How do you choose a Case knife?!

to my knowledge its called the "Improved Trapper"
and it comes in a variety of handles, but only in stainless steel (at least i've never seen it in CV)
 
Now I just need to try to track one of these down at a price I can handle.. hope it works out!! hah I saw one of these knives in a different thread that had a REALLY nice looking smooth blue bone.. I bet ill be hard pressed to track one of those down though the handle material isnt a make or break it deal I guess. Thanks for all the awesome replies and pictures, its greatly appreciated. you are all stand up people and im proud to say that I am part of the group!
 
T_MAC686 said:
does this come in other handles or steel types out of curiosity?
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That is the Case 6207W pattern. My understanding is that it is currently made in the sawcut antique bone like the one in my pic there, in a red bone with a stars & stripes shield with "USA" engraved into one bolster, and in the Carhartt branded version. All are in Case's Tru-Sharp stainless. I think the Carhartt version has a brushed satin finish rather than a polished finish.

They made a lot of them in 2007 in various colors but again I think they were all stainless at that time.

The one I pictured can be had on-line for under $45 shipped if you shop around.

If you like the clip + wharncliffe combo, and don't mind saving your pennies, there are versions of the #48 made by Great Eastern Cutlery that are a little longer but have that blade combo. I believe Collectorknives.net has a SFO coming out soon with a clip + Wharncliffe on the new 77 GEC frame as well.
 
Ok hopefully Ill be able to get a hold of one of these knives, In a color would be cool but I do like the sawcut bone look too.. I like the red jigged bone but I dont think I really like the stars and stripes shield... man I feel like im being too picky haha
 
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I would recommend the following:

If you work at an office space where no one else carries a knife a peanut is probably a better choice (it will sharpen your pencil, cut strings, tags, boxes and any container that may seem impenetrable).

However if you work in a more informal place (and can wear more cassual clothing, or relaxed slacks) then I would say go for a medium stockman. The extra blade comes very handy and it will help you have the best of both worlds (after all a jack knife is just a stockman with 1 less blade right? :P). The squared bolster medium stockman in any bone scale would be my preference for sure.

I personally carry a peanut to work every day and have a large stockman (and a pioneer and a buck 303) in case I want something extra along with the peanut (for hikes, camping, traveling, etc..). To be honest though, I never really need anything other than my peanut and perhaps a fillet knife (even though the peanut can gut pretty much any fish).

Eitherway I would suggest the CV steel. If you are into traditionals you have to try it, you won't be disapointed. I have had CV, buck 420HC, spydercos and many others but CV is still my favorite. They don't need as much care as it seems initially. Just use it often and wipe it, don't worry to much about it. You'll see character coming to it quickly.

Good Luck!
 
thanks mudguard- size wont really matter but ill be carrying it in my pocket so id like to keep it under 4"- maybe ill have to get a peanut in CV along with the mini trapper wharncliffe so I can compare the different steel types.. just might have to save up for a bit first ha
 
If you are in that situation I would get the peanut first. It will do 99.5% of the jobs (except for food prep, which you should do with a kitchen knife anyway). Start carrying it around and once you save up again you can get another larger folder. I find I carry my peanut from the office to a formal meeting, and then to a hike without a glitch.

Give yourself maybe a month to try it out well. If you are not a knife addict yet it just may be the only knife you need. The big plus I find is that where I live (in Canada), I can pull this thing even at a bank and no one feels threatened (I like having a small blade in my knife even if it is a 3 1/2 specially for that reason). I don't care much what people think but I don't want to freak anyone out at work.

Best of luck!

I personally love the yellow CV line. Durable, classic and at least a little more inexpensive.

T_MAC686 said:
thanks mudguard- size wont really matter but ill be carrying it in my pocket so id like to keep it under 4"- maybe ill have to get a peanut in CV along with the mini trapper wharncliffe so I can compare the different steel types.. just might have to save up for a bit first ha
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mudguard said:
It will do 99.5% of the jobs (except for food prep, which you should do with a kitchen knife anyway).... If you are not a knife addict yet it just may be the only knife you need.
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Haha I like that mentality and I am a knife addict already, I have just always been curious about getting a traditional knife and I just recently got an old imperial hammer brand from my grandpa (pretty bad condition but its more sentimental than anything) and it really sparked that interest again
 
I'm quite fond of the mini trappers. I've been carrying one for a while now and own a few of them in both CV & SS. I will say though that I am most impressed with any of the Tony Bose collaborations, the affordable ones, Teardrop Jack, and yes even the Saddle Horn is very comfortable in hand and pocket.
Bob
 
I have a few in different patterns. They are all great knives and have become very useful to me. I carry a baby butterbean everywhere I go. The little stainless steel blades are sharp as heck! A friend who is more into tactical knives was really impressed at the little bitty blade and how it cut through plastic wrapping like butter!

I also have a sod buster Jr that I use for yard work and camping. I like the CV but dislike the extreme rusting you can get in very humid climates! Its a beast of a blade. It'll handle anything!

