The battle of the pens (Case 109 vs Buck 309)

Ok, so I COULD have started a new thread, but this is just perfect
as a buck 309 carrier and lover i have been eyeballing the case pen knife

For the OP, its been just shy of 8 months. After an extended period of time, what is your impressions
do you have a preference these days? And why?

ps
sorry if this is thread necromancy, but it made more sense to add the question to an existing thread in light of his "wait and see" conclusion than starting a whole new thread and hoping he noticed ;)
 
valid questions and comments.

It's a live thread... not zombie-ized.
 
I was given a 309 made in 2004 two days ago and it's taking me a while to adjust to the size of it for I'm use to a 3 1/4" slipjoint EDC. Good thing is it's small enough to carry on a commercial plane.
 
dogstar said:
There is a gap between the backspring and one liner. I can see light through it. The oddest thing is the heel of both blades has been coarsely ground, leaving burrs that had to be filed off.
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I recently purchased a case pen knife in yellow with cv blades. I love carrying this little thing. Just wanted to add that mine came with these same two deficiencies. Gap between backspring and one liner and coarse grind on the tang. However, on mine the grind is only on the clip blade, not the pen blade.
 
powernoodle, all 309s, AFAIK, are made in the good 'ol US of A. You've got some choices between handle scales. Charcoal dymondwood and yellow delrin are being discontinued.
 
tkill said:
I recently purchased a case pen knife in yellow with cv blades. I love carrying this little thing. Just wanted to add that mine came with these same two deficiencies. Gap between backspring and one liner and coarse grind on the tang. However, on mine the grind is only on the clip blade, not the pen blade.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the update. I don't know why Case grinds the kicks like that. It's a real drag.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
Ok, so I COULD have started a new thread, but this is just perfect
as a buck 309 carrier and lover i have been eyeballing the case pen knife

For the OP, its been just shy of 8 months. After an extended period of time, what is your impressions
do you have a preference these days? And why?

ps
sorry if this is thread necromancy, but it made more sense to add the question to an existing thread in light of his "wait and see" conclusion than starting a whole new thread and hoping he noticed ;)
Click to expand...

Rsmith_77,

Sorry I missed this post. I would have replied sooner if I could. Hope you're still out there...

To be honest, I've moved on to bigger, single blade knives, like the 302 and Brown Mule Sodbuster. If I want a smaller knife, I usually go for the 309. I still carry the Case 32087, but it's probably the least loved of my stable. It's a perfectly functional and good looking knife, but it's the first one I'd gift of all my knives.
 
dogstar said:
Rsmith_77,

Sorry I missed this post. I would have replied sooner if I could. Hope you're still out there...

To be honest, I've moved on to bigger, single blade knives, like the 302 and Brown Mule Sodbuster. If I want a smaller knife, I usually go for the 309. I still carry the Case 32087, but it's probably the least loved of my stable. It's a perfectly functional and good looking knife, but it's the first one I'd gift of all my knives.
Click to expand...

lol woah a response ;)
thanks for your thoughts, i never did pick up the case pen, i sorta moved on to either my texas jack or most commonly my wenger SI
its funny how life works out isnt it? lol
 
For about the 60th time, I have ordered a knife that I didn't know I wanted until I saw it on a BF thread.
 
I don't remember this thread the first time, and now I need a charcoal 309 :D I have the 310 whittler and like it a lot.

Case does make the Pen with bone, but I only have the one:

bsapen.jpg


It goes to work a lot, as do all my 3.5" and smaller knives. The Case Pen does get a little more pocket time than the others in winter though.
 
I have never owned either knife. I am curious about a couple of things. I know the Bucks have stainless liners, but do they really have stainless bolsters? And if so, are they integral with the liners? Also, in your photo, the pen appears to be the Case shallow hollow grind. If I am not mistaken, that hollow grind is not of the type that produces a thickness behind the edge, but rather is two curved surfaces that converge to the edge.
 
MarkPinTx,

The liners and bolsters are one piece on the 309. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Valox scaled models are SS throughout. Other models would have one-piece Nickel silver bolsters/liners.

The Pen is a very subtle hollow grind, which is often mistaken for full flat grind. Buck has more meat on the blade due to partial hollow grind.
 
Dog, I went with black plastic as I like that look the best (and it was under $25 shipped). And like you I also have a yellow Case Pen knife, which has been in my pocket for a couple of weeks. I've really gotten back into traditionals in the past month or so, and it doesn't hurt that I have minimalist tendencies on top of it. Its a convergence of all things good.
 
I bought a 309 with the Charcoal Dymondwood a while back probably almost a year ago. At first I had some issues with it, side to side blade play on both blades but especially bad on the main blade, but after I sent it off to Buck they got it all fixed up and now I really enjoy the knife. I carry it a lot to work as it rides very good in my dress pants and it was cheap enough I don't worry about it riding along with my keys and whatever else I have in my pockets. I picked it up for around $25 shipped on flea bay brand new in a clam shell package. Sorry to hear they are getting rid of the Dymondwood scales as they are my favorite for sure! I wonder if they are doing away with the Chairman Cherry Dymondwood version because I've been wanting to pick one of those up in the 303 Cadet pattern.
 
dogstar said:
If I want a smaller knife, I usually go for the 309. I still carry the Case 32087, but it's probably the least loved of my stable. It's a perfectly functional and good looking knife, but it's the first one I'd gift of all my knives.
Click to expand...

Odd that you should phrase it that way. I had both a Case pen and a Buck 309. I gifted the Case pen and still carry the 309 on occasion.

The 309 main blade has an odd shape, but I find that it is perfect for a great many cutting jobs. It's almost like having a clip and a Wharncliffe in the same blade.
 
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