Rough Rider junk

brownshoe said:
Case is a 125 yo knife company selling great designs and good quality. They support their workers and their community. You know who they are. Their designs are classic. The greatest custom slipjoint maker of our age, Tony Bose works with them.

Rough Ryder is a marketing firm, nobody knows anything else about the manufacturers other than country of origin. The US owners are notorious for their marketing hijinks and for conning many collectors and knifemakers for support to start a museum and then closing it. Rough Ryders are diposable knives that are not repaired, like a Case, but replaced by SMKW.
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Tony Bose and Case... so what. What's wrong with just replacing a problematic knife that is returned to SMKW? Case often does the same thing. Rough Ryder is a trademark, not a marketing firm. Rough Ryder slip joints are only disposable because the're cheap relative to other knives. Case would love to be able to produce a knife of RR quality at close to their price point.

I don't believe the museum at the store is closed. I think he's referring to the knife museum that was closed in Chattanooga TN.
 
22-rimfire said:
I don't believe the museum at the store is closed. I think he's referring to the knife museum that was closed in Chattanooga TN.
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Ok. I'm a little slow. Thanks. I know the Chattanooga museum has been closed for years, but never knew the back story. Guess I need to read up on it.
 
The museum was moved to SMKW at their request with great fanfare to breath new life into the organization. A few years later SMKW decided it wasn't something they wanted anymore, pulled out, put them out and it's dead. Turns out it was a marketing ploy all along. Rough Ryder does not make knives, it's a marketing firm controlled by SMKW.

Case makes knives and has for over a century.
 
brownshoe said:
The museum was moved to SMKW at their request with great fanfare to breath new life into the organization. A few years later SMKW decided it wasn't something they wanted anymore, pulled out, put them out and it's dead. Turns out it was a marketing ploy all along. Rough Ryder does not make knives, it's a marketing firm controlled by SMKW.

Case makes knives and has for over a century.
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Never visited the National Knife Museum when it was open. I never really paid a lot of attention to their collections at SMKW. You'll have to define what a marketing ploy is in regard to this. I doubt many here don't know that SMKW does not make knives themselves and they are mostly made in China. AG Russell didn't make their own knives either. SMKW is a store and they sell knives both online and at their facility in Sevierville TN. They OWN the Rough Ryder trademark (not control, but owning is absolute control) as well as Marbles and others. I'm not trying to defend them.... it is just old history and I doubt anyone cares. You need to get your terminology correct.

I have always wondered why they changed Rider to Ryder.... my guess is that the name Rough Rider can not be trademarked (due to Teddy Roosevelt-Rough Riders) and there was probably a court case challenging their trademark.

Been to the store many times and really never paid any attention to a "museum". I looked the museum up online and according to that source it was closed by SMKW at their facility. There was always a connection between SMKW and the founder of the National Knife Museum in Chattanooga. It of course was closed in Chattanooga and the building refurbished into office space I believe. I barely notice the building.... it could have been torn down later as there is a lot of retail development just north of Shallowford Road where the museum was.
Added: The building is still there at the NE corner of Shallowford Rd and I-75. It is a very prime commercial spot.
 
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Not sure what terminology you are correcting but Rough Ryder does not make knives like Case. Rough Ryder is a marketing ploy which is "a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage." You and many others might not care, but some do.
 
brownshoe said:
Not sure what terminology you are correcting but Rough Ryder does not make knives like Case. Rough Ryder is a marketing ploy which is "a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage." You and many others might not care, but some do.
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All marketing is designed to turn a situation to one’s advantage. “Ploy” is a loaded term which suggests some dishonesty above and beyond that which ordinarily takes place in commerce. SMKW pays a manufacturing facility in China to manufacture knives, presumably to its specification, to sell here under the Rough Rider brand or trade mark. Where is the cunning? Where is the deception? “Rough Ryder” is no more a marketing ploy than “Buster Brown” is a cunning ploy to sell kids’ shoes. I call troll.
 
brownshoe said:
Not sure what terminology you are correcting but Rough Ryder does not make knives like Case. Rough Ryder is a marketing ploy which is "a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage." You and many others might not care, but some do.
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What situation is that? Why is it so important to you that Case manufactures knives and SMKW does not? That is the business model they have and I suspect do pretty well overall with it. As Henry suggested "ploy" suggests dishonesty? Where is the dishonesty? They freely admit that the knives are imported. The only thing you seem to care about is that Case manufactures their knives..... big deal. They have struggled to stay in business for years..... I guess you didn't read my post relative to terminology as you repeat the same sort of things like a broken record.

