Soliciting thoughts and opinions on a small knife for a colleague

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waltmc

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Dec 10, 2012
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Hello friends, I hope you all can help me with a decision. One of my friends and colleagues is finishing his PhD this semester and I would like to give him a traditional folder in honor of the occasion. Given my graduate student budget, I'm aiming for a price point below $50. I'm really open to any maker or pattern, though I've been thinking about something along the lines of a Buck Companion or Cadet (but no larger than that) or Case peanut, pen, mini Copperhead. I like the Eisenhower, for example, but not the Ike signature etching. You can probably see what I have in mind. Although, I've not completely given up on the idea of an Alox SAK engraved with his initials, though that is probably as large as I would like to go.

In a perfect world, my budget might be higher, but I think I should be able to find something that passes muster. With respect to my friend, he wouldn't know the difference between delrin and damascus, so I've got a lot of latitude in my choices. One big challenge in this quest is that I live in a place where there are no knives to be seen in person. Any of these will have to be bought through the mail, sight unseen, so that might make a difference.

Do you very knowledgeable folks have any ideas? Are there other patterns or makers that I have forgotten about?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks,
Walt.
 
In my opinion,the Case Peanut,with a nice,classic handle material would be hard to beat. With someone that doesn't know "delrin from damascus", it will be the thought that counts. A nice jigged bone handle in dark red or chestnut will be a good looker,classic and functional. I would also suggest the Case 300 or 310 Stainless single blade Lockback. Or the Buck 525 Gent Stainless Single Blade. Any of these knives have room on the Stainless Steel handle for Engraving the Date of a Special Event,and all three are Made in the USA. And should be in your price range.
 
waltmc said:
One of my friends and colleagues is finishing his PhD this semester and I would like to give him a traditional folder in honor of the occasion. Given my graduate student budget, I'm aiming for a price point below $50.
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You might consider an nice black Victorinox Executive. There are plenty of places online that will engrave it for you. Very useful and elegant penknife.

waltmc said:
I like the Eisenhower, for example, but not the Ike signature etching.
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DITTO! Lose the autograph, please!

-- Mark
 
The Case Eisenhower can be had without the signature etched onto the blade. I would also look at a Case pen, Case pen with scissors, etc. Don't forget about the SAK Executive or maybe I'm thinking of the Secretary. It's the one with the single blade and the smooth stainless handles. I'd try to find an inexpensive mother-of-pearl or quality substitute handled knife for the "gentleman" factor.
 
You can't do better than a mini copperhead. It's my favorite small carry. In fact, I haven't carried mine in a few days and I have been scratching around trying to find it. I will or just pocket my backup in the deep canyon bone. I have three of them altogether now.

MiniCopperhead-DeepCanyonBone.jpg


Ed J
 
as rma100 notes, for a non-knife collector it will be the thought that counts most. can you add any more relevant information about your friend?

the only very small knife i have any experience with is a tiny toothpick type model made by queen. it should be within your budget but may be too 'cowboy' for your friend. also i found the blade more challenging to sharpen than other knives.
i saw some very small 1-2 blade victorinox products in a store recently that might fit your needs. it should also be within your budget but the style may not be right.
 
i would recommend case mini trapper. not to small that feel can't do alot with it but good for getting most indoor tasks done without feeling too cumbersome in pocket. there are plenty of handle materials in your budget that would satisfy your friend. would recommend a polish stainless steel model cause it will look nice without alot of maintenance for the blades.
 
Try the Victorinox Secretary with brushed stainless handle. It's a true, 2 blade pen knife in the style of the turn of the century office knives: 3 1/4" long (same length as the Buck Cadet) but very, very slim and light weight. Razor sharp out of the box; very, very classy looking; surprising sturdy; and can be had for around $20. The brushed Alox handle offers a large area for engraving. Do a search of this site and you'll find several descriptions and photos.

Enjoy the search,

Rudd
 
I don't think you can go wrong with either the Case peanut or pen. Simple, useful, relatively inexpensive examples of a jack and pen knife.

Since everyone likes knife pictures . . .

Together
penpeanut.jpg


penpeanutclipblades.jpg


penpeanutpenblades.jpg


Separate
peanutJuly5.jpg


CasepenJan1.jpg
 
These are some great suggestions so far--thank you.

wouldestous: To answer your question, my friend is 30-ish, married, originally from Vermont (though for now is an academic nomad). He's a jeans and chinos kind of guy who owns hiking boots but does not pretend to be an outdoorsman. He would appreciate the aesthetics of bone covers, for example (not to mention that I can get a Case in one of our university colors). That has me leaning more toward the Case offerings, but it's still early...

Doug Add: Thank you for posting pics of the two side-by-side. That's very helpful.

Thank you, too, to those who suggested the Victorinoxes. I'd forgotten about those non-can-opener models.
 
waltmc said:
These are some great suggestions so far--thank you.

wouldestous: To answer your question, my friend is 30-ish, married, originally from Vermont (though for now is an academic nomad). He's a jeans and chinos kind of guy who owns hiking boots but does not pretend to be an outdoorsman. He would appreciate the aesthetics of bone covers, for example (not to mention that I can get a Case in one of our university colors). That has me leaning more toward the Case offerings, but it's still early...

