First trapper

Ed T

Ed T

Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
3,818
I just received my first Case Trapper in the mail yesterday. It is a green bone knife, and I feel the bug getting little worse. I had primarily been buying tactical folders. I bought a few doctor knives and then a couple of stockmans. Then a copperhead. Not sure when it happened, but I have the traditional folder bug.

The trapper could easily become my favorite design.

So, now that I am here.....
What are other people's favorites?
 
a great deal. Don't have one right now, but they're one of my favorites. Pretty happy with my stockman, though. Wouldn't mind holding a sowbelly, either. I've seen a few canoes that caught my eye. Aw, heck, it's all good.

Frank
 
Small to medium stockman patterns such as the Buck 303 Cadet with jigged brown bone, red bone, yellow, poly pearl, black, etc. There are so many neat patterns to choose from. I like the trapper as well. I have a couple of Case mini copperlocks that are neat too. I have a few of the tach style but the traditional folders are still my favorites. Happy collecting. I is addictive.
 
The timing of your post is amazing. Something over twenty years ago I purchased a Boker Tree Brand Trapper. I carried it for a while, but for what ever reason it found a place in the knife drawer and I started carrying mostly Stockmen. Now for the timing part. Last night for what ever reason I thought of my old Trapper and dug it out. Carried it all day today and had a blast with the "newness" of having it with me. Must have dug it out of my pocket at least thirty or forty times today just to open it, feel the edge, close it and put it back in my pocket. Kind of like being reunited with a long lost friend!
 
I kept pulling mine out today as well. Although mine is a new friend. I took the wife and kids to cut a tree today. I was lloking for anything to cut or trim up!

Does anyone favor the russlock knives?
From what I have seen it appears that the blade is angled at opening, almost like the spyderco ayoob. Is that just the pictures I am seeing or.....?
 
I've been carrying a trapper lately as well. Love the "heft." If you like the pattern, I would recommend that you check out the Boker Tree Brand slimline trapper - nice bone handle, carbon steel etched blade, nickle-silver bolsters, and just enough size and weight to the slimmed down single blade and handle to make a nice compromise to a full-sized trapper.
 
3 blade stockman for me!! Have also just brought my first trapper: a Schatt & Morgan with horn scales.

It is a bug we all have - but ain't it fun!!
 
I really like the "muskrat" pattern. Problem is, it's a relatively rare design compared to most of the other traditional slip joint patterns.

The one production maker that does have most of the models is Case...and from lots of experience, my own opinion is Case is crap.

However, there are some fine muskrats around if you spend the time to search 'em out. I recently acquired a beautiful Queen muskrat in ATS-34 with strawberry bone scales!
 
Boker 9525IP Trapper and Schrade 34OT Middleman are my latest additions. Both the Trapper and Stockman are great patterns. Just depends on what I am doing or what I fancy for the day as to which type I carry. :)



Greymoor
 
I never was much on Case knives until I bought my yellow handled Trapper with CV steel. It has become my most used slipjoint. The fit and finish is good. It has the best walk and talk of any slipjoint I own and is easy to keep sharp. It is my first trapper but will not be my last. My favorite pattern is the whittlers. Like Don, I like the muskrat as well. In my area the 4 blade congress is the most sought after slippy. Shoot I'll take one of each or a whole lot of any of them.:D


Dean
 
My first knife was a Schrade Walden Trapper with yellow celluloid handles that my dad gave me when I was six. I still have it, and several other Trappers. I carry them quite a bit. My favorite for a user is probably my Camillus with tortoise shell celluloid scales.

Other Trappers that I have and like are a Henckels in red jigged bone, an Old Timer Bearshead Trapper, an old Kabar with natural bone scales, a Schrade Walden (besides the one i got from dad, which I still have also, and maybe another one or two that I can't think of right now.

I also like Muskrats. I have an old Case Muskrat with brown jigged bone scales that I use skinning coons some.

I guess I like most of the traditional patterns except the big clunky ones like the Sunfish and elephant toes.
 
I like the Trapper as well. I picked up a natural bone one when on vacation and then picked up a barbed wire bone one off ebay. I didn't find myslef carrying it very much though because it was so large and heavy that it was uncomfortable in the bottom of my pocket. I got in touch with G2 (Gary Graley) and had him make one of his leather belt sheaths for it and now I carry it everyday almost. For me, the Trapper is a great size to carry, just too big for the pocket.
 
Bought a sambar stag handled trapper (Browning) for my father for Christmas and I like it so much I think I'm going to to go back to the same place and get one for myself after the holidays. Great design and a welcome change from always having a tactical folder with me.
 
My brother-in-law bought my 16y/o son a Case Trapper for Christmas. It has pocket worn red bone handles. Fit and finish is very good, walk and talk is staught and the edge is unusually good for a Case. Little by little I'm changing my mind about Case. These trappers are catching alot of my attention....





Dean
 
Happy Holidays everyone! I am really enjoying reading all this great info. Now I will have to go out and but an Old Timer Middleman. However I was wondering about the metal used on the Browning and Winchester knives. These have some really nice stag handles and appear to be very high quality. Does anybody have any experience with them. Also their prices seem to be about $35.00-$40.00. They come in a 2 blade pattern. Seems like their more of a skinning type blade and a pen blade. Thanks for your input.
 
I received a queen cocobolo wood trapper with d2 steel blades for christmas.This is by far the nicest trapper I own.The fit and finish are perfect and it came razor sharp with perfect grinds.I honestly couldnt find anything wrong with it and I am a very picky person when it comes to knives.I have been watching a thread on knifefourms where someone is complaining about the quality of queen's d2 line of pocket knives.If you read all the thread the only person who isn't satisified with the quality is the person who started the thread.People keep posting that their knife is great.I wish people would give companies a reasonable chance before the bash them.I mean what other factory slipjoint maker has produced knives on a large scale with ats-34 or d2 or any other high performance blade steel.I have three queen knives and all are perfect.
 
cpk; the Browning trapper is aus8-a made in Japan (Seki?)Don't know about the Winchester. A word of advice, the Old Timer Middleman is a great little knife but there are some fit and finish issues so check two or three for spring strength and side to side blade play, especially the clip blade.It took me a couple of tries to find a really good one.
 
I have a Case Stag Trapper that I bought just for collection value. Its F&F is very, very good. Its blades are dull, soft, and not very well ground at the edge. It's a collector.

I have a Schatt & Morgan sowbelly trapper in worm-groove red bone, with very good F&F and an outstanding walk and talk, not to mention a superb half-stop. It is a beefy, well made knife, although the blades are just a bit too thin for my preferences for an everyday carry. It would make a perfect paring knife or fillet knife, however. But it is too nice looking for that.

I have a Queen d2 "Cattle King" lg Stockman pattern in Cocobolo that I find is the best slipjoint EDC I won-- by far. Very, very good F&F and blade steel, of course. It's just a great pocket knife.

I also have a Henckels stockman (smaller) with green bone that is just too flimsy feeling (after the Queen and the S&M). Its steel sucks, too, IMO. It would make a good pocket knife for a kid. I will probably give it to my nephew in a couple years.
 
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