Which Soddie?

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Frostyfingers

Joined
Aug 27, 2008
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I'm looking to pick up a sodbuster soon. I like traditional knives, but I've gotten away from carrying them. My question is this: what is a good basic sodbuster to start with? I'm looking at a Case Jr. in carbon steel, a Boker in carbon steel, and a Queen Country Cousin in D2. The Case and the Queen are similar in price, but with different steels. With virtually the same price tag, would the D2 be a better choice of steels? For that matter, is the Boker really not as good as the Case carbon steel?

One last note...I have limited experience with D2. Will it take a patina like a carbon steel? That's one of the appeals of traditional knives for me.

Thanks!

Frosty
 
I have a Queen Soddie in D2
It is an excellent strong working knife.

D2 is much harder to sharpen.
But once it is sharp it stays sharp with a good working edge for much longer than the Case CV (carbon)
D2 is very close to SS, but it will slowly take a patina
The patina will be a dull grey and no more.

The Case CV is easy to sharpen to very sharp and will patina to much darker colors.

If you are willing to deal with sharpening D2, then the Queen is a good choice
If not, then you cannot go wrong with the Case in CV
 
Hi, just for your info bear cutlery is making the same knife in carbon steel reasonable price.I own a few bears decent knives,they started making them this year.
 
I just got the 1 in d2. I had to reprofile the edge and it took forever. It stays sharp for a long time though.
 
Basically, I wouldn't recommend D2 if you don't have a diamond hone -- you can finish the edge or touch it up with a ceramic hone, but establishing an edge (or reprofiling it) with any reasonable ease on D2 requires diamonds.

I should note that I've found Queen D2 to actually be a relatively "soft" tempered D2 - at least compared to the likes of Bose D2 or Dozier D2 - but that still makes it a great steel to