Doug Add: Thank you for posting pics of the two side-by-side. That's very helpful.

Thank you, too, to those who suggested the Victorinoxes. I'd forgotten about those non-can-opener models.
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waltmc, thank you for that vital information. Knowing something about the man helps to make a choice. So he's a casual clothes academic and this knife won't be required to field dress any cape buffalo's.:D

For a nice low profile pocket knife, it's hard to beat a small Case or Victorinox. The Case peanut, mini copperhead, and Eisenhower are all nice choices for a light duty mail and packages opener. Out of curiosity, what is your school colors? The peanut is available in a wide range of bone scale color, as is the smaller Victorinox keychain size knives. It's a funny thing, but my dad was given a Case peanut as a parting gift from his mother when he went off to a university, as he was the very first in his family to get a 'higher' education. He ended up using that little Case for almost the rest of his life as a suit type. I've been carrying a peanut for the last several years now, and I find it good for 99% of what I need a knife for as a retired suburban gentleman of leisure.

The Buck 309 companion is another great choice, as I know one friend of mine that gets by very nicely with one as his main edc knife. I think I've seen my friend Wayne clean more fish, and do more odd jobs with that little knife than most people do with a much larger one. And the little Buck is built like a tank, like all Bucks.

Both the peanut and companion are great choices. :thumbup:

I also would not sell the Victorinox executive short. Great little knife in a keychain size package with an extra blade and scissors and small screw driver packed into it, with tweezers that really work, and toothpick.

Carl.
 
There are several Case patterns that appeal to me personally, in two different size ranges (my names for the ranges):

Tiny (3" or smaller closed): Tiny Trapper, Small Stockman, Peanut.

Medium (3" to 3 5/8"): Mini Copperhead, Small Texas Jack (also called Medium Jack in some models), Medium Stockman, Mini Trapper, Mini Copperlock.

If I had to pick just one out of all of those for someone new or indifferent to knives, it would probably be the Small Texas Jack, 62032 CV in Amber Bone CV (chrome vanadium steel) or the Medium Jack 62032 SS (stainless steel) in Sunset Winterbottom Bone.

Both can be viewed on the WR Case web site. If you want to search for the Small Texas Jack, do it by name rather than part number since they have it listed as 63032 CV which implies 3 blades, rather than the two it comes with.

The Amber Bone model is within your price range, the Winterbottom Bone is just a touch outside.


Side note: I am rather new to the traditional folder scene, and I just bought my first two recently - the Case Swayback Jack in Chestnut Bone CV and the Medium Texas Jack in Amber Bone CV that I recommended above. They are both really beautiful little knives, so nicely polished and finished that I still haven't carried them for fear of messing them up. My point being that your friend will be well pleased with the looks and quality of the gift, whether he chooses to use it or not!
 
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I'm a long time advocate of the Small Stockman. They are beautiful, useful, versatile.

Pace Jackknife; Not even the mighty peanut kicks the Jr. Stockman out of my pocket.
 
jc57 said:
Side note: I am rather new to the traditional folder scene, and I just bought my first two recently - the Case Swayback Jack in Chestnut Bone CV and the Medium Texas Jack in Amber Bone CV that I recommended above. They are both really beautiful little knives, so nicely polished and finished that I still haven't carried them for fear of messing them up. My point being that your friend will be well pleased with the looks and quality of the gift, whether he chooses to use it or not!
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You have very good taste for a new guy. ;)

I understand about not wanting to "mess them up," but these are knives that take good, honest use well, and in my eyes become more beautiful with time and use, especially due to the CV steel. Just try not to accidentally drop 'em on their heads, the way I've been known to do. :eek: That doesn't go as well.

~ P.
 
Interesting categorization jc. labeling the peanut tiny and the mini copperhead medium. I know you are right that the mini copperhead is slightly over 3" closed and slightly over 5" w/main blade open, while the peanut is slightly under 3" closed, and slightly under 5" w/main blade open. Nevertheless, the mini copperhead always felt like a smaller knife in my hand. At first I thought maybe it was the single spring, but with slightly wider bone handles than the peanut, the two have identical widths.

Odd, I know, how subjectively we judge something by use, even if the facts do not support it.
 
Doug - good point, I suppose, I should have more ranges: Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, and Enormous. :)

I was going by Cases published list of patterns and sizes. I imported it into a spreadsheet and sorted by size, and filtered it to only show current production patterns. I arbitrarily broke it up into ranges based on that, and my personal preferences from drooling over the pictures. I suppose a break point at 3" closed was somewhat arbitrary. I blame Case for not being consistent with their naming conventions. For instance, the largest of of three patterns that they call "Medium Stockman" is the same size as the "Mini Trapper", and the identical pattern (032) in two different handles is called a Small Texas Jack and a Medium Jack.

So don't blame me for confusing ranges! ;)
 
jc57 said:
So don't blame me for confusing ranges! ;)
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No real quibble with your categorization jc, it's just the image of tiny/medium gave me occasion to observe how odd it is that a smaller knife actually feels larger to me.
 
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