Comparison Otter Messer Soddie and Case Soddie jr.

Humppa

Humppa

Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
7,432
Hi guys!

I got a new Otter Messer Sodbuster last week. It has wooden handles and a carbon steel blade. I was working in the woods yesterday and had the german Soddie with me. Left the Case Soddie Jr. CV at home to give the german one a chance. The Case Soddie is my favorite working-building-lot-and-woodworking-knife, so long.

But before talking, here are some pics

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Nearly the same size. The Otter seems to be a little longer, but that´s not worth talking about.

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I didn´t work already much with the Otter Messer, but the Case has seen some use during the time. The blade of Case was once mirror polished and the Otter one is not finished so fine. A little rough.

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The biggest difference between the two. The handle thickness on the Otter is much more than on Case. But it still fits good in any pocket. (I carried it in my jacket)

Being honest, I like them both. Case Soddie is finished very well. The blade is polished and there´s no production tolerance. Centered blade and no gaps or whatever.
The Otter Soddie is finished really rought. On the Backspring at the end of the knife is a gap, which is good to see. The blade is not really centered, but just at the second look. The handle size is imo better than on the Case. It fits better in bigger hands. The wooden handles give it a good and natural feeling, which I prefer to any synthetic material.
So, is the Otter not that good? I would say no: First the prize (Otter comes for 17,95 € and the Case was at 36,90 €), but that´s not deciding.
The thicker handles make it a good knife for longer working and the Case fits because of its slimmer design better in the pocket.
The finishing of Case Soddie is much better than the rough finishing of the Otter one. But good enough to make the knife solid and trusty.

I gonna change them between each other. Like them both very much.

Happy Easter!
Andi
 
Cool post! Is it still common to see guys in Germany carrying an Otter-Messer like that?

-- Mark
 
Hi Mark!

Unfortunatelly, definitely not! Most guys here that carry knives prefer theese tacticals or SAK. Any typical traditional is just carried by a few guys. Which know the worth of a good slipjoint. :( Strange times.

I´m glad you like it :)

Kind regards
Andi
 
Tacticals are common over there? Hmm. I would have thought that traditionals would have been much more popular with Puma and Boker etc.
 
thatotherguy said:
Tacticals are common over there? Hmm. I would have thought that traditionals would have been much more popular with Puma and Boker etc.
Click to expand...

in my one and old (rather bad) experience with boker, i chatted with a guy at Boker and he told me that they would be phasing back traditionals and doing more "modern" styles knives since they were so popular. Dont know exactly what that means, but I thought it was relevant.

i had bought a boker barlow with stag and the blade play was HORRENDOUS so i returned it...then i had to pick something else since they couldnt do anything to repair or replace it in the states, they COULD have sent it back to germany but they said it would take me like 6 months to get it back...

anyways, just my experience
 
Andi,

I like the look of that Otter. :thumbup:

I'm wondering, are the liners made of stainless steel or nickel? Either way, it seems a plus over the brass liners on most other traditional knives. And the beefier wood handles really look comfortable.
 
Do you know for certain that your Otter knife was made in Germany ?
Many, maybe even most currently made knives with branding of old known German names are made in China and then sent to Germany for distribution thus leading to the assumption that they have been made in some long established German factory.
Jul. Herbertz is one such branding. I have bought a few of these from knife sellers in China. They are not knock-offs. Many, maybe even all knives branded Jul. Herbertz are now made in China, so i wonder about Messer Otter ?
roland

Here is an example of a C. Jul. Herbertz knife, made in China but with no markings to indicate country of origin:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-JUL-HERBE...355?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0006d44b
 
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Thank you David! The liners are of steel, no nickel or brass. That´s typical for Otter Messer. The Ankermesser has steel liners, too.

Roland, I don´t know (with 100 %), that the blade is made in Germany. But as far as I know, are the Otter Messer blades still made in good ol' Germany. As I just read the law about that. It´s not allowed to sell products, and stamping "Made in Germany, Solingen" on the tang stamp. I know, that Herbertz is producing in China, but their knives are really cheap. Maybe that Otter Messer is also made in China, but it works ;) This would not be, what I want when I buy a german knife.

As I just read in the germanspoken knife forum: Otter Messer are completelly made in Germany. Nothing is from China or other regions all over the world.

Kind regards
Andi
 
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Humppa said:
Thank you David! The liners are of steel, no nickel or brass. That´s typical for Otter Messer. The Ankermesser has steel liners, too.

