Rough Ryder Reserve: New Premium Rough Ryder Line

All G10 scale ends so far up from all bolsters they could cause a cut, excessive and growing! gap between springs, nail breaking difficult to open the small blade all on a High Carbon Canoe. The overall appearance of the scales is that they were a poor fit and forced together with the pins and/or combined with the spring gap could indicate serious material stresses due to improper machining or heat treat. Informed SMKW of the issues without requesting any action from them since the knife was bought from a different vendor, only told SMKW because they own the brand, no response after 2 contact attempts. Poor QC, poor customer relations in my opinion and my opinion is all that matters to me. I'll spend my money elsewhere.
 
I speaking only for myself like one arm blades. So far I have three, a 70s Case barlow, a GEC Calfpen and a little Chinese Boker jack. On the subject of the easy opening notch and the one arm feature being overkill, all three of the aforementioned knives have nail nicks/pulls in addition to the one arm feature. Of the three knives discussed so far its the only one I really like, but I appreciate the idea of trying something new. I do find it curious that when the RR swayback work knife was first introduced there was was much gnashing of teeth and rending of garmets over the fact that all RR did was copy everyone else.(GEC in this case) That they don't do anything unique and interesting as a brand. Although I've felt they've offered many unique jigging patterns and knife patterns.But now that they're trying to produce knives that ARE different and unique and outside of the box (hit or miss they're trying) everyone is bitch'n that they're not sticking to the same old patterns that are 100's of years old. I feel the Kershaw slippies got the same shaft,well I bought one and its a pretty dang good jackknife. Not many makers making large single blade jacks these days, and who knows maybe RR plans on using the same pattern with other blade shapes. I don't know but it seems to me allot of people want Rough Rider to keep making cheap knives and not try to improve they're products, while also complaining about how cheap they are and need to improve their products o_O

Want to add to my already overlong post: If you don't like'em because of coming from China and for political reasons or moral reasons won't buy them because of that, I do support and applaud your convictions. I find no fault in anybody taking a stand on something they believe in regardless if their opinion matches mine or not. And to those who have bad experiences with RR you have a valid soapbox to stand on as well, and I appreciate your honesty and input into the conversation.
 
Misplaced Hillbilly said:
If you don't like'em because of coming from China and for political reasons or moral reasons won't buy them because of that, I do support and applaud your convictions. I find no fault in anybody taking a stand on something they believe in regardless if their opinion matches mine or not.
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No one would argue against that, friend. The only issue there is forum rules and Moderators imploring folks to stop bringing up the country of origin, as it always heads down the same path.

to you other point I’m glad you like the one arm razors. That single blade is right up your alley. I wish I liked them, cause then I’d have something to be excited about. Looks well executed.
 
To be honest I find the Artisan Biome to be a more appealing (and cheaper!) 'not quite traditional' traditional. The reports of it's build quality have been excellent. The RR Kayak for example is advertised as a 'modern take on a traditional' but they don't seem to have enough of a foot in either 'modern' or 'traditional' camp for it to work. The design choices are jarring without the usage capabilities brought to the table which might excuse the aesthetic failures.
 
Pomsbz said:
The RR Kayak for example is advertised as a 'modern take on a traditional' but they don't seem to have enough of a foot in either 'modern' or 'traditional' camp for it to work. The design choices are jarring without the usage capabilities brought to the table which might excuse the aesthetic failures.
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I agree with you- 100%. One “Reverse Tanto” (aka large coping blade? Original sloyd?) Would have been forgivable, since it looks useful As a straight blade. But two of them? One with a slight belly? Missed opportunity for a clip point or something equally useful.

also did anyone notice the secondary is fatter than the primary? That just feels wrong.

I’m hoping the currently unannounced #004 has more appeal to me.
 
Slightly off topic . . .sorry. But does anyone know if the "damascus" blades on the new cinnamon range is actual damascus steel or just a clever etch or cnc'ing ?
 
Ruukuu said:
Slightly off topic . . .sorry. But does anyone know if the "damascus" blades on the new cinnamon range is actual damascus steel or just a clever etch or cnc'ing ?
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hughd said:
No damascus or stag...
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Unfortunately most things are not as they appear with Rough Ryder. CNC and clever stamping tend to produce most of interesting effects in the knives.

That's one thing I like about this premium line- they aren't really resorting to neat tricks.
 
Ruukuu said:
Slightly off topic . . .sorry. But does anyone know if the "damascus" blades on the new cinnamon range is actual damascus steel or just a clever etch or cnc'ing ?
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........asked the same.

Asked one of the makers on my forum to check one out - he used a file and a loupe - came back saying they’re the real deal, that they’ve been etched and polished in a way that makes them look very even
 
As for the Stag - have no reason to doubt it’s not Stag Bone, but it sure ain’t antler, obviously.

Checked two out, same model, different sources - the bone and colouring very slightly different - but the jigging and grooving has been cleverly done by CNC as they were an exact match.
 
hughd said:
I'm from Missouri...
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haha For our international friends who might not know... Missouri is the "Show Me" state.

Not to discredit your source, Chui Chui , but I'm also having a hard time believing that the 'Damascus' is real and not an effect imprinted onto their standard 440A. I might just have to get one to see for myself.
 
Alright, I stand corrected- I had to step out for a second to look it up on my phone, but it seems like it's legitimate Damascus. unfortunately we have no idea what the actual composition of the steel is, but it's at least a layered steel.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Alright, I stand corrected- I had to step out for a second to look it up on my phone, but it seems like it's legitimate Damascus. unfortunately we have no idea what the actual composition of the steel is, but it's at least a layered steel.
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- agreed. Sadly, from what I have read here and my own experience at comms with SMKW - their Customer Service appears a tad lacking
 
Chui Chui Hey Paul, forgot to inform you i was on this forum under the Ruukuu name . . . its me . . .Mik, hehehe

And yes guys, after i posted asking after the damascus, i recieved the knives. I checked out the spine of the blade with a very strong loupe i use for gemstones, and you can see the very fine layers of the damascus.

At first i thought it could just be the finish marks from the sanding, but there is a definite wavy pattern there.

I tried to take a picture, but its so faint my camera and phone would not focus on it.

By the way, i love "I'm from Missouri" meaning show me. Its true, i'd never heard of that before.
 
And i have to add, the RR cinnamon bone damascus knives are very, very good for the price, even in the UK.

For you guys in the States you will get an even better deal i would think. The knives had no gapping . . .maybe on one, just the very, very tiniest sliver that could hardly be seen even with the sun in the background. The blades were centred without any play and the scales were very nicely done.

I know some of you would not buy RR knives on principle, and i understand that totally. But for those that have a different view and are happy to buy them, they are very nice.

Wish they didn''t have the "R" on the bolster though.
 
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