Whats your favorite slipjoint company, and why?

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

Slipjoint Addict
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Messages
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Mine is Queen. D2 steel, option for beautiful wood handles, usually good fit and finish. Razor sharp. Not afraid to use them either. Queen also took reasonably good care of me when I sent my Mountain Man back in to them to be tightened up.
 
Traditional would have to be Queen, but I have to give a nod to Victorinox for many years of consistent quality also.
 
I have no real favorite, as I tend to enjoy individual knives rather than buying from a single manufacturer. But, in order of personal preference:

Schatt & Morgan: As far as I'm concerned, about as good as it gets in "production" slip joint quality. Beautiful materials and finishes. Canal Street is right up here too, but often their knives don't have the little touches that S&M knives do.
Case: Consistency of quality, value.
Boker: Value.
Queen: Innovative materials. I can't disagree more strongly with the "razor sharp" comment, though. Out of probably 10 Queen knives I own exactly one came sharp enough to use, and it was a fixed blade.

Keep in mind, I'm the antithesis of a steel snob, but I do have a preference toward carbon steels.

-- Sam
 
By no means were my Queens as sharp as my Benchmade or Spyderco models, but they were sharper than my bought brand new Case or Schrade models.
 
I like 'em all pretty much on a case by case basis (no pun intended) but here's what stands out to me:

Case for it's collaborations with Tony Bose. Pricey but very high quality materials, fit and finish. (All my other Case knives are the CV variety which I also enjoy carrying and using.)

Queen for using D2 as well as 1095 and for coming out with some excellent patterns especially in carved stag bone and amber carved stag bone.

Winchester and Case Classics (via Blue Grass Cutlery/Queen) for the high standard of fit and finish and carbon steel blades.
 
I have a different one weekly if not daily. Today it is a Moore Maker whittler. But overall, I say Case - Consistantancy, Value and performance. Now I really love my Bokers. It is easier to find 1095 blades, but to tell you the truth it doesn't matter too much to me. While I love the Moore Maker, it looks great and the blades are beautiful, but the springs are not right. A beauty of a knife, but not worth the $$$.

Lastly, I love Victorinox knives, very consistant, high quality(fit) and good cutters but the traditionals have a soft spot in my heart - carry a traditonal in the pocket and the SAK in the pack or bag.
 
I was really into Eye Brand last year, but I've pretty much stopped buying them now; their quality control is just too hit and miss for me. I really like their ultra-thin, carbon steel blades though and their stag handled models are a great value.

My favorite slip-joint company lately has definitely been Case. Their QC isn't perfect, but it's usually pretty good. They have a wide variety of beautiful bone scales to choose from and their normal lineup of knives are usually very affordable and well finished. CV is a great steel, but I've been using their 420HC stainless a lot lately and I don't have any real complaints about it.

I haven't had much luck with Queen, though the one Schatt & Morgan knife I own is awesome. My Mountain Man problems have been well documented and I get micro-chips in the blade of my D2 copperhead just from sharpening it. I'm still tempted to try something from Queen's newer amber stag bone series though; those scales really look fantastic.
 
This could almost be a trick question as there are'nt many of the companies left. I guess for me its a toss up between Case and Victorinox. Case for the long time they've been around, great customer service even on restoring an old peanut from the 1940's. A wonderful lady by the name of Shirley did okay by me when I had to deal with Case. Very personable. In this day and age of corporate parent companies, thats a rare thing.

I have an admiration for Victorinox for consistant Q.A., and keeping it in the face of production numbers that are staggering. They make more knives than anyone else, yet you almost never find a bad one. Maybe this has something to do with the company being in buisiness since 1890, but there is still an Elsner at the helm to this day. Its still in the family. The only other knife company that old and still a family run operation is Opinel. Also with Victorinox, I can be out someplace, and if need be I can replace a lost or damaged pocket knife at the next sporting goods store, and know it will be just like the last one. And a warrentee thats unreal.
 
Didn't know THAT about the Victorinox guarantee! THAT'S hugely impressive.