Roland, I don´t know (with 100 %), that the blade is made in Germany. But as far as I know, are the Otter Messer blades still made in good ol' Germany. As I just read the law about that. It´s not allowed to sell products, and stamping "Made in Germany, Solingen" on the tang stamp. I know, that Herbertz is producing in China, but their knives are really cheap. Maybe that Otter Messer is also made in China, but it works ;) This would not be, what I want when I buy a german knife.

Kind regards
Andi
Click to expand...

After seeing this thread, I've been browsing some vendor sites for the Otter-Messer knives. At least a couple of them are very specific about the knives being 'handmade' or 'hand crafted' in Solingen. The prices I'm seeing (in US$) seem to more closely reflect a German-made knife, rather than elsewhere. Seems to be along the lines of German Eye knives, in terms of price vs. apparent build quality.
 
Hi David!

You´re right. Schlieper, Otter, Böker Manufaktur and Hubertus are making their knives still in Germany. Others like Haller and Herbertz don´t produce any (!!!) knife. They buy them and build them together and stamp "made in Germany".

But imo this is getting a little OT right now, I just wanted to show off a german soddie and an american soddie. And tell you the differences. And let´s discuss about the two knives... :)

Kind regards
Andi
 
Andi, i am not trying to insult your knife. The world of knife manufacturing is very 'incestuous' and has been for at least the last 100 years. Who made a specific knife is often different from the branding.
I asked about the Otter knife for my own educatation. I find 'forensic knifeology' very interesting; i.e. trying to track down who made what, as this info is usually kept secret by the knife companies involved.
As many former German brands (Linder is another) are no longer actually made in German, i wanted to know the status of Otter knives.
roland
 
rprocter said:
Andi, i am not trying to insult your knife. The world of knife manufacturing is very 'incestuous' and has been for at least the last 100 years. Who made a specific knife is often different from the branding.
I asked about the Otter knife for my own educatation. I find 'forensic knifeology' very interesting; i.e. trying to track down who made what, as this info is usually kept secret by the knife companies involved.
As many former German brands (Linder is another) are no longer actually made in German, i wanted to know the status of Otter knives.
roland
Click to expand...

No problem. I know what you didn´t want to insult the knife. It´s very ok for asking. I do this also with many things that are around, especially with a good knife. I didn´t think about this as some kind of attack. And I know that it´s a problem with german knives which are of an old german brand but no longer made here in Germany. The same as with Schrade, I think. Linder and Herbertz on the german side of the tracks.

My intention on the post above was, that I didn´t want to open a discussion about "chinese-crap vs. good american/german craftmanship".

Kind regards
Andi
 
I like the look of that 'Otter' very good blade etch of an animal I would dearly like to see in the wild. They've all been hunted to near extinction or had their habitat polluted here, shameful.

I think having thick wooden scales is a very big plus point, all too often modern knives have skimpy wooden scales, this Otter looks comfortable in the hand. Looks similar to the Herder knife. CASE's Sodbuster is in fact an imitation of a European knife. Andi, do you buy these on-line or is there a shop where you can examine them? Much blade-play?

Talking of German 'branded' knives that are likely Chinese, I have a German Bull Dirtbuster in stag, a Sodbuster type knife. Nice stag and decent enough finish, the stainless blade is not that keen though. I'm rather sure it is Chinese, can't find any HQ or info about German Bull.

Regards, Will
 
Hi Will!

The wooden handles feel good in hand, it fills the hand very well. Without hurting.

The knife has absolutelly no blade play. Everything is bombproof. There´s a little gap on the end-side of the knife between backspring and liner, but that doesn´t do any wrong with its functionality. Unfortunatelly I have no shop in my local area. So I ordered online. I told them with an email to check out the knife before sending the package on blade play especially. I don´t like blade play. A non centered blade or a gap somewhere doesn´t bother me on a working knife.

Kind regards
Andi
 
Thanks Andi!

I can't stand play either, nor raised springs, nor big gaps choosy :D Mind you, in a simple working-knife I'm not so critical, if it feels good in the hand and slices then it's all OK. Do you know what that wood is? Beech? Oak?

All the best, Will
 
About the wood, I think it´s some kind of pickled wood. I would also be very interessted in that. I gonna place an email to Otter and ask for. Imho (!) oak, because of it´s grain. I think beech would be finer. But imo it´s some kind of european hardwood and nothing exotic. Remembering the prize for it.

Kind regards
Andi
 
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