Rough Rider?

anthony cheeseboro

anthony cheeseboro

Joined
Aug 8, 1999
Messages
5,094
Anybody own any Rough Rider pocketknives. They are Chinese made, traditional pocketknives that are very inexpensive, but extremely high quality. I just bought a small, double lockback with sweet bolsters and a red jigged bone handle for $10. In terms of fit and finish is not a whole lot worse than the double lockback Spyderco with jigged bone handles except that the steel was 440 series (I don't know which type), and the Spyderco is VG-10. I saw another Rough Rider with file work and a sweet abalone handle for $45! It would easily be $200-$300 if it were a USA factory knife. I'm not big on traditional patterns, but this Rough Rider brand is making some sweet stuff at an almost give away price point.
 
Glad to hear you are liking your Rough Rider, AC.

If you are happy with it, don't let anybody tell you that you shouldn't be!

Enjoy!
 
My Elephant Toe (bone) just plain sucked.
Granted it was from a coupla three years ago.
YMMV IMHO :D
 
I picked up a few Rough Rider and Steel Warrior Knives last year and my overall impression is favorable too.

My favorites of the RR knives is a Barlow in saw cut bone and Large Stockman in black lip pearl. My favorite SW knife is a Medium Stockman in stag.
 
I bought a couple of their jigged bone Barlows late in 2006 and I was very impressed by both -- fit and finish are great, backsprings have great snap, and the blades take a very impressive edge. Both of mine have seen light use and they're holding up well.

Here's an old thread about RR knives. Here's another thread.
 
yeah got a toenail/sunfish and i was shocked, i wasnt expecting much but mine was nice and tight, nice finish, etc. My cheap kissing crane (cheapie) is the same, nice little knife. Maybe i got lucky with mine dunno, if ya dont have alot of money and just have to have a knife, these are decent.
i especially like the fact that they have the toenail/sunfish alot of makers dont offer these... or am i missing something?
ivan
 
I bought a RR red jigged bone one armed jack last year and was very impressed with it. The fit and finish were great and the grind was perfect and shaving sharp. I liked it, but never really carried it because of Opinels and SAKs. Then last week I came across an orange stockman on Ebay, and since I like my Schrade stockman well enough and I love orange, I bought it. First let me say that the grind was very rough. It shaved, but only cause it had a wire edge. Nothing like the OAJ. That said, the scales are absolutely beautiful. The blades are a lot smaller than my Schrade, and are shaped, in my opinion, much better. It hasn't left my pocket since I got it.
 
I bought one off ebay , I was expecting typical chinese junk , but I was impressed with it , razor sharp little demon :) , my wife confiscated it real fast tho ...
 
I have one that was given to me as a gift. It has abalone and mother of pearl handles. It's a peanut. I don't like it very much.
 
I bought a red boned sowbelly and a stag looking stockman about a year ago. Both have seen only light duty. Recently I noticed the stag handle was separating from the metal liner. Also about a month back some guys needed a knife to cut some fruit. Apparently I was the only one with a knife. Out comes the red boned sowbelly. Afterwards the guys hands looked like he had cut himself bad. Turns out the red dye from the knife was bleeding out.

Can't beat the price but don't expect it to be something you hand down years later. Probably good knives to have around when you get the question, "Hey you got a knife I can borrow".
 
freddy1 said:
i bought this small one (two blades) couple of month ago and was really pleased with quality and finish

http://www.newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=7072

so i bought another one, and quality and finish is still good but i like it less, biggest blade look too much like cheap main SKA one.

http://www.newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=6683

FYI, it's quite easy to remove all uggly blade marking with a dremel and few polish...
Click to expand...


The Barlow pattern is one of the nicest knives they make and the saw cut bone version is very well done. I've heard the tortoise celluloid Barlow is nice too.
 
texasboy said:
it was new
Click to expand...

I have a habbit of buying knives , deciding I dont like them and giving them away ... mostly from ebay tho , where its not so easy to tell what it realy is Im getting .
I wasnt implying anything negative ... its just why I give a lot away ...
 
I had a locking "SodBuster" type knife of the brand.

Pretty, good fit.

The material of the lock/liner was too soft, though.
 
I have two Barlow slipjoints. A green bone and an orange bone. Both are well above average quality. I have an Imperial schrade barlow, and its CRAP compared to RR.
Buy one, you will NOT be disappointed.
 
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