Best Crappy Knife Brand for appearances

B

BradleySmall

Joined
Mar 6, 2022
Messages
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I am interested in beginning to collect classical folders. As I peruse junk stores, thrift shops, flea markets, and ebay I am constantly on the lookout for the "good stuff". By that I mean Case, Queen, Boker, certain vintages of other brand names that aren't all taken over by the Chinese. As I find these I pick them up if I can afford them.

On the other hand, there is good reason to have reasonable facsimiles of a particular pattern where perhaps the quality may not be of as much concern as the actual attention to shape and appearance. Rough Rider, seems to have a pretty broad catalog, as does the Chinese version of Queen. Are there any others that are "cheap" but would hold up next to something of a similar pattern visually? Extra points if it is also of reasonably usable quality. :)

I understand these will no doubt never take the place of an original. But that isn't the goal.
 
Probably not the answer you are looking for, but from my experience, you'd be better off saving your money to buy decent specimens of vintage US or German brands, rather than "cheap" Chinese versions. The value is likely to hold or increase AND you have the "real thing" in your collection.
 
PointyThings said:
Probably not the answer you are looking for, but from my experience, you'd be better off saving your money to buy decent specimens of vintage US or German brands, rather than "cheap" Chinese versions. The value is likely to hold or increase AND you have the "real thing" in your collection.
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That is a reasonable answer. And it is my knee-jerk intuition on the subject. But, I am hearing from some people who don't want to publicly respond (for whatever reason) that there are definitely some "cheap" brands that have taken the effort to try to have some decent quality. So, I ask.
 
BradleySmall said:
That is a reasonable answer. And it is my knee-jerk intuition on the subject. But, I am hearing from some people who don't want to publicly respond (for whatever reason) that there are definitely some "cheap" brands that have taken the effort to try to have some decent quality. So, I ask.
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I agree that some "cheap" Chinese brands have improved their quality and even exceed the quality of some US-made knives from the 1950s onward (later Kutmaster, anyone?). It's more about whether you are concerned about recovering your investment in the collection at some point in the future. For example, Frost knives made in Japan during the 1980s and early 1990s are actually decent knives, but still not particularly collectible.
 
I can get as much joy out of finding a good old Imperial or Craftsman as I do out of a pristine Schatt and Morgan. I'll spot something that reminds me of something I saw as a kid and couldn't afford, or a knife that reminds me of something an old friend or family member carried. I especially like to find things that are out of favor at the time, Ulster, Bear, the Japanese knives of the 70s. I'm a sucker for beat-up Russells.

I think a lot of people in the beginning stages of a collection just want to buy. It's easy to buy a collection, all you have to do is throw money at it. If numbers are more important than faithful renditions of old patterns then things like Rough Rider and Two Sun will certainly fill up a drawer or two.

As far as I'm concerned there's no wrong way. It's often helpful to concentrate early on, a particular pattern, maker, sclae material. I have a friend that just bought green knives. All's fair, and all that.
 
Well, a Case is about 20 bucks more than a RR, so they are not too far off in price.

I have a few RR and Kissing Crane, but don't really care for them.

It feels wrong in some ways, personally. Like buying a American flag made in China. They also have a cheap feel to them in my hand. It is likely just my personal perception though.

Many people here on BladeForums enjoy RR knives. They have a few pattens I think I might like, but they are in Case price territory.
 
I was impressed by the quality of the Rough Rider camp knives I bought versus the real thing, essentially a clone of the older full size Case camp knives. When I bought them for a Scout Christmas party Yankee Swap the Scouts fought over them and I think at the time they were $12 each, perfect for a 14-15 year old to beat the heck out of and still hold up. Certainly better than the cheap knives some parents bought their boys, and without the extra premium that the BSA charges to use their logo on their non SAK camp knives!

I just looked them up, still under 20 bucks ten years later.
 
dsutton24 said:
I can get as much joy out of finding a good old Imperial or Craftsman as I do out of a pristine Schatt and Morgan. I'll spot something that reminds me of something I saw as a kid and couldn't afford, or a knife that reminds me of something an old friend or family member carried. I especially like to find things that are out of favor at the time, Ulster, Bear, the Japanese knives of the 70s. I'm a sucker for beat-up Russells.

I think a lot of people in the beginning stages of a collection just want to buy. It's easy to buy a collection, all you have to do is throw money at it. If numbers are more important than faithful renditions of old patterns then things like Rough Rider and Two Sun will certainly fill up a drawer or two.

As far as I'm concerned there's no wrong way. It's often helpful to concentrate early on, a particular pattern, maker, sclae material. I have a friend that just bought green knives. All's fair, and all that.
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I have a fixed blade Japanese Sabre Bowie that I bought in the 1970s for I think $7 with money from my paper route. :) Complete with leather sheath. Both the handle of the knife and the sheath are covered in yellow pinstripe tape. It's in a drawer of the tool box, and I was intending on redoing the thing to practice using the belt grinder. Not to mention the handle is like holding onto a pair of #2 pencils :) Now, I am afraid to touch it for fear that it may have some value :)
 
I think the epitome of this is the 70's-90's colonial Barlow.
They're readily available for little money and they are actually a solid knife.
Made in a very cost effective manor that allowed them to be very good for the money.