Look around and pick one or two up! They're relatively inexpensive if you shop around. Good luck with your traditional folder addiction... Its coming if its not already here.
 
I can definitely see how people become addicted to traditional folders... I was looking at some of the custom made slipjoints on the exchange forum and they are BEAUTIFUL but waaaay out of my price range.. I'd absolutely love to own one some day tho.. Oh well, I guess it'll give me something to dream about ha
 
T_MAC686 said:
Hah yea I like that the texas jack is a little bigger than the peanut which seems to be one that a lot of people like but I dont think I would be as in to it as others might be.. although I shouldnt write any knife off since I have never handled any of them... ugh hah
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I used to think the same thing. If you can sharpen a blade, the Peanut has thin blade stock and can get pretty danged sharp... it just slices through everything despite it's size. If you are cutting a huge fruit or vegetable, you just cut around and twist the halves or separate while slicing. It fits in the watch pocket and it's a good spot for a "worry stone" as your hand just goes there automatically.

That being said, there are lots of great patterns. My other favorite is the 6375 (Large Stockman) which is at the other end of the spectrum as it's a big knife. I'm a big fan of both.
 
T_MAC686 said:
Mini Trapper, clip + Wharncliffe:[/URL]

Either are fine knives.
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LOVE LOVE LOVE this knife hah I think I might have found a winner! does this come in other handles or steel types out of curiosity?[/QUOTE]

I love the mini-trapper, but prefer the spey to the wharnclife. It's a great size knife with a great blade combo.
 
The main rule I have for choosing a Case knife is to do it in person; if you work enough Case knives you will find a lot of variation in the opening and closing snap - even among the same pattern from the same run of knives. I like my pocketknives to snap pretty positively and enough of them don't that I like to pick my knives by hand (the current Buck's are the same way). OH
 
Woodrow- what do you use your Spey blade for?

Old Hunter- I'd love to browse some case knives and handle a few before purchasing but I'm not aware of any places that carry them around me.. I've been in a few outdoors stores around my location but they just seem to carry kershaw, gerber, and some crkt... No spydercos or traditionals other than a few buck designs
 
T_Mac, it's not a Case, but i do carry a trapper every day.

pioneer2.jpg


I keep my spey clean for food use. I have found that the combination of a wide blade with a belly and a dull point makes for a great food prep knife. Other than that, speys are great for jobs where you don't want a sharp point, or don't want to damage your tip. I use the spey on my stockman for opening packages when I am worried about damaging what's inside, or worried about what's inside damaging my knife. I used it the other day to cut open a pack of frozen hamburger. I didn't have to worry about the tip being damaged or dulled dragging across the frozen beef. Yesterday I used it to cut open a package of raw chicken for the opposite reason. I didn't have to worry about the blade damaging the chicken, because the tip is blunt. Because it doesn't come to a sharp point the blade is strong all the way out to the end, so it makes for a good heavier use blade, kind of like a bullnose. For that same reason it also makes a good scraping blade. You can use the flat part of the edge to scrape and for those stubborn spots you can turn it and use the belly to add pressure without too much fear of snapping off the tip like you would on some other blade shapes. The extreme curve of the belly comes in handy at certain times also.

I guess I'd fall in the camp of loving the spey blade. I find it to be an extremely versatile blade. I carry a trapper and a stockman, and the two blades I use the most are the spey on either knife. I'm probably in the minority in that regard. Many people prefer their stockmen to substitute out the spey for a pen or punch, much like it's substituted out for the wharnie on the "improved" trapper. I'd suggest trying different blade types before writing any of them off.
 
T_MAC686 said:
Woodrow- what do you use your Spey blade for?
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Long speys like on a trapper get used for food or skinning. You get a long straight edge like the wharnie and a little belly which I find usefull. The clip takes care of the need for a point.
 
Sounds like the Spey blade is actually more useful than I originally thought it would be.. I just wasn't sure what types of tasks it would be beneficial for
 
I narrow it down to a few particular patterns that I find useful, or have a sentimental quality: my grandfather always carried a medium 4 blade congress or a small coke bottle jack knife. I love the thin, flat profile of the canoe, and the usefulness of the baby doctor's knife with a pen blade and spatula.

Then I narrow it down to handle material, blade steel, badge/logo style. So systematically, I narrow my choices to just a few, then go look at the bank balance.

If you don't narrow it down, before you know it there are a dozen Case knives in your desk drawer!
 
T_MAC686 said:
Sounds like the Spey blade is actually more useful than I originally thought it would be.. I just wasn't sure what types of tasks it would be beneficial for
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Obviously, I like a spey blade. Around here, I might be in the minority. I find it much more useful than the wharncliffe. The "improved" muskrats and trappers show how popular a wharncliffe is though. I think they are good looking blades, but the sheepsfoot is stronger, a clip has belly and the point and the spey has belly and a straight edge. I just don't have much use for the wharncliffe, but it's a good looking blade. Nothing wrong with that.
 
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