The Case Knife Opinion

Z

zeedeegood

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Oct 17, 2005
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Just wondering, there's no forum on case knives, although there has been discussion on them in several forums. What's the general concensus on chrome vanadium and tru-sharp and the case knife in general. I've read that some feel they are overpriced and basically useless when it comes to holding an edge while whittling. While others religiously carry and use them on a daily basis. So, forgive me if this has been gone over before, but I'm calling out all you experts.
 
The Case knife forum is over at "the other place", Knifeforums. Best place to jaw about Case on Bladeforums would be in the traditional forum.
 
case knives are very good , especially considering the price. chrome vanadium is best for edge holding but the trusharp is not as bad as some of the traditionalists make it out to be.
 
Case also has their own member forum for the Case Collector's Club. You have to be a member to get in, but it's very friendly and informative. I've been hanging out there lately. I've been bitten by the Case bug badly, and I'm learning up on the particulars of my sickness.

Case knives are great. They're fine as users, but they're fantastic to collect! There are so many patterns, variants and handle materials to choose, and the prices are very reasonable for how nice they are!

The only thing I'm not crazy about with Case knives is that they're generally dull as butterknives out of the box. Once you sharpen them yourself, they seem to hold an edge reasonably well. Nothing like S30-V or ATS-34, but well enough for traditional knives.
 
Some of the newest Case knives I've bought are among the sharpest out of the box knives that I have ever bought. Some of the late 1980's to mid 1990's knives were fairly dull. I have gotten a couple with weak springs. Most are very good knives. I also have several from Queen, and with the exception of one Schatt & Morgan Mountain Man, all were pretty dull out of the box. As with any purchase, the best thing to do is to see the knife in person and try it before buying, but that isn't always possible what with mail orders and internet shopping. I still like to hit the local knife shops, I can get my fingers on the merchandise and see how it works before buying. ;)
 
The last Case knife I got was given to me as a Christmas present about five years ago, it was a Russlock. I always liked the pattern but unfortunately the knife I got had a lot of side to side play. I was able to tighten it somewhat myself, but I pretty much had x'ed Case off my list.

While browsing at Gander Mountain last month I came across a bunch of Case knives marked down for Clearance. They were Case/ Ruger Medium Stockman knives in bone ( I think honey bone) for $40.00. So I decided to give Case another try.

I must say I was really impressed by the quality of this one, the overall fit and finish is excellent. It has a high level of finishing even on the inside spring and frame. The SS blades are mirror polished and the bolsters are shaped evenly. I would definitely buy more.

Although the topic of this thread is Case, I want to add that Henckels is discontinuing folding knives and some great bargains can be found on-line.
I got a four blade Stockman in beige bone for $30.00 and it too is made very well. They are made by Boker , but the Boker versions sell for more money.
 
anyone notice the quality drop lately? just wondering if I got a bad one. my father has about 90, no problems with them. well just wondering.
 
mr.trooper said:
My Cv sodbuster is one of my favorite slipjoints :)
Click to expand...

I agree. My CV yellow handle sodbuster jr is one of my favorite Case knives. It is in my pocket daily. I have a couple of SS blades, but I really only buy the CV ones these days. Part of it is the traditional aspect, but part is due to its good performance. The medium stockman Amber bone CV is my favorite Case knife.
 
just bought a case camper last week thru the internet and have been testing it out for the past few days. im mainly a benchmade and tactical girl but ive gotten too many hassles carrying my 710 around town so ive switched to the case.

the only problem so far is what i consider finish problems. there are scratches on the side of the spearblade next to the leather punch. at a 29$ price point i dont know if thats normal or not or whether i should be concerned.

the blade opens cleanly, no wobbles and sharpens up with ease. im guess im just used to the sparkling tactical finish on my folders.

case, yeah id buy another.
 
orwell said:
just bought a case camper last week thru the internet and have been testing it out for the past few days. im mainly a benchmade and tactical girl but ive gotten too many hassles carrying my 710 around town so ive switched to the case.

the only problem so far is what i consider finish problems. there are scratches on the side of the spearblade next to the leather punch. at a 29$ price point i dont know if thats normal or not or whether i should be concerned.

the blade opens cleanly, no wobbles and sharpens up with ease. im guess im just used to the sparkling tactical finish on my folders.

case, yeah id buy another.
Click to expand...

It could be one blade making contact with another when you open or close the knife.

You could try some metal polish, but it will happen again, I notice it with some of my stockmen knives.
 
I like case knives for what they are- a traditional pocketknife design, that has no frills and is affordable. I purchased a Case a couple years ago- my first quality knife, made in America. This opened my eyes to good knives, and I still carry it. Razor sharp right out of the box. Great for a $30 knife. Before I purchased it, I didn't know crap about knives. Would buy another without hesitation, but I am not really for that style. I can't afford to spend a bunch of money for a tool that I might loose or damage, but knives like Cases fit the bill.

Anybody have one of their combat knife repro's? Looks like a Ka-Bar pattern. I don't know how good it is, but I would seriously be intrested in one if the price isn't too bad. Can't afford it right now, I just ordered a Benchmade, though...
 
From everything I've read here, a lot of people feel they are overpriced "name brand" knives who should be using better steel for their prices. I bought an ATS 34 Queen cutlery knife for the same price as a case and never looked back. Keep your eyes and ears open and do some research. The only advantage that I see a case having is ease of sharpening, but on the flip side, they dull pretty fast, from my experience.
Good Luck.
 
I received 4 different case knives in two weeks, all 4 should have been sent back but only sent two. Fit and finish was terrible,stag scales that dont even come close to matching. I gave up, no longer will purchase a case knife unless its super discounted. I'm growing fond of the bulldog brand.
 
I'll have to check out the bulldog brand also. I got 3 new case knives for Christmas and all were extremely well done. I did have a russlock that I took back once due to wobbly blade syndrome. I did a weeks worth of wood carving and whittling for my kids with a little case pen knife (CV blade) and didn't sharpen it until we got back home and it held up really well. I guess I'm biased because I have a collection started from my grandfather and great grandfather.
 
I just got a Bulldog large stockman with carbon steel blades , it's a 2004 edition. It's a very well made folder. But, I also bought a Case/Ruger medium stockman on clearance about a month ago, the fit and finish is superb.

I'll try to get a picture of both later on...
 
I've been wondering about CASE myself,as a European,it is important for me to try out some knives that ARE made in the USA. I have just 1 Case, a butterbean and I like its old-school traditional look,it feels like a pocket-knife from another age and this is positive! I've heard some say they're lukewarm about the quality,but mine seems fine for what it is,a nice looking pocket-knife that can handle some light tasks at home or work. It's not meant to be a hunting knife,pruner,or 'tactical' knife(whatever THAT means,cutting throat??)Above all it's nice to have an example of american craftmanship at affordable prices. Any Case pix anybody?
 
I have a small collection of Case Classics in the various Whittler patterns all with India Stag handles. Blades don't lock open. Holding on to them in case they become more valuable. These got me started in collecting knives, but now I collect knives that "I" like and will actually use.
 
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