Question from a slipie newbie

B

Bungwrench

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Dec 21, 2006
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I'm thinking about trying out my first 'real' slipjoint. I have had some junkers in the past but I have never owned a carbon steel slipie. I was thinking of getting a good old Case yellow handled CV stockman. What do you think? Shall I go with a D2 slippie? I've never even owned a D2 knife. As I get older something draws me to the good old pocket knives. I have my share of 'tactical' knives and I'm tired of them. Are the yellow handled Case CV knives good knives? Should I try something else? Are Schatt & Morgan / Queen really 'that' good? Thanks in advance.
 
Both are nice knives... I haven't had to sharpen my Dozier D-2 yet, but some people say D-2 can be harder to sharpen. However edge retention seems to be good.
 
Both the Case CV & The Queen D2, 1095 and S/M ATS 34 knives are top shelf IMO.


Dave
 
I can't say about the Queen D2 because I have never owned one.

The Case CV and stockmans I can. I have stockmans in CV blades in Amber bone and yellow handle. Both are very good. The yellow handle is cheaper and has a unique look these days, I mean its rare to see anyone pull out a yellow handle anymore. It kinda gives me something different than others that carry traditional styles. The amber bone is really a beautiful knife.

I have literally hundreds of knives and that yellow handle CV just never gets left at home.
 
The main problem I have with Queen D2 is that Queen can't or won't sharpen a knife properly before it leaves their factory, and sometimes they don't even put a decent primary bevel on them. I've had to reprofile a couple of D2 Queens and it can take a long time, even with good stones. I've also wasted a lot of time trying to get a decent polished edge on D2 (before I knew better).

Also, I'm apparently not a "serious" knife user (by some folk's definition) because I find that CV or even (gasp) 420HC has perfectly good edge retention for my needs. I don't regularly ask my fairly nice, small pocket knife to slice through jungle vines, carve a trail, or skin a buffalo. I do clean it after each use and tend to give it a few licks on the stone when I think about it, and find I can keep any decent steel up to the task by doing this.

-- Sam
 
I have a couple of queens in d2,beutiful well made knives.They are quite hard to sharpen,even on diamond stones.But once sharpend hold a realy good edge.I think case cv knives are some of the best values around,and the yellow handled ones are great for using and carying.Plus their alot easier to sharpen than d2. Both are great quality knives.
 
When my large, D2, Queen, Stag, Congress arrived, It was just barely sharp and wouldn't cut paper or shave. I had to reprofile all four blades in order to get them scary sharp. I started with a coarse diamond stone attached to my Sharpmaker with rubber bands. This normally takes very little time with most knives but it was QUITE A LOT of work on the D2. Creating a scary sharp micro bevel with the medium, fine and ultra-fine Sharpmaker stones took even longer to accomplish. I now have four extremely sharp thin blades that are amazingly sharp. The only other knife I own that comes close is my Spyderco Manix. I used one of the blades quite a bit so far. It took a lot of cutting cardboard, leather and wood to dull the blade to the point where it was no longer shaving sharp. A few passes on the ultra-fine sharpmaker stones brought back the razor edge.

Ultimately I'll admit that getting the Queen D2 sharp was a PITA like no other knife I've ever owned. I was able to get it sharper than any of my Case knives and it seems to hold an edge much better. I found the fit and finish of the Queen to be much nicer than the few Case knives I've owned. Can't wait to get my hands on one of their 1095 Canoes.
 
forget about the steel-
just get a knife that you like the looks of and start your collection
 
I like the Queens with D2. How many other patterns of sub $50 to $60 knives are you gonna find with premium steel blades? You get old style benchmade cutlery, good looking bone handle materials, and some of the best edgeholding you'll ever see outside of a bazillion dollar custom. True, SOME of the Queen D2 knives are blunt from the factory. If you don't want to use diamond hones to sharpen or reprofile a knife, then best buy something else. You'll screw around with conventional stone materials for days. Harder steels require different sharpening equipment. With the coarse and fine diamond Lansky hones and an old Smith's crock stick set, I've made all mine what I call exceptionally sharp. Once there, they STAY sharp. Forget about touching up for a long long time unless you're really going to batter the edge doing things inappropriate for a slipjoint knife. I like the Case CV, have several knives from Boker, Camillus, and Case with 420HC steel that I use regulary, but they don't even come close to the D2 Queens for length of use before resharpening. Actually, I'd rather sharpen the softer knives with the diamond hones, it takes about a third of the time, zip zip zip, I is done! :D What I really recommend is to buy both, get a Queen D2 and a Case CV, you can't lose with either, and nobody wants just ONE knife. The Queen copperheads are wonderful little knives, pocket friendly, sheeple friendly, and quite good looking. And the Case 6375CV large stockman in burnt amber bone is the epitome of old style slipjoint, carbon steel, peachseed jigged bone, and three thin razor sharp blades. The only problem I have is choosing which ones to carry on different days! :p
 
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