I am glad to hear that from someone that seems trustworthy.
Seriously, I can tell by all the participation on the traditionals how much you love these knives.
For fear of getting hammered to pieces by the brand fans, or the very pandering "oh you must have gotten a bad one", I haven't posted my experiences. When I get a bad knife
of any kind, they go back. With reasonable expectations, I want what I paid for. Period.
For a few years, I have been dissatisfied with CASE after the last couple I bought, then the last several I have looked at when attending our local gun shows. There are some knives that are almost perfect, and some that look like seconds.
And since I buy my knives from internet dealers (some that frequent this forum), it is hard for me to purchase sight unseen. Our local stores carry the normal BUCK, Gerber, Kershaw, Spyderco, SAK, and a Cold Steel or SOG here and there. Not much of a showing on CASE.
In the 70's and 80's, I wouldn't have anything in my pocket but CASE folders. I used them as work knives, and they were the best I could find, and I bought and carried them for years. EVERY SINGLE knife came sharp, the nicks were where they were supposed to be, the blades opened fairly easily and had a commanding *snap* when closed, lining up dead center in the handle. Just as important back in those days, the spine of the blades and the backsprings lined up perfectly and fit flush, open OR closed. YIKES.... take a look at most the knives made today and try to find that level of fit.
Comparing this to today's models, again they either seem almost perfect, or they have some fit and finish problems. Most seem to have small nagging problems of one thing or another. One of my peeves is that the new CASE offerings I have handled have
very different pulls on the blades of their folders. My 30+ year old large Copperlock still pulls the main blade and the small spear point the same. My CASE workman's knife not so much now, but at 25 years on the job, it gets a pass.
But the CASE knives I pick up now are polished up very nicely, much more so than the ones I bought years ago. But the blades don't center in the handle ( I know this doesn't mean anything on a work knife, but at these prices..... ) The main blade and the secondary blade don't pull the same. At the last g/k show I went to, the dealer couldn't get one of his CASE knives open without an opening tool, but assured me it would "loosen up". Doubtful... my oldest CASE still has plenty of spring resistance, and closes with a very satisfying snap a few decades later.
Some CASES are hard to get open, and that is unacceptable for a work knife. Sure, it's lot of fun to laugh about at the gun/knife show about being a real man with a stiff knife, not so much fun when you have to make opening a knife a production effort 15 - 20 times a day. I don't have time to memorize which process to use for the EDC of the day, nor do I want to make special plans around carrying a certain knife. I won't pay attention to the special needs of a knife, as it is a tool to be used, not a special use item.
Where I bought CASE knives years ago without a thought of looking at the F/F of the knives, I wouldn't think of doing that now. So consequently, since I can't handle them locally to check them out, I don't buy CASE anymore. A pity too, some of their knives are probably great if you get a chance to check them out first.
Please, everyone stay calm. I am not bashing CASE. I know yours are perfect.
If I could reliably get a "perfect" or 90% "perfect" I would be back on the bandwagon.
But it is really nice to hear that they are standing behind their product.
>>> waynorth, would you mind a brief description of the problems CASE remedied for you?
Robert
