Is Rough Ryder Reserve really worth $27 more than Case?!

MolokaiRider said:
Nope.
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Are you guys that are saying a firm no saying it because of the country of origin? No shade on that, I was saying the same thing, I don't wanna buy Chinese, I am just wondering if that is why, or if there is some glaring problem with RR that I don't know about.
 
Hashishiin said:
Are you guys that are saying a firm no saying it because of the country of origin? No shade on that, I was saying the same thing, I don't wanna buy Chinese, I am just wondering if that is why, or if there is some glaring problem with RR that I don't know about.
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I am just answering the OP.

RR reserve knives are not worth the extra cheddar in my opinion.

There are some quantifiable aspects and some that are not.

I don't believe the fit and finish is better. Considering the origin, I would expect leaps and bounds in difference of quality. RR is capitalizing on a product that may be perceived as marginally better than Case, despite the likelihood they are produced with a much lower overhead.
 
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MolokaiRider said:
I am just answering the OP.

RR reserve knives are not worth the extra cheddar in my opinion.

There are some quantifiable aspects and some that are not.

I don't believe the fit and finish is better. Considering the origin, I would expect leaps and bounds in difference of quality. RR is capitalizing on a product that may be perceived as marginally better than Case, despite the likelihood they are produced with a much lower overhead.
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No, I know, but you weren't the only one to give a STRONG no, so I was just asking why, I know you aren't speaking for all the others. I appreciate your answer, that is some valid stuff. I only have one Case and one RR, so that isn't exactly a strong sample size, but the RR beats the Case in fit and finish and matches it in walk and talk. So, I don't really know anything, and I was primed to love Case. I want to love Case. I am begging them to make me love 'em
 
Hashishiin said:
Maybe A.G Russell is where I need to go?
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Some speculate that A.G. Russell, Rough Ryder Reserve and Brother knives are all made in the same factory.

I honestly don't think that collector's traditional knives are going to make a lick of difference in the balance of trade between China and the U.S. I buy quality products at reasonable prices. But I will offer one warning. I suspect that returns of some knives due to manufacturing defects get resold by third party sellers at Amazon as new. I only buy Rough Ryders from Chicago Knife Works or Smokey Mountain Knife Works. And I only buy Brother knives from Aliexpress. I got burned the other day from an Amazon third party seller with an Otter knife that was clearly a factory second. I think I'm only going to buy from Amazon from now on, not third party sellers.

And I won't be buying any Case knives that I can't examine in person first any more. Three strikes in a row and Case is out. I was ready to love them too, and I got burned.
 
B1GSHOT said:
Some speculate that A.G. Russell, Rough Ryder Reserve and Brother knives are all made in the same factory.

I honestly don't think that collector's traditional knives are going to make a lick of difference in the balance of trade between China and the U.S. I buy quality products at reasonable prices. But I will offer one warning. I suspect that returns of some knives due to manufacturing defects get resold by third party sellers at Amazon as new. I only buy Rough Ryders from Chicago Knife Works or Smokey Mountain Knife Works. And I only buy Brother knives from Aliexpress. I got burned the other day from an Amazon third party seller with an Otter knife that was clearly a factory second. I think I'm only going to buy from Amazon from now on, not third party sellers.

And I won't be buying any Case knives that I can't examine in person first any more. Three strikes in a row and Case is out. I was ready to love them too, and I got burned.
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Thank you for the words of wisdom! It is probably advisable to avoid Amazon entirely, they swap things, you can get a fake, all kinds of nonsense and shady dealings go on there. Thanks for the rec, glad to know that SMKW is a good place to go, looking for good places to buy knives other than BHQ. I think I can deal with it if I only buy Chinese Rough Ryders, cause I am really not into any other Chinese knives.
I am afraid Higonokamis get switched and you get who-knows-what steel, so better to buy elsewhere for a sure thing. Man, a factory second Otter?! That sucks! I would have been pissed if my Douk-Douk or Mercator was messed up. I have since found better purveyors of those knives, which I think are hugely underrated, the folding knives made between 1869-1929 (Douk-Douk, Opinel, Otter-Messer and Mercators specifically, Higonokami), like, in a world where the Mini-Bugout exists and people really want a slim, light knife, these literally weigh an oz and change in some cases, and nowadays you can get better pocket clips and upgraded steels, particularly in the case of the Higo, with SK at a price anyone can afford, in Blue Steel as one of the lower ends!! and Shirogami and VG-10.

