China slipjoints?

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Dr. Pepper

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Being very careful here because I know what a can of worms this can be....

I want to buy a China slipjoint basically because there are patterns to be had and played with that are simply too scarce and spendy if American made. I keep reading that they are good enough to actually use as well.

I am specifically looking for a large toothpick or 2 to use as tackle box knife and for picnics. Can't have mayo and watermelon juice in a Queen :rolleyes:

Can someone rank in quality the difference between the Steel Warrior, Rough Rider, Elk Ridge, Owl Head, U.S. Classics, and Marbles brands.

I know it is tempting to say they all stink and forget about them.

Thanks
 
How about one of the many nice large toothpicks made by the good folks over at W.R. Case? They love mayo - helps grease the joints. Helps out some good folks in Pennsylvania. Save having to pay import costs. Doesn't help a country that recently decided to pop up an attack sub within 5 miles of a U.S. carrier.
 
Not politics, not economics; that is not the question asked.

Just a direct comparison of the Stockman knives.
All smaller than 3", so fit is important.
I only have Rough Rider and Steel Warrior.
Including other knives to compare to.

Best Hen and Rooster.
It is clearly a well made knife.
Blades narrowed evenly on opposite sides.
A classic stockman in red jigged bone

Close is Rough Rider in sawcut bone.
Excellent quality and fit, the blade is marked 440 and sharpens well.
A very well made knife that looks good.
I do not know the quality of the steel.

Good is Steel Warrior with amber bone.
Fit and finish is good, and the blade also sharpens well.
The knife begins to get a little chunky, but is well put together.

Case in SS with delrin handles
Chunky with square delrin handles
Blades full and no cutting down to fit and not polished.
Fit and finish ok, just.

Bear in SS with oak handles
Nice wood finish.
Full blades that don't sit well or straight
Everything else a mess

Thats all...
 
Dr. Pepper said:
Being very careful here because I know what a can of worms this can be....

I want to buy a China slipjoint basically because there are patterns to be had and played with that are simply too scarce and spendy if American made. I keep reading that they are good enough to actually use as well.

I am specifically looking for a large toothpick or 2 to use as tackle box knife and for picnics. Can't have mayo and watermelon juice in a Queen :rolleyes:

Can someone rank in quality the difference between the Steel Warrior, Rough Rider, Elk Ridge, Owl Head, U.S. Classics, and Marbles brands.

I know it is tempting to say they all stink and forget about them.

Thanks
Click to expand...

IMO you have the list right for the first three brands. Then Marbles & US Classics. Having said that I've a John Primble 3 spring whittler that is very good indeed. The knife is stamped USA but the box says China. Personally, I wouldn't have Owl Head on the list at all. I have one of those too. They're not absolute rubbish, but they're nowhere near the quality of the others. David
 
Dr. Pepper said:
Can someone rank in quality the difference between the Steel Warrior, Rough Rider, Elk Ridge, Owl Head, U.S. Classics, and Marbles brands.

I know it is tempting to say they all stink and forget about them.

Thanks
Click to expand...

From my experience with imported slip joints, I'd rank them.

Of the ones you mentioned.

1. Steel Warrior (hate that name on a traditional though!) :D
2. Rough Rider
3. Marbles
4. Elk Ridge
5. U.S. Classics
6. Owl Head

Two name you didn't mention, but in my experience are two of the highest quality imports are.

1. NRA Outdoors contracted by Benchmade
2. Cowan Creek (vitually unseen accepts on Ebay, but the ones I have and have handled simply put alot of BIG name knives to shame.)
 
Outside opinions

http://www.rod-neep.co.uk/rod/knives/reviews/steel-warrior1/index.html
This knife is the new 2005 offering from Frost Cutlery, and it sets up a whole new standard of knives from Frost. Throw away any prejudices you may have had about Frost or knives from China. This one's got it all going for it.

http://www.collectorknives.net/work-knives.html
I am not big on Chinese made knives, but they have made huge strides in quality over the last 5-10 years. These Steel Warrior Knives will never be collectible in my opinion; but are a very high quality 440SS product on a price level that just is not being met inside the USA currently.


http://www.newgraham.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=171
Rough Rider 3 blade Stockman. Turkish clip sheepsfoot and spey blades. 3 3/4" Closed. Rough Rider Saw Cut Series. Knives feature 440 Stainless blade(s) and brown sawcut bone handles. Fluted nickel silver bolsters and inlay shield. Brass pins and liners. These are the best quality China made knives I have seen. Fit and finish rival US manufacturers.
 
The Chinese knives let me buy and test a pattern I've never used before without spending a ton of money. I get to learn about it and sometimes I wonder why in the dickens anyone ever designed such a pattern. All of my testing of different patterns has been done with the ROUGH RIDER knives from SMKW. I must say they're worked pretty darned good too !! The only one that sort of crapped out on me was a large 4 1/2" pearl stockman. I carried it for 14 months and in that time the spring on the sheepfoot gave up the ghost and just crapped out. I did note this to Steve Koontz at SMKW and to the moment I write these words have never received a reply.
And so it goes...
 
Hey guys, I make my living by trading spot forex. I know you want to seperate politics from this discussion but do you know what the chinese said yesterday? they want to invest a trillion in other currencies than our dollar. An announcement like that is like driving a knife into the US economy. All over the world every country is jumping on the band wagon selling dollars. My opinion you should just do you best not to buy chinese. Walmart and the like have made a deal with the devil. That doesnt mean you have to. To the thread starter, just live without the cheap knives, all of us need to take a pass on it. Do without. everytime we buy made in china we are handing money over to our enemies.
 
Shipwreck, this is not the forum for discussing political perspective.

