Brands of American made Traditionals that excite me most...

GEC is on the top of my list for production. Nice, tight fits. No gaps on the 10 or so I have bought. I have no hesitation ordering these sight unseen.

If you get a good example of the S&M they are real lookers too.

Same with Queen. They really look great, and as long as you get a good example (meaning no monster gaps or blade wiggle), you should be very happy, if you can reset the bevel. My Queen knives (and this includes the two Schatt and Morgan F&W) have had unsatisfactory edges. Obtuse as can be. Not sharp, and Thick, Thick, Thick. I really like my F&W grandad barlow. I also really enjoy my Burke/Queen grandad barlow (after some serious edge work on my belt sander). Their take on amber stag dyed bone always grabs my eye. It just plain looks great on their knives.






The Case/Bose collabs are fantastic. Great materials and construction. Fit and finish is typically excellent. I have never bought one (though have been sorely tempted many times). My reason for abstaining, is they are solidly in the entry level custom price range.
 
knarfeng said:
These days I find myself more enthused with Queen than any other brand. I like their patterns, which tend to run a bit smaller than most GECs. Very good fit and finish. I like their D2. Love their amber stag bone. Priced reasonable. Most of mine were in the mid $50's, though a couple were up to the mid $70's.

I bought my canoe for $56 from Mike Latham.
I bought a mountain man for ~$60 somewhere else.

The tradeoff is that all of my Queens have required considerable effort to change the edge bevels to what I consider to be reasonable.

The Country Cousins have come up in price. I bought mine for ~$23 a few years ago. The going price for a Country Cousin with Delrin covers seems to be in the low $30's these days.

GEC's are finely crafted. There's no doubt about that. But most of them are pretty pricey for my pocket. (There's only so much money I am willing to pay for a pocket knife. STUFF happens to them.) A lot of them are a bigger than I like to carry. And most are in 1095, whereas I prefer stainless. I have a few. I'll probably buy a few more. But for me Queen is a better deal overall.
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I totally agree, Queen gives so much bang for the buck... My recent purchase of a Schatt & Morgan file & wire large toothpick and a Tidioute French Kate.... both from the same place, both in the middle $70 range... and the S&M was soo much more overall for what I paid. So, just hoping that the Queen prices stay as good as they are compared to GEC.... but don't know with the new owner and all.
 
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In a way, Queen Cutlery excites me most due to its future potential. Now under new ownership, we may see new directions. When you get a good Queen knife (which is much more often than not) it's a real gem. The patterns, handles and steel are it.

GEC has been introducing a lot of patterns, been making SFOs and Club/forum knives very well indeed,. They maintain high standard and create real expectations from knife enthusiasts.

CASE is the big one but is still capable of springing surprises and offer knives we want to use rather than just 'collect'

Buck I've always been pleased with, very reliable work-knives but not much new or different coming out. A must have brand though.

CS doesn't do much for me, I don't favour soft pull knives at all. They do offer interesting lines that clearly excite quite a few.
 
Since discovering GEC I have had a renewed interest in "traditional" folders. I have always had a fondness for "traditional" fixed blades. I do appreciate fine tools.
But i have to say that it has been fun collecting U.S.A. Schrade Old Timers and Uncle Henry. These bring me back to younger days when I would drool over the Schrade displays in our local hardware stores.

Tom
 
With my limited means, I've tried my best to buy from all the current makers, except for Bear & Son. My research on them has pretty much kept me from them because they seem to have a reputation of just not being that great overall (though they may let a nice specimen escape every now and again). Queen has my attention because of their long history, their knives appearance, their decent f&f, their blade steels, and their better prices. GEC has some excellent fitting, even on their Tidioute brand, and they have an edge over Queen in that sense (though not by much, imo). Case has some really nice stuff... my recent BackPocket with Molassas jigged bone.... a truly excellent f&f specimen... and having been designed by Tony Bose, well, probably did not hurt it either ;-) The thing is, there are no longer hundreds of traditional pocket knife makers, but the ones left are likely knowing that the remaining diehard U.S. product only buyers are only willing to pay so much more over the imports if they see it being of good quality... So the stiff competition to keep us happy is a good thing. We are a limited market, we have to be catered to... or we will go way of the DoDo too ;-)
 
I think there is something to like in most of the American Manufacturers. GEC is probably my favorite as they offer quite a few patterns and scale options that look traditional.

