Luxurious or ostentatious?
Beautiful or ugly?
Tasteful or garish?
Inexpensive or simply cheap?
Whatever your opinion, nobody could say that this knife is boring, that's for sure!
This is the deluxe congress knife by Rough Rider.
I've been very pleased with other knives of this brand in the past, and I was looking for a congress pattern knife to try out.
While browsing, I came across this model and I just had to try it.
***PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES FOR THE HORRENDOUS PHOTOS!***
My good camera's battery was dead, and I didn't want to wait for it to charge. I'll try to remember to upload better photos later...
I thought the congress pattern was ugly.
I didn't like the shape of the handle, I didn't like the way the blades sit in the handle.
I didn't like the way sheepsfoot blades look.
In fact, I thought congress pattern knives were so fascinatingly ugly that I found myself staring at them in wonder while trying to work out why anyone would buy such a monstrosity.
The more I stared, the more I kinda started to appreciate it.
In the end, I found it so ugly that It was beautiful, and absolutely had to own one immediately.
When I saw this RR, I knew it was the congress that I had been looking for.
'If you're going to buy a knife that's so ugly it's beautiful,' I said to myself, 'you might as well get the most pimped-out version you can.'
Think about it. How much should this knife rightfully cost?
If you went to a custom knifemaker and said 'Please make me an enormous congress knife with full filework and white pearl scales', how much would you have to pay?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I'd bet my @$$ it would be considerably more than $15.
Now, I'm certainly not saying that this is a custom quality knife, but I am very impressed that I can even get a decent knife for $15, let alone one with embellishments and exotic scales.
But I'm waffling.
I saw the knife, paid my $15+ shipping and nearly two weeks later, I had 2/3 of the order I made with stupid &@$##% wild bills wholesale.
I ordered three knives, and received two. They didn't charge me for the other knife, but they didn't let me know so I could choose another. They also waited a whole week to mail my package, and never called me back as promised when I called to ask what was happening. I won't be ordering from them again...
Aaanyway, my knife turned up eventually. It came in a rather nice presentation box, which I promptly threw in the garbage.
Such niceties are wasted on a philistine such as myself, I'm not a collector.
I've decided to do a "good, bad, and ugly" type review, it's my first, so go easy on me...
The good:
For such an inexpensive knife, the general quality of this piece is truly superb. You couldn't even get someone to grind a swedge on a knife for $15.
This is quite a substantial knife. It's just over 4 1/4" long and just under 3/4" thick.
It has two large sheepsfoot blades and two small pen blades.
All the blades have swedges
All blades have perfectly executed long straight match strike pulls, are mirror polished and razor sharp.
The knife feels chunky and substantial in the hand. It's not too heavy, but it has some heft to it. Very satisfying to hold.
The springs and the spines of the blades have very attractive filework.
The brass liners and center support liner thingies (what are they called?) are nice thick brass, and the brass has a nice deep golden tone.
The bolsters are a nice light colored nickel silver and have a pleasant art deco type design. The design is nice and crisp. Although they are brightly polished, they have lost no detail to overbuffing.
The backsprings are reasonably stiff, but are not nail breakers.
I actually prefer slightly lighter springs (SAK type pull) but this knife is not unpleasant or difficult to open.
The pen blades are slightly harder to open than the sheepsfoot blades, presumably because they are shorter and thus have less leverage.
Polishing of the whole knife is superb. As stated above, the design on the bolsters is sharp, no detail polished out. The same is true for the rest of the handle components.
The scales are breathtaking. The photos may not show it, but the pearl makes this knife look like a million dollars.
I'm sure RR don't use the finest most expensive MOP, but it's certainly not shabby. The pearl is definitely real, not plastic.
Walk and talk is excellent.
The backsprings may be a hair stiffer than I like, but the tradeoff is a really good snap on opening and closing.
There is a half stop on all four blades, which is something that I like, and somewhat mitigates the effect of the strong backsprings.
There is ZERO blade wobble in the open and half stop positions on all four blades.
The backsprings lay completely flush when the blades are open or closed.
The knife just oozes quality.
If someone had removed the RR logos and handed it to me, telling me that it was a $500 custom, I would probably have believed them.
The bad:
Not much to report here, but a couple of points...
There are a few tiny gaps here and there. This doesn't bother me in the least, because they really are tiny.
I think whoever buffed this knife knew when to stop. I'd rather have a crisp knife than an overbuffed one, even if that means a tiny gap here and there.
When I say tiny, I mean barely visible unless you're looking for them using a bright light.
I'm talking fraction of a human hair here.
I know some people consider this to be important, so I'm mentioning it, but to me it's a non issue.
The blades have a crink to make them fit properly in the handle when closed.
