What happened to Case?

GEC, Case, and Rough Ryder knife comparisons... My experience
They are all capable of sending you a well finished knife, I have examples from each.
The issues come when they send you something that's not their best effort, and how often they do it.
If you get a bad Rough Ryder, this can be as bad as 3/10; At worse, failing locks, blades falling on top of each other, horrible F&F
If you get a Bad Case, this can get as low as a 5/10; At worse, usually bad gaps, blade way off center, and lazy snap
If you get a bad GEC, they don't often fall below a 7/10; At worse, usually slight gaps, blades slightly off center, and weaker actions
So yes, people that say they have a Case knife that is the equal of a GEC aren't lying, but you have to ask if that's the average for the company?
 
Since we are sharing experiences here. I have bought roughly 25-30 Case knives since I got back into traditional pocket knives around 2008. Most all were bought online through the "outlet" or off of the "river" site. Out of all those purchases the only real disappointment was in the dying of the bone scales. That does not affect usage, and my knives get used. No collectibles here. Centered blades, sharp (some scary). There were some that needed a little cleaning in the joints to get out some production residue, but I do that anyway. That said, after receiving them, if they did not ring my bell because of pattern or such, I passed them on as a gift. Of course it is always better to handpick but some of us live in a location where finding a well stocked dealer is almost impossible. My advice to original poster is to contact customer service, explain the situation in a voice dripping with honey and see if some sort of compromise can be reached to replace/repair his knives. There are also some small dealers online and here in the forum that will take the time to inspect and handpick a chosen knife with the right approach. Any item mass produced in these times, there are going to be some that slip by the usual inspection. It just happens. Most companies will try to make good on expectations of the customer. If not, they tend to not last very long. Case has been around a long time. I hope the OP will give Case another chance to provide him with "the" knife that he can maybe pass on to the next generation.
 
Well unfortunately nearly all stockmans have blade rub, some patterns have little issues like that. Youre almost guaranteed rubbing when you cram 3 or 4 blades into a little area like that. The bent blade also sounds normal, thats crinking (bending at the tang area to get better clearance for the blades). Blade centering also isnt considered that important on traditional knives, but blades shouldnt rub the liners. And blade play happens sometimes, that is also a normal thing (within reason, a little wiggle isnt a deal breaker). Its annoying to have these imperfections but Case isnt making knives by computer guided machines and traditional knives are a little different from modern ones.

People arent perfect and traditional knives have to be made by hand. Case gives you a handmade (almost completely) knife built by a historic company, in their old factory, with quality materials and they dont cost very much generally by knife addict standards. A new modern knife is made by a computerized grinder in 5 minutes and is much more expensive to pay off their CNC machines. Pretty good deal for a Case Id say! :)

That said, it sucks to get a dull knife or bad sharpening. Or any issue for that matter. I have generally had good luck with Case, just a few gaps here and there and bad sharpening. Ive returned one knife to them though for bad blade play right out of the box, and it came back to me absolutely perfect. Just send them in to Case and they should make it right. If not, come on here and put them on blast until you feel better about it. Lol Good luck :)
 
Fairly recent Case purchases, minus a couple that were gifted. Not a stinker in the bunch. Sorry your experience was different.
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I’ve always had good luck with Case, I have probably somewhere in the 20+ range various patterns, various years from 1970’s til 2019 nice even pulls, smooth action, no play. Unfortunately for me and my experience I can’t say the same for many of my Gec’s lazy blades and blade play they look nice and are all users my first few from 2008-around 2010 were excellent. I probably will never purchase another GEC although tempting my money has always been better spent on a Case which I’d not hesitate to buy and can be found very responsibly priced. Just my 2¢ everyone’s experiences and expectations are different.
 
I've never had any real issues with Case or Buck for that matter and those are the 2 brands I tend to buy. I guess like mentioned, the Case stockman's tend to have a little blade rub, but I've noticed with Buck they seem to have zero, but I think it's because they have 3 backsprings. The only thing I have noticed with Case other than that is the coloring on the bone scales not always matching up, but that doesn't bother me and sometimes makes them unique.
 
The one knife I can say Case seems to knock out of the park all day every day are the Mini Trappers. I have some single blade wharnies as well as two blades and everything about them is spot on. If I didn't also like GECs, and Bucks, and SAKs, and ... I'd probably try to collect every flavor.
 
I have quite a few Case knives so I have my expectations in check when buying them. I'm in the middle of a not so great experience right now. I got a Case/Bose cattle knife off the exchange and it was far from perfect. I didn't ask the seller about any issues, so I don't put any blame on them. But, the knife wasn't cheap and definitely had unacceptable issues. I wanted the knife so I contacted Case to see about getting it fixed up and they finally allowed (yes, allowed) me to send it in. After seven weeks I got it back from their warranty department and it was EXACTLY the same as when I sent it in. I'm not exaggerating or being dramatic by any means. So I contacted them again and they sent me an envelope to return it again. After two more weeks I got a call and was told they didn't see the same issues and they didn't have parts to replace anything since it's a discontinued knife. All three blades had play and the grinds were pretty bad which seemed easy enough to fix without replacing anything, but I was a little worried they would take off too much metal trying to fix the grinds, which wasn't even attempted. I told them that was pretty unacceptable for such an expensive piece they produced. I was told again that they would get back to me and that was around a week and a half ago. Case has always done good by me with knives I sent in previously, but I'm not feeling good about this one.

I also sent in a trapper with blade play at the same time, which they fixed, but somehow both blades were pushed up against the liners. I don't even know how that could even happen.

I have some nice Case knives, but I really don't think I'll be getting anymore.
 
