How does the rest of the world look at Case traditional knives?...

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

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Aug 4, 2013
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With my dabbing into more and more foreign made (outside the USA) knives... I start to wonder about our own traditional knives made here in the US, and sold outside our borders? I mean, how do the other knife people around the world view our currently remaining cutleries that produce traditional pocket and fix bladed knives. Names like Case, Queen, Kabar, Great Eastern Cutlery, Buck.... how are they looked at outside the US... and how are they priced on average compared to what your own country's knives are priced at? Just curious to hear what you good folks out there have experienced with this subject.... thanks :-)
 
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It seems favorable, we have lots of foreign members who collect buck, case, queen and GEC. I am an American, and I love German, Swedish, Finnish, English, etc.. knives. I think Most people who collect want the best, but also like whats available. We live in the United States, so Gec and Case are easy to get a hold of. I know A lot of people who live in different countries collect what is available regionally. Not what your looking for Jimmy, but hopefully some of our foreign friends will chime in soon.
 
I have nothing to offer on an intellectual level but am curious of the replies from the foreigners. Nice topic!
 
This should be a good thread. Hearing from our foreign posters should be interesting, especially about availability of certain brands.
 
Why would you name Case specifically and not just use USA in your thread title Jimmy?

I'd think the rest of the world looks at our traditional knives much like we look at their traditional knives.
 
a quick search revealed that a leather stacked ka-bar usmc costs between 149-167$ depending where you order it from.
a helle eggen is 83$ at my local supermarket.
case, queen, gec, etc is not available here.
some sporting goods store may have a buck hunting knife or two.
but as their designs usually don't float my boat, i haven't paid attention to it.

i can comment further on this subject as i haven't gotten that into American traditionals yet, other than a ka-bar mk1.
 
I must say,we(Croatia)don't have knife production,knives i was familiar where mainly European,i remember freak appearance of original Grohmann Canadian belt knife in one sport shop in 1978,(it immediately become my scout knife),
first time i saw Buck (model 55)of course i wanted it, but it was impossible to get one at that time(beginning of eighties),not until i went on my apprenticeship (merchant navy)and sailed across Atlantic i could afford to buy US knives,but then i was interested in modern technology(translate to knives-modern folders)
As i grew older my taste in knives followed up,
if i can draw conclusion from local forums,i'm probably one of few(if not only) with such attitude towards slipjoints here(guess i managed to "infect" couple guys with GEC virus),
You can found some of mayor US brands of modern folders(and fixed blades) now,but very few traditional(maybe some Buck 110 and Pathfinder,KaBar USMC,and from last year very limited choice of Case knives, maybe 10-15 models,i bought every CV model i could find.....all two of them :D),but they cost considerably more(almost double)then ordering online.
 
rinos said:
I must say,we(Croatia)don't have knife production,knives i was familiar where mainly European,i remember freak appearance of original Grohmann Canadian belt knife in one sport shop in 1978,(it immediately become my scout knife),
first time i saw Buck (model 55)of course i wanted it, but it was impossible to get one at that time(beginning of eighties),not until i went on my apprenticeship (merchant navy)and sailed across Atlantic i could afford to buy US knives,but then i was interested in modern technology(translate to knives-modern folders)
As i grew older my taste in knives followed up,
if i can draw conclusion from local forums,i'm probably one of few(if not only) with such attitude towards slipjoints here(guess i managed to "infect" couple guys with GEC virus),
You can found some of mayor US brands of modern folders(and fixed blades) now,but very few traditional(maybe some Buck 110 and Pathfinder,KaBar USMC,and from last year very limited choice of Case knives, maybe 10-15 models,i bought every CV model i could find.....all two of them :D),but they cost considerably more(almost double)then ordering online.
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You're from Split? Cool! My grandparents are from Zagreb. :)
 
I'm a heck of a long way from the US, but I love them!. GEC being my preference but like the look of all the USA made traditionals and with the wonders of the internet I can get one to my door in less that a week.

