Other Manufacturers?

B

Bauer

Joined
Jun 16, 2004
Messages
24
I grew up with Schrades. My father and both grandfathers used schrades, both Old Timers and Uncle Henrys. My father-in-law always used Schrade and so did his father. I will also pass on some of my Schrades to my son as he gets older.

My question is which manufacturers are making knives that would be comparable to the Schrade Old Timer and Uncle Henry knives (i.e., knives that are tough, of good quality, not to expensive, and designed to be used every day). It seems that there are more stores carrying Case and I know some people who swear by them, but they seem to be too pretty and expensive to use every day.

What do ya'll think?
 
The case knives have always been good, if not better quality than schrade as far as materials, with one exception the steel. Case surgical stainless is nothing more than 420. Schrade's carbon steel was good old 1095, a wonderful steel. However Cases chrome vanadium is carbon with a high chrome content. Both Case's CV and Scrades 1095 are both good steels. Both companies satinless, 420 are comparible also (Case's stainless is a little more stain resistant than Scraders stainless). Cases quality is good, but sometimes you have to watch out for some of them. The "fit and finish" of some case knives can be questionable. You are better off if you can look at one before purchasing. Also on some of Case's stockmans the blades on some tend to "rub each other" while being opened and closed and can cause deep scratches (particularly the sowbelly and large stockman). The trappers do well though.

The other down side of the Case CV is that they only make these in the yellow delrin or amber bone. You can get about six different patterns in the CV, but you will only get two handle material choices.
 
I like Camillus. Makers of the present day Remington Bullets, past maker of some pocket knives branded by Buck, and the contract maker for many other brand names over the years.

Phil
 
I'll second Camillus.Though they seem to be moving away from the traditional patterns under there own branding, they can still make a very nice slipjoint. The best ones I've seen recently are the "Working Knives" they are making for MooreMaker (.com). Very nice.

Bill
 
Camillus

I agree, good quality product at decent price...
 
You lucky guys, I´ve never seen a Camillus for sale in Mexico.

I do have a couple bought in the U.S., an all steel four blade utility, inexpensive, tough, good for the price, and a rigging knife, strong, heavy, well made, good working knife.

Luis
 
We feel for ya, Don Luis, we really do. Doesn't NAFTA work both ways? No market for US Knives, or what?

When I wrote 'Camillus' yesterday, that was just the first thing that popped into mind. a good, dependable, sturdy knife that I have a few of, that never let me down. But being a 'pattern collector' (Toothpicks, natch!), I have knives made by many, many manufacturers. Well, many brand names, I have a display of 14 different 5" toothpicks/fishing knives, some branded Remington, Winchester, Buck, and one US Army Air Corps emergency fishing knife, and all were made by Camillus. As I mentioned yesterday, they have made knives for everyone, it seems.

Queen is a good knife, those high tech D2 tool steel blades being great, but how often do you see those in the local big-box or hardware store? Buck is a fine knife, but light on the 'traditionals' so many of us favor. Ka-Bar is a good one, most of them, anyway, many of them still made here in the USA, but again, a limited range. Case... sure. Lots of patterns, pretty real bone, classic yellow handles as our rev_jch mentioned. But he is right; you do have to carefully inspect every one. I went through several recently at Lowes (they have a nice blue bone just for them), trying to find a good one.

Any other suggestions?

Phil
 
what about some of the boker SJ'S? I bought a few on a closeout from smoky a while back that were pretty good quality. They were brown bone whittlers, splitback no less!!! The ones I had were listed as carbon, but the ones I received were 420! I think I paid about 29.99 a pice for them. Hmmm.. maybe they have some other bokers right now? Let me check. Be right back....


....okay here we go, heres a couple nice choices for you:

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/e...t=&list=50&range=1&order=PriceAsc&SKU=BK280OB

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/e...=&list=50&range=1&order=PriceAsc&SKU=BK659RJB


Now remeber these are 420, but the quality is fair. You will be able to strop them with almost no effort! they will hold a decent edge, alittle bit, not much better than a case surgical.

