Stockman advice

kamagong

kamagong

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Joined
Jan 13, 2001
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I need a new stockman. I already have one and I like it. It's a CS, and the blades take a great edge and keep it. The problem is the delrin handles. Try as I might, I cannot warm up to jigged delrin. I appreciate its qualities, but plastic just doesn't belong on a slipjoint IMO. It looks strange when I see nice patinaed blades and shiny handles.

The solution, I've decided, is to put this stockman away and buy myself another one. This time it'll have stag handles to match the carbon blades. I looked around and it seems that there are two current makers of production slipjoints that offer both stag and carbon blades. They are Bulldog and Boker. I do not have any experience with either brand so I need you guys to help me make a decision by answering some questions. The first is, how is the heat treat of the two brands? Second, how is the walk and talk? Finally, how is the quality control? In short, I am asking about your experiences with these two brands. Is there one that you would recommend over the other?

Thanks for the help.
 
My experiences with Bulldog and Boker have been excellent.

The Stag on my Bulldog Copperhead is some of the best looking Stag I have.

Bulldog-Copperhead.jpg


And my Boker Congress is very nice also. (this one is Grand Canyon Bone)

Boker-Grand-Canyon-Congress.jpg


Both knives have fantastic fit and the carbon steel is great.

I've not been really thrilled with the stainless steel from either company, but since your looking for carbon steel, either company will be good.
 
I'll second the Eye-brand. Mine has exellent edge holding, and is a very good edc using knife.
 
I third the Eye Brand & also the Indian Head & Jim Bowie Brands. All made in the Eye Brand shop, just can't beat that hammer forged steel.
 
I also like the Eye Brand alot.
Boker too.

If you're buying stag handles, the Eye Brand stag scales
are a lot thicker than the Boker's.
BTW, the Boker stockman knives in bone are real nice also.
Especially the Grand Canyon series.

I'm not as familiar with the Bulldogs because
I only have toothpicks from them.

Another thing I think is worth mentioning is that the
large Schlieper stockman (the 425DS) is a MUCH nicer knife than
the medium version (the 350DS). It's like they're made by two
different companies. Heck, maybe they are.

The Eye Brand large stockman in stag is a really nice piece.
Huge backsprings, nice grinds, very heavily put together.
I recommend it highly.
 
I got two Eye Brands from Ron Ryder, a small and a large. Both are top notch. Carried my small one today, in fact.
 
Thanks for the help guys, especially for the comments regarding the Eye Brand knives.

rifron2, do you know where I can find the 425DS?
 
Zip7 said:
I want to say the large one is the one I handled - it was 4+ inches long.
Click to expand...

Right, the 425DS = 4.25" deer stag.

I noticed also someone mentioned Moore Maker - they
are terrific knives. The stag versions will give a good
hit to your wallet, but they sure are nice. They also
make a version with ram's horn scales that's a winner IMO.
 
Can you guys post pics of your stockmen?

jackknife, what size is your stockman?
 
So you want to see some pictures????

On the 2nd page of this forum there is the "Check your Stocks Man" thread there is 6 pages of pic's including the Eye Brand.

Dave
 
kamagong said:
Can you guys post pics of your stockmen?

jackknife, what size is your stockman?
Click to expand...

It's the smaller of the two. About 3 1/2 inches. If you want a good comparison in size, its about the same size closed as my sak tinker. I got it from Smoky Mountain several years ago, and the stag is very nice, but I'm not sure if it's the India stag or European red stag.
 
kamagong said:
Can you guys post pics of your stockmen?
Click to expand...

Here is my Eye Brand 425DS (Deer Stag).

Eye-Brand-425DS-1.jpg


4 1/4" inches closed

This is a great knife, but since you mentioned carbon steel, I wanted to warn you to make sure that's what your getting. Mine was sold to me as carbon steel, but it is actually stainless steel. I have made several attempts to start a patina on mine with apples and vinegar both and it has had no effect.
 
I have quite a few Bulldog and Boker knives. I have both in the stockman pattern. I do not have the Eye Brand though. To me, Bulldog is a delicate knife, more jewel like in movement. It reminds me of a older Case knife. Boker is more basic, more sturdy if you will. To me a good honest knife, it reminds me of an American made Buck. Slightly different knives, but I like them both.
 
Arathol said:
Mooremaker has a couple nice fairly large stag stockman knives in 1095 listed.

http://catalog.mooremaker.com/browseGroup.cfm?item_group_id=29383
Click to expand...

I don't know how much you want to spend, but in my opinion the Moore Maker is the nicest option out there for what you have in mind. They are made by Queen, and I put the average quality even above Queen's already high standards, due to the Moore Maker QC. Plus, you're getting sambar stag, and I may be wrong but I don't think the German varieties (Bulldog, Boker, Eye-Brand, Indian Head) use Sambar. Don't get me wrong, my Indian head stag stockman is one of my all time favorites. I just think the Moore Makers are top of the line. If there's an arguement against them it might be that they're too nice, and you might be hesitant to use it very hard.
 
I have several Eye Brand stockmans, 350 and 425. I really like them. And the blades are ground just the way I like them, with fine, thin edge bevels. No reprofiling needed.
 
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