Never buying any of those from Amazon again, though, I think I just got lucky.
 
B1GSHOT said:
Is the case as thick and heavy? The reason I ask is that there are different definitions of what a medium or large stockman is. I grew up with Bucks and the Cadet 303 was small, the 301 Stockman was medium, and the 307 Wrangler was large. If they made a jumbo, it would be the size of the 317 Trailblazer. It seems that Case called the medium a large.
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The Case Jumbo Stockman , their largest is 4.25 inches.
 
B1GSHOT said:
Some speculate that A.G. Russell, Rough Ryder Reserve and Brother knives are all made in the same factory.

I honestly don't think that collector's traditional knives are going to make a lick of difference in the balance of trade between China and the U.S. I buy quality products at reasonable prices. But I will offer one warning. I suspect that returns of some knives due to manufacturing defects get resold by third party sellers at Amazon as new. I only buy Rough Ryders from Chicago Knife Works or Smokey Mountain Knife Works. And I only buy Brother knives from Aliexpress. I got burned the other day from an Amazon third party seller with an Otter knife that was clearly a factory second. I think I'm only going to buy from Amazon from now on, not third party sellers.

And I won't be buying any Case knives that I can't examine in person first any more. Three strikes in a row and Case is out. I was ready to love them too, and I got burned.
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Have you considered sending them to Case for warranty repair , would be interesting to see if they correct the problems.
 
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There are two sodbusters that grind in the pivot every time I open and close them. They have gapping all down the back spring too. They work, they’re just crudely made. I have Brother sodbusters that work a lot better, so I didn’t bother to return them.

The other is an older stag handled sowbelly stockman. The action is so stiff, it’s impossible to open the blades without slipping paper in under the blade. I’ve lubricated it over and over and it doesn’t help. It also has blade rub if I don’t open the blades in the right order. I got it second hand so I don’t have a warranty on that one. It’s a gorgeous knife, just unusable, so I keep it as a safe Queen. I definitely would have returned that one if I had bought it new.
 
When it comes to pocket knives worth is an impossible quantity to measure.

I've been collecting pocket knives since the 70s. I remember the days of Case being the top of the heap, and especially remember the Case bigots. Those guys were hot stuff, Case was the word, and the word was Case.

I've got a friend who is a knife dealer of some reputation in this area, and I occasionally help out behind the table. Every show I see older gents wander up and get mightily discouraged because their Case collections are worth pennies on the dollar these days. Their knives didn't turn to junk, nothing better came along. The market shifted. We'll sell a hand full of traditionals. What sells the most are the Tactical Letter Openers. Nothing at all wrong with them, I like to see people buying knives no matter what. But for every Stockman we sell we'll sell a dozen Benchmades, Microtechs, Spydercos, even Cobratech.

So what? So, I bought four beautiful Carl Schliepers yesterday at what seemed to me to be bargain prices.

I've got a dozen or so Rough Riders that I bought as a lot. Nothing wrong with them, they're knives. But they're not anything to get excited about, and Rough Rider Reserve? I don't look twice at them. But that's my opinion, and it doesn't offend me that others disagree.

My advice (in the highly unlikely event anyone is still reading, or even gives a fig...) is buy what you like, be it Two Sun or GEC. When you go down the This is Superior to That Because path you're going to be wrong, even if you're right. And in the end you invariably look silly. Generally these threads are just class warfare disguised as, well, something...
 
I guess I like all kinds of knives, because cost or place of manufacture don’t determine whether I get excited about a knife. I can be just as excited by a $15 knife as I can one that cost $150. And if I can buy ten knives that excite me for $150, that’s better than just one.

There is a market for traditional pocket knives. If you look at YouTube, you’ll see lots of influencers talking about them every day. But they talk a lot about Rough Ryders and Queens and Brothers and Marbles, because those are the knives a lot of people are buying, especially new collectors… and those are the ones that are most important to the continuation of the hobby.

