in your safe? Pshaw, nope, you find an old knife box at the thrift store for $3 and re-purpose it, that's what ya do, (or what I did).
Not as fancy as a fancy glass display, but it holds all of the CC-made models including the SFO's and gives me a pretty good trailer-trash display option. In case of emergency I can just grab the whole box, my gun, my "bug out bag" and save both my own a** and my knives in one swoop. This holds one of each 300 Series model numbers made by Camillus, (including SFO's), with a few Buck-made favorites & duplicates thrown in for good measure. Looks good on the coffee table.

[montemojo]

I like the way you think BK nice!

Monte

[Baykeeper]

I like the way you think BK nice!

Monte

Thanks Monte. I have 33 Buck knives altogether, and a whole bunch of other brands, so I have a slight storage problem to say the least. I have eight other various Bucks in my EDC rotation, but wanted to put all the "collectibles" under one roof, so for $3 and a couple of hinges this works for me.

[Baykeeper]

Here is a new find, 1966 #301 Stockman by Schrade. This one was stored for decades in an old sheath, but other than some darkening of the bolsters and storage wear on the handles all aspects of the knife are pristine. The blades are factory sharp with no signs of usage, and all the blades are tight between the bolsters, (SC-made knives using the Swindon Key attachment system always seemed to loosen up with usage, a reason production was moved to Camillus in early 1971). Took me a while to find one, and I am thrilled to have found one in such good condition. Now I need to find a '66 #303 Cadet to join this one!

[montemojo]

Good looking knife BK, and good luck finding the cadet. That one is in great shape hard to believe it went all these years and didn't get used up.

Monte

[Baykeeper]

Good looking knife BK, and good luck finding the cadet. That one is in great shape hard to believe it went all these years and didn't get used up.

Monte

Thanks! This one apparently was stored for decades in a leather sheath and seldom if ever used, shows some slight storage wear & discoloration on the handles & bolsters, but the blades are perfect. Recently I had lost an auction of a NIB example, but then this one popped up and I managed to snag it. Fortunately it was in better condition than I expected, the listing had poor photos, so when it arrived I was more than pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.

[Baykeeper]

Here's a good reason for a thread bump. 1990 unused Buck #312BB Mini Trapper NIB w/ papers, just couldn't resist. I really like this era of Buck in-house production, their pinnacle of quality in my humble opinion.

[Old Hunter]

Nice Buck!

[Baykeeper]

Nice Buck!

Thanks OH. There just aren't that many bone handled Buck folders out there. Though I have a #312 in the regular Black Sawcut Delrin handles I just couldn't resist this when I saw it. Out of the thirty plus 300 Series Bucks I have this is one of only three I have w/ bone handles; works for me.

[Baykeeper]

Here's a bump.
Just received this 1990 #314 Buckbone Trapper to go along with the smaller #312 Buckbone Mini Trapper I already have. I love the 1990's 300 Series knives made in San Diego, they were far superior to current production models in every measurable aspect in my opinion. Now the search continues for all the other Buckbone 300 Series models.

[Baykeeper]

Here is a bump and a new Buck. I decided to gift myself a custom knife, and of course I opted for a Buck. This year's BCCI Annual Club knife was a custom #101 Hunter fixed blade in two versions, the variety I ordered came with Marbled Carbon Fiber Handles, exotic S35VN satin-finish blade, COA, BCCI tang stamp and of course a leather sheath. The other version came with Genuine Stag handles and gold acid etching on a polished 420HC blade, (and higher price tag of course), I decided to go with the carbon fiber and the exotic steel, (and the lesser price tag). The "stock" version of this newly introduced model comes with only one bolster, while these customs emulate the venerable #110 and have two. Though they look like a #110 at first glance they are actually quite a bit heavier in the hand with a different feel and balance. I read up on the S35VN, and it is supposed to be superior to 420HC in many ways, it comes in at 58 on the Rockwell scale, (plus I really like the satin finish). All in all a beautiful knife, and one of only 50 made.