JD Bear said:
I have quite a few Case knives so I have my expectations in check when buying them. I'm in the middle of a not so great experience right now. I got a Case/Bose cattle knife off the exchange and it was far from perfect. I didn't ask the seller about any issues, so I don't put any blame on them. But, the knife wasn't cheap and definitely had unacceptable issues. I wanted the knife so I contacted Case to see about getting it fixed up and they finally allowed (yes, allowed) me to send it in. After seven weeks I got it back from their warranty department and it was EXACTLY the same as when I sent it in. I'm not exaggerating or being dramatic by any means. So I contacted them again and they sent me an envelope to return it again. After two more weeks I got a call and was told they didn't see the same issues and they didn't have parts to replace anything since it's a discontinued knife. All three blades had play and the grinds were pretty bad which seemed easy enough to fix without replacing anything, but I was a little worried they would take off too much metal trying to fix the grinds, which wasn't even attempted. I told them that was pretty unacceptable for such an expensive piece they produced. I was told again that they would get back to me and that was around a week and a half ago. Case has always done good by me with knives I sent in previously, but I'm not feeling good about this one.

I also sent in a trapper with blade play at the same time, which they fixed, but somehow both blades were pushed up against the liners. I don't even know how that could even happen.

I have some nice Case knives, but I really don't think I'll be getting anymore.
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Let us know if and how they resolve the issue.
 
My only issue with the last 3 Case knives I’ve seen (one mine, two are my buddy’s) was rounded tips on the blades.
 
shoebill_stork said:
Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. There's an Ace Hardware like 5 minutes up the road that deal case knives.
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I’ve been quiet till I saw this post. In my experience the two worst knives I have bought were from an ace hardware retailer. They were in clam packs on a merchandiser, both were like boomerangs with the blades open. The 6347 stockman was worse than the mini trapper. The mini trapper was supposed to be a 6207 jigged amber bone ss. It has a stainless main blade and a cv spey blade marked 3207 which should be a yellow synthetic handle. F&F was not what I would want to claim if I had made them but they were for using so I wasn’t worried about looks. I think both were rushed through and kicked out the door. I fixed both myself and used them but was left wanting when I was doing a lot of cutting.
I have a few others that are fine examples in ss and cv and are decent knives for the money but they don’t hold an edge as well as my Buck 303s or 301s in 420hc or 425m. The one large trapper in 154cm is the best of them and almost as good as my 301 forum knife but the 501 in cpm154 will cut more yet. I mostly use my case knives for food processing where they do well in that regard.
Just beware of clam packs that you can’t inspect them before opening. Get boxed so you can look them over good before purchasing.
 
Case knives seem to have been getting better and GEC seems to be going down a little at the price point they are selling at. I haven't bought a new Case since the China debacle, but I have handled a few and they appear better than the ones from 2000-2011. I may be getting a new one soon as I am beginning to forgive them. LOL.
 
sold all my case knives the day i received my first GEC. big gaps, weak spring, blade rub ETC.
 
JD Bear said:
I have quite a few Case knives so I have my expectations in check when buying them. I'm in the middle of a not so great experience right now. I got a Case/Bose cattle knife off the exchange and it was far from perfect. I didn't ask the seller about any issues, so I don't put any blame on them. But, the knife wasn't cheap and definitely had unacceptable issues. I wanted the knife so I contacted Case to see about getting it fixed up and they finally allowed (yes, allowed) me to send it in. After seven weeks I got it back from their warranty department and it was EXACTLY the same as when I sent it in. I'm not exaggerating or being dramatic by any means. So I contacted them again and they sent me an envelope to return it again. After two more weeks I got a call and was told they didn't see the same issues and they didn't have parts to replace anything since it's a discontinued knife. All three blades had play and the grinds were pretty bad which seemed easy enough to fix without replacing anything, but I was a little worried they would take off too much metal trying to fix the grinds, which wasn't even attempted. I told them that was pretty unacceptable for such an expensive piece they produced. I was told again that they would get back to me and that was around a week and a half ago. Case has always done good by me with knives I sent in previously, but I'm not feeling good about this one.

I also sent in a trapper with blade play at the same time, which they fixed, but somehow both blades were pushed up against the liners. I don't even know how that could even happen.

I have some nice Case knives, but I really don't think I'll be getting anymore.
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It's a 5-yo used knife. Maybe they don't see it the same way.

I've sent back a Bose/Case for a crack in the handle due to my abuse. They fixed it for free, sharpened the edge, all in 3-weeks from mailing from my home. But this was the "Old Post Office" :)

I've got 5 Bose/Case. Four bought online, sight unseen for the lowest internet price. None were perfect; they are made by men, and I can be picky :) But each was fully acceptable and were better designed and executed than most custom knives for the same or more money.
 
JohnDF said:
I've heard this far too many times to ever spend that much money on one.
They are beautiful knives, but for that price I'd expect perfection.

Yea


I have not heard of the China debacle... elaborate please.
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brownshoe said:
It's a 5-yo used knife. Maybe they don't see it the same way.

I've sent back a Bose/Case for a crack in the handle due to my abuse. They fixed it for free, sharpened the edge, all in 3-weeks from mailing from my home. But this was the "Old Post Office" :)

I've got 5 Bose/Case. Four bought online, sight unseen for the lowest internet price. None were perfect; they are made by men, and I can be picky :) But each was fully acceptable and were better designed and executed than most custom knives for the same or more money.
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The seller included the original receipt from a few months prior and I just recently bought it. So it's not a knife that's been used for five years. But thanks for the wise insight. I'm glad you're happy with your less than perfect knives.
 
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