Not bad for less than $10!

peter78 said:
Well at first I dismissed Silverdagger's comment, but he may have a point. I have never had a knife with with the dye come off. Even Chinese knvies from years ago, or Pakistain knives. That is highly unusual to say the least. Maybe someone else can chime in.
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It happened to me with an AG Russel knife. I've read about it happening to others with various knives as well. The best explanation I've heard is that the handles were over saturated with dye. That did seem to be the issue with mine.

Leo
 
KnifeHead said:
I don't believe RR knives will ever impact the Case bottom line.

Case knives are collectable, collectable because they aren't cheap and therefore more difficult to obtain. If something is inexpensive, it has very little value. I know that sounds stupid but I don't make the "rules" folks. :)
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IMO, they've largely conceded the "working knife" market to RR and other imports. The last working knife(s) I bought from Case was a disaster twice in a row. A three dollar Ontario import beats it in every way. Which I fear will be the death of Case in the long run. Because the more they cater to the collector market, the more they are totally irrelevant to folks like me.

For the most part, the fit and finish on most RR knives I've seen is on the same level as Case, or better. In fact, if I have to be honest, my two year old barehead trapper looks a bit sloppy when closely inspected side by side with a RR. The Case is still a great user, and doesn't quite have a completely comparable RR model as of yet. But if any of us got a RR that was finished like my Case, we'd be posting about how RR knives are "not quite there yet".

If the designers/manufacturers of RR knives really wanted to sound the death knell for Case, they'd begin offering carbon steel blades. Case dare not sit back on it's butt.
 
The last two Case knives I bought are very roughly on a par with RR.Now, considering the price differential this could reflect well on RR or badly on Case .
I fear it's the latter.Some of the Case knives being produced nowadays would not make it to the great age of some of my Schrades or Buck 301's and that includes the China made model of that knife.
I have a GEC 1095 on order .I hear a lot of good things about these knives .We'll see I guess.
 
It pains me to say this, but I'm afraid that the same thing may be said of Buck. Granted my experience is limited, but I bought the 3-pack Christmas tin of Buck slippies (models 373, 375, and 379) and was shocked at the high quality of all three knives. However, when shopping for American made Bucks, I had to go through quite a few until I found one that was of comparable quality. By the time I found one, I decided not to buy it because I started having doubts about it's reliability.

Like I said, it pains me to say this as I am a huge Buck fan. I hate to see "China" on my blades as much as anyone else, but I hate poor fit, poor finish, and wobbly blades even more.
 
Oh, and by the way, I ordered up the RR Peanut in gunstock green and the Sowbelly in gunstock brown.

Has anybody noticed that the gunstock green Peanut from SMKW is a much different shade of green than the one pictured by Waxman? Is this just do to lighting or do the greens vary from knife to knife? I really like the green shown by SMKW but the one from Waxman looks too much like Lego Building Blocks green to appeal to me personally.
 
Here's a + in the RR column that makes them look better than a Case, the knives aren't tumbled and buffed to wholayedit! The fit and finish I have witnessed is almost as crisp as a handmade knife. But heck, when you pay your workers 5 bucks a day and your workforce is endless you can spend time on details. If one falls over dead from exhaustion you can just sweep'em into the gutter and another one steps up to take their place.
 
KnifeHead said:
Here's a + in the RR column that makes them look better than a Case, the knives aren't tumbled and buffed to wholayedit! The fit and finish I have witnessed is almost as crisp as a handmade knife. But heck, when you pay your workers 5 bucks a day and your workforce is endless you can spend time on details. If one falls over dead from exhaustion you can just sweep'em into the gutter and another one steps up to take their place.
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I read a comment about Case knives being "tumbled" in another thread I had posted to.

I understand the concept but still if I place a recent production Case knife next to a similar pattern RR , the Case looks to be finished better. Also the blades seem to be more precisely ground and polished.

I'm really asking more than disagreeing.... so the springs, liners and blades being radius finished and buffed make them less attractive than a RR ?
 
The Scout/Utility came today. It isn't entirely what I expected but I like it none the less. Size wise you can see it is similar to other knives of the genre, the none is well done and the main blade is well sharpened. The awl is well pointed and of good length and the screwdriver and cap lifter are what you would expect. At this point however there is a departure from the norm. Instead of a can opener blade there is a secondary knife blade, a sort of a mini Wharncliffe that has been chisel ground,Nicely point and sharp, this blade will make for a nice whittling blade. It is also equipped with a thumb stud which aids one handed opening. There are three thumb cuts to aid in opening the various blades which is also a nice touch.

This was not available in the catalog and had to be ordered from the show which means i had to pay shipping but I did order several knives from the show that were good deals so it split the shipping up.

RRutility.jpg
 
Isn't that an older variation of the can opener that was intended for use with old style / far eastern cans that don't have a folded lip around the top of them? Seems like I have seen some former Com Bloc Mil surplus stuff lately. Stab it into the can until the peg hits and then lever it back up through the bottom of the lid to make a cut.


I had another Grab Bag arrive Monday and was pretty pleased with it overall. One of the ladies in my office ended up loving 4 of the 5 and buying them off of me. She couldn't believe that I paid $4 each for them!