I turned a buddy on to collecting knives recently. He looked at my collection and decided he would get himself a few. He only has a few knives, but the ones he chose were Buck, Victoinox and a Brother Sodbuster. He is tickled pink by every one of those, even though he’s only spent a hundred bucks altogether.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to be excited about knives. The funny thing is, my friend is thinking about the next knife to get and he can’t decide between an Old Timer or a custom Michel May knife!
 
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Wow. This thread sort of blew up! After carefully reading through, it appears I’m no closer to a decision. Many good points have been made. Appreciate the input folks!
 
el gigantor said:
Wow. This thread sort of blew up! After carefully reading through, it appears I’m no closer to a decision. Many good points have been made. Appreciate the input folks!
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I have a question... where are you shopping? I just checked Chicago Knife Works and a Case yellow delrin large stockman sells for $63 and the Rough Ryder Reserve Common Stock sells for $54. The RRR isn't $27 more, it's $9 less. And you can get a Schrade for $7, a Frost for $11, a regular Rough Ryder for $12, and a Bear and Son for $45. At Amazon, there's an Old Timer 858OTB with a bone handle for $25. I don't know the Bear and Son, but I have both the Rough Ryder Reserve and the Old Timer, and they are both solid, well made knives. I would buy either of those over a Case myself.
 
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Depends on how poor you are and how much $27 really means to your life. The couple of RR Reserves I have seen have been better quality to me than most Case knives that I've owned. Then again, unlike some others here, very few Rough Riders I have seen or handled have been junk. The best RRs I have owned have been every bit the equal of most Cases I have owned. IMO, none of them are in a league with Boker, or Lionsteel, or of course GEC or certainly the Tony Bose case collaborations - but those go for hundreds of dollars and are in a different category. My problem with the RR Reserve line is that they don't really have any single blade models in patterns that I like.

As far as these two knifes . . . I do not like the Stockman pattern anyway, but I much prefer the profile / shape of the main clip point blade on the Case. Also don't know where you are getting that $27 difference . . . everywhere I look (admittedly not an exhaustive search) the RR Reserve Common Stock is actually about $15 LESS expensive than the Case Large Stockman.

Anyway, let us know what you decide, and good luck!
 
B1GSHOT said:
I have a question... where are you shopping? I just checked Chicago Knife Works and a Case yellow delrin large stockman sells for $63 and the Rough Ryder Reserve Common Stock sells for $54. The RRR isn't $27 more, it's $9 less. And you can get a Schrade for $7, a Frost for $11, a regular Rough Ryder for $12, and a Bear and Son for $45. At Amazon, there's an Old Timer 858OTB with a bone handle for $25. I don't know the Bear and Son, but I have both the Rough Ryder Reserve and the Old Timer, and they are both solid, well made knives. I would buy either of those over a Case myself.
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For the Case I was looking at KnifeCenter, where it’s listed for $62.99

For the RRR, I found it at Traditional Pocket Knives (C. Risner Cutlery). They’ve having a Rough Ryder sale right now, but the Common Stock was listed at $90 a few days ago and that price has stayed the same.

Perhaps it would be prudent for me to shop elsewhere. Thanks for the info!
 
el gigantor said:
Perhaps it would be prudent for me to shop elsewhere. Thanks for the info!
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Yes, hunt around, there will always be discrepancies from dealer to dealer. But dsutton24 made a very good and valid point a few posts ago. Buy what YOU like, if a knife takes your fancy and you like it, grab it. It's yours and yours alone, and if it grabs your fancy that is all that counts.
 
el gigantor said:
For the Case I was looking at KnifeCenter, where it’s listed for $62.99

For the RRR, I found it at Traditional Pocket Knives (C. Risner Cutlery). They’ve having a Rough Ryder sale right now, but the Common Stock was listed at $90 a few days ago and that price has stayed the same.

Perhaps it would be prudent for me to shop elsewhere. Thanks for the info!
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Oof, I saw that sale, and man am I wanting to hop on that Rough Ryder deal!! $15 bucks for a large stockman, or the trapper, in my favorite yellow delrin?! Amazing. I switched banks and must wait for my card in the mail, though! I hope this sale lasts a little while, I would be so happy to have one of these beauties.
 
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