What happened to Case?

Prester John said:
I don't have single blade trappers. Just a couple of regular trappers. I think one is 2017 and one is 2018. But the Case trapper has not changed much in a while.
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after much digging, here it is.
IMG_1741_zpsjvmgyfip.jpg


couldve sworn i grabbed one in green with out that EO. But after digging thru the history searches for the last 45 minutes i give up
 
I have a bunch of Case knives. A few from the 1940-70 era, and some from around 2000-ish to ones made only a few months ago. Other than one with a slight blade wobble & a couple with wonky edge grinds, (both easily fixed), I've been lucky with Case QC. I like pocket knives with good snap & Case seems to do better than GEC in that regard, at least with the knives I have.
 
Joins and trashes Case but talks like he knows knives. Says $15 foriegn made Old Timers are better so we know he's not really knowledgeable. Disparages US workmanship. Insults his father's opinion. Classy guy.
 
I have had excellent luck with Case knives. I've bought older ones, and some newer ones, and one 2020 half whittler. My three swayback jacks are of GEC quality. I have three trappers... two full size, and one mini. Excellent knives, all of them arriving pretty much almost shaving sharp. The only "questionable" one I've bought was a 6249W copperhead with a wharncliffe blade. The pull on the main blade is very light... perhaps a 2-2.5 It's a very pretty knife, blue bone with a slight gap at the backspring of the main blade. My new half whittler is excellent, as well.
I, however, do not expect "perfection" in a knife. Hairline gaps at the springs don't bother me.
I've also had great luck with the few Rough Ryders I've purchased.... knock on wood, I guess....
My GEC's have all been of excellent quality, with most of them arriving with very good edges... my worst one has been my new 33 conductor, but it sharpened up really nicely, and is a great knife.

Again, perhaps your expectations are higher than mine, and it is entirely possible you got the 3 or 4 real lemons that made it past a sleeping QC inspector.... I just haven't seen any of them.
 
I have a few nice Case knives.

Vintage are very nice. Modern seem quite hit or miss. I have two Swayback Jacks and they’re sweet. I have a modern made Peanut that’s also sweet.

On the other hand, I had a slimline trapper that had big gaps, ugly pink bone (it was supposed to be a pleasing red color) and a blade that required quite a lot of filing of the cam tang surfaces to get it to open fully. I was able to fix it up into a nice user, but if I paid full retail I’d have been very disappointed.

And I wanted a mother-of-Pearl senator but couldn’t find one (after handling 6) that didn’t have serious fit and finish issues of some kind.

So, when they’re good they’re pretty good, and a fantastic value, for an attractive, decently made, USA knife. But when they’re bad they’re worse (or no better) than a Rough Rider. At about 4x the price.

GECs aren’t perfect by any means (I agree they seem to get a pass on the forum for many little f&f issues) but they are consistently much better than Case.

I guess I could sum up by saying that in my experience, Case puts out a knife that’s a 4/10 to 9/10, but at a low to medium price. GEC is consistently 7/10-10/10, but at a high price point. And Rough Rider puts out a knife that’s a 4-8/10, at a very low price point.
 
brownshoe said:
Joins and trashes Case but talks like he knows knives. Says $15 foriegn made Old Timers are better so we know he's not really knowledgeable. Disparages US workmanship. Insults his father's opinion. Classy guy.
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Exactly
 
I think I have about a dozen Case knives manufactured in this century. All of them are at least "Good". A couple of them are outstanding and are the equal of any GEC.

The Case business model focuses on mass production. For a mass produced knife at the Case price point, I have been more than satisfied.
 
Maybe I just attract lemons. Thanks for the replies, guys. I was just curious if the QC issues were only me or if other people were getting this as well. For the record, I ordered these online from different retailers each time. I got my dull knives sharpened up of course, it's just a weird thing to have one from the factory with no edge whatsoever. I want to like Case, but I keep having terrible luck with them. Maybe I'll give them another try one of these days but I'll try to work with what I've got
 
shoebill_stork said:
Maybe I just attract lemons. Thanks for the replies, guys. I was just curious if the QC issues were only me or if other people were getting this as well. For the record, I ordered these online from different retailers each time. I got my dull knives sharpened up of course, it's just a weird thing to have one from the factory with no edge whatsoever. I want to like Case, but I keep having terrible luck with them. Maybe I'll give them another try one of these days but I'll try to work with what I've got
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Find a local dealer--they're everywhere: hardware stores, farm & ranch stores, gun shops, pawn shops, etc. Inspect before you buy.
 
I'm sitting here looking at my case 2 blade Barlow and I honestly think I could pour water in the blade well and the water wouldn't find a way out. Sturdy clip point with nice pull abs snap. I really can't imagine asking for more and the same goes for a few other Case knives I own.
I dont doubt the OP, it's usually me that gets the shaft so I feel your pain, but I think you just got unlucky
 
brownshoe said:
Joins and trashes Case but talks like he knows knives. Says $15 foriegn made Old Timers are better so we know he's not really knowledgeable. Disparages US workmanship. Insults his father's opinion. Classy guy.
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Hmmm... I didn't really get any of that out of his initial post. Said he has bought three Case knives, wants to buy American, wants to support American knife companies. Seems like he bought based on his father's opinion, but his examples didn't synch with his expectations. Classy reply, thanks for your knowledgeable insight.
 
It’s all been covered already but a couple of ideas in one place:
Buy Case Knives in person OR here in the classifieds. Virtually everyone here who sells a knife here will give an excellent description of the knife and note the faults - I have a much better chance of knowing what I’m buying right here.
Stockman pattern knives normally have blade rub, especially in the two secondary blades that are krinked to operate on the same spring (my wonderful GEC 66 rubs, it is to be expected). One way to avoid that is to buy a modern Buck 303 or 301 or a modern Case 47 pattern Stockman. All of those have three springs - one for each blade - and thus don’t have krinked secondary blades.
Good luck in your search. I own right at 100 Case Knives of various ages from the 1940’s up to the late 2018/19’s - all are very good knives with a few having some defects, but I am choosy in what I buy and keep.
OH
 
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