The original poster posed a question, let's stay on target. There are other areas of this and other boards to present political opinions.
 
I don't have a whole lot of experience with Chinese knives, and the ones I have seen didn't light my fire at all. Lately, though, I have been seeing Rough Rider knives that look pretty good, so I bought one to play with. it's a bone handled peanut. I must say, I'm pretty impressed so far. It was sharp right out of the box, with good grind lines, and a few strokes on a fine stone made it shaving sharp.

The overall fit and finish is good, but it doesn't have quite the snap that my Case and Hen and Rooster knives have, but it's not bad. A little oil may help that, too. I just this minute took it out of the box.

I'll know better in a few days how it holds up, but for now, for less than $9.00 shipped, I'm a happy camper.
 
you get what you pay for-

a $9 knife is a $9 knife-when you buy chinese you have no clue what materials were used,could be toxic like the childs toys they sell -who knows-and just because it looks good today doesnt mean it will in a year or 2-and they have no value after purchase

with a american knife you know what quality of materials were used,no toxic poisons just like a american made childs toy -and just take a look at ebay and you will see boat loads of old american made knifes ,they last and may even hold or increase in value- a china knife will never do either

you can always find a american made knife on clearance for a good price-and who knows,it might be on clearance because they didnt sell-and 20 years from now could be worth some cash because of that
 
Hey Dr. Pepper, are you wanting to buy chinese to mess around with the different patterns, or are you looking for an all purpose knife that's not expnsive, good quality, and that you won't feel guilty about abusing it a little? If it's the former, why not try a chinese made Buck? Comparable in qualty to the american ones, and alot cheaper. If it's for the latter, try a SAK. Many patterns to play around with, readily available, very cost effective, and you don't feel bad about beating them up because that's what they were made for.
Just a suggestion.
 
ElCuchillo said:
Hey Dr. Pepper, are you wanting to buy chinese to mess around with the different patterns, or are you looking for an all purpose knife that's not expnsive, good quality, and that you won't feel guilty about abusing it a little? If it's the former, why not try a chinese made Buck? Comparable in qualty to the american ones, and alot cheaper. If it's for the latter, try a SAK. Many patterns to play around with, readily available, very cost effective, and you don't feel bad about beating them up because that's what they were made for.
Just a suggestion.
Click to expand...
I have a medium trapper (382) and it is a well made slipjoint. The US Buck slippies do have a more finished grind but the Chi-Bucks are well made.
Bill
 
Let's keep it on point, folks. No diatribes.
 
I've only handled one Rough Rider. One of the members of our retired breakfast club took a trip down to the Smokey Mountain National Park, and of course stopped at Smoky Mountain Knifeworks. He brought back a Rough Rider with red bone handles in a large jack pattern.

I have good hands but had a hard time getting it open. Very borderline nail breaker under good conditions at the breakfast table. I'd hate to be out in the woods on a cold/wet day and have to get that knife open.

The dye job on the bone was not bad, fit and finish was so-so. For 8 dollars I guess it is maybe one way to try out a new pattern to see if you like it. But on the other hand why not buy a pattern you are thinking of from Case, or Queen, and if you don't like it, use the knife swap here and let one of the members of this forum take a shot at it. That way you get to trade for another pattern you may like better. :thumbup:

Quality name brand stuff is always worth something to somebody.
 
ElCuchillo,

I guess the main reason is to try different patterns. Some of the interesting patterns offered are large coke bottles, clasps, elephant toes,sunfish and locking equal end whittlers with a spear blade.

I am not sure the different patterns to be found on a SAK fill the same niche...... Still day dreaming of classical style vs. gadgets.

If I could find a real vintage American version of any of these it would be a spendy safe queen for sure.

If Case made a current CV amber bone coke bottle, I would grab one and never think about playing with imported knives again.period.
 
they were part of a batch trade. The little brown bone razor jack had good F&F but the main blade had a weak spring and the pen blade was a nail breaker, the bail wasn't comfortable and the handle was too small. Gave it away. The red bone sow belly was very nice, at least equal to the newer Cases. Good snap on all blades, good grind lines. Very nice. The wife saw it and said "Oh, that's pretty" and took it. So I can't really say how it would hold up to everyday use, she's a pretty casual knife user. If there's a pattern you want to try and can't spend a lot of coin just to try something out, give 'em a shot. What do you have to lose? $8?

Frank
 
I have a Rough Rider Toothpick that I really love.

I modified it with a little notch to make it easier to open and embellished it.

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i have 4 Steel Warrior knives, 2 Rough Riders, 3 Owl Head, 4 Marbles, and 7 Schrades, all made in China. i also have Hen & Rooster, Kissing Crane and lots of others that despite how they might be stamped, i think are also made in China. i bet about 1/2 the 20,000 knives listed on ebay under "production folders" are made in China.
of the 20 knives mentioned above NOT ONE is a dud. i put a Steel Warrior copperlock with a wharncliffe 2nd blade into my pocket 6 months ago to "try it out" well shit, i can't get it out of there to try another. i use it outdoors everyday, it's cut a lot of things "above it's weight", still sharp, comfortable, works perfectly. the Marbles are just as good, as are the China Schrades.
the Owl Heads i haven't tried, but they look and feel just fine.
i have over 250 non Chinese knives and i'm running out of time to try them all because these Chinese ones are proving themselves to be "too" good.
heresy, but not a lie. i plan to use either my Marbles big trapper or Folding hunter on my next deer for total field dressing, as it is, unsharpened out of the box. i'll post results (hopefully this season) roland
 
I have 2 Chinese made Buck slipjoints and I am very happy with them. They are good quality and priced very low.
 
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