Wanting a Case folder for EDC

jakemex said:
All the baloney and you live that close. Drama 🤪👍🤣
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Well, there's a lot that cannot be answered by simply picking something up. I like to put things to use before I completely evaluate something. For example, how long is the edge going to last? I can't answer that without using it a lot first.
 
The edge is not going to last a super long time. It’s meant to be easily resharpened rather than rarely need sharpening. Will it suit you, I don’t know. I prefer carbon steel but I use a lot of cases stainless because it’s a good compromise for low maintenance and ease of sharpening.

Don’t compare it to a benchmade or whatever for edge holding, but rather evaluate it on its own merit.
 
The mini trapper I showed is my wife’s. I haven’t really used it myself, but I have permission. Thinking about doing some whittling with it to give it a fair shake. Nothing like using one a spell to really get a feel for the pattern.
 
JM2 said:
The edge is not going to last a super long time. It’s meant to be easily resharpened rather than rarely need sharpening. Will it suit you, I don’t know. I prefer carbon steel but I use a lot of cases stainless because it’s a good compromise for low maintenance and ease of sharpening.

Don’t compare it to a benchmade or whatever for edge holding, but rather evaluate it on its own merit.
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Yeah, we'll see. I am probably just going to end up collecting some stereotypical examples of some very old or widespread patterns. Things like Mercators, Douk Douk, Opinel, Higonokami, and now I'll probably get some variant of a Barlow and a Stockman, probably a few more and probably leave it at that. I don't want to spend a lot of money and even though the style of some of these knives are pretty cool, it remains to be seen if I will end up carrying any of them on a day to day basis. I would probably have a greater interest in building my own at some point when I have a better idea of the features I want, and shapes and sizes that I like.
 
So, I got this Sod Buster JR today. I'm not sure how to judge these things, but it did arrive reasonably sharp. The edge was pretty gritty as expected, but a few strokes on ceramic smoothed it out completely. There's a minor gap behind one of the scales, and the back spring does sit up ever so slightly when opened. The opening/closing was a bit gritty but I put some oil inside it and worked it around a bit, and it seems fine now. Blade centering is pretty good. It seems fair for the price.

As for the size, whether or not I'd be comfortable carrying a slipjoint, that I don't know yet. As for the size, it's a fairly small knife in the hand. For most my EDC tasks, I could get by with even smaller. This is definitely more pocketable than my Rat 1 though. It's a good in-between size.

As for being a slipjoint, that will take more time to figure out. As I said above, the action was kind of gritty, so I'm thinking opening/closing will get easier as that wears in. It was pretty tough to open initially which was a negative, but it's already smoothing out nicely. So, we'll see.
 
Ulfrinn said:
So, I got this Sod Buster JR today. I'm not sure how to judge these things, but it did arrive reasonably sharp. The edge was pretty gritty as expected, but a few strokes on ceramic smoothed it out completely. There's a minor gap behind one of the scales, and the back spring does sit up ever so slightly when opened. The opening/closing was a bit gritty but I put some oil inside it and worked it around a bit, and it seems fine now. Blade centering is pretty good. It seems fair for the price.

As for the size, whether or not I'd be comfortable carrying a slipjoint, that I don't know yet. As for the size, it's a fairly small knife in the hand. For most my EDC tasks, I could get by with even smaller. This is definitely more pocketable than my Rat 1 though. It's a good in-between size.

