Given a choice between the same pattern and the same Mfg which would you pick?

T. Erdelyi

T. Erdelyi

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Feb 3, 2001
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Using Case as an example, they make patterns now that were made forty years ago, would you rather have a old new stock knife from the forties or the same pattern made nib now?

This goes for any US production knife still in business or European company still making the same patterns.

Myself I'd go for the older new knife, BTW these have to be considered users not for investment.
 
Give me the new old stock, as long as it's made from carbon steel. The older stuff seems to have been made with a bit more care. And they were made to be used as tools, not as collectibles like so many made today are.

Plus I'll take the old Case brown bone any day over that bubble gum abomination they now offer.
 
old. (not only that, I might just be willing to pay more for it.)
 
New old stock for me.The blades and finishes of years gone by were ground. Now they just put a batch of blades into a tumbler.
 
Do you think it's because of the quality and care or the materials were better?

I think Case's current Stainless is a poor quality for edge holdin' but great for the polish it takes but the shiny only last so long before ya gotta resharpen.

If the SS they use can't hold an edge for squat, it's worthless to me.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
Do you think it's because of the quality and care or the materials were better?
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I can't tell you if the steel and heat treat was better though it does often feel like the old knives take a keener edge than today's versions.

But I can tell you that the fit and finish, spring tension, scales and most every other feature of the old knives was better imho.

Thinner profiles, less waste, better features...you name it.

And that's only from the limited number of old knives I have in my collection and the ones I've had the opportunity to handle and admire at shows or in the collections of others.
 
I'd go with the old ones. They seemed to have better feel, slimmer and more egonomic than now. Like has been said, I think the old workmenship was better.

I'd love to have a circa 1930's peanut.
 
Well said Elliott,with an emphasis on slim,good walk n talk & rounded handles,too
-Vince
 
Old, as long as it carbon steel :)

Like Blues said, "thinner profile" the old ones aren't as chunky as the new ones.
 
old for me too, thats why we try to get a hold of 'em. ;-)
why?: better feel, better walk and talk, better workmanship, and that jigged bone they used to use... well just take a look in the 'old knives' thread, and you'll get my point.

Peter
 
Would depend on the look of the individual knife, then the steel, and then price... age don't matter if I like any individual knife.

I see no difference in edge holding from case CV or SS from now, or from carbon of 20 years ago... ain't got an older SS case yet. Properly treated 1095(IE the stuff I do myself) beats all of it though.. *shrug*
 
Nothing is made today with the same attention to detail that was used years ago. Back then things were hand assembled and inspected. Today, due to "sophisticated manufacturing techniques" they just stamp things out and put them together. The pressure is on all companies to produce more, QC be damned, it's sales and the bottom line that counts.

If one is willing to pay top dollar for quality it's usually still available (again, for most things), but you really have to look at top, top end, craftsman-level items, and be willing to pay for it. Production stuff is just hit and miss.

Technologies such as heat treatment and metallurgy have improved. The question is whether the company will bother to use these advances, or continue doing things the old, probably cheaper way. That, of course, depends on the company.

IMO, of course. And I like Tru-Sharp, too.

-- Sam
 
Yosemite Sam said:
Nothing is made today with the same attention to detail that was used years ago. Back then things were hand assembled and inspected. Today, due to "sophisticated manufacturing techniques" they just stamp things out and put them together. The pressure is on all companies to produce more, QC be damned, it's sales and the bottom line that counts.

If one is willing to pay top dollar for quality it's usually still available (again, for most things), but you really have to look at top, top end, craftsman-level items, and be willing to pay for it. Production stuff is just hit and miss.

Technologies such as heat treatment and metallurgy have improved. The question is whether the company will bother to use these advances, or continue doing things the old, probably cheaper way. That, of course, depends on the company.

IMO, of course. And I like Tru-Sharp, too.

-- Sam
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If you think that this is a new trend talk to anyone that ever had a factory job 50 years ago. There was no time to adjust or redo, production was the most important element. This is especially true with lower end products.
 
timsclips said:
If you think that this is a new trend talk to anyone that ever had a factory job 50 years ago. There was no time to adjust or redo, production was the most important element. This is especially true with lower end products.
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You got me there. People are never satisfied with the "new" stuff. I can only imagine back in the '30s some people were really put off by these new fangled models Case, Winchester, Schrade, S&W, et al were putting out, wanting the one their Pappy had. Now we're about killing ourselves to get those "great knives of an era long ago".

-- Sam
 
I wanted to say new, just to have the other side represented, but..

I would say older.
 
Yosemite Sam said:
I can only imagine back in the '30s some people were really put off by these new fangled models Case, Winchester, Schrade, S&W, et al were putting out, wanting the one their Pappy had. Now we're about killing ourselves to get those "great knives of an era long ago".

-- Sam
Click to expand...


An interesting quote I came across the other day in Goins' Encyclopedia was that in 1922 Robeson and Winchester were considered the two best pocket knives in the world.

Those knives of the "golden age" are truly something special.
 
Hi,

My choice would depend on whether or not it was to be a user or a looker. For collectability, the new old stock. If I'm just wanting a user, I would not hesitate to get a new made knife.

Truth is, most things weren't made as well as they often are today. (Heck, I'm old enough, I was there!:D:D) The steel we make today is better, with fewer impurities and a far wider choice of alloys, (just think about how much different stainless steels are today than even a short 20 yrs ago). Our ability to heat-treat is better. The tooling to make those knives is better. And the cost is no more or even less than it was. On an inflation adjusted cost of course. The down side is we have fewer choices in brands.

While we can make better knives today than we did. What we can't do is to make the nostalgia that the old knives have accrued over the years.

dalee
 
dalee,

I've got to respectfully take exception with you on a couple of points. While there's no doubt that we have the technology and wherewithal to produce better knives today that doesn't mean that we do. (Though I do agree with you that every generation tends to mourn the good old days gone by.)

However, in my experience of side by side comparisons of older and newer versions of the same pattern knives from the same manufacturers (or companies with those names) indicates that the older knives were better nearly hands down.

Now, today's custom knives...that's where a maker with some drive has an opportunity to shine.

Just my opinion and ymmv but how I see it based upon my experience over the last several decades.
 
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