Be careful one of these is listed as carbon, but be careful smoky has called that one wrong before!!! :D
 
wow...I must be getting old. Im now getting into "sole preference" of SJ'S, I must to make fun of people like me......ones who only liked SJ'S....
 
For a good all American made slippie that compares well to Schrade......I also say go with Camillus.
I own several Camillus slip joints and am quite pleased with the quality for the money.
The Yellow Jacket series is very good choice for regular use.
Of course you would also be happy with Case's yellow handled CV steel slipjoints to be sure........Yup I agree its hard to use some of those pretty bone handled models!
You might also want to take a look at the Rough Rider branded slip joints( I know....I know...not american made.and there is something to be said about that.

JMHO,
Kap
 
If you want strictly US-made, Camillus, Queen and Case are about your only SJ options. Queen is by far the most consistent, with a wider range of patterns. However, it is hard to beat a CV Case as a work knife.
 
Phil;

Are Buck's slipjoints still made in the USA?? Buck does a nice job on their SJ's, but they offer only 4-5 patterns.

I would second the recommendation for Queen - if you want the high performance D2 steel, they offer it in more and less expensive versions depending upon whether you want to pay the premium for a bone or wood handle, as compared to plastic.

I would also second the Moore Maker recommendation if you want good carbon steel...again they offer the best of both worlds, Camillus-made patterns in delrin and buffalo horn (less expensive) and Queen-made patterns in smooth bone or jigged bone (more expensive).... but all in great 1095 carbon steel.
 
According to some of the members in the Buck Forum here the new slipjoints from Buck are being made in China. I don't have any firsthand experience but you may want to post the question on the Buck forum.
 
Buck knives from China? Damn... are these companies making a deal with the devil or what? I don't run a knife company, but I wonder how you can tell your customers that the expensive knives you're selling, made in the USA are the best, but still be selling those cheap ones made by China slave labor to other of your consumers.

I read not long ago in the Buck forum, someone writing in to ask Joe Houser if Buck was really having knives made in Taiwan (I think that was the Asian country). He said yes, but they were being made to Buck's high standards. The questioner accepted that. So Buck is telling their customers, 'Hey, don't worry, although it's not made in this country, by your countrymen, it's still a product that meets our high standards'??? Then why the heck make any of them here. Same same our Late Schrade. Isn't this teaching the enemy how to beat you at your own game?

I don't know what's going to happen to the American Knife industry. Is it going 'global' like our cars already have? Is that a good thing for us, or a really bad thing?

Are we really supporting our knife companies that have some of their products made in China, or are we helping them to go down when we make such a purchase from them?

I'm asking all rhetorical questions here... I have no answers, as I say, I'm not an American industrialist trying to keep his company afloat.

Guys, I just don't know. Please excuse the rant.

Phil

ps on the Rough Riders. One of our fellow forum members asked me what those were going for wholesale. The price was ridiculously cheap. I mean dirt cheap, but have any of you others looked at them? I know someone mentioned them. Frankly, I am impressed with the fit and finish. I sent one to Case for them to have a look.
 
I was in Wal-Mart a couple months ago looking at a very nice little Buck slipjoint. It looked well made and was really a very attractive knife. I had decided to buy it when I noticed on the back of one of the blades (I don't think it was the main blade, but my memory isn't the greatest anymore) the dreaded letters C H I N A. :eek: I bought a Schrade instead. Not that it did them any good. :rolleyes:
 
You mean there's more than Schrade? :eek:

Well, I have one Queen, and it is a very nice knife! I'm going to have to add more, that's for sure! D2 holds an edge forever!

I love Case, but they don't seem to perform as well as Old Timers, Bucks, or my older Camillus pocketknives. Nice looking, but you have to really watch for quality issues. Same with most of the Bokers I have seen lately. I love Boker, but their quality is getting spotty.

Shoot, anymore, for daily use I have been carrying a Victorinox Soldiers model, or an Explorer. I like spear points, and the size is just about right for the pocket.

And, for different, and affordable carbon steel blades, I would highly recommend an Opinel. Don't cost much, develope a real nice patina, and get pretty sharp!
 
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