As for being a slipjoint, that will take more time to figure out. As I said above, the action was kind of gritty, so I'm thinking opening/closing will get easier as that wears in. It was pretty tough to open initially which was a negative, but it's already smoothing out nicely. So, we'll see.
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I recommend you flush the pivot out. It has been my experience with the Soddie jr that if it’s gritty it will start to get harder not easier as time goes on. Hafting grit and compound.
John 🍺
 
Ulfrinn said:
So, I got this Sod Buster JR today. I'm not sure how to judge these things, but it did arrive reasonably sharp. The edge was pretty gritty as expected, but a few strokes on ceramic smoothed it out completely. There's a minor gap behind one of the scales, and the back spring does sit up ever so slightly when opened. The opening/closing was a bit gritty but I put some oil inside it and worked it around a bit, and it seems fine now. Blade centering is pretty good. It seems fair for the price.
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Doesn't sound like anything is majorly wrong with it, use it with confidence. 🤠 :thumbsup:
 
The backspring being proud when the blade is open is a common thing with slip joints. I like to remove metal from the backspring so that it is flush when open, and slightly sunken when closed. Provided that too much metal doesn’t need to be removed as to cause the blade to not have adequate snap.
 
Wild Willie said:
So long as you maintain a modicum of common sense about knife use you'll be fine. I've never handled a rat folder, but I find the geometry on traditional knives to be superior in every way to one handers, with infinitely better pocketability.
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I'm not worried about the fact it's non locking. More so just curious if I'll miss things like the convenience of easy one-hand opening.

jmh33 said:
I recommend you flush the pivot out. It has been my experience with the Soddie jr that if it’s gritty it will start to get harder not easier as time goes on. Hafting grit and compound.
John 🍺
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That's basically what I did with some of the oil I use to clean and lubricate firearms with, and after doing so and working it a bit it's much smoother.

So far, no real complaints in terms of Case. I knew what to expect, I got what I expected, and I knew what to do about it.
 
Ulfrinn said:
More so just curious if I'll miss things like the convenience of easy one-hand opening.
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That's why many of us pair a Traditional with a Modern... then use what the occasion calls for.
But even when I carry a Modern, the Traditional still does 99% of the work for me. You get used to slowing down and enjoying the process.
 
JohnDF said:
That's why many of us pair a Traditional with a Modern... then use what the occasion calls for.
But even when I carry a Modern, the Traditional still does 99% of the work for me. You get used to slowing down and enjoying the process.
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I usually carry a modern flipper or automatic for opening or breaking down boxes in a hurry, plus a traditional for when I'm not in a rush. But the traditional never goes into the pocket of pants with loose pockets. That's when I only carry a knife with a pocket clip, usually a modern.
 
With practice, you can open a sodbuster one handed. So if you were in a situation where you couldn’t use your other hand, like with your hand pinned between a rock wall and a boulder...
 
I'd imagine a full size Sod Buster, or even a Copperhead style which has the pointier spine on it, which makes for a better grip, would be easier to open one-handed than the Sod Buster JR which is kind of small, but I can almost do it. If it loosens up a bit more, I'll probably be able to.

My Rat 1 is out of commission though. I took it apart a couple weeks ago for a deep cleaning and noticed the nylon washers were shredded. The brass ones aren't thick enough to stabilize the blade on their own, and thicker ones with the correct ID and OD are not available. I found thicker ones with the correct OD, but I'll have to ream out the centers to fit, but for the time being, it's not going to be useful for anything. It was my primary knife in the kitchen too, but I've replaced that with an Old Hickory 5" butcher that I had to fix the bevel on, and sharpen, since it was as dull as a butter knife when I got it. I'm evaluating how well that knife holds an edge, and how easy that one is to maintain, along side the Sod Buster, and Case's stainless blade.

Also, I've tossed my other sharpening tools, a kitchen style sharpener, and a pocket sharpening tool into the drawer, used stones to repair and sharpen the Old Hickory knife, and will only use stones to sharpen knives going forward. But, being a slipjoint, I still don't foresee any issues with any kind of back and forth motion in doing that. The back springs in these do a far better job in keeping them open than most people would assume. You really have to be doing something dumb to get one of these to fold on you, and even then, so long as you're holding it properly, the unsharpened base of the blade should be what contacts your finger, not the edge.

Question, are the scales on these things solid, or are they hollow inside? Could it be reshaped at all?
 
