Utica knives?

[thatotherguy]

How have all of your experiences with Utica knives been? I have three Utica made knives- two Klein TL-29s and a Utica Kutmaster stockman. The Kleins are both fantastic tools. They're a bit rough around the edges, but that doesn't bother their functionality a bit. They were both tight, well centered blades with no gaps in the springs, clean blade wells, good half stops, strong springs, everything you'd want in a good utility pocket knife. The stockman, on the other hand, is fairly disappointing. The blades were loose, there are a few small gaps, the springs were much much too light for a stockman (supposed to be a work knife in my opinion), there were (and are) small gaps between the bone and the bolsters (on all four bolsters), and there was a fairly large chip of the bone missing where the bolster, bone, and liner all meet. All of this is mainly cosmetic- most of it doesn't affect function. Now we get to the part that concerns function. I dropped the knife from a few feet onto a wood floor (I forgot the knife was in my lap, and when I stood up from my sitting position the knife fell) and the pile side scale broke loose- there was a gap large enough to fit a toothpick in- and one of the pins almost fell out. I have since taken the scale off, only to find that the gluework was pretty darn shoddy, the glue itself wasn't all that good, and both of the pins that don't hold the backspring in are not actually pins- they were just glued into small recesses in the brass liner. I have repaired the knife with rubber cement, so at least I can carry it and use it again.
What's the general consensus on new manufacture Utica knives, and how have they held up for you all?

 

[knarfeng]

I have both a Utica Barlow and a Utica stockman.

The Barlow is reasonably well made, but has very soft springs. Overall, I would rate it a bit below Case for fit and finish, but it then it cost about 1/3 less than the Case, too.

My stockman has minor gaps at the springs, but none at the scales. There are no chips in the scales. Spring strength is probably a 3, which for me is softer than an SAK. It does have some snap to it. The springs are flat in both opened and closed positions, which to me is a requirement. Again, overall build quality strikes me as a bit below Case with the cost being lower as well. I like that it is big and wide in the hand making it comfortable to use, definitely a work knife. One side comment is that on at least some of the carbon steel models, only the main blade is carbon steel. The other blades on those models are stainless. Mine is such a knife. But, all the blades sharpened up easily enough and I find it to be a good work knife.

I haven't dropped either of them, so I can't really comment on that part of your post.

 

[waynorth]

They produce a "medium" quality knife in my opinion, and to be kind. They will "do" I guess, I just prefer something better.
For many years Utica has not reached for excellence. Some of the details of their "collectible" knives in the 70s and 80s were interesting, but smacked of commercialism.
They didn't, and don't now measure up to the great knives they produced a century ago!!