Case's new 154CM trapper

I watched the video when you first posted it but don't recall the details. I thought they are the same except for the blades which are better steel and machined differently. Were there other differences?

That was the complaint when they first came out. But the prices seem to have come down. I vaguely recall some of the Case Cattaraugus branded knives with exotic steel costing around double... not sure if I'm remembering correctly though. At a $50 premium, I would buy a pattern that I wanted like a sowbelly, stockman or barlow. It's not the most economical choice and it may not be necessary but I would enjoy using the knife and enjoyment has some value. Being a knife enthusiast or collector usually is a hobby of excess. Most of us have more knives than we need. If we were practical, we'd all carry $10 Opinels, Swiss army knives or Moras. And we'd have a lot less knives. But that's no fun.

A Cold Steel Ranch Boss stockman costs around $200. Knives from Queen with premium steel are over $100 and some of the Tuna Valley knives are around $200. And frankly, I trust Case more than Queen at present.
 
What's the competition though if you want a traditional with that blade steel or similar? It might be expensive but they have the market practically to themselves.
 
Might be worth noting that the Cold Steel knife was one of Canal Street Cutlerys last sfo's. I've seen the Case Cattaragus gunstock for well over $200. Very nice knife, seriously overpriced.
Neal
 
mnblade said:
Did you watch the video? From what I can tell, you get a higher quality F/F. For one thing the blades aren't all rounded off from tumbling.

-- Mark
Click to expand...

Yes. He does talk about the blade grinds and how nicely polished they are overall and then about 3:12 he notes they are "standard Case finish and quality".
 
Blue Sky said:
Yes. He does talk about the blade grinds and how nicely polished they are overall and then about 3:12 he notes they are "standard Case finish and quality".
Click to expand...

Good point. I guess what I'm hoping -- and (perhaps hastily) assumed from the video I posted -- is that the new 154CM trapper won't show the tell-tale signs of tumbling like you see on this example (screen-shot taken from this video):



To me, if Case would get rid of that flaw it would be a very welcome improvement.

As you can see in this screen shot of the new trapper, it sure looks like they did ..... at least a bit:



-- Mark
 
Last edited:
I thought the tumbling rounded the tips and edges. They do look a bit more crisp on these knives. They might be left "as ground" after the machining.

If I understand correctly, you've circled the run up in the first photo. Are you talking about the roughness of it? I didn't think that was from tumbling. GEC doesn't tumble their knives and the run up is sometimes pretty rough. Or maybe you mean that it's smoothed by the tumbling? The very corner just outside the circle is rounded over. I suspect that's from the tumbling.
 
Last edited:
I was thinking the same thing. That just looks like they didn't get all the slag cleaned up after the blade was cut out.
 
supratentorial said:
I thought the tumbling rounded the tips and edges. They do look a bit more crisp on these knives. They might be left "as ground" after the machining.

If I understand correctly, you've circled the run up in the first photo. Are you talking about the roughness of it? I didn't think that was from tumbling. GEC doesn't tumble their knives and the run up is sometimes pretty rough. Or maybe you mean that it's smoothed by the tumbling? The very corner just outside the circle is rounded over. I suspect that's from the tumbling.
Click to expand...

This has been discussed before. The rough run up on sometimes seen on 420HC blades (both Case and other brands) has nothing to do with the tumbling process. Case makes 420HC blades by fine blanking them. The metal sometimes tears a bit during the process and that section of the tang is not cleaned up. Because it has no affect on fit or function.
 
mnblade said:
Good point. I guess what I'm hoping -- and (perhaps hastily) assumed from the video I posted -- is that the new 154CM trapper won't show the tell-tale signs of tumbling like you see on this example (screen-shot taken from this video):



To me, if Case would get rid of that flaw it would be a very welcome improvement.

As you can see in this screen shot of the new trapper, it sure looks like they did ..... at least a bit:



-- Mark
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that the line isn't a scale surface or a tumble defect...just a sheared surface from where they are stamped out of sheet metal. The super steel probably has a cleaner break.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
GEC and Queen knives have that same look on the tang, so it's not a Case thing. It's just how the knives are made. I wish people would quit highlighting that as some sort of manufacturing defect from a particular brand. I don't have all of my GECs out but I just took a look at a #15 and two #12s and they look "worse" than that Case photo.

The only knives I own that don't have tangs that look like that are Victorinox, Buck, my one Canal Street, and a couple of much older Case knives.

To the original topic - it seems like they are tripling the price of the knife compared to the typical $40-ish price of a regular Trapper. It's nice that they are offering nicer steels but that's higher than I would be willing to pay for a Case Trapper, all things other than the steel being equal.
 