Same goes for their anvil brand and ranger brand of large stockman.
I no longer have both of mine I don't thi j but they were great.
Nice thin razor sharp blades and good w&t, they look and feel like regular construction knives from other manufacturers but the bolsters are a cast piece that snaps on over the pins.


The imperial and colonial shell construction knives are good too but you can kind of tell looking at them that they aren't quite the same and they have a cheaper feel.

The imperial frontier line now that was a good line of knives at a rock bottom price and inexpensive to find today.
 
If for just looks it really doesn’t matter but if they are for actual work or a dependable knife when / if you find yourself in a pinch I wouldn’t recommend a cheap crappy knife. Then there are quality knives that can sometimes pop up for a nice price like you are doing making the rounds at garage sales and flea markets.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I think the epitome of this is the 70's-90's colonial Barlow.
They're readily available for little money and they are actually a solid knife.
Made in a very cost effective manor that allowed them to be very good for the money.

Same goes for their anvil brand and ranger brand of large stockman.
I no longer have both of mine I don't thi j but they were great.
Nice thin razor sharp blades and good w&t, they look and feel like regular construction knives from other manufacturers but the bolsters are a cast piece that snaps on over the pins.


The imperial and colonial shell construction knives are good too but you can kind of tell looking at them that they aren't quite the same and they have a cheaper feel.

The imperial frontier line now that was a good line of knives at a rock bottom price and inexpensive to find today.
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I just picked up a handful of imperials, and half of them are missing their shields, and one has both blades bent so badly, I doubt if I am going to be able to straighten them. Otherwise they are the cutest little trappers you ever did see :( I jerked them around in the vise tonight, and pretty much have them straightened. I will clean them up perhaps this weekend and see if I can get them to take a decent edge.
 
BradleySmall said:
I just picked up a handful of imperials, and half of them are missing their shields, and one has both blades bent so badly, I doubt if I am going to be able to straighten them. Otherwise they are the cutest little trappers you ever did see :( I jerked them around in the vise tonight, and pretty much have them straightened. I will clean them up perhaps this weekend and see if I can get them to take a decent edge.
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Imperial knives will very easily take a hair popping edge.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Imperial knives will very easily take a hair popping edge.
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we'll see what I can do. But why do so many of them have the shield popped off. You'd swear the shield had some value over the rest of the knife. I am considering filling it with crushed gem and superglue. Although, it is a pretty simple shape, I imagine I can actually machine the shield.
 
BradleySmall said:
we'll see what I can do. But why do so many of them have the shield popped off. You'd swear the shield had some value over the rest of the knife. I am considering filling it with crushed gem and superglue. Although, it is a pretty simple shape, I imagine I can actually machine the shield.
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These had shields?
Got any pictures?
Are these real imperial knives made in Prov RI, or recent Chinese taylor brands imperial/schrade knives ?
If that's the case it would just be poor CC and a bad glue job.

I don't know off the top of my head if the imperial frontier knives had shields, but beyond maybe those and the modern imports you'd be looking at the pretty early pre 50's imperial knives that used standard knife construction.
 
From my experience, RR is the best of "cheap" brands. Strangely enough, Marbles and such oldies which are currently owned by the same company as RR (you know who), are of way less quality. You can also try current Winchester, but they have mixed reviews too (though I love their Barlow with checkered bone). Long story short if we talk about serial manufacturing: best of the cheap - RR; best of the best - GEC.
 
Visually, anything that is made by Imperial now will be very cheap and look OK from a distance. They also cut but are not very good regarding walk and talk and finish, in my experience. I would avoid them, but they look OK.
 
calm said:
Visually, anything that is made by Imperial now will be very cheap and look OK from a distance. They also cut but are not very good regarding walk and talk and finish, in my experience. I would avoid them, but they look OK.
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My Imperial Sodbuster is pretty decent, can't say anything bad about it, surprisingly enough. But the Jackmaster Barlow is total trash, both blades can be opened only using pliers, though with force. Grinded the tangs down a bit and it helped only a bit. Maybe some day I'll waste more time and make it usable, but wouldn't recommend that thing to anyone. Simplest RR Barlow will do instead.

By the way, recent chinese Queen with steel bolsters and strange looking pale-yellow bone are pretty solid. You can try those if you like the color and don't mind them saying "Queen".
 
Rough Rider makes some patterns that are good working knives.

IMO their Barlows and Stockmen are the best of what they produce, but there are other patterns too.
Definitely an inexpensive way to try different patterns.

Here's a RR Stockman with a comparable Case. The RR cost about $12-$15, the Case about $50 in CV.
Others will agree or disagree , but to me the Case knife is made better, more aesthetically pleasing and worth the price. I'd rather have one Case knife than four RR's.
But as far as being a capable working knife that looks good, there's nothing wrong with the RR.


rr2.jpg
 
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