This would normally be a good point, but unfortunately it means that since the blades are very close together, and the knife has strong springs, the blades flex enough when opening to rub against each other.
I can't see how this could really be avoided without making the handle wider than it should be.
I think this is probably more to do with the pattern than bad workmanship.
There are a few gaps between the scales and the liners.
I guess this is because you're getting MOP scales on a $15 knife.
They're not obvious until you look real close, but they are there.
I imagine RR are using offcut-sized pieces of pearl at this price, so there is a bit of a tradeoff. I'm really picking nits here though, the scales are truly beautiful.
The filework on the spines and the backsprings do not match perfectly.
The design is identical, but the blades have been buffed more than the springs, so the filework is slightly less sharp on the blades than on the springs.
Again, I'm making it sound worse than it is. The effect is very subtle, and the filework is very pleasant to look at.
The scales are held in place with adhesive, not pins.
I guess this is because of the brittle nature of MOP. Setting rivets must be dicey, and RR obviously took the safer route rather than risk wasting scales.
We'll see how the glue holds up over time.
The ugly:
Well, either you love this knife, or you hate it.
I don't think it's ugly, but you may. I won't take it personally
Conclusion:
We already know that RR gives a lot of bang for the buck, but in the case of this knife, the ratio of bang/buck is even more than I'm used to.
I just can't get over how good this knife is for the money, it's simply ridiculous.
The best thing about this knife is that it's a user. I am not a 'safe queen' type of person, and if I bought an expensive custom knife, I wouldn't carry it for fear of losing it.
Why have a knife, examine it with a magnifying glass to make sure it's perfect, worry about the type of steel the blades are made from and how well they'll hold an edge, and then put it in a box and stick it in a drawer?
I'm not knocking you collector folks, I used to do the same thing.
I am from the UK, but I moved here to the States a couple of years ago.
Moving house by plane is pretty difficult, and I couldn't take most of my stuff with me.
I sold most of my knife collection, and the Case knives returned about what I paid for them.
That's all very well, but I didn't make much of a profit.
Since that time, i have only bought knives I'm going to actually use and enjoy, and this knife is no exception.
I can do this with impunity due to the low price I paid.
Overall, this knife is outstanding for the money. The styling makes me feel like I'm carrying an expensive antique in my pocket.
If I had paid double, triple, or even quadruple the price, I'd still feel like I had got an absolute bargain.
Beautiful or ugly?
Tasteful or garish?
Inexpensive or simply cheap?
Whatever your opinion, nobody could say that this knife is boring, that's for sure!
This is the deluxe congress knife by Rough Rider.
I've been very pleased with other knives of this brand in the past, and I was looking for a congress pattern knife to try out.
While browsing, I came across this model and I just had to try it.
***PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES FOR THE HORRENDOUS PHOTOS!***
My good camera's battery was dead, and I didn't want to wait for it to charge. I'll try to remember to upload better photos later...
I thought the congress pattern was ugly.
I didn't like the shape of the handle, I didn't like the way the blades sit in the handle.
I didn't like the way sheepsfoot blades look.
In fact, I thought congress pattern knives were so fascinatingly ugly that I found myself staring at them in wonder while trying to work out why anyone would buy such a monstrosity.
The more I stared, the more I kinda started to appreciate it.
In the end, I found it so ugly that It was beautiful, and absolutely had to own one immediately.
When I saw this RR, I knew it was the congress that I had been looking for.
'If you're going to buy a knife that's so ugly it's beautiful,' I said to myself, 'you might as well get the most pimped-out version you can.'
Think about it. How much should this knife rightfully cost?
If you went to a custom knifemaker and said 'Please make me an enormous congress knife with full filework and white pearl scales', how much would you have to pay?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I'd bet my @$$ it would be considerably more than $15.
Now, I'm certainly not saying that this is a custom quality knife, but I am very impressed that I can even get a decent knife for $15, let alone one with embellishments and exotic scales.
But I'm waffling.
I saw the knife, paid my $15+ shipping and nearly two weeks later, I had 2/3 of the order I made with stupid &@$##% wild bills wholesale.
I ordered three knives, and received two. They didn't charge me for the other knife, but they didn't let me know so I could choose another. They also waited a whole week to mail my package, and never called me back as promised when I called to ask what was happening. I won't be ordering from them again...
Aaanyway, my knife turned up eventually. It came in a rather nice presentation box, which I promptly threw in the garbage.
Such niceties are wasted on a philistine such as myself, I'm not a collector.
I've decided to do a "good, bad, and ugly" type review, it's my first, so go easy on me...
The good:
For such an inexpensive knife, the general quality of this piece is truly superb. You couldn't even get someone to grind a swedge on a knife for $15.