At the moment I go for Case (quality, range,value) but expecting some Queen and Great Eastern soon, then I may change my mind:D
 
I enjoy my Queens as well. But I just recently started carrying my D2 models on a regular basis. They corrode like mad it seems. I see a new spot every other day and can't figure out why. And they seem to do very quick pitting damage unlike regular rust. I do regular maintenance on them too with synthetic oils. I used to use straight pharmaceutical grade mineral oil on them but began to wonder if that was the problem. Do I sweat a lot at work? Is it because it's hot where I work (a kitchen). Needless to say I'm not very happy about that.

When I carry CV at work I do not have this problem. I used to have a Victornox as a kid... I need to reinvest in one it seems.
 
Really? Problems like that with D2. Does anybody else have similar experiences? Maybe I should cancel that Queen order:eek:
 
jackknife said:
This could almost be a trick question as there are'nt many of the companies left. I guess for me its a toss up between Case and Victorinox. Case for the long time they've been around, great customer service even on restoring an old peanut from the 1940's. A wonderful lady by the name of Shirley did okay by me when I had to deal with Case. Very personable. In this day and age of corporate parent companies, thats a rare thing.

I have an admiration for Victorinox for consistant Q.A., and keeping it in the face of production numbers that are staggering. They make more knives than anyone else, yet you almost never find a bad one. Maybe this has something to do with the company being in buisiness since 1890, but there is still an Elsner at the helm to this day. Its still in the family. The only other knife company that old and still a family run operation is Opinel. Also with Victorinox, I can be out someplace, and if need be I can replace a lost or damaged pocket knife at the next sporting goods store, and know it will be just like the last one. And a warrentee thats unreal.
Click to expand...

Victorinox, Case, Opinel.

Those are the same knives I would pick. They form most of my collection :thumbup:
 
I also flip-flop between companies, but my favorite until the other day was Bulldog, I got a lemon.

I also like Hen & Rooster, Case and Queen, my first Queen knife was a Cattle King in Amber Bone and I'm pretty impressed with the quality. I can't really comment on the corroding issue because I only carried it a few days and I use a toxic rust inhibitor.

I'm going to buy a Schatt soon , I want to see how they compare.
 
I would have to say that Case is my all time favorite, but I just recieved my first Queen in bone stag and D2. It is a copperhead and is a very nice looking knife. I might have to start looking more at Queen now.:thumbup:

My wallet won't be so happy :D


John
 
At the top of my list are the Case/Bose annual collabs. Case is my all time favorite company, but there are folks making higher quality knives now.

I am going with Canal Street for regular production.

I like their fit and finish better than Queen and they offer D2, A2 as well as other steels on some of their models.

Then Blue Grass and Schatt & Morgan File & Wire. (Big Case Classic fan.)

I also like the quality of a lot of the A.G. R. knives that he has made.
 
Well, considering the limited availability in my neck of the woods it would have to be Case. I've yet to get a bad one, of course, it helps that I buy at the local hardware store where I can hand pick them.

I also agree with Jackknife and others about Victorinox. It amazes me how good their QC and warantees are when you consider just how many knives they turn out. And all the different patterns with different tool combinations is just icing on the cake.
 
PRICEY:
1. The hand full of Schatt & Morgan knives I own are just about perfect. The materials are top shelf and the F&F is pretty darn good.

2. Case & Queen are kind of on the same shelf in my experience. Some pretty nice knives. Might just be luck - I haven't gotten a stinker yet.

AFFORDABLE:
3. At half the price of a S&M, I think the USA made Schrade's (I own a bunch!) were a solid knife at a reasonable price. Kind of a middle of the road knife, but a more solid middle-of-the-road knife would be hard to find.

4. Boker. I have a few RUSSELL Barlow's that are made by Boker and they are nice little knives for $25 - $30. Carbon steel blades, half stops, nice bone handles, excellent fit & finish.

CHEAP:
5. China Schrade's. I don't want to hear any crap on this one... Someone sent me a Taylor Schrade and it is great for a $15 knife. Nice workmanship and solid materials. Not saying that I would go out of my way to own another, but I didn't think it was fair to leave it off the list.
 
I'm really happy with the Queen D2. So far, I've not had any pitting or rust problems. They hold an edge very well.
 
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