Case offers a ton of scales, but they look like easter eggs and not so traditional. I like their Chestnut Bone when it's darker.

Queen has the coolest gunstock and has some good looking scales. I'd like to see some other jigging options on some of their knives.

Buck probably makes the most utilitarian knives..... And the Buck 110/112 is just too classic.

Haven't had Canal Street, but I'd like to try Half Moon Trapper..... I'd like to see some carbon steel and peach seed jigging on their knives.
 
"Case offers a ton of scales, but they look like easter eggs and not so traditional."

Hahaha.... I found that pretty funny... and true on alot of their stuff. I currently own more Case knives than any other American brand folders.... but made sure to stay away from their "Easter Eggs".... lol! ;-)
 
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Speaking of scales, bone in particular... I find my Case have the nicest overall (and no, no Easter egg colors). They are smooth, soft cloths going over them like glass, and just look and feel like high quality :-)
 
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Case is really hit and miss on their handles. I've been mostly lucky with my online purchases but there have been a few that didn't measure up. I console myself with the fact that nobody notices but me, and the blades still cut no matter the handle color.

Here's an example of an almost delightful knife, except for that part there towards one bolster where they apparently ran out of dye. The pile side looks great, as does about 80% of the mark side. This is a harvest Orange Pocket Worn bone.



They do seem to get it right with Chestnut more often than not. I've seen some pretty atrocious dye jobs that were supposed to be "dark red" on their modern ones.

Nice thing about GEC is usually the vendors put up pictures of the actual knife that you're buying. But usually you don't have to worry, GEC seems to still remember how to dye bone thoroughly.
 
I like Buck and Canal Street myself.

Lots of great options out there though! I limit myself to Buck for the most part, if I let my eyes wonder much I would be broke FAST!
 
jc57 said:
Case is really hit and miss on their handles. I've been mostly lucky with my online purchases but there have been a few that didn't measure up. I console myself with the fact that nobody notices but me, and the blades still cut no matter the handle color.

Here's an example of an almost delightful knife, except for that part there towards one bolster where they apparently ran out of dye. The pile side looks great, as does about 80% of the mark side. This is a harvest Orange Pocket Worn bone.



They do seem to get it right with Chestnut more often than not. I've seen some pretty atrocious dye jobs that were supposed to be "dark red" on their modern ones.

Nice thing about GEC is usually the vendors put up pictures of the actual knife that you're buying. But usually you don't have to worry, GEC seems to still remember how to dye bone thoroughly.
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I recently got another Medium Stockman (CV Chestnutbone), and the dye job could have been a little more consistent. Light colors like yours. I sent the knife back to Case for other issues, but wouldn't mind if they sent in a new one just because of the dye......

I saw that someone used tea to darken the color. If it comes back with the same scales, I think I'll try it.
 
Still kind of waiting to see what Queen is going to do. So far the the new owners have put out some really nice looking Keystone knives but they use 420 steel...big disappointment to me. Im looking for some new ultra-traditional patterns with D2 or 1095 and then I will start buying.
 
Case Bose annuals have the best fit and finish hands down. GEC has really stepped up their game and moved away from patterns on steroids and pretty much eliminate bear trap springs. I'd like to see a premium stock from them like the stockmen of old. Queen and Canal Street do a pretty good job but their fit and finish fall behind GEC. Knowing Ryan Daniels, I would like to see them do well. I also think most of their patterns have a more "elegant" look than GEC, but GEC is doing better in that regard. Buck and Cases Bose and CV lines are all on par and make some great using pieces. Last but not as bad as I've made out, Cases SS is least quality out of the bunch (I've witnessed a difference between regular line SS and Bose SS).

There are dozens of collectible companies out there from firms that went out of business, that aren't hard or expensive to obtain.
 
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My last 3 Case knives have all been very good, but not great.

I guess my mindset for the standard is set on great.

My GEC (Tidioute) TC Barlow and #73 are what I'm looking for in quality.

Everybody needs at least (caution: opinion ahead)
one yellow handle knife,
one black handle (ebony)
one handle with a fancy name. (Horse cut, saw cut, sow belly or unicorn horn)

I'd like to hear more info on current models from Schatt & Morgan and Northwoods.

I found an older S&M but it has 420HC. Might get anyway since it's a small knife.

That Northwoods Indian River jack is appealing to me.
 
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