First Case Knife: Which Should I Buy??

C

Cheeseiest1

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Apr 12, 2012
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I recently purchased my first benchmade, a 530. I'm loving the incredibly light weight and slim form factor of this knife, but have gotten a look or two when using it in a public place. The knife is so light that I've decided to pair it with a smaller sheeple friendly blade for use in more public areas, and I'm thinking there's not much that's more socially acceptable than a small case folder. I already have a full-sized case knife given to me by my grandfather when I was much younger, but have never owned any of the smaller models. I don't know nearly as much about traditional knives as I do about modern folders, and you don't get as much exposure to them watching youtube videos and the like (my main source of info) so I'm hoping to recruit the experience/knowledge that some of you have to help me pick what model to purchase.

Here's what I'm looking for:
I got the 530 at the awesome price of $50.00 NIB, so I have the extra money I had saved up to purchase it at my disposal, around $40. I could maybe flex it up closer to 50, but really don't want to go much higher than that (poor college kid). I would prefer something that has more than a single blade, probably just because I remember my grandfather always carrying small multi-bladed knives and want to follow in his footsteps (my dad always carries SAK classics, which I already have and also enjoy, but I really want to go traditional with my extra cash). From the minimal research I've done so far I really like the looks of the peanut and small stockman, so something along those lines would be awesome. Because it's just going to be sitting in the bottom of my pocket, I would prefer it be less than 3 inches long, and be relatively light. Any input you may have when it comes to choosing between these models would be greatly appreciated, as would recommendations of any other model meeting the specifications. I would really like to stick with the case brand on this one, again just because it's what my grandpa always had sitting at the bottom of his pocket (along with schrade OTs and small camillus knives, but as these can't be bought new and might be slightly more difficult to find I would prefer to go the case rought)

To summarize:
looking for a small traditional knife, preferably case brand
Multi-bladed, but not too heavy
< 3 inches
40 dollars or less (maybe up to 50)

Thanks in advance for any recommendations/help!
 
Peanut in Chestnut Bone i love mine!

Maybe the pen knife its sits on one spring so that its a little slimmer in the pocket.
 
OddFuture said:
Peanut in Chestnut Bone i love mine!

Maybe the pen knife its sits on one spring so that its a little slimmer in the pocket.
Click to expand...

Cannot go wrong with either of these suggestions.

penpeanutclipblades.jpg


penpeanutpenblades.jpg


You may also want to consider the yellow peanut. Here is my son's, next to my chestnut bone.

PeanutsSep30b.jpg
 
I'll also throw in a recommendation for either the peanut or the pen. Wonderful little knives, both.

Edit to add: Case also makes a small 2 5/8" pen knife that would fit your criteria. It's quite a bit smaller than the pen shown above.
 
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Under 3" is pretty small. You can look through this thread for ideas on what's under 3".

However, if you can go just a touch longer at 3 1/4" or 3 3/8", that'll open a myriad of options including stockmans like the Schrade 34OT, Case 6344, and small jacks. A Case 6344 is very narrow compared to many stockmans of the same length and carries very easily.
 
Swayback Jack in Chestnut bone CV steel. Best standard Case knife out there right not I believe.
 
Under 3"?
That limits you to the following case production patterns:
Small Pen
Small Stockman (2 patterns, 33 and 27)
Peanut
Pocket Hunter
Tiny Muskrat
Small Gunstock
Small Texas Toothpick (exactly 3")

If you're wanting to save money and not worry too much about the knife, then probably a synthetic delrin handle with stainless steel blades fit the bill. Some of those would be the American Workman (blue jigged delrin), Working (brown jigged delrin, Yellow SS (smooth yellow delrin), and the Case Made in USA (red jigged delrin), and Rough Black handle families.

There are a limited number of patterns (knife styles) in each handle family, so for instance if you happen to want a small stockman in Yellow SS, you're out of luck, but that pattern is available in the Made in USA and Workman families. As another example, the American Workman family doesn't have anything under 3" except the Small Texas Toothpick.

I would suggest looking at the WR Case web site and go into their knife search engine, and put in each one of those pattern names I listed above to see what they look like. I find it better to search by pattern name because some of their links by family don't always work.

The Peanuts, for example, are usually $25 to $30 or so in the synthetic handles, and about $10 more for some of the typical jigged bone handle styles. So well within your budget, and doesn't really break your upper bound until you get into limited or commemorative editions or fancier handle material like stag, some woods, and stones.

Now me personally, if I'm going to carry a traditional folder, I like bone or stag handles, in some moderately natural color or another: browns, golds, ambers, dark reds or oranges.

My choices in tiny knives so far have been the Peanut in Chesnut Bone CV, and the Tiny Trapper in Antique Jigged Bone SS. Great little knives, it's really up to you as to what you like the looks of better.
 
I'm a fan of the Chestnut CV Peanut

Here are some comparison shots

9509AD17-656F-40F8-9D3E-C88B90D2EFDA-557-0000005C95D26C03-1.jpg


Queen small stockman, Schrade small stockman, Case Peanut, Case 62087 Jack, Case 6318 medium stockman

80F222C8-8851-45F1-A960-5A8DC5B4DD79-110-00000003EFD7C29D.jpg


Pete
 
I really like the look of that small pen knife as well as the peanuts. Does anyone happen to know how much the peanut weighs?
 
Under three inches and 40 dollars? There's only one route to go here. The yella handle peanut. It comes with a free membership in the cult, of course.:D

Carl.
 
A lot of people find the small stockman to be too small, I love them myself, but admit that generally I find the peanut more useable, it's a bit bigger, the blades are a bit stouter.

I might be a touch nervous about using a small stockman to open a thick blister pack, but with a peanut I'd be much more comfortable that I wouldn't break a blade

Another option you may one to consider is the 44 model stockman, it's a "medium" stockman that is smaller and lighter than the typical 18 model medium stockman, it's just a bit over 3 1/4 inches. Still a very pocketable knife
 
Also another options could be to go towards Buck, they have a nice assortment of smaller single blade knives for a very reasonable price.i know you want a case, but just giving you a different option.
 
If you're talking about under 3" for the knife, and not just the blade, I would go with a Case Peanut with CV steel.
 
Two other non-Case knives to consider are the Victorinox Pocket Pal and Secretary, both two-bladed pens. They're a touch longer than what you initially mentioned, but light, and don't carry any differently than the yellow Case pen above. The Secretary is especially thin, as well. And they're both very affordable; you could get both for your budget and still have some left over.
 
Just put in an order for a chestnut CV Case Peanut that I found online for 30 bucks. Thanks to everyone for the helpful advice!
 
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