Last edited:
For 30 years the only traditional knives that I carried on a daily basis were Victorinox SAKs, so I am used to seeing really clean run ups on these. Now that I have developed a keen interest in many other traditional knives and brands (I have now acquired over 30 since 2 years ago :), one of my peeves or annoyances are ugly looking (to me) run ups on blades, as I can not avoid seeing them when I look at a close knife. I actually end up cleaning (with files and fine sand paper) the unfinished/uneven choil, kick and tang front on my EDC rotation knives. I know, I have a little bit of OCD on a couple of things, and these are some of those. Raul
 
Depending on the model, it's anywhere from $60-20 more than their trappers using Tru Sharp or CV. The cheapest model I've found is their yellow delrin trapper with Tru Sharp or CV for $35.00. It's about twice the price of the average trapper available from them.

It takes a bit more to process 154CM compared to their other steels. For once, it's can't just be stamped out. It's likely laser cut, or cut out by water jet, both of which take a bit more time.

For me, the cost is worth it, just not with this model. If they offer it in something a bit smaller, I'll be all over it.
 
jc57 said:
To the original topic - it seems like they are tripling the price of the knife compared to the typical $40-ish price of a regular Trapper. It's nice that they are offering nicer steels but that's higher than I would be willing to pay for a Case Trapper, all things other than the steel being equal.
Click to expand...

Yes, but just like GEC with it's superlative fit and finish, but plain-Jane blade steel, it's a fair price for what you get.

Nice Bone handles. Two blades of 154CM. The increase in price is due to working with an alloy which has to be machined, water jet cut, or laser cut into the shape of a knife blade, rather than stamped out in bulk as CV and Tru-Sharp are. Plus the machining costs are also higher because the tooling wears faster due to the carbides in the 154CM. It is more difficult to machine, more difficult to sharpen.

To put the price in proper perspective, the Case 154CM trapper with its two blades and bone handle is in the price range for a single bladed, plastic handled, modern blade of the same alloy from a top line production maker.
http://www.gpknives.com/benchmade-mini-griptilian-556bksn-tan-handle-black-plain-blade-new.html

You don't have to buy it, but to call the pricing "overpriced for what you get" is not accurate.
 
Very well said, Frank. When I look at the pricing of traditionals (especially Case knives) in comparison to things like Spyderco and Benchmade modern folders, trads are a steal.

To add to the convo at hand, the standard Trapper is much too big for my liking, but I would certainly be interested in a Peanut,Trappernut, Mini Trapper, or Mini Copperhead in 154CM.
 
knarfeng said:
Yes, but just like GEC with it's superlative fit and finish, but plain-Jane blade steel, it's a fair price for what you get.

Nice Bone handles. Two blades of 154CM. The increase in price is due to working with an alloy which has to be machined, water jet cut, or laser cut into the shape of a knife blade, rather than stamped out in bulk as CV and Tru-Sharp are. Plus the machining costs are also higher because the tooling wears faster due to the carbides in the 154CM. It is more difficult to machine, more difficult to sharpen.

To put the price in proper perspective, the Case 154CM trapper with its two blades and bone handle is in the price range for a single bladed, plastic handled, modern blade of the same alloy from a top line production maker.
http://www.gpknives.com/benchmade-mini-griptilian-556bksn-tan-handle-black-plain-blade-new.html

You don't have to buy it, but to call the pricing "overpriced for what you get" is not accurate.
Click to expand...

Nowhere in my post did I say it was overpriced for what you get. I specifically said that it is priced higher than I would be willing to pay.
 
Your point came across as, they are tripling the price of the knife. And all you get is a Case knife.

My point was that you not getting a standard Case knife. You are getting a truly impressive improvement in performance. And the increased production costs are driving the price.

To some, the increased performance of the blade steel is worth the cost of the knife. To some, it won't be. But you are paying for a significant improvement in cutting performance, not for a regular Case knife.
 
I think the manufacturing costs and performance are good points. With all of the eye candy, it's easy to get lost in small details like handle materials and color etc but they are insignificant compared to cutting performance, of course. The grind on these knives looks good and that's another important factor. Poor grinds have led to my disappointment with other knives even though they had similar quality steel. I've never gotten a bad primary grind from Case.... never even heard of it happening. I have my eye out of for some of the knives from the prior runs and hope they'll run them again. A trapper is a very popular pattern for good reason but I know that the pattern is not right for me.
 
You also get Case's superior knife design (I know, just an opinon ;)) plus their proven long good history of repair services.
 
I would love to get one of these since the trapper is one of my favorite patterns. however there's a particular sowbelly that's on deck first. The only problem I see, and this may be something other guys deal with, is that I could get two different Case knives for the price ;) I have no doubt I'll end up with one someday.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top