Conclusion: Buck's fit & finish are better than Case's

Smaug

Smaug

Joined
Jun 30, 2003
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Here are a couple of pix with all my Case knives, and my latest two Bucks:

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Of the Case knives, the Peanut, Mini Copperlock, and yellow jack are flawless. But the dye job on the RussLock is not good. I know it's supposed to be darker in the jigging, but there's a spot that has no dye at all, and the flip side is pink, not red. The back spring is also really strong, considering this is a liner lock.

The Small Toothpick has a dent in the other side of the blade, but the scales are perfect.

By contrast, both US-made Bucks here are perfect, even though they cost less than the Cases. The 55 is just like my old Prince, except with brass bolsters instead of nickel silver. Oh, and a clip blade instead of drop.

The Companion is also great.

The grinds on both Bucks are perfect. They look like close to a 30 degree angle and are even from side to side. None of my Cases had an even grind from the factory.

I have another Buck, a full size hunting knife with a rubber handle, and it is also flawless.

My conclusion is that Case, these days, is putting more effort into scale variety and trying to produce "collectible" knives than they are into quality and consistency in execution. Shame on them.
 
ooooh

*grabs a chair and some popcorn and gets ready to watch this one*

i've had 3 bucks in my life
119 which i have NO complaints
301 which i gave a buddy cause he loved it from the moment he saw it
309 which has a slightly weak spring

I've had 4 cases
Sodbuster JR in CV- no complaints
Mini-Trapper in SS- no complaints
mini-trapper in CV- blade wobble, gaps in liner, not at all happy
sodbuster JR in SS- blade wobble, gaps in liner, not at all happy

so i guess i would have to agree. although i tend to buy the cheaper cases, not the more expensive ones so maybe my perspective is skewed :/
 
Close the blades on those Buck knives and set them up on their spine (springs). Do they sit straight up or do they lean to one side and perhaps even fall over.

Buck knives are great knives. I have several and they all have good fit and finish but most wobble back and forth when set on their spines.

Case knives are great knives. I have gazillions of them and the fit and finish on them overall is good but there are some turkeys in the basket. 99% set up straight when set on their spines.

For their price range both companies put out good, useable, knives.
 
Thank goodness we can finally put this issue to bed. :p
 
Smaug said:
My conclusion is that Case, these days, is putting more effort into scale variety and trying to produce "collectible" knives than they are into quality and consistency in execution. Shame on them.
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I think there are effectively 2 Cases and probably 4 Bucks and what you get will depend on which your looking at I think.

In terms of case, I think you're mostly correct regarding the slip joints. Slip joints are a tough business. They've fallen out of use among workers in the US by and large being replaced with some form of locking folder as the most common work knife. So, where do you go with your slip joint business? On the one hand, you could pursue super fine craftmanship at a premium price like GEC. Or you could move production outside of the country like, say, RoughRider or (ahem) Buck (with respect to their slip joints). Or you could try to carve out something in the middle like Case, Utica (back) and Bear and Sons. The other Case is their traditional fixed blade line. They're still real nice from what I've seen and owned.

Buck on the other hand seems to have grown into 4 different animals. First, is their US made lockers and US made slip joints. They're really, really good, but not flawless. It's at this point that I think we need to distinguish between good enough to work hard for 50 years and "my blade is slightly off center" collecting perfection. IME, Bucks in the former camp, not the latter. Second, there are the Chinese made Buck slip joints. Mighty nice knives for the price and fit and finish are nice from what I've experienced. Third form of Buck is their modern tacticals. That's just a whole different thing but in general, I would put them in same camp as pretty much every other modern tactical from a reputable company. Good and functional for the price. The last Buck is the collectible custom shop. It's a whole different collectible vibe from the Case vibe in my mind. Just different.

I'm a Buck (and Opinel) man because I love folding lockers and, well, I see that as Buck's home turf. Nothing against the Buck slipjoints, but that's not the first thing I think of when I think of Buck.
 
I don't have as many knives as some here :D, but ill give my thoughts based on the experience i had.

I owned two 112, one two dot and a newer one, and one 110, in all these, no blade play, even grinds, great fit and finish. No complaints.
Buck 301 and Buck 303, very good fit, a bit rough finish, good walk and talk, somewhat on the soft side, but again, no complaints. Grinds were not even an all blades, but i can live with that.
The construction feels more rough, they appear to be very solid. Not the best slicers with the thick blades and sabre grind/hollow grinds, but should take more abuse if you will, than the thinner case grinds.

Case, i have two peanuts and a medium stockman. Walk and talk, very different from one blade to another, but on the strong side overall.
One peanut had a bent liner, and in both of them the main blades touch the liner when closed. No blade play.
The medium stockman had some gaps between the backspring and liner, no problem for me , but the clip point had side to side play. Fixed that with help from here :D.
Edges, well, not even, but the thin grind makes things a lot easier to fix.
But the blades on these case knives cut, and cut well. I love that. I've never seen a blade so thin as the sheepsfoot on my stockman, very close to a straight razor..
And all blades found on these case knives have very thin grinds, thus are excellent slicers.

Not relevant here, but I have two knives from queen also, a serpentine jack and a canoe, the fit and finish is superb, walk and talk just great, but the grinds were awful. Both had to be re profiled.
 
My only beef with the Buck 300 series is really about design, not fit/finish. I wish they didn't have rivets sticking out so prominently, that their blades were thinner and flat-ground, and that they had a bit more snap. With that said, I agree that -- on average -- Buck fit and finish is more consistent than Case. But I still carry a Case and no longer own any Buck slipjoints. I do have a Buck 55 and it's an outstanding knife. Love it!

-- Mark
 
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glad ya found your brand, buck makes good stuff. while ive never had a problem with case, i suppose its frustrating.
and fortunately i run a home for "wayward unwanted knives" including case:D hint hint
gene
 
Well I'm glad this topic has finally been put to bed. But I am concerned that most peps think that Case is skimping on QA. Since I use my knives I find Case knives just fine. Hopefully Case reads the boards here and is getting tired of the perception of lesser quality.
 
markpmc said:
Well I'm glad this topic has finally been put to bed. But I am concerned that most peps think that Case is skimping on QA. Since I use my knives I find Case knives just fine. Hopefully Case reads the boards here and is getting tired of the perception of lesser quality.
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I think I hear your point, but I feel at the prices Case charges for their knives, they should be better than "user grade." I could buy a no name Chinese knife and it would work just as well. We have higher standards for knives costing $40+.
 
I own 6 Case knives:2 Sodbusters, Sodbuster jr., Mako, Hammerhead, & a pattern 18 (med. stockman). Of these 6 knives, half had issues. Surprisingly, the cheapest ones (sod busters) were almost perfect. The Mako came to me with the point sticking out of the handle even though it was closed. I had to file down the kick to remedy this. The Hammerhead is clunky and the fit and finish is bad. It costed more than a comparably sized Buck 110. The stockman has blade-rub and the fit and finish is not as good as I expected. This particular stockman is a Ruger commemorative which I assumed would mean a more refined product. I was wrong. Case knives are more expensive than Buck counterparts (of which I own more than a dozen). Due to my experiences with both brands the only Case I would now buy would be one I could actually handle before purchasing. I buy mostly American knives but I don't trust Case anymore. I think they are living on their reputation from decades ago. Buck, on the other hand, has never disappointed me.
 
Also, maybe our illustrious moderators could put down their popcorn for a minute and actually contribute?
 
I cannot express a educated opinion. No Case knife resides in my abode. I am leaving them all for you guys. Also there are more Bucks I don't have than money I will likely ever get..... 300Bucks
 
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