For fun: Buck 301 vs Case Trapper

Rsmith_77

Rsmith_77

Joined
Jun 4, 2010
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I have both knives in question, and i like them both for different reasons. I have been spending some time holding both of them and comparing them to each other. First of all, the case trapper is 4 1/8" long and the buck 301 is 3 7/8" long which seems like a very small difference in size, but when your holding them side to side its pretty apparent that the trapper is a noticeably larger knife.

The trapper in question is the rancher amber bone in cv and no denying its the prettier knife. The handles are cool, the blade shapes (IN MY OPINION) are more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I also have little doubt that the trapper model is built plenty tough. Its also (again, in MY experience) seems to me that cases cv can be made sharper than any stainless steel, even bucks.

the 301 on the other hand is all business. the classic sawcut black delrin and stainless steel. While it has a beauty in its simplicity and efficiency it lacks the aesthetic grace and beauty of the case trapper. On the other hand, with its saber ground blades, delrin scales and stainless steel blades with the legendary Bos heat treat, it is even more durable and tough than the trapper. The stainless steel makes it much less of an issue to care for and keep it in good working order.

Ironically, i am not a tremendously huge fan of the spey blade, on the large or small blade, so thats a rub. I just ADORE the main clip blade on the case trapper, even more so than the clip on the 301. But the trapper lacks the sheepsfoot which the 301 has.

My conclusion is, they are both cool knives, but do you prefer your knife to be prettier and sharper? (the trapper) or tougher and ease of maintenance (the 301). So how bout ya'll which do you prefer, and why?

Ryan
 
I own both also. I carried the 301 for years. I got a Case trapper sunset for Christmas & carried it for a while, until I decided it was too pretty and a hair too big.

I've since switched to a rotation of single blade lock backs. I seldom use anything but the clipped point and I love the slimness.

Between the two, I'd go with the 301. I don't know that I've ever used a sheepsfoot, but the 301 is about the max bulk I care for in a multi-blade pocket knife.
 
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Buck 301. I have both, carry both, though so far not at the same time. They are different styles of knives suited to different tasks, so a direct comparison is not especially meaningful to me. If I lost both, I would re-buy the Buck 301 before I would re-buy a Case Trapper. I have put a very sharp edge on my Buck knives, as sharp as anything I own. It took a little more work than Case CV but they are plenty sharp.
 
Hey great review and comparison. The only case trapper I have is probably 60 year old and has been rehandled several times so its hard for me to say myself which is better in a side by side comparison. My first thought was theyre apples and oranges, but it was still good to read your individual reviews of em. I finally picked up a couple examples of some bucks. A 301 and a 307. The 307 is about a half inch bigger that the 301. Its a monster but its on 2 springs so not so much wider than the 301, plus it has flat grinds rather than saber grinds. I like it quite a bit and while I prefer Carbon steel when there is the option to have it, I dont mind stainless especially as its the trademark of the buck. And it does make for much easier care. I'm personally not a huge 2 blade trapper fan. I think its because the spey is not my favorite blade shape to begin with. I particularly dont care for long speys, while on the other hand I find the shorter spey you find on most stockman pattern to be much more useful. It comes in handy for scraping and pipe reaming and the shorter length just makes it easier to control. The way I understand its purpose, besides being designed to castrate bulls, it should be scalpel sharp and rounded so one can use it to slice, shave, or scrape but not puncture or poke and for me the shorter length works better for all that. So yeah I'd say I prefer the Buck stockman, but not because it stainless, rather because its a stockman. Case CV Large stockman in amber bone vs. Buck 301, I might grab the Case.
 
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Buck 301 without any hesitation.

I carried a 301 for 25 years and it was a great knife. It handled everything I needed from a knife and then some. This was back in the days when I was a young soldier just married and the knife knut gene wasn't fully developed yet. That Buck was my hunting knife, fishing knife, garden tool, pocket knife, paring knife, and even emergency tool. Between a Sherman tank like construction and having three blades to choose from, it was a great "only" knife to have on hand.
 
Like Carl, I'm a big fan of the 301, especially the modern three-spring models, which are no thicker than their two-spring counterparts.

I am always enthralled when I see how Buck re-engineered the classic stockman pattern to put the sheepsfoot in the center position at the far end from the clip and with the nail nicks of the clip and sheepsfoot on opposite sides. Perfection.

