Queen, Hen & Rooster or Boker tree?

F

F3X

Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
188
I am looking for a medium nice slip blade with a "Old School look", maybe a Stag handle or something similar. Not too big around 3.75-4.00 closed. It will be a EDC so not to expensive but still nice to own.

Between the brands above who has a nice single blade with decent steel and good build quality? I have a few Case knives and how would you rate the others on quality compared to Case?
 
Tossing this into our "folksy" forum. :D.
 
I have had very good experience with all three brands.

One of my favorite knives to carry right now is a #48 whittler by Queen. I will say that I have experienced more lazy knives from case than the other brands, but still like case knives as well.
 
If you want a single blade, look at some of the sheepsfoot-style slipjoints from Sheffield, England - they can be had for about $50 including shipping from World Knives.
 
Who makes the new Hens now?Some of them look like Bulldogs.I have a couple of Bertrams that are top notch.
I would look at Schatt & Morgan made by Queen.Some nice looking traditional stuff there.One of these days I'll pick up a scout from them.
 
I only have Cases now, but am on the verge of picking up a Queen. I think with these three that you've mentioned, quality won't be an issue, and the decision will have to be subjective based on what appeals to you aesthetically. Like most, you might end up with a few examples of all three. They all seem to have the "got-it-from-grandad/dad-will-pass-it-on" appeal.
 
Lots of great information on this forum about these knives. All mentioned are great knife manufacturers (although I think Boker trumps Hen & Rooster - check out Carl Schlieper aka "Eye Brand" in addition). One caveat about Queen is that most of their blades are made out of D2. Which has great edge holding properties, but it takes a lot of doing to get that edge. The other companies have more pedestrian steels that don't hold an edge as long, but are easy to sharpen.
 
For a single blade knife with a traditional look, some of the knives I like are

Queen toothpick,
Schatt & Morgan lockback hunter;
Queen Mountain man hunter (available in D2 and 1095)
Case medium or large toothpick,
Schatt & Morgan medium toothpick (4-1/4 inches closed, blade is ATS-34)
Case Copperlock,
Queen copperhead,
Case Mid-Folding Hunter. (This is available in CV steel with an amber bone jigged finish, a great knife for a very very reasonable price.)

I'd avoid Hen & Rooster - now distributed by Frost & the quality is consequently questionable -

Bokers are great. (Those made in Solingen, Germany only; Boker has factories elsewhere.)
They make a terrific lockback folder in various handle materials.
They also make a couple of single blade slipjoints - the Trapperliner which is a bit of an odd bird; and the Utility which in my view is just not substantial enough for anything but show.

German Eye/Carl Schlieper is very good but I'm not sure if they make a single blade version.

And over the past couple of years, I think I'd go with Boker over German Eye in any event.
 
Queen has a large selection of single blade knives in D2.
The quality is excellent.
And as said the D2 will need to be sharpened

I have coming a Abalone Pearl #41 Copperhead, a #11 Slimline Trapper, and an Amber Bone #44 Folding Hunter (too large for what you are asking for).
Both the Copperhead and the Slimline Trapper meet your requirements
 
The Queen Copperhead looks about right. D2 steel, I found a Birdseye Maple that looks interesting.

Thanks for the help.
 
Smokey Mountain is running a 10th Anniversary Commemorative Case Copperlock series.
CA7236.jpg

Here's the Shatt & Morgan scout....
a010dd3da3ce30686b5425bdc1761e3f.jpg
 
F3X said:
The Queen Copperhead looks about right. D2 steel, I found a Birdseye Maple that looks interesting.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Great choice. :thumbup:
I just received a Queen toothpick in Birds Eye Maple, and the wood looks even better in person than in photographs.


BTW - if it's not overstepping, I'd like to highly recommend a particular Queen dealer who has great prices,
is thoroughly professional, and who is a gentleman as well.

His name is Bill Horn, and his site is www.cumberlandknifeworks.com

I've bought many (many! :))knives from Bill over the years, always with excellent results.
 
rifon2 said:
Great choice. :thumbup:
I just received a Queen toothpick in Birds Eye Maple, and the wood looks even better in person than in photographs.
BTW - if it's not overstepping, >>>
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links, it's always good to find a dealer you like. His prices are good as well.

The Birds Eye looks a bit drab in the pics good to hear it is better in real life. So how was the edge on your Queen?
 
F3X said:
Thanks for the links, it's always good to find a dealer you like. His prices are good as well.So how was the edge on your Queen?
Click to expand...

It happens to be excellent! I was quite pleasantly shocked.

Didn't even need a touchup.
 
Recently got a Queen Mtn Man in D2 , out of the box the edge was workable , but a quick pass on the bader and a quick pass on the polishing wheels and its much better now. Fit & finish is really nice. My first lockback too.
 
Schatt&Morgan / Queen Mountain Man is a hefty character that you might like to get to know. Daddy Barlow too for that matter.

Queen does a Barehead Trapper too that could interest you or the Teardrop Liner lock

You might want to look at Great Eastern for carbon knives.

I've found CASE quality on recent knives to be excellent, less certain about Queen and I don't just mean the need to whet the butter knife syndrome either...

Weidmannsheil offer a number of lockbacks in stag or bone-carbon stamped blades.
 
willgoy said:
I've found CASE quality on recent knives to be excellent,
Click to expand...

+1 on that. :thumbup:

Very recently got a 5-1/2" toothpick with walnut scales, and a 2 blade Folding Hunter in 154CM.

Fit, finish and edge are really excellent on both knives!
 
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