The Deer Slayer had a flaw in the bone where it looked like it chipped / flaked off. Very good fit and finish overall. No flaw in the orange Doctor's knife that I could find. The white Doctor's knife had a crack near a pin in both scales, but solid otherwise. The Baby Sunfish had some minor gaps in the backsprings. The Whittler was the only one of the bunch that actually looked like it might be a $4 knife. The action is good, but there are gaps everywhere. I can actually see light through it if I hold it right.



These two arrived today from Waxman and I am quite pleased with them. The orange one needs the kick on the main blade adjusted down just a little, but the action on the blades is very good and quite stout on the main blade. The scales on the 'imitation Deer bone' Dogleg whittler are pretty cheesy looking, but fit and finish otherwise is very good. I like how the sheepsfoot stands out in this pattern; more like a 2 blade congress with a turkish clip added than a tradtional stockman, if that makes any sense.
 
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Revolvergeek said:
Isn't that an older variation of the can opener that was intended for use with old style / far eastern cans that don't have a folded lip around the top ofthem? Seems like I have seen some forum Com Bloc Mil surplus stuff lately. Stab it into the can until the peg hits and then lever it back up through the bottom of the lid to make a cut.
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That sounds reasonable. I was going to point out that the thumbstud would get in the way of the work, if you used that blade to whittle with. Nice knife, though. I have a bunch of RRs, and I like 'em all.
 
neeman said:
What is tumbled and buffed?

Thanks,
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When the parts are cut or punched out, there are sharp edges that are left in the process. They are placed in tumblers with material that will knock the edges off....radius them gently. The end result is blades and springs have slightly rounded edges. That's not necessarily a BAD thing in a production, just something that I notice because it's what I try to avoid when I am making a handmade slip joint.

The lack of tumbling and buffing radii is a trait of some of the RR knives I have seen that is somewhat astonishing. IT is a sign that a great amout of time is spent on these knives by an individual to make them fit that well.

Some pics for comparison will help. I don't know if I have a good enough example or not. I have one RR tiny trapper and I will take some pics of it and a Case and put them up for comparison later if they show what I am talking about.
 
JPD1998 said:
I read a comment about Case knives being "tumbled" in another thread I had posted to.

I understand the concept but still if I place a recent production Case knife next to a similar pattern RR , the Case looks to be finished better. Also the blades seem to be more precisely ground and polished.

I'm really asking more than disagreeing.... so the springs, liners and blades being radius finished and buffed make them less attractive than a RR ?
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I haven't HANDLED enough of the RR to know how consistent their F&F is but they look pretty good in the images that have been posted in this thread. The few that I have handled look pretty clean and I would use the word "crisp" in that they aren't radiused as much as other factory knives.

I have to say "attractive" is in the eye of the beholder, to coin a phrase. I'm not saying Case knives aren't attractive, they ARE, and made very well and consistent. But the RR knives seem to be a bit more "crisp" and that, even though it's kinda cool, bothers me a wee bit because they can put more man hours into each individual knife to make it turn out that way.

Compare a Case/Bose collab. with the case regular production knife and I think you will see a difference that is comparable to a Case production and RR run of the mill. But then again, I could be imagining it. :D
 
Tracker2 said:
It pains me to say this, but I'm afraid that the same thing may be said of Buck. Granted my experience is limited, but I bought the 3-pack Christmas tin of Buck slippies (models 373, 375, and 379) and was shocked at the high quality of all three knives. However, when shopping for American made Bucks, I had to go through quite a few until I found one that was of comparable quality. By the time I found one, I decided not to buy it because I started having doubts about it's reliability.

Like I said, it pains me to say this as I am a huge Buck fan. I hate to see "China" on my blades as much as anyone else, but I hate poor fit, poor finish, and wobbly blades even more.
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I hate to say this. Part of it is because Americans are caring less about the quality of their work. You can see it all industries across the nation, American cars, you name it. It is a sad thing. You might even say Americans are getting to comfortable for their own good.
 
scattershot said:
That sounds reasonable. I was going to point out that the thumbstud would get in the way of the work, if you used that blade to whittle with. Nice knife, though. I have a bunch of RRs, and I like 'em all.
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Perhaps it is a can opener of sorts, as I always have a jumbo P-39 (larger and easier than the old P-38) I normally don't reach for a knife for that chore. I think I will keep this one sharp and use it for finer work.
 
That scout knife is awesome, Absintheur. I can't wait for those to become more widely available so I can get one. :)
 
I noticed that Rough Rider has started offering knives with bark pearl, which one retailer describes as:

Bark Pearl is an extremely beautiful natural handle material that was popular with craftsmen of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Today, just like yesteryear, our modern day craftsmen take the natural shell and then grind and polish away the outer layers to reveal a handle filled with small cracks and imperfections that nature has produced. No two Bark Pearl knives will be alike.
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Does anybody have any experience with this material? It looks quite striking but I wonder about its durability relative to bone, and if it 'ages well' in the way that, for example, stag will absorb skin oil and become translucent over time.
 
They are $15.00 just jump in and try one out:D

I read here that they are kind of neat. I might try one next order as well.
 
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