Trying to learn more about traditional knives, point me in the right direction

B

Bob6794

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Apr 21, 2013
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I want to pick up another knife within the next few months, probably a Cadet. But while looking at it and all the other SAKs I started wondering about other slip joint knives as I am a bit lost on where to start looking. Especially when I don't want to invest much in this area, preferably under $30.

I have heard of Case and Great Eastern Cutlery but what other brands should I be looking at. I don't care if their in my budget range as I just want to get a better feel for it. And are there any particular knives you recommend I look at? Last time I handled a traditional I was a child.

(And I prefer to buy something new as I got burned a few times buying things used before, and I personally don't like buying a knife that already has "history" to it that I didn't do or know about.)
 
Welcome Bob, your in the right place, plenty of pic's, info and knowledge right here with loads of friendly and helpful people, enjoy,.

Kris,.
 
Buck
Queen
Canal Street Cutlery

I have a friend who only buys new. I'm the opposite. New can feel soulless and I often have a hard time bonding with new knives.
 
Welcome to traditionals!

I, like Owen, prefer old (and even newer) used knives. I like to think about their history and add my own.

There are some nice new knives at your $30 price point -Case and Buck come to mind, although your pattern choices will be somewhat limited. The Buck imports are a great value at way under your limit. You might also consider Rough Rider as you could likely get 2 or 3 different patterns to experiment with and still come in under budget. Keep your eye on the Exchange and the big auction site for bargains. Good luck!
 
At your price point, and current indecision, I would suggest ordering some Rough Rider patterns. They are inexpensive, and will allow you to get your feet wet to the point of knowing which patterns you prefer.

Wish I would have followed my own advice, it would have saved me some money. :barf:
 
I'm with Mink on the Rough Riders. Go through the "What Traditional Knife are you Totin'?" thread to see what you like the looks of, then try 3-4 Rough Riders in the patterns you like. You'll only spend 40-50 dollars and will have some good knives to try out. When you have used a pattern enough to KNOW that you like it, then get a higher quality brand like GEC in that pattern.
 
All the brands mentioned are great. I have more experience with Case, Buck and Rough Rider. Boker makes excellent slipjoints, the new Columbia River patterns look promising.
But for the money check out the Rough Riders. The handful I own never stop impressing me. Whatever steel they use and how they treat it they seem so easy to keep sharp and for the price the finish quality is great.
Also look at flea markets, garage sales, pawn and antique shops; lots of great old knives out there. Schrade, Camillus, Imperial, Colonial, Hammer, and many more.
 
Bob, get yourself a Case yellow handled trapper, stockman, sod buster or if you like stainless the black handled sod buster. The sod busters are usually right around 30 dollars or less, the others around 40. You wont be disappointed. Then just sit back and enjoy;)
God Bless
Tracy
 
I'm gonna echo, Mink's, and Black Mamba's thoughts Rough Riders are a great place to find out what particular direction to take your collection, seeing as they are so inexpensive, also if you already know what patterns interest you and are willing to invest, I'm a firm believer Case (particularly in Chrome Vanadium) represents a good, traditional value given the price, also Buck with their 300 series, while an acquired taste for many, are IMO great folders, then you have GEC which is really tailored towards us knife enthusiast, offering a plethora of patterns, and handle materials.
 
Sounds like there are some good suggestions in here, and quite a few knives I should check out. Thanks for the help.
 
For the more traditional looking knives I narrowed it down to so far is the Rough Rider Canoe (slip joint or lockback) and Buck Canoe. I am kind of leaning towards the Buck as I have been wanting to test the 420HC steel and to my understanding the Rough Rider uses 440a which is more than usable from my experience but it annoys me I can't get it as sharp as some of my other knives (using my kershaw black horse II as reference for 440a).

I also saw someone modify a buck canoe to be a single blade, is there any good guides on how to disassemble these knives that you guys know of off hand that would help me get started as I might just buy a Rough Rider and mod it (screw ups are less painful to my wallet till I get the process down). That is the other option I was thinking about.

