The USA’s 3 Best Pocket Knives

Without a doubt, the best-selling USA-made pocket knives are the Buck Folding Hunter 110, the Case Executive Lockback 7200, and the Kershaw Scallion Knife, Camo 1620. These are the best pocket knives to have laser engraved with your logo and give to your best clients. Your customers will absolutely love these 3 knives because they are American made, and because they are made by companies with a strong US tradition of quality.

 

110b.jpg Buck Folding Hunter Lockback Knife 110

The Buck 110 was first made 50 years ago, and is still a top seller. It is the perfect size, shape, and material. It’s as American as apple pie.

zippo clone Case Executive Lockback 7200

Case has been making knives since 1889 deep in the hills of Bradford PA. Each knife is still made by hand by master craftsmen.

1620-engraved-camo-scallion-smooth Kershaw “Scallion” Knife, Camo 1620

Kershaw, a proud US knife company was founded in 1974. They are a real newcomer, but have established a remarkable reputation with their USA-made knives. They also have some of the models made overseas to their exacting specifications.

The History of Buck Knives

110 Buck Folding Hunter Lockback
110 Buck Folding Hunter Lockback

Buck Knives go way back to 1902. The inventor, Hoyt Buck, from Kansas, started out as an apprentice blacksmith. He got obsessed with finding a way to temper steel so that it could be made into a better knife blade. A blade that would hold a sharp edge longer than previous blades. He started making custom Buck knives in 1902 out of old file blades. In 1945 he and his wife moved to San Diego. There, his son Al Buck started a partnership with him to produce Buck knives. The company was called H. H. Buck and Son.  After Hoyt died, Al  decided to incorporate, and started Buck Knives, Inc. in 1961. The most famous offspring of this important knife company was made in 1964–the Buck Folding Hunter model 110. We celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014. This wood handled lockback knife is the pocket knife that is synonymous with the Buck company. If someone says Buck Knife, this is the knife they are referring to. It is often imitated by other knife companies.

Today, in 2016, the 3rd and 4th generation of the Buck family are involved in the successful business. CJ Buck is the president and CEO today (and since 1999), and is the grandson of Al Buck. He took over in 1999 from his dad, Chuck Buck, who later died in 2015.

The secret to the sharpness of a Buck knife lies in the heat treating process that Paul Bos developed in 1956. It is a process of heating then freezing, then re-heating of the steel. Paul retired in 2010 from Buck, but the process is still used. Bos received the Blade Magazine Industry Achievement Award in 2007 for his involvement in heat treating technology.

Hoyt Buck about 1948.
Hoyt Buck about 1948.