Newer Case blade steel quality?

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Sep 23, 2005
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The search function seems to be down, so I apologize if this has been covered already.

I'm looking into buying a Case Orange G10 Trapper, and I was curious about the quality of the steel. All I've been able to find is that it is "stainless steel," which doesn't help much, lol. Does it hold an edge well, or is it like that extremely crappy, soft stainless steel you would find in the typical chinese knife? Also, is there anything else I should know before I order one? Your input is much appreciated.
 
Case makes knives for using and knives for collecting. The collector knives have stainless blades so that they will be corrosion resistant. The stainless they use is high in corrosion resitance but low in hardness. They aren't intended to be used on a regular basis. The knives designed for using have carbon steel blades. I would recommend you go that way if you intend to buy the knife as a cutting tool rather than as a collector item.
 
I just bought a orange G-10 trapper in stainless, and it is was one of the sharpest knives I ever took out of the box. I don't know how it will hold the edge, but it sure has one now. Bill
 
The only stainless knives I have at the present time are two sak's and a couple Case peanuts. I have not found the Case stainless to be near as bad as some would have you believe. I really think its about on par with my Victorinox tinker. It holds an edge good enough to get through a day of opening mail, the occasional plastic blister package, a box from UPS, amd breaking down a box for trash. If it gets used for food duty, like Karen and I will split something and it needs to be cut in half, I can wash it off in a nearby stream or water fountain. If it by chance does start getting a bit dull, then I take my belt half off and strop it. This will usually get it back. If I have to sharpen it, then there is a flat little diamond hone in my wallet and in five minutes or less Its good to go again.

I think too many people make too much over edge holding, wanting the next best thing to the mythical never dulling knife that will dress 150 deer without touch up. I will preffer a knife that may loose its razor edge a bit faster, but is easy to sharpen. I want a knife that with only a very small pocket hone and my belt, I can sharpen it anywhere I am in a few minutes. I have a queen country cousin sodbuster in D2, and to be frank, its a pain in the a-- to sharpen once it goes dull. On the other hand my Case soddie in CV holds a very good edge for a respectable amount of time, and is fast and easy to touch up. Guess witch one goes to the woods with me? I have a yellow handle CV Case peanut, but also have a nice India stag peanut with the "true sharp" stainless. I supose that if I did a side by side test, the CV peanut would win, but do I care? The stag peanut is such a nice piece of pocket jewlery and does what I want, so I don't care.

Gubby, I say go ahead and buy that trapper. Life is too short to worry about things of little consiquence. If it gets a bit dull once in a while just touch it up, that gives you an exuse to handle it more.;)
 
I agree with Jackknife. I like CV because of the way it looks once it develops a patina, but I switch out to stainless in the sweaty summer here in Texas, if I'm outdoors for any length of time. Having tried both by Case in identical knives, there isn't that much real difference in the two.
 
I EDCed a Case medium stockman with stainless steel blades for a couple of months. It was made in January of last year.

My first impressions with Case's SS were pretty good; it was easy to sharpen and it gets very sharp. The blades haven't really held up that well over time though.

The edge I put on the spey blade was about 10 degrees per side and it rolled. I sharpened the sheepfoot at 20 degrees per side. Its edge didn't suffer any damage, but I felt like it would dull somewhat quickly when cutting abrasive things like cardboard.

I switched back to carrying my large Case copperhead in CV steel about a week ago. The CV seems to hold an edge longer and I also think it's probably less likely to deform at lower edge angles.

I still don't believe that Case's stainless is as bad as some people might say. If you don't mind sharpening a little more frequently and using thicker edges, then it should work fine. It's definitely not in the same league as modern, high carbon stainless steels though.

I'm probably going to resharpen my SS stockman again and see if I can get it to perform any better, but I'm also thinking about just buying another medium Case stockman in CV to replace it as an EDC.
 
Wow! Thank you so very much for all of that information! After much deliberation, I finally decided on the yellow-sided Trapper in CV, because I am, embarassingly, not the best at sharpening knives just yet (I have a sharpmaker which works well, and do 'ok" with a stone, I'm just not great at it yet). Any extra edge durability will help. I can then use the time in between now and the summer to hone my sharpening skills, and when June rolls around I'll spring for the Orange G10 Trapper SS. Thank you again for all of the help! :thumbup:
 
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