Buck Knives is an American knife manufacturer founded in Mountain Home, Idaho and now located in Post Falls, Idaho. The company has a long history through five generations of the Buck family from 1902 to the present day. Buck Knives primarily manufactures sport and field knives and is credited with inventing the "folding hunting knife" and popularizing it to such a degree that the term "buck knife" has become synonymous with folding lockback knives, including those made by other manufacturers. History Company origins Hoyt H. Buck became a blacksmith's apprentice in Kansas in 1899 at the age of 10. He learned to make knives and at 13, in 1902, developed a method to heat-treat steel for hoes and other tools so that they would hold an edge longer. Hoyt left Kansas in 1907 for the American northwest and eventually enlisted in the United States Navy. He made his first knife in 1902 in Mountain Home, Idaho. Hoyt made each knife by hand, using worn-out file blades as raw material. Collectors call these early knives "four strikes" as each of the letters in BUCK was struck with an individual letter stamp. In 1961, marking was replaced by a one-piece stamp. When the United States entered WW2, the government asked the public for donations of fixed-bladed knives to arm the troops. Upon learning that there were not enough knives for soldiers, Hoyt Buck bought an anvil, forge, and grinder to set up a blacksmith shop in the basement of his church. Hoyt later explained, "I didn't have any knives [to offer], but I sure knew how to make them". After World War II, Hoyt and his son, Al, moved to San Diego and set up shop as "H.H. Buck & Son" in 1947. These early knives were handmade and more expensive than a typical mass-produced knife. Hoyt Buck made 25 knives a week until his death in 1949. In the 1950s, the company began manufacturing on a much larger scale and marketed through dealers as opposed to direct mail. The Model 110 On April 18, 1963, two years after incorporating, the Buck board of directors authorized development of a new folding utility and hunting knife. The new design featured a sturdy locking mechanism and a substantial clip point blade suitable for butchering and skinning large game. This became the famous Buck Model 110 Folding Hunter. The Buck Model 110 has a 3–inch