Frost knives also have a lot of their manufacturing done in China. They make no bones about it. But the quality of their slip joints hardly compare to Rough Ryder slip joints except in pricing.

Do you criticize AG Russell for not manufacturing their own knives they sell?
 
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The definition is from a dictionary and neither states or implies ill intent. One firm is all about marketing, the other is all about knives. I stopped buying from SMKW when their sattelite TV show started. Y'all brought up Case in a discussion about Rough Ryder, not I :). You wanna buy china knives, try Buck.
 
B brownshoe While I agree the Chinese manufactured Buck knives are generally high quality (and still covered by the forever warrantee). It is worth noting that the vast majority of Buck knives are made in IDAHO, and are very high quality at fair prices.
 
I have knives out the Wazoo, so for me to buy one more, it has to make me feel good. Case knives make me feel good while Rough Rider just doesn't get me there. If quality and price were my motivations, I would have bought a Victorinox Spartan and never looked back. Instead, I buy a used Case knife about once a year for not that much money and I turn it over in my hands like a little boy with a new plaything. Being rational about knives is too much work for me.
 
Came today. No faults i can see. polished well. Tight sharp blades. Interesting pattern.. . . i will be buying more.

2E0mJcg.jpg
 
You couldn't have picked a better example of why not to buy RR :) The inscription is a hoot...plz don't take offense, it's just one idiot's opinion :)
 
I bought first RR recently, but it is good.
Sorry.
Lock is solid, handle non slipping, right size (for me)
and price 1/100th of real one :^D
Can't complain at all ...
 
brownshoe said:
You couldn't have picked a better example of why not to buy RR :) The inscription is a hoot...plz don't take offense, it's just one idiot's opinion :)
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I'm not offended and you're not an idiot. If anything its me that's naïve. The inscription means nothing to me at all i'm afraid. My guess is its an Americanism not known where I live.

I would be interested in why its a 'hoot' though? The more questions I ask the more I learn :)
 
Ruukuu said:
I'm not offended and you're not an idiot. If anything its me that's naïve. The inscription means nothing to me at all i'm afraid. My guess is its an Americanism not known where I live.

I would be interested in why its a 'hoot' though? The more questions I ask the more I learn :)
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I’m speculating... the blade is marked “Tobacco Road” the knife is made in China, it may give the buyer that nostalgic feeling of carrying “a knife like papas”. Hence it’s a hoot.
When I’m talking to a farmer especially one that is older than me I’ll ask if he’s carrying a knife and if he will show it to me. Instead of an uncle Henry or buck I’ll end up holding a folding utility knife, a gas station knife missing the thumbstud or maybe a case that the shield has fallen out. Pretty sad state of affairs.
 
willard0341 said:
I’m speculating... the blade is marked “Tobacco Road” the knife is made in China, it may give the buyer that nostalgic feeling of carrying “a knife like papas”. Hence it’s a hoot.
When I’m talking to a farmer especially one that is older than me I’ll ask if he’s carrying a knife and if he will show it to me. Instead of an uncle Henry or buck I’ll end up holding a folding utility knife, a gas station knife missing the thumbstud or maybe a case that the shield has fallen out. Pretty sad state of affairs.
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I googled 'Tobacco Road' quickly and found a novel about a depression era family ...… from Georgia I think. I'm thinking now I should drop the talk about the inscription in case I say something offensive without meaning to, as its an area I of course know nothing about and at the moment I am really still an uninvited guest on this forum and don't want to p**s anyone off.

Maybe I might see if I can polish it off. I have the equipment and I would prefer it plain polish anyway :)
 
Tobacco road for me was the place one would wind up if you became dirt poor or come from if your origins were the lowest of economic classes. "The way Uncle Henry drinks, spends money and gambles, we'll be lucky to end this streak of bad luck on Tobacco Road."

I'd leave the inscription on, it's fitting since RRs are one of the few brands affordable for those on Tobacco Road. To me I don't like sayings on blades, it's just a personal thing. :)

Don't worry you're OK, people on this forum are pretty laid back
 
Nothing wrong with “tobacco road” or “bobs furniture outlet” or any of the above. I hope you enjoy your knife
 
brownshoe said:
Tobacco road for me was the place one would wind up if you became dirt poor or come from if your origins were the lowest of economic classes. "The way Uncle Henry drinks, spends money and gambles, we'll be lucky to end this streak of bad luck on Tobacco Road."

I'd leave the inscription on, it's fitting since RRs are one of the few brands affordable for those on Tobacco Road. To me I don't like sayings on blades, it's just a personal thing. :)

Don't worry you're OK, people on this forum are pretty laid back
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Thank you :)
 
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