Link to modded knife
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/810338-Custom-Buck-389-Canoe
 
Bob, you might want to ask on the Buck forum, but I'm not sure they use the same 420HC on the import knives.
I've seen 420J2 listed for the Chinese made knives, and it is WAY worse than 440A.
 
black mamba said:
Bob, you might want to ask on the Buck forum, but I'm not sure they use the same 420HC on the import knives.
I've seen 420J2 listed for the Chinese made knives, and it is WAY worse than 440A.
Click to expand...

Thanks I ask them, hopefully someone knows.
 
If you want to try Buck's famous Bos heat treated 420HC, you will have to buy one of their US-made knives. For traditional slip joints that would be the 301, 302, 303, 305, or 309.

Other Buck slip joints are made for them in China. I don't think even the folks on the Buck forum know for certain what blade steel is used on them.
 
If you like small knives, a Buck 303 (American made version) is a nice suggestion. Very smooth opening, three different blades, great heat treat, and decent snap to the blades. The Dymondwood handles on mine look nice too, IMO.
 
Slipjoints are not designed to be dismantled, it is a specialist job.
If you want a single bladed canoe, search the "copperhead" style. Can have 1 or 2 blades.
 
Bob, I have a suggestion. Look around to see if there is a knife collectors club in your area. If there is, go attend a meeting or two, and a show if there are any. Collectors are all too eager to share their passion with a new comer, and show him the knives. Yo will get to handle a good many different patterns first hand, and see what fits your hand and fancy. sometimes a subtle difference in shape can make a difference in how it feels to you. And different handle materials will feel different, as well as two blades or three, or only one.

Carl.
 
For traditionals the Canoe is the major one that really caught my interest minus a couple of more expensive ones which were out of my price range and I couldn't find a cheaper knife in that pattern. Wish I remembered what it was, but oh well. Right now I am leaning towards a Rough Rider Canoe or Victorinox Cadet.

Unfortunately a good majority of the traditional knives I've seen I wasn't a fan of the blade style and/or handle. I've handled stockmans, penuts, trappers, and a lot of the other popular patterns in the distant past and wasn't a big fan of those back than or now (personal preference, looks like a good knife but not for me). But there were always a few that caught my interest, right now from looking at these knives now there is the Canoe, Case Copperlock, to some extent the Sod Buster Jr/Country Cousin, and a few others I mentioned that were out of my price range that I forgot to bookmark.

So right now it's down to Rough Rider Canoe, Victorinox Cadet, and possibly the Case Sodbuster Jr or Queen Country Cousin. The last two I don't see myself carrying too often and would purchase to give myself other options for knives to use when I know I am going to be cutting a lot (I wear khakki pants/shorts a lot and it looks like that style of knife will slide out of my pocket easily :( so EDC is out of the question). And I will own up between the last two I am leaning towards the Country Cousin just to try my hand at using D2 steel and sharpening it as I hear it's a bit of a challenge and I wouldn't mind using a cheaper work knife to try to perfect my sharpening skills.

EDITED IN:
Knife collector club idea is good, though I be honest it's not really my thing to go to collectors clubs, etc.
 
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Bob6794 said:
For the more traditional looking knives I narrowed it down to so far is the Rough Rider Canoe (slip joint or lockback) and Buck Canoe. I am kind of leaning towards the Buck as I have been wanting to test the 420HC steel and to my understanding the Rough Rider uses 440a which is more than usable from my experience but it annoys me I can't get it as sharp as some of my other knives (using my kershaw black horse II as reference for 440a).

I also saw someone modify a buck canoe to be a single blade, is there any good guides on how to disassemble these knives that you guys know of off hand that would help me get started as I might just buy a Rough Rider and mod it (screw ups are less painful to my wallet till I get the process down). That is the other option I was thinking about.

Link to modded knife
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/810338-Custom-Buck-389-Canoe
Click to expand...

The Buck canoe (389) in pearl patterned scales is my 2nd favorite pocket knife right behind my Opinel 9, it's fairly thin and no need to modify to a one blade.

The steel is plenty hard, I rounded out the edge on another by not having something descent enough to sharpen it with and it takes a good edge and holds it with a daimond rod liike my EZ-LAP
 
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