[Baykeeper]

And the knives keep coming, this one a 1994 #312 Mini Trapper. I got this one specifically to be a user as it is quite used and somewhat abused. Both blades have scratches, (probably from a ham-handed sharpening), and the bolsters are pretty dinged but I have two other pristine examples of the same knife in the collection, so I'll put this one in the EDC rotation. Mainly I had a perfectly sized sheath for this size knife, so not wanting to scratch up my "keepers" I got this one for cheap to fill that sheath, (I mean what's a guy to do when he has an empty sheath? Sell it?? Pshaw, that would be a sin). That gives me two of the older 300 Series knives I can carry daily, this #312 and a #310 Whittler that I also have a better version of, (front right pocket every day). Another reason is that I find 3 1/2" to be my favorite sized knife to carry, the #314 and #329 which are full-sized 4 1/4" Trappers are just a bit too big for my tastes.
Hmm, what's next?

[Baykeeper]

Nothing special this time, just picked up these due to the bargain price. 1991 #426 Bucklite, 1972-86 #313 Muskrat, & 2003 #303 Cadet. The #313 is an early version with model number on the pile side, but I don't need it to fill a hole in my collection, I just got a screaming deal on it, same with the #303. Will probably sell the #313 & #303 to help finance my trip to the BCCI 30th Reunion in Post Falls in July, the #426 I'll just keep to use.

[Old Hunter]

Wow, the Baykeeper roll keeps steamrolling along! Nice. OH

[Baykeeper]

Wow, the Baykeeper roll keeps steamrolling along! Nice. OH

Yup I'm hooked, no doubt about that. This thread has become somewhat of a chronicle of my Buck journey, so I will keep posting photos of my various acquisitions here. Who knows what I will come up with next?

[Baykeeper]

Here is a good reason for a bump, to post photos of the process I began with this thread, the completion of my quest for all models of '72-'86 Buck 300 Series pocket knives made by Camillus, and the completion of gathering all the 300 Series SFO's.
The first photo shows the '72-'86 300 Series collection in a briefcase carrier among a few other Buck models, and some other US_made knives at the bottom. The "regular" models are #301 Stockman in both Schrade & Camillus versions including the first version Schrade with lined bolsters, #303 Cadet, #305 Lancer, #309 Companion, #311 Slimline Trapper, #315 Yachtsman, (3 of those including one without bolsters), #317 Trailblazer, #319 Rancher, #321 Bird Knife. There are more knives in there, but trust me the basic model collection is in there. Other models in the bottom of the case are #305S Clipper, (2 one blue & a violet bought & in transit), #310 Whittler, (2), #312 Small Trapper, (one in Buck Bone & one in Black Jigged Delrin), #314 Large Trapper, (one in Buck Bone & one in Black Sawcut Delrin), various post '86 versions of the #301, one of 3 #110 Folding Hunters, #105 fixed blade & #111 fixed blade BCCI Club Knife with Carbon Swirl handles, two Swiss Bucks, all in the top portion of the briefcase. I also have various duplicates of the above in sheaths, (not shown). The second photo is a 1985 advertisement that I used for inspiration while collecting the above.

The third photo is of the SFO's, (Special Factory Orders for Smoky Mountain Knife Works, never sold in the Buck Catalog): #321 Congress in Yellow and Black Sawcut Delrin, #329 Freedom Trapper in both imprinted and non imprinted Smooth Delrin, (not sure if they have SFO status?), #331 Granddaddy Barlow in Black & Yellow Sawcut Delrin, and one in Genuine Jigged Bone, (not Buck Bone, better, at least better looking than Buck Bone), #332 Small Barlow in Black and Yellow Sawcut Delrin, #333 California Toothpick in both Stagalon and Buck Bone, (was the hardest to find by far, was beginning to think it was unobtanium), #334 Millennium Trapper Limited Edition in Genuine Stag and numbered #82 of 1000. I think that is all the SFO models, though I am missing one "version" of the #334 Millennium Trapper, the Smooth Black Bone version, (coming soon). If there are any other SFO's of this series I don't know about them, so if I missed anything please speak up.

I'm not only posting these photos here because it's my thread, and I want to document the collection, but I am hoping 300bucks and bertl see this, completing these collections is truly a tribute to both of them. They both inspired and helped me, (or is that enabled me?), whatever it is I am forever grateful. 300bucks told me I would be searching for "versions" for years, he was right and I still search constantly for anything I don't already have. Now my quest is to get every handle variation of the '72-'86 models, and from what I can see, that search will indeed take years.