This is quite a substantial knife. It's just over 4 1/4" long and just under 3/4" thick.
It has two large sheepsfoot blades and two small pen blades.
All the blades have swedges
All blades have perfectly executed long straight match strike pulls, are mirror polished and razor sharp.
The knife feels chunky and substantial in the hand. It's not too heavy, but it has some heft to it. Very satisfying to hold.
The springs and the spines of the blades have very attractive filework.
The brass liners and center support liner thingies (what are they called?) are nice thick brass, and the brass has a nice deep golden tone.
The bolsters are a nice light colored nickel silver and have a pleasant art deco type design. The design is nice and crisp. Although they are brightly polished, they have lost no detail to overbuffing.
The backsprings are reasonably stiff, but are not nail breakers.
I actually prefer slightly lighter springs (SAK type pull) but this knife is not unpleasant or difficult to open.
The pen blades are slightly harder to open than the sheepsfoot blades, presumably because they are shorter and thus have less leverage.
Polishing of the whole knife is superb. As stated above, the design on the bolsters is sharp, no detail polished out. The same is true for the rest of the handle components.
The scales are breathtaking. The photos may not show it, but the pearl makes this knife look like a million dollars.
I'm sure RR don't use the finest most expensive MOP, but it's certainly not shabby. The pearl is definitely real, not plastic.
Walk and talk is excellent.
The backsprings may be a hair stiffer than I like, but the tradeoff is a really good snap on opening and closing.
There is a half stop on all four blades, which is something that I like, and somewhat mitigates the effect of the strong backsprings.
There is ZERO blade wobble in the open and half stop positions on all four blades.
The backsprings lay completely flush when the blades are open or closed.
The knife just oozes quality.
If someone had removed the RR logos and handed it to me, telling me that it was a $500 custom, I would probably have believed them.
The bad:
Not much to report here, but a couple of points...
There are a few tiny gaps here and there. This doesn't bother me in the least, because they really are tiny.
I think whoever buffed this knife knew when to stop. I'd rather have a crisp knife than an overbuffed one, even if that means a tiny gap here and there.
When I say tiny, I mean barely visible unless you're looking for them using a bright light.
I'm talking fraction of a human hair here.
I know some people consider this to be important, so I'm mentioning it, but to me it's a non issue.
The blades have a crink to make them fit properly in the handle when closed.
This would normally be a good point, but unfortunately it means that since the blades are very close together, and the knife has strong springs, the blades flex enough when opening to rub against each other.
I can't see how this could really be avoided without making the handle wider than it should be.
I think this is probably more to do with the pattern than bad workmanship.
There are a few gaps between the scales and the liners.
I guess this is because you're getting MOP scales on a $15 knife.
They're not obvious until you look real close, but they are there.
I imagine RR are using offcut-sized pieces of pearl at this price, so there is a bit of a tradeoff. I'm really picking nits here though, the scales are truly beautiful.
The filework on the spines and the backsprings do not match perfectly.
The design is identical, but the blades have been buffed more than the springs, so the filework is slightly less sharp on the blades than on the springs.
Again, I'm making it sound worse than it is. The effect is very subtle, and the filework is very pleasant to look at.
The scales are held in place with adhesive, not pins.
I guess this is because of the brittle nature of MOP. Setting rivets must be dicey, and RR obviously took the safer route rather than risk wasting scales.
We'll see how the glue holds up over time.
The ugly:
Well, either you love this knife, or you hate it.
I don't think it's ugly, but you may. I won't take it personally
Conclusion:
We already know that RR gives a lot of bang for the buck, but in the case of this knife, the ratio of bang/buck is even more than I'm used to.
I just can't get over how good this knife is for the money, it's simply ridiculous.
The best thing about this knife is that it's a user. I am not a 'safe queen' type of person, and if I bought an expensive custom knife, I wouldn't carry it for fear of losing it.
Why have a knife, examine it with a magnifying glass to make sure it's perfect, worry about the type of steel the blades are made from and how well they'll hold an edge, and then put it in a box and stick it in a drawer?
I'm not knocking you collector folks, I used to do the same thing.
I am from the UK, but I moved here to the States a couple of years ago.
Moving house by plane is pretty difficult, and I couldn't take most of my stuff with me.
I sold most of my knife collection, and the Case knives returned about what I paid for them.
That's all very well, but I didn't make much of a profit.
Since that time, i have only bought knives I'm going to actually use and enjoy, and this knife is no exception.
I can do this with impunity due to the low price I paid.
Overall, this knife is outstanding for the money. The styling makes me feel like I'm carrying an expensive antique in my pocket.
If I had paid double, triple, or even quadruple the price, I'd still feel like I had got an absolute bargain.
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