Case Tru Sharp vs Rough rider 440a

Please don't get me wrong, I have great respect for Case knives and all the early makers of American knives. I have been wanting to do a cutting test for a couple of years but never had a batch of unused knives to compare until my dear Daughter bought me 4 new Case knives. While it pains me in some ways to see a really good product coming out of the far east to compete with Case and the other great American companies I believe there are benifits to Case and the other old makers. I have turned hundreds of people on to the love of using and collecting slip joints at a very reasonable price. Many of those folks are now buying Case knives, GEC knives and other old brands.
I mean in NO WAY to put Case down and in fact my Everyday user is always a Case CV soddie.

Very best regards

Robin
 
Robin, I'm sure most of us know that you are not sniping at CASE in any way.

You base your reactions on experience, that is to be respected. At the end of the day, we all like knives :D:thumbup: I've been well pleased with my RR knives, steel in particular. I have noticed that the Old Yellow delrin series are prone to cracking at the pins though. No problems with the bone or the edges though, performs very well.

Thanks, Will
 
I'm astonished. Always been put off by the 440A. Might have to get a couple of RRs, they're really inexpensive.
 
Fanglekai said:
The 3 RR I bought weren't sharp out of the box. They took some work on the sharpmaker to get sharp but they take an ok edge. I much prefer Queens D2.
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Every RR I have purchased has been razor sharp out of the box and every Queen I've purchased has been frustratingly dull out of the box.
 
stevekt said:
Every RR I have purchased has been razor sharp out of the box and every Queen I've purchased has been frustratingly dull out of the box.
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I bought a RR peanut, stockman and copperhead. None would slice paper cleanly or shave hair out of the box. If a knife won't even slice paper it's not in the realm of what I consider sharp. I don't know what other people consider to be sharp, but for me slicing computer paper cleanly means the edge is at least usable. There were a number of things I didn't like about the RR knives so I gave 2 away and the peanut sits in a box waiting to be gifted as well.

That being said, out of box sharpness isn't a concern to me because if I plan on using the knife I will get around to profiling the edge at some point. I don't care that the Queen knives came butter knife dull. A little reprofiling and they hold their edge better than the other steels I've used in other production slipjoints. I just strop or do a few passes on the Sharpmaker UF rods and they stay hair popping sharp. The D2 steel takes a great edge and holds it exceedingly well. 440A simply doesn't compare. Plus the level of F&F on the Queen knives is much better than the RR ones and the honey amber bone scales are so much nicer.

RR knives are budget knives. They use ok materials, come with an ok edge and have ok F&F. For the price they're worth what you pay, but there's no warranty and the steel is, in my opinion, inferior to 1095 and D2.
 
I have a very low opinion of some of the manufacturers. However, the results are the results. Case and others should take note of their competition. This test was well done.
 
Fanglekai said:
RR knives are budget knives. They use ok materials, come with an ok edge and have ok F&F. For the price they're worth what you pay, but there's no warranty and the steel is, in my opinion, inferior to 1095 and D2.
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IMO Rough Riders use good materials, come with a good edge, have good F&F, and use so-so steel. They are a great deal for the money, are great for gifts, no argument with them being a good value. They just seem to be made out of a generic stainless (440A, I guess usually) which many commonly found knives are made of (Gerber is another example)

I am far from an expert on steel or an expert sharpener but it seems to be as hard to sharpen as any stainless and then, more importantly, dull to just an OK sharp rather quickly for the effort put in to sharpening. I have a lot of carbon steel and it seems to hold an edge better while being a lot easier to sharpen. Queen's D2 is quite nice, reminding me of some knives I've made of knife files while being semi-stainless. You can get it very sharp with effort and while it doesn't stay razor sharp, it does stay pretty darn sharp for a long time.

Rough Riders are great knives seeing as I paid $7.50 for a nice looking Barlow. It just seems like it would be such a better knife if it were $20 and made of AUS-8 or some such mid-grade steel.

I've gotta say that I don't have a lot of experience with Case Tru-Sharp but it does seem to be on the soft side. I've seen it described as a "not-terrible" steel. Maybe Case better take note.

I've never been real impressed with Case anyway. They make a thousand slightly different knives to sell to Case knife collectors. I work in Kentucky and I know a number of them.

'Course Rough Rider is taking a page from that book too.

Still, Case has the CV line (which they should expand) for working knives.

This was a great test. Please don't take my ramblings as a criticism of it.
 
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Just a note. Rough Rider is working on a carbon steel line. No word yet on what steel will be used.
Regards

Robin
 
I've given away three Rough Rider Scouts to my Scouts! Good knife for a 12-15 y/o who has learned to use a knife properly and safely, (with an understanding of the "slip" of a slipjoint) but who is also very likely to lose it :D At 8 bucks apiece, the RR Scout may inspire these young guys a love of traditional pocket knives, which I hope to see.

I certainly like the RR's more than the junk gas station lockbacks that a bunch of my guys have. I keep telling the parents that if they are going to buy a lockback at least get them a Case small lockback at Lowe's for <$15, or add a couple bucks and get the BSA branded one.

I recommend SAK's to the older guys, which they like with the BSA shield on them. They're less likely to lose a red knife in the woods too.

Added: I think I'm going to grab another bunch of them for Christmas gifts. I can't afford to outfit the whole Troop, so I'll get 4 of them for our "Sneaky Santa" grab bag gift exchange (aka White Elephant or Yankee Swap). Knives are always popular Christmas gifts with the guys, and last year they kept 'stealing' the knives from each other rather than going for the still wrapped gifts. It's a good time for them :thumbup:
 
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Just ordered a couple of Rough Riders, but would definitely prefer them in carbon steel or a better grade stainless.
 
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