Case Carhartt, and other Case musings

B

Bob W

Joined
Dec 31, 2000
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Driving through the Show Me State, I stopped at a very large Case dealer today. Gotta browse the sale cabinet and see what's new on practically every drive by.

Specifically I was looking for the new peanut with bail that someone recently posted. This store didn't have any, so it may have been an exclusive through another dealer.

The sale cabinet held a nice selection of significantly discounted items, including a couple stag peanuts. MSRP $111, normal retail $72, sale price $50. Absolutely beautiful handles of smooth-ish stag with interesting color. The fit is excellent with no wobble, no gaps, and a nice crisp half-stop and snap. Of course the blade edges were jagged and coarsely finished. Thought Case was past that stage... Bought one anyway. ;)

I really fell for the new Carhartt knives. Felt like a poser though looking at them, since I don't wear Carhartt clothes. If you haven't seen them, they feature a matte finished blade, brushed bolsters, and classic bone handles. Here was the model I really wanted:

36311.jpg


Unfortunately the fit wasn't up to par so I had to let it go. I could live with the odd uneven action, but the lack of 'snap' was a deal-breaker. It gently snapped closed, a bit lighter than a typical Victorinox snap, but when opening there was no snap at all. Seems the tang wasn't properly shaped, or the spring perhaps. Either way, it was a shame. I even asked the clerk to check a second knife, and it was the same. :(
 
Dollars to donuts, that knife was clogged with polishing compound. I have a mini copperhead that had the same problem. A good flushing helped it out quite a bit. However, that single spring design does have less than nailbreaker snap inherently.
 
Sad to hear about the Carharrt. I, too, have passed up on many knives that I wanted based on the snap.
 
the carhartt russlock was ringing my bell a while back. They look SO good it would v disappointing to get one that wasn't crisp and snappy.
 
In addition to the polishing compound that Mark suggested, it seems that Case rounds off the tang corners excessively so they don't move against the spring properly or consistently. Compare a Case to an Old Timer, Boker, or nice Queen. Open the main blades of each and look at the match up between the tang and the backspring.
 
Bob, that's been my experience as well. Seems that Case rounds off a lot of corners that should be sharper/straighter. Doesn't necessarily affect the function of the tool, as a knife, but if we're assessing fit & finish quality, well...... Not as awesome.
 
Mini copperheads (my favorite pattern, TLARbb's "peanut" if you will) does not have strong snap especially on the pen blade. It is almost a friction folder. It isn't made for heavy duty cutting, but works well for everyday tasks without leaving part of your fingernail in the nail nick (like I did with my boy's knife a few minutes ago). My "precious" amber bone MCH is missing/hiding now for quite a while. It will turn up; just hope it does so soon. If it doesn't, I have three others to take its place in my pocket.

As for the Carhartt series, they are nice looking. I may just have to have one of those single blade sowbelly knives in the series.

Ed J
 
Picked up one of the G10 Carhartt Russlocks this past week and it arrived in good shape. Tight pivot, snap on the back spring I'd put at a 5, the liner lock tab sails clean across to the opposite liner but leaves very little wiggle room for the blade with no sticking when disengaging. The real shocker for me was that, along with a carved bone version, the inside of the knife actually looks clean!

Most of my Case show up looking like there was a grease fire on the inside of the back spring and I have to feverishly swab out the mix of oil and buffing compound. These two showed up looking almost as clean as my A.G.'s and GEC's. Don't know what they changed in production or if these are a fluke, but I hope they keep at it. Now if only they didn't drill out the bolster on the double-dyed delrin Russlocks for a pocket clip.. :grumpy:
 
puukkoman said:
Bob, that's been my experience as well. Seems that Case rounds off a lot of corners that should be sharper/straighter. Doesn't necessarily affect the function of the tool, as a knife, but if we're assessing fit & finish quality, well...... Not as awesome.
Click to expand...

It does make one appreciate fine machining and F/F when you see it. The last three folders I bought from AG Russell looked like the back had been lasered out of one piece of metal when the knife was open. Closed, same way, except that I had to take piece of emery cloth to the points as they caught a bit in the pocket.

Although they have had the famously obtuse Queen edges, ditto the F/F on them. I feel lucky there as I know that isn't always the case.

But speaking of CASE, when looking at some of the new ones at the last couple of gun shows, the blades look like they spent too long in the polishing tumbler. I don't care for the crisp edge of the backspring lining up to a really rounded piece of metal. As has been said, I am sure it doesn't affect the utility value of the knife, but I am used to my older CASE knives not fitting that way.

Robert
 
Today I discovered the Case Carhartt stockman in black g10 and with a punch instead of a spey. I jumped on it. Just when I thought I was all done stockman knives.
CA36362.jpg
 
Stelth said:
Today I discovered the Case Carhartt stockman in black g10 and with a punch instead of a spey. I jumped on it. Just when I thought I was all done stockman knives.
CA36362.jpg
Click to expand...

Yep, that happens quite often. KnifeKnuts will fall right into Case's marketing plan pretty regularly. Don't ask how I know.

Ed J
 
I haven't seen it in person yet, but I assume it's a 2-spring like the other 6318s.
 
I was just looking at the Carhartt series this weekend, there are some nice ones like the single blade Sowbelly, mini-Copperhead, and I really like that stockman in G10 too. Case sure does know how to pry money out of pockets of unsuspecting knife collectors.

Along with the Carhartt series, I saw at least one in Honeycomb Bone that I would like to get ;) Must not get any more knives before Christmas...need to concentrate on gifts for my family!
 
TLARbb said:
Yep, that happens quite often. KnifeKnuts will fall right into Case's marketing plan pretty regularly. Don't ask how I know.

Ed J
Click to expand...

Yep, they just got me again.
I bought a few knives this month and said I would buy no more for a while. I had been looking at the Carhartt Mini Copperlocks, and just now found one a good price and ordered.
What got me was the as ground blade finish, and the brushed finish bolsters. I don't care for the brass finished shield, but I hope it looks better in hand. It says "brass finish" on the shield description, so if I don't like it maybe I can take the brass finish off somehow.

I liked the nickle silver pins, liners, and shield on the Synthetic version of these better, but wanted the bone version.


Image from Google images.

CA-36309-Case-Carhartt-Dark-Molasses-Mini-Copperlock.jpg
 
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I would like them even better if they didn't say "Carhartt". I have a long-sleeved Carhartt t-shirt I like but I don't particularly need the name embossed on my knife.
 
I got my Case/Carhartt medium stockman yesterday and I have to say I am VERY impressed. The g10 is very grippy and it is beautiful. The bolsters look like stainless steel. The fit and finish is excellent. Of the 8 Case knives I now own, this one is by far my favorite. If they made more knives(besides the trappers and single-blade sow belly) with coarse black g10 handles and these bolsters I'd buy them. I also like the awl a lot. This is my first stockman with that feature and I like it better than a spey blade.
 
Stelth said:
I would like them even better if they didn't say "Carhartt". I have a long-sleeved Carhartt t-shirt I like but I don't particularly need the name embossed on my knife.
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^^This. I don't mind the actual manufacturer's name on a knife, and I wouldn't mind if they were some kind of promotional thing through Carhartt themselves, but something just feels odd about paying for the "privilege" of having someone else's name on the knife. Aesthetically, these look like fine knives, and the bone covers do speak to me, but the shield...Kind of like those special edition Eddie Bauer, Harley Davidson, etc. trucks to me - nice vehicles, but I just think the double branding is odd.
 
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