I love looking at how the blades nestle perfectly straight and aligned. I find the sheepsfoot to be a most useful blade. I love that the 301 sheepsfoot is straight and not bent to fit into a 2-spring configuration. The straight blade is easier to use.

I'm a big fan of stainless. The Buck 420HC, hardened to a 58 is a good choice for everyday hard use.

Oh, did I mention that I'd choose the 301 every day of the week?

I'm a fan of the stockman pattern. I'm even more a fan of the 301.
 
A good read, thanks for taking the time to do this. It's interesting to read someone's opinion of two very different knives and their personal pros and cons for both. I concur with Lemmy's 'apples and oranges' comment in that they are different species but like the title suggests it's FOR FUN :)

My choice would be the buck. For the simple reason; I don't really like trappers - or I suppose in as much as that I've yet to find one that interested me (although I am rather fond of case cv).

Paul
 
I've got several large Trapper models, both Case and Buck and a bunch of different Buck 301's. The Stockman is my favorite pattern for a multi-blade slip joint with the Trapper my second favorite. My 301's are probably in my pocket 10x more often then any of the Trappers. I guess I just like the three blade option more than the two.
 
I never cared much for the buck line. They don't do it for me.
For me it would be the Case. Always was a fan of them.
 
I actually do not own any true trappers anymore. I have single blade trappers, trapper jacks, and improved trappers but I just do not like the long spey blade.

I definitely prefer the stockman and even though it usually has a small spey, the sheepsfoot makes up for it. I will take a buck 301 all day everyday.

I would actually love to see Buck come out with a 30X knife with just the clip and sheepsfoot in a jack pattern. If I could get it in s30v or BG42 that would probably be my grail knife.
 
JustinR said:
I actually do not own any true trappers anymore. I have single blade trappers, trapper jacks, and improved trappers but I just do not like the long spey blade.

I definitely prefer the stockman and even though it usually has a small spey, the sheepsfoot makes up for it. I will take a buck 301 all day everyday.

I would actually love to see Buck come out with a 30X knife with just the clip and sheepsfoot in a jack pattern. If I could get it in s30v or BG42 that would probably be my grail knife.
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I think Boker did a run of those, just a clip and sheepsfoot. in 440C if i am not mistaken.
Also if memory serves Andi (humpa) and a few others have one, i'll see if i cant find a pic.
 
Yeah I have seen that one before. I think it was part of their olivewood series. I have not found one at a price I'm willing to pay yet but I am still looking.
 
jc57 said:
Buck 301. I have both, carry both, though so far not at the same time. They are different styles of knives suited to different tasks, so a direct comparison is not especially meaningful to me. If I lost both, I would re-buy the Buck 301 before I would re-buy a Case Trapper. I have put a very sharp edge on my Buck knives, as sharp as anything I own. It took a little more work than Case CV but they are plenty sharp.
Click to expand...

What John said:thumbup:
 
LOL

if you want to know the truth, the 301 is my summer knife, i carry it along side my wenger SI during the hot, humid days of the mississippi summer.
i LIKE the trapper, its a beautiful knife, with a great history and holding it in my hands gives me visions of camping, spending time out of doors, its almost a romantic knife for me.

Yet i dont carry it, almost never. I cant even say why. I carried my mini-trapper for months, carry most of my knives at least a bit, but i dont seem to actually carry the trapper. But I want to, for all the reasons above.

Its weird. Was wondering how many people loved the trapper and actually carried it. Looks like not as many folks who love/carry the stockman pattern, or else the trapper fans havent woken up just yet :D

I find myself contrasting the utility, efficiency and ease of my buck/victorinox/wengers vs the beauty, male-pocket-jewelry aspect of my gecs/cases. What is worse, i KNOW i am over thinking the entire thing, but that is why we call ourselves knife nuts rights? The knives that work best for ME just arent as visually appealing as those that I dont carry but want to :p

sorry bout that, little Saturday morning ramble.
Ryan
 
I would have to agree with you on the pocket jewelry aspect. The stockman is not near as visually appealing as other patterns but it just flat out works.

