Please tell me: What is the point of a Sodbuster?

Nice big ergonomic handle, easy to sharpen FFG , cheap, great snap (on mine at least). What's not too like.

Also I think some of the mystique is in the fact that this is a "work" knife and so many of us are stuck in offices staring at computer screens pushing paper and 1s and 0s for countless hours, when we get out in the garage, yard or out in the boat at the cabin - there's a desire to go out and use tools with your hands - the soddie is just one of those tools.
 
I have been carrying my Sodbuster jr since I bought it last Friday. I am really becoming a fan of this knife. As has already been said the handle is very comfortable and the blade shape is very useful as well as a efficient slicer. I think that the simplicity of the Sodbuster is really what makes it so attractive looking to me. That and the fact that for a very long time countless men and women have been using Sodbusters to get stuff done. It's a real common man's pocket knife. Long live the Sodbuster!;)
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Funny, I was just thinking this week that I want to get a Sodbuster. Why? For their utility and the fact that I think they look great!

Different strokes for different folks :D
 
Back in the day, when 85% of the nation was agrarian, one of the hardest jobs undertaken on the farm was bustin sod. So...when something was tough, rugged, reliant, could bust sod all day, "a real sod buster" ...well now you know the rest of the story.
 
I think a part of the confusion in the OPs post is the distinction between collectibles and users. Lots of folks on the forum discuss pretty collectibles while other of us prefer to talk about users. Both have their place and the distinction is in no way a judgment.

In any event, I think there are 2 paths to getting a knife like the sodbusters. The first, as others have noted, put a knife like this to hard use and it's value will be clear. The 2nd is to become enamored with the history and tradition of working knives of old.
 
Bastid said:
I think you already answered most of the question. It is a no-nonsense no frills type of knife that works well at the right price that you can pinch open with gloves on. Toss one in a tool or tackle box and go. If it gets away it is not too big of a deal to replace it for many.
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I agree with Gus.

It's a perfect working knife to get the job done and if you happen to lose it, you get another one for $25 and keep going.
 
yup. Just a nice basic design and good to use for anything

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Smaug said:
It just seems to me to be a cost-saving design; no extra money spent to make it look nice. In other words, it is kind of the opposite of the knives we usually post about here.
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Well kinda. The soddie was once known as the folding butcher's knife, so there's less on them to get gunked up and tarnished. That, in turm makes them cheaper, which makes people less afraid to use them and use them hard.
 
All I know is, the Case Workman Sodbuster is on my to have list this year, I just found out about this knife a few months ago, I did not know it was as big as it is and I like big knives, so I have to get it ASAP!
 
I carry a sodbuster from Keith Johnson every day since I got it. I make my living using knives and I think the sodbuster is a great pattern for getting WORK done.
They're just plain cool too. -Izzy
 
All the major points (ha) have been made. I will add this. I have a crapload of knives. My wife thinks this is stupid. She is a professional photographer, stylish, good at design. She likes some of my knives. She kind of likes the Forum EO Jack which is about as good as it gets for me. She LOVES my sodbuster jr's. She made me get her one. It is the only knife design she gets excited about. Chew on that. ;)
 
And the prize for best answer goes to festerfromnzed!
 
Sorry, I can't help but put my 2 cents in on this...... I love my Case Sodbuster Jrs. I have both flavors. The beauty lies in the simplicity and utility of design. I have extolled their virtues in the past as a skinner, fishing, kitchen duty, all purpose get it done blade. That said, they ain't fancy lookin'. I know at some point I'll have to get a Jr. in some Bone or Antler scales. That may be "The One".
 
jackknife said:
Lets put it this way.

A sodbuster is like an old Chevy C10 with a strait 6 under the hood and a three on the tree. There's a lot of faster vehicles. There are a lot more comfortable vehicles. There are way better looking vehicles.

But if you have some real work to do, you can't beat it with a stick!

Carl.
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Broke my heart, I drove my daughter all over the place the first year she was born in this truck back in '91...till my wife deemed it unsafe for transportin' lil children.

So I parked it and it sat in my woods till last year when I scrapped it, the sucker still started, (ran like crap but I was able to shift it and drive it, no brakes) fortunately some friends who are into old Chevy's scavaged some parts off of it so it will live on.

Like in something like this...

2006_0212pauls710093a.jpg


I aoplogize in advance I didn't mean to get off topic, couldn't resist postin' the pics carl.

I've only ever had one sodbuster, an old 70s Case Delrin Yellow CV Bladed one, it served as a work knife, cuttin boxes, scrapin' gaskets or cuttin' wire, just a life of drudgery, destined to sit in my tool box until called on again to pry something apart or take out a philips head screw, (gasp), under appreciated, until...

2006 when I took it to Hungary along with several knives to leave there as gifts to my cousins, (there is a relevant point here somewhere :) ) on the first night there I had pulled out a handful of knives to give to my closest cousins and of all the knives to pick from, ( Case Seahorse Whittler, Old Timer Stockman and Trapper and a Queen Barlow) the knife they all wanted was my old 70s Case Sodbuster, the one I brought for me 'cause if I lost it or it was taken away for some reason I wouldn't have missed it.

Before I left, my one cousin who was a tradesman and a farmer pulled a brand new Opinel #6 and asked me if I'd like to trade? So before I packed my Sod Buster up in my checked bag we made a trade and ya know what?

In retrospect, my cousin got the better deal although the Opinel is a great knife and design in it's own right.

Sorry no pics of the Sodbuster. :(

I'm done ramblin' ;)
 
I don't have a Sodbuster myself, but.........
I guess Pinnah is right, one thing is to collect knives, another is to use them, and although I have seen a few awesome custom Sodbuster's, it's not probably the king of any knife collection.
But if you buy knives to use them...a single drop point blade works great for almost any task (I do like David's comparison between Sodbuster's and Opinel's on this matter). Of course, taste is taste, and it's very personal, and if you don't dig the pattern, I suggest that you don't get any, and look for something else...the knife world is so rich that it's already hard enough to buy the knives that you like :D but as a general thought I don't really see nothing weird in liking a soddie. After all, if you look outside the US (and the UK maybe), the vast majority of traditional knives are single bladed (with either a clip or a drop point blade), and that must mean something... :rolleyes:

fausto
:cool:
 
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