New, Quality, Slipjoints

Picture for Nathan,

Speyphoto.jpg
 
slipjoint01 said:
Out of curiosity, how do you guys feel about these statements? (taken from a blog)




Much ado is made about the steel in a knife blade and rightly so. The best overall is 5160 spring steel from which most of the older US and European blades are crafted. Japanese swords and some higher end knife blades are made from 10- series steel, 1045 to 1095 which is great for differential tempering. Both of these steel series take and hold a razor edge, have great strength, yet are flexible enough to bend during use if under stress and return to its original form without deformation of the blade. Clearly this steel is expensive, but lasts forever. 5160 is my personal choice for a knife blade due to it's superior edge holding, strength and relative affordability, but it will rust if not taken care of properly. The 10- series are better than 5160, but the required smithy work for the layering and differential tempering puts them out of my price range for day to day use, but if you can shell out the dough for hand crafted, then go for it- you'll have a blade that will last centuries.
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Unfortunately, the above is nonsense. Most older production knives were made from 1075-1095 (or a suped up version there of such as Case CV or Camillus's carbon steel), not 5160. Additionally, the 10xx series steels are not layered and they are not expensive ~ they are the simplest and least expensive tool steels manufactured.

As far as the knives you are currently looking at I think that they are all great choices. They are like peanuts, you can't take just one:)
 
Thanks, 300Bucks. I suppose because of the spey blade's low profile, the exposed tip doesn't cut you when you're holding it.
 
I just happen to have one of those Buck Stockman knives here in my pocket. You can kind of feel your finger almost catch on the spey blade when the sheepfoot blade is open, but it's not going to cut you. It bothered me when I first bought the knife years ago, but I've yet to cut myself on it. It's a really good knife; I like the thickness of the secondary blades and bought it because of the three spring design, in an effort to avoid the curved or bent look on the two spring design of my Old Timer stockman.

Now, despite the fact that I've been carrying this one around on and off for years I do keep looking at the Case versions. I like the flat ground blades, and Case's stainless makes for a very good knife. I recommend stainless, by the way, given the fishing mentioned by the OP.

Sorry about all the rambling. I could have just said "buy a stainless Case."
 
All the makers you are looking at are good and all the advice above is excellent as is to be expected on this forum. The only thing I would add is to pay attention to size. I find that 3 7/8" to 4 1/4" stockman suits me, the smaller for carrying around in my pocket and the larger in a sheath around the farm & construction sites. One size down or up doesn't work; but that is me, you need to handle several sizes to see what works for you.
I have several D2 Queens and my next purchase will be one of their stockmen in that steel with their beautiful bone. For a graceful working knife it is hard to beat a Moore Maker in yellow bone (not the B types) their blade shapes are sweet.
 
slipjoint01 - You mentioned in your original post that you'd like a knife for ranch work. If y'all do your own branding, innoculations, and castrations at round-up time, a spey blade will be very handy. Any knife with a spey blade will work but a stockman or trapper would take on any job on a ranch. Those are the two patterns I use when working on local ranches in my area and are the most popular with the full time, professional, cowhands on the ranches.

Most any brand you've mentioned would make great working knives.
 
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