I will say though that my GEC 82 has some nice appeal to me. With its california clip main and wharncliffe/drop point secondaries it is just a very sleek package that is all business. I actually get use out of all 3 blades and I dont have a high riding sheepsfoot digging into my palm or a useless (to me) spey blade.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
...Was wondering how many people loved the trapper and actually carried it...
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Well now, that's not quite what you asked. You made this an either/or situation.

I like many knives and carry them. I have a Case Trapper in Pocket Worn Red SS that I carry sometimes on weekends. I like it enough to where I've been thinking about buying a belt case for it, since it's a little larger than I like in a pocket.

But if forced to choose between those two relatively dissimilar knives, I'd choose the Buck. Like I said in my first post in the thread, a direct comparison between the two is not especially meaningful to me. But since it was "for fun" I picked the one out of that selection that I'd go with.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
LOL

if you want to know the truth, the 301 is my summer knife, i carry it along side my wenger SI during the hot, humid days of the mississippi summer.
i LIKE the trapper, its a beautiful knife, with a great history and holding it in my hands gives me visions of camping, spending time out of doors, its almost a romantic knife for me.

Yet i dont carry it, almost never. I cant even say why. I carried my mini-trapper for months, carry most of my knives at least a bit, but i dont seem to actually carry the trapper. But I want to, for all the reasons above.

Its weird. Was wondering how many people loved the trapper and actually carried it. Looks like not as many folks who love/carry the stockman pattern, or else the trapper fans havent woken up just yet :D

I find myself contrasting the utility, efficiency and ease of my buck/victorinox/wengers vs the beauty, male-pocket-jewelry aspect of my gecs/cases. What is worse, i KNOW i am over thinking the entire thing, but that is why we call ourselves knife nuts rights? The knives that work best for ME just arent as visually appealing as those that I dont carry but want to :p

sorry bout that, little Saturday morning ramble.
Ryan
Click to expand...

This is why the ice cream place has 31 flavors on hand. This why some people drive Fords, and others drive Chevy, or even a Toyota. Gather any 10 knife knuts together, and you'll have 10 different opinions as to what the best pocket knife is. People are weird to start off with, add in some obsessive addiction and you'll have a real stew on your hands.

I know from my own experience, what has worked for me in the past is what I tend to lean very heavy towards. I've never bonded with a trapper, or a congress, or even a pen pattern because nobody in my family ever used one, so I had zero exposure to them, and so never choose one as my knife. But, I had a very long run time with a scout and stockman patterns, so they are my main fall back, default, reset to zero knife. Just like in this day and age of autoloading pistols, I'm still banging away with a revolver because I'm used to it. I don't know why, my old man was a die hard when it came to his old Colt Woodsman auto. I learned to shoot on it, and should have been a fan of it. But when I was in a gun shop, and felt how the Smith and Wesson revolver felt in my hand, something clicked very strongly. Now, a lifetime later, I'm still using Smith and Wesson"s. Just like how I'm used to stockman's. The time I slant with a peanut was maybe a kind of homage to my old man, who was one of my hero's growing up. But in the end, we're just people, and what works for one, maybe isn't the next guys cup of tea.
 
In a way, i wonder, would my choices be clearer if my family were knife carriers?

My maternal grandfather carried some sort of pen knife. He is still around at the age of 92 and i have asked if I may have it, if none of my uncles didnt already want it. Its the only thing i am asking for. My grandfather said yes, but its been years since he's seen it, so apparently they still looking for it. But other than that, knives were never part of our upbringing. I remember being given some sort of stockman when i was in cub scouts, but i also recall having it taken away from me for pulling all 3 blades out and throwing it into a log cabin trying to make it stick lol. I deserved to have it taken away but at age 8 or 9 i didnt understand.

anyways, all that being said, i have no family history to draw from. My father never carried a knife until he retired, now he likes small lockbacks and its cool to see him get into knives so late in life, but no tradition there.

Although if pure efficiency is what the goal is, or only what i "NEED" my wenger SI does it all and more i suppose. which seems a shame really, its a GREAT knife, dont get me wrong, pure efficiency and useful as all get out, but not what i would call pocket jewelry lol



again, just rambling, sometimes writing these things down helps organize my thoughts, input is always great if you want to chime in, but i am not asking someone to pick a knife for me lol.
 
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