Okay traditional guys.. Tell me a top 5 brands to buy!!!

V

Vis07

Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
137
My collection has a few case knives. I want to buy more high quality traditional slip joints. Give me 5 brands at the top to buy. Thank you.
 
Still produced: Albers Cutlery Co

Out of business: Schrade Walden NY, Camillus
 
The list of currently produced, quality, truly traditional slipjoints of the UK/US style is getting shorter by the second but if you're willing to widen your horizons to more modern slipjoints you will have more choice. There is some really nice stuff in that arena being produced currently, with the nod to offerings coming out of Italy. There are also knives like those from Victorinox or Opinel which are super traditional if somewhat overlooked due to the sheer numbers of the things made and their low prices despite outstanding quality, value and QC. There is also the very much overlooked but exciting and often very affordable world of the French traditionals including some wonderful finds from Theirs, a city dedicated to knife making and promotion of the Le Theirs quality branding.
 
Case - Case trumps GEC for price, availability and variety.
GEC - The standard to which others are compared.
Queen/Schatt & Morgan - Everything from everyday work knives to heirloom pieces.
Camillus - Great values with some hidden gems.
Schrade - Schrade Walden era is a personal favorite.

Honorable mentions - Schlieper, Boker, Buck, Henckels, KaBar, Moore Maker (contract knives but some exclusives), Western, and many more.
 
Otter Messer from Solingen is worth a look. Anyway, this thread needs pictures.

File Photo
BAzp4oK.jpg
 
This is a bad time to get into GEC's. Demand far outweighs supply and you will end up frustrated and/or overspending dramatically. Many other good options have been provided, I would recommend those options.
 
Last edited:
Buck
Boker / Henckels
Queen / Schatt and Morgan / Robeson
Camillus
Schrade

...If I had to choose just five. There are many others, of course.
 
Sometimes I feel a bit guilty that I've almost entirely abandoned the GEC train and almost exclusively collect customs... Then I think about the stress of new releases, the secondary being pretty ruthless unless you get lucky on here (good timing) in the for sale forum. I buy less knives (still more than I should) but each one is a little more of an occasion than when I accumulated a lot of GEC knives getting into traditionals. That said I pulled out my 2019 forum knife and it reminded me of the charm GEC has...that one is a winner!

If I chose to collect factory knives again to would probably be old Case. 1940-1975.. they seem like they were built very nicely.
 
listed by quality and also by priority.


Gec- limited on options that you can get but its worth snatching (or try snatching) what you like if you can get the opportunity. These are the best quality but even with the best quality some of the more recent demand has caused some to question this. Though even questionable samples are better that the rest. If theres one you like then dont be shy about the “wanted to buy” subforum.

Boker- many different bokers out there. You want the solingen for the most part. They have discontinued some of their traditionals from there recently. Quality is between gec and case. With a few exceptions being exceptional but you will pay for it.

Case- while they have qc issues, most dont have too bad of issues that will prevent using them. Theres plenty that they make without issues. Price usually reflects quality keep that in mind.

Rough ryder- if you dont mind china, they have some interesting patterns as well as models they do well. Their carbon classic series are good users and might not be available much longer. Rough ryder reserve draws interest as well as criticism which it deserves. Though quality of the reserve line is solid. Overall, they are worth the few dollars to spend to learn what gec pattern you would be willing to dedicate time and money into.

schatt&morgan, queen, camillus, buck, remington, schrade, bulldog brand, moore maker, etc...
These are a few other brands that either arent made any more, made by separate company, quality shifted from good to bad, and some of these i just dont know much about. Its worth noting, even though some of these are no longer made, they can still be found new.
 
Rather than tell you what I like (only the cream de la creme for moi), go to trusted dealer websites like Collectorknives.net and look at all the great stuff he has for sale.

most of the authorized GEC dealers sell other brands of traditional knives, but Collectorknives.net has tons of great pictures.
 
Vintage case (pre 1978), GEC, Walden schrades, Sheffield (vintage...tho I like the new ebony Lambsfoot I just got a few months ago), and the odd custom that moves you would be my vote for the top five brands to collect. At least that’s what I have been buying lately.
 
For current production, GEC and Solingen-made Böker (make sure it says Solingen on the tang). Böker is between Case and GEC in overall quality. If you are willing to look at traditional patterns with a modern twist, the offerings from Viper and Lionsteel are very high quality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top