Buck's 110 Now Has a Crossbar Lock and MagnaCut

Few knives are as load-bearing for American knife culture as the Buck 110. It has been in production since 1964, it is the knife that taught a generation what a lockback should feel like, and it has been essentially unchanged because changing it feels like a betrayal. The 110 Crossbar Lock Folding Hunter, model 14516, changes three things at once: aluminum bolsters instead of brass, a crossbar lock instead of a lockback, and CPM-MagnaCut instead of 420HC. It weighs 3.5 ounces and costs $250.

The dimensions remain familiar: 8.675 inches overall, 4.875-inch handle, 3.75-inch clip point blade in a satin finish with a hollow grind. What has changed is the carry. A deep-carry pocket clip and a thumb stud turn the 110 from a belt-sheath knife into a pocket knife, and the crossbar lock makes it fully ambidextrous for the first time in its history.

Cutting the weight from roughly 7.1 ounces to 3.5 ounces is the biggest functional change. The 110 has always been heavy enough that people left it in the truck; at half the weight it becomes the knife you actually pocket on the way out the door. The ebony scales keep the traditional look, and the blasted aluminum bolsters read as a matte version of brass at arm's length.

Compared with the 112 Crossbar Ranger, the 110 is a quarter inch longer in the blade and about 0.4 ounces heavier, which is the same relationship the traditional models have. Compared with a Benchmade Crooked River, the Buck is heavier and cheaper and comes with a better steel for corrosion resistance. Compared with the standard 110, the new version gives up the brass-and-sheath ritual and gains a modern lock and a pocket clip.

Verdict: Buck has finally built the 110 that people under 40 will carry. If you want the icon without the brick in your pocket, this is the one; if the brass and the sheath are non-negotiable, the original is still $90 and still perfect.