Rough Riders received, initial impressions

Bartleby, I haven't been doing much except trying, mostly unsuccessfully to get some sleep during the day as I work nights. I just kind of mix things in between naps mostly. I'm going on days around the 10th of this month so will have some time to play more.

I pulled the muskrat out again and checked the blades. Both cut copy paper well, but the stronger sprung blade will shave arm hair no problem. I doubt it will take much to get the other blade to the same. I'll have to wait and see on the kinda sharp blades on the barlow.

One thing I've noticed between these too is they are a little heavy. There's certainly nothing wrong with solid, but I do notice them a lot more in the pocket than say a Case, Boker, or Old Timer. Fortunately, while they have to have usablity, and they do, what I like most about that it is possible to build a nice collection of patterns and interesting handle materials for little money. The weight issue though keeps me from carrying them much. They aren't extremely heavy, just weighty enough to be noticable. I also just enjoy carrying a good old Case or similar classic American blade on a regular basis.

Once I can spend some time on the stones I'll drop a note here on how they sharpened up.
 
I feel your pain. Worked nights during the mid 80's-mid 90's. It is a whole different world.

The Rough Riders are interesting looking knives, and I may have to break down and try one myself first hand (maybe a canoe, I don't have one of those...). I think that the plastic handles in "abolonite" and tortoise might have fewer defects than the natural materials have had.

I looked around and saw that SMKW is carrying many of these in many different handle materials. I don't want to add to the list, but they have a liner lock "abalonite" sodbuster that might take care of the weight issue...

Keep us posted once you get some sleep.
 
Sodbusterrrr, yesss. Well, I do have the abalonite muskrat that could use a sibling.

I actually got onto the stones today. Touched up the edge just lightly on the second muskrat blade and both barlow blades. Even the kinda sharp, which wasn't too bad to begin with, just not highly sharp, cleaned up quickly using only the fine Arkansas stone and a light strop on bare leather. I really need to get some compound and set up a real stropping rig.

It remains to be seen how they hold up, but so far the steel seems to behave nicely. I'll probably take the muskrat and a small Boker whittler I also sharpened today with me to work tonight to see how the muskie carries a full night.
 
Well, I got the Elephant Toe when they first appeared in the SMKW catalog.
The small blade opened and closed nicely. The large blade was rough and gritty, gravel gritty.
I bathed it in mineral oil, WD40 and brake cleaner over and over. Not necessarily in that order ;)
After cycling it countless times while watching the telly, it is now acceptable.
Sharpened up nicely (Hoodoohone) and for the light duty stuff I've used it for the edge held up OK.
Then again, I don't complain about SAK steel or my CRKT Mirage Aus6 either.
;)

I also feel your pain on the night work. Did it for 8 years.
Finally got me a day job and I'm not looking back!
 
Sent off for a RR canoe version. I have been thinking of getting a Case canoe, but want to EDC the RR for a while to see if the pattern carries and handles to my liking before I spend the bucks on the real thing.
 
Makes good sense to try the pattern. If the RR carries well enough then the Case should carry even better. I packed both the RR muskrat and the Boker whittler last night. The muskie packed fine in the rear pocket of my slacks. I'll give it a shot in the front pocket of my jeans today while I'm still up. I used the muskrat for food duty last night and this morning. Worked fine on tomato and onion for a sandwhich and skinning a section of cucumber.

I'm a big fan of carbon steel, but to be honest, I have had a lot of good performance out of several stainless steel knives using both 440C and 440A, and of course the steadfast SAKs. If the heat treatment is done correctly I've found that the blades sharpen to shaving sharp, hold their edge for a decent amount of cutting work, and sharpen back up quickly. I haven't really seen enough difference between the two in perfomance, edge holding, or resharpening, if the blades are made and heat treated correctly. I have noticed that my stainless knives seem to be just a tad heavier and maybe the blades a tiny bit thicker than similar carbons. Others may have had different expriences, but those have been mine.

Like I said earlier, the RRs aren't going to replace my Case, Bokers, and such, but they have a place or two. There is always some little something that is off on them it seems. The muskie has a weak spring on one blade and that blade also doesn't fully open inline with the handle. I've heard the later complaint on US and German knives now and then. The RR barlow has the small blade/nail nick sitting below the edge of the frame. But for $9 or so per knife, shipped, I can't complain.

Amos
 
I agree Amos, I've had a few customer service experiences too. Luckily,US, Swiss, and German knives generally are backed by a company that stands behind their product and will fix or replace defects at little or no cost. With the RR line, I haven't seen any place to go with a problem. They are less expensive than other versions of the same knives (most of the line is available with a Winchester logo for ten bucks extra) so I guess you get what you pay for. Hope I get a winner, but like you have pointed out--it is pretty much luck of the draw...
 
Received the RR canoe in the mail, and it was better than I thought it would be. Sharp out of the box. Only gripe is that the faux tortoise allows you to see a lot of the glue used to secure the handles (more tranparent orange than brown). Beyond that, it is a pretty good example, much better than similar knives from China I've seen. Even better than the early RR knives I've seen (a lot of those had really thin blades which is certainly not the case here). I'll see how it carries. If I like it, I'll invest in the Case version.

I also ordered a barlow just to see how these stack up. This one was disappointing. There is a big (you can stick a thin business card in it) gap between the handle and the master blade. On such an inexpensive knife, I would be tempted to adjust this by tapping with a hammer. On close inspection, I found that the problem is that the master blade is visibly thicker than the spring. So I'll leave it as is and worry about it if/when it gets loose.
 
I have a RR canoe, and a Case CV canoe. The RR is a lot thicker and heavier, and feels totally different in hand than does the Case. My RR canoe developed a little blade play pretty quick, which I tightened with a few taps with a hammer. As just about everyone mentions, the RR's are hit and miss on quality. A RR copperhead I have seems pretty good, but I don't usually carry it. Alan
 
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