Request: Case Slimline Trapper Review

J

JNieporte

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Nov 1, 2004
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I'm looking into buying a Case Barehead Slimline Trapper in carbon steel, and am wondering how it fares with Case's other knives. I've only owned one of their carbon steel (chrome vanadium) knives, and it was a long time ago. The knife shop where I live is out of stock, so I can't just go and pick one up to find out. I guess what I want to know is:
How are fit and finish?
How positive is the lock-up (this is a slipjoint and I don't want it closing on my fingers).
Does it lend itself well to general cutting chores?

I'm torn between this knife and a carbon steel Sodbuster, so help me choose. The Sodbuster is about 2/3 the price of the Slimline Trapper, but the Trapper is much better looking.
 
I have a CV Yellow Delrin Case Barehead Slimline Trapper.

Fit and finish are acceptable for a knife of this price level. Back spring is reasonably stout, but not so much as to make opening difficult. CV is easy to maintain.

There are a couple of complaints I have with my particular knife. One, the blade exhibits a slight lateral warp, which makes it appear that the blade rests crooked when closed. Fortunately, it isn't pronounced enough to scratch the liners. Also, the kick of the blade exhibits a fairly rough grind, apparently to compensate for the blade from sitting too high when closed. Neither of these flaws affect performance, and would probably not be noticed by most folks.

One characteristic on my knife that does somewhat affect performance was the relative thickness of the stock edge bevel, despite the blade having a full, mirror polished, hollow grind. It should be said that this is a common characteristic with many knives off the shelf. However, with this style blade, a narrow, thin clip point optimized for fine detail work, it's particularly ill suited. Thinning the edge down can improve performance appreciably.

The knife handles well and sits in the pocket easily. It'll handle any reasonable pocketknife task. And the blade may be better suited to some tasks than the stouter point of, say, a Sodbuster. The Sodbuster is a bit less expensive. The difference is one bolster, and a "Case" sheild. Other than that, construction is the same. I do carry mine on a regular basis, appreciate it's utility and looks.
 
Back before I became a knife "snob", I had one of these in CV with the yellow handle material. The only problem I ever had with it was the shield fell out of the handle almost immediately, like the first week or so. Other than that, I subjected it to hard use on a daily basis. The only thing I had at the time to perform sharpening tasks was an old whetstone of unknown origin. It kept the edge sharp enough for what I used it for (everything from cutting tasks to spreading peanut butter). I've long since lost the knife and haven't missed it much. There's much better stuff out there (you know, like Spyderco), but the Case CV series is okay for the ignoratti or "entry level" folks. You gotta start somewhere I suppose... Cheers.
 
Case CV will last you forever.
I have a Case Stockman Yellow handled CV and the quality is excellent.

I carry a Queen Slimline Trapper in D2, it has an end bolster.
(I would rather pay extra for D2, but delrin is not availiable any more so maple or bone is a lot more than the Case in yellow CV).
I really like the pattern, as it is a long blade, with a good point.
Because it is so slim it sits in my front pocket very comfortabley.
It is also very light.
You can open it by pinching and do not need to use the nail clip.
It is a slip joint so you need to cut with the blade, and you cannot stab with it, or it will fold. Common sense.
Comes sharp and you will sharpen it to suit your own use.




A very useful knife pattern.
And Case yellow CV is a good product.
 
I inspected a couple recently because I had a custom knife made based off of the 48 pattern. The problem I noticed on all of the new yellow handled ones I inspected was that the blade was considerably shorter than the frame and it just didn't look right to me with that much open trough in front of the blade tip when closed. Otherwise a neat pattern. I would buy a vintage one in Bone, but that's just me.
 
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