Kris,.
 
i am from SE Asia and it is rather difficult to find your traditionals. we kinda have to do the purchase from internet, or pre order them from some mortar and brick knife store here. but modern knives is rather common (exclusively though, they are expensive for most of us). any knife, traditionals or not, priced about 200% (sometimes more) from the pricetag in US online knife stores for the taxes and the shipping cost.

for me,american traditional folders are indeed beautiful. i see them as the result of your culture (most important tools for you people back then.). just like i see traditionals from my country and the other country.
 
I'm in a unique position here. I'm a red, white and blue American knife knut, but have lived in Europe since 1993, minus a five-year stint back in Florida. Naturally, I've visited a lot of knife shops here and have even crossed paths with a few locals who appreciated the finer things in life (meaning knives, of course!).

I have only seen Case knives in one shop (in Prague) and it was a small display; held maybe 10 knives. They were quite over-priced, and the display is no longer there. I do see the occasional Buck selection in shops -- usually a 110 but sometimes even a 301 or 303. That's about it.

As I've said before, traditional folders as we Americans tend to think of them are VERY rare in most knife shops in Europe. Every place will stock Victorinox and most carry Opinel. Beyond that, it's almost all modern one-hand stuff (both quality and knock-off garbage) and multi-tools. You don't even see many traditional folders by Boker. :confused:

I would be willing to bet that, if you emptied every pocket within 1,000 miles of me, Victorinox would make up 99 percent of the non-locking knives you'll find.

-- Mark
 
I didn't see a case knife until I got into collecting SAKs, and saw them on the forums, my first impression was that they looked a little strange and I did not understand the need for 3 blades on one knife. Now I am a huge fan, don't know why my taste changed.

I don't think the US traditional knives have as much impact here as they could because they are so expensive to buy here, and the variety is so small.
 
I love the american-made traditional knives, but except the famous Buck 110/112 or the Ka-Bar USMC (just examples), I have hardly ever seen one in a shop here.
So the only way to buy is the internet.

A little comparision of the prices:
On a trip in the USA in 2009, I have seen a Case Peanut yellow CV for about 30$. If you buy it here in the web, it costs about 40€, which is 55$!!!

In my collection, I have some american traditionals, but I´m sure, I would own more, if I could find them in a shop and if they weren´t that expensive.
 
Only speaking for France and my personal taste... I still value Case knives for their splendid finish, extremely diversified choice of scales and beautiful traditional patterns. Their QC is average so buying on the internet is kind of a gamble (even more so when buying from a US retailer : custom fees add + 30% !) Same applies to Queen and S&M which have also often disappointed me regarding my essentials : no play or rub whatever and pull as strong as possible. GEC is right up my alley : I actually wish all my knives had the beastly pull of the Tidioute Sunfish. There is a retailer in UK who handpicks them for me, so I'm very willing to accept the additional cost of buying in £ and included custom fees. I was never disappointed. Sadly, american knives cannot be bought over the counter here.
 
mnblade said:
I would be willing to bet that, if you emptied every pocket within 1,000 miles of me, Victorinox would make up 99 percent of the non-locking knives you'll find.

-- Mark
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Being that Victorinox is the worlds largest knife manufacturer, that makes sense. Between the import taxes, cost of shipping, and European competition from firms like Victorinox, Opinel, and others, the traditional knives that we know do not have a chance in the market. The average European man on the street is very much like the man on the street here in the U.S., a non knife person. They don't care about knives, and are not obsessed over the latest release from their favorite boutique knife company. They probably don't even have a favorite knife company. But when they need a pocket for some reason, they look around and see the big moving SAK in the store window. They go into a knife shop, or a shop that sells knives, and there's Victorinox, and probably some other European made knives, and that's it. There is almost no presence of American knives like Case, GEC, Queen. Maybe some Buck here and there. All comes down to basic economics of supply and demand. And maybe some local culture tossed in. I'm sure some guy in Germany who realizes he needs a knife, will buy a German made knife for less Euro's than a American Case for what may be double the price. Or even the red handle wonder from the land of chocolate for a very modest price.

