Been due for another Case knife, so a Hobo came home with me...

zippofan said:
I've bought Hobo's for both my sons, the older son got one like yours Jimmy, my younger son has a newer BSA tan Caliber handled version. I've been asking for one for Christmas this year, and a big box from an online knife dealer came addressed to my wife about a week ago....fingers crossed!

I borrowed my older son's when I was doing Scoutmaster outdoor training, had it in a pouch on my belt. It received a lot of use camping :thumbup: though I sliced my thumb good when I was cleaning it after supper one night :eek:

Z
Click to expand...

Case Hobos = Transformers, more than meets the eye ;)

Hope you get your Hobo for Christmas, I imagine your wish will come true... Unless, of course, your elf on a shelf reported you doing some sort of no no to Santa, in which case, maybe next year! lol! ;)
I believe that the Case Hobo may be one of, if not the best bang for the buck in Case' line. Maybe because they are likely not big number sellers, so their markup is to a bare minimum. I was looking at prices online, and they can be had for very reasonable prices. Again, I paid a little more, but being able to inspect it and take it home... well, I'd do it again :)
Awesome that your entire family is on the way to each owning a Hobo... You'll all be hobo'ing together in no time, lol! ;) I too got my fingers crossed for you, my friend :)

Hobo tidbit...
Wallace Brown’s patent for a “Combination knife and fork”, more commonly known as Ka -Bar’s “hobo” knife, was invented in Tidioute Pa.
 
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I've had a hobo for yrs.I carry it in a Maxpedition bag daily.You would be surprised how much it is used.
Jim
 
So, there I was giving my Case Hobo knife my occasional knife maintenance wipe down that I rotate in doing to all my collection gadgets, and it got me online to see what other similar offerings are available. Well, I stumbled upon a 'Kissing Crane' branded Hobo, (made in China now), that is seemingly a dead ringer to the Case Hobo I admire so much. The seller is the same company that now owns the Kissing Crane name brand (so it's basically a direct from the company order). That being the case, their price was not only a sale price, but they also had a promo code for free shipping. I read some online reviews, and... well, it's a mixed bag. Most reviews seem to agree that the quality is not up to par with Case, but that if you get a decent specimen, it would be pretty hard to beat the overall deal one gets for the money. The Case Hobo in bone scales usually run in the 80 to 90 dollar range, where as this burnt bone version by Kissing Crane is $12.98 (shipping and all). So, I placed an order for one to see how it compares in overall fit & finish to my Case Hobo (which I truly find to be an exceptional quality piece). I would say that my Case Hobo is the most perfectly made specimen of all my Case knives (about 20 or so total). So, I guess the Kissing Crane Hobo is going to be unfairly matched up against this particular Case Hobo knife that I have, but I'm hoping she somehow holds her own (price factor will obviously give the Kissing Crane some slack when the comparison is made). I was not a fan of Rough Rider some years ago, simply because it was China made instead of USA made, but have since purchased some Colts, Rough Rider, Marbles, and Bucks that are Chinese made, and have learned to accept that they can make a decent product at a very low cost, (even though they are more hit or miss, imo). Yeah, I still prefer my USA made knives for my collecting purposes, but I have made a considerable change in now accepting other knives made in other parts of this world. Diversity has definitely become the norm now in my collecting hobby.

One thing I can't wrap my head around when I read the Kissing Crane Hobo description, is that the bolsters are supposedly brass plated nickel. Don't get that... I mean, why the extra step in plating the bolsters with an inferior yellow brass, if the bolsters are already made of solid nickel. And, of course the plating would be susceptibile to easier tarnishing and of being worn or scratched off. It makes no sense to me, and would seem to add to the cost over just leaving the bare polished nickel bolsters (which are more sought after by pocket knife folks).

I have my fingers crossed that maybe it will surpass my expectations :)

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Well, I received the Kissing Crane "Hobo" today. First thing I noticed... it rattled. This knife, just like the Case Hobo, can be separated into three pieces... But my Case Hobo knife is tight without rattle when all is put together and blades are closed... Not so with the Kissing Crane. It seems that the 3 pieces will remain together when closed, but the rattle will remain. The obvious gaps in the backspring area explains why this rattle occurs, simply poor fitting. The bone shows no cracks, and is actually visually pleasing on one side, but pretty ugly on the other (not very matching in appearance). The brass pins going through the bone, stick out a little, and are simply mediocre in execution. The spoon stock is a little thinner than the Case, and it's enough to make the KC version feel more mickey mousey. Then there's the backspring for the fork, which is proud in open position. Once the knife is in three pieces, one can see all the grinding done on the brass pins... looks crude, to say the least. The shield placed into the bone scale is sunk in too deep. I guess if I were to choose too deep, or a too poud shield, I'd choose the too deep... But neither is right to my way of looking at them. They should be closer to just being flush with the bone.

Now, that all said about the Kissing Crane, the Case version has absolutely NONE of these issues. In fact, my Case Hobo has no issues at all... It's simply well executed.
But... the Case was also 80 plus dollars, where as the Kissing Crane was about 13 dollars total (including the shipping).
So, if someone were to ask me if it would be worth paying six times more for the Case over the Kissing Crane.... Imo, yes, if you want a truly nicely made, American manufactured item that can be passed down to one's kids.
But, if you are no way going to spend 80 to 90 bucks on the Case, then the Kissing Crane may work for you, (even with all of it's flaws). It's cheap enough that if it's durability winds up matching it's poor overall quality, then atleast the overall loss was only $13.

The Case Hobo is absolutely the better quality product, hands down. Even though the Kissing Crane is an OBVIOUS copy, in this case, (pun not intended), the Kissing Crane' imitation of Case' Hobo is not a sincere form of flattery, because they fall way too short of Case' quality to do it any justice.
 
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