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Hey, at least I can still safely close one-handed. Also, this Sod Buster doesn't really need a half-stop. The spring doesn't take over until it's like 75% closed anyway.
 
Also, here's where I am at with the traditional style folders. The Sod Buster Jr is kind of a chunky little thing, with scales that are rather thick. I feel I could easily fit a double-blade into something the same size, and if I am not mistaken, a Copperhead is about the same over all width with two blades, I think I'd rather stick with a single bladed version. I feel like the second blade wouldn't be all that useful for day to day stuff, so long as the main blade is properly maintained, and that it would only make it more tedious to get the main blade out when I need it. So a single-bladed Copperhead that is a bit thinner, IMO, would be even more perfect.

Now, if I was going to be doing a lot of outdoor tasks, maybe go camping, hiking, backpacking, etc, or wanted something to throw into a bugout bag, sacrificing a slight increase in thickness for the addition of a second, full size blade, such as those found on two-bladed Copperheads, or a trapper, would probably be the route I would go for that, in conjunction with about a 5-6" fixed blade. Something that could handle small cutting tasks, or cleaning fish and animals. But for urban EDC, I think thinner, and single blade would be more preferable to me.

So yes to more "full size" multi bladed knives for non everyday pocket carry. Yes to smaller single-bladed traditional folders for everyday pocket carry, but I don't think a smaller multi-bladed knife really benefits me in either situation, but I am sure there's a good reason for them. Just nothing that fits in with my needs at the moment. And so far, I don't really care that it isn't locking. Locking or slipjoint, or even when I use using my Opinel without a locking ring, as a pure friction folder, it never seemed to make much of a difference to me.
 
Ulfrinn said:
Yeah, I cannot think of any reason why the Sodbuster JR wouldn't be a solid EDC pick. The problem is, every single knife suggested is a great EDC pick.

I am also considering getting a new knife for around my home, mostly kitchen duty. I have a small kitchen, and never cut food in a high enough quantity to have to use anything larger. I may get a full size Sodbuster for that. The Otter Mecator knife, Opinel 12, as well as a couple fixed blades such as the Mora Campanion are on that list as well. In fact, because cleaning last night, and noticing a couple of the synthetic bearings in my Rat 1 were absolutely destroyed, that knife is pretty much out of commission at the moment, and that may prompt me to buy a larger knife for kitchen usage first, and a traditional EDC knife second.
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Ulfrinn said:
Maybe. But I've used an Ontario Rat 1 in the kitchen for the past year, and I've learned a few things about folding knives for kitchen duty. The first thing I learned is that I don't need a large blade to do general purpose chopping and cutting. A 3.5-4" blade suffices. But I also learned moisture WILL seep in between any area where two materials are joined, and not completely sealed up with something like epoxy. If there is a gap between the line and scale, moisture will get in. Between the blade and liner as well. I got rust there, and also between the liners and scales on my Rat 1. The benefit of this Rat 1 is I could do a complete teardown and cleaning of it. On something pinned, I can't. Moisture will seep in to places you won't really be able to stop it or fully address it.
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For a smallish knife for kitchen duty, just get a Victorinox paring knife. Shouldn’t set you back too much, and you won’t have nearly the problems you might face with constant use of a folding knife for food prep re: wet joints, sanitation, and so forth.

That Old Hickory should serve you well in the kitchen. I can do most any food prep with a short paring knife and a 5” or so knife.
 
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TrapperMike said:
The peanut is great. Small enough you dont even notice it in the pocket, but still cuts most everything i need to cut. I carry mine in my watch pocket. A victorinox classic would also be a good choice and still traditional.
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Agree about the peanut, no opinion about the SAK classic because I do not have it. The only Case I have both in yellow synthetic and bone scales is the peanut. The knife with bone has more rounded scales and bolsters, and, probably because of the peanut's size, it clearly looks and feels smaller. To me this is a good thing, bout to some it may be the opposite.
 
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