Let's face it, Victorinox has done to the knife world what Honda did to the motorcycle world in the 1960's. A good job of conquering the continent. It's the same here in the U.S. How many people are going to spend 40 to 50 bucks on a Case jackknife, when they can go to Target or Lowes, and for 14.95 get a Victorinox recruit? Not many, and certainly no non knife nuts. But they see the red handle and silver cross and there they go. It's like when I was a teenager. There was all kinds of little import cars in the U.S. Simca, Voxhaul, Renault, Saab, Fiat, DKW, Morris, and others. But by the 1096's the VW bug had taken over the market, and by 1070, most of the others had withdrawn from the U.S. market. The little bug was the most popular selling car by the late 60's and every other driveway had one in it. Honda did the same thing. They started with a little bike that was user friendly to college students, and went from there, with the "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" campaign. And it worked. By 1970, the whole British motorcycle industry was in collapse, and the marque's of Triumph, B.S.A., Norton, Matchless, where all gone.

Now in America, Camillus, Schrade, and not to mention all the other brands that are gone with the wind, but the red handle Vic's are in every box store as well as mountaineering and backpacker shops nation wide. No self respecting follower of Colin Fletcher would venture down the trail without a SAK in his or her gear. Advertising? Yeah, to a degree. But I remember something Bill Moran told me once. When you have a good product at a good price, and good customer service, you'll sell a zillion of them. The market will take care of itself. So it's going to be very hard for Case and GEC to compete in the European market against a giant like Victorinox. And then you have the home grown brands that a person may buy because it's just like the one that dad had. Like an Opinel to a guy France, or a Mercator to a German guy, or an Eka to a Swedish guy.

Out of curiosity, I wonder how much of Case production is slated for oversea's export?

Carl.
 
Sorry to interfere... although I may worship Victorinox knives as (probably) the best (F&F, longevity, overall quality) no-nonsense practical versatile everyday users, I have a gripe : they have no sex. I grew up with them, I like them and I still use my Champion daily, but there's no dream there. I will grab my Queen Mountain Man with a definite thrill... the Champion just gets thrown in a bag, drawer or shelf. In case it might be useful...
 
herisson said:
Sorry to interfere... although I may worship Victorinox knives as (probably) the best (F&F, longevity, overall quality) no-nonsense practical versatile everyday users, I have a gripe : they have no sex. I grew up with them, I like them and I still use my Champion daily, but there's no dream there. I will grab my Queen Mountain Man with a definite thrill... the Champion just gets thrown in a bag, drawer or shelf. In case it might be useful...
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Totally agree on that. I have 40 or 50 years experience with SAK's, and I like them a lot. But I have have never loved them. I'll keep one around, and I've been known to mail or pick up a SAK to use on vacation someplace I fly to. But then I give it away to someone when I leave. I couldn't do that with a knife I cared about. A SAK has all the sex appeal of a microwave oven or clothes drier. It's a piece of utilitarian kit. That's it. But for most of the rest of the world, that's all they care about. But we're different, that's why we are here on a forum based on knife obsession. We are the afflicted, and so we don't think the same as the rest of the world. To the masses, the SAK is the best thing going. To us, we love to caress the jigged bone, and the look of a gray patina on an old blade.

Give the masses a choice between a 40 dollar Case with two blades and a nice jigged bone handle, and a 14.95 Vic recruit, and the non knife peasant will choose a SAK most of the time. After all, the Case will have just those two blades. But the SAK, now there's two blades, a can opener, bottle opener, two screw drivers, and the tweezers and toothpick, all for less than half the price. After all, isn't a SAK the best thing since sliced bread and the inventing of the wheel?

I think oversea's the Case and other traditional American knives are coming from a long way behind.

Carl.
 
Because we're talking about sexy knives, I may add that although we have a great tradition of cutlery in France, Germany and Italy, and outstanding cutlers, manufacturers and brands, and high quality, original (and sexy) knives... the american production still has a definite appeal to us Old Worlders. A quite unique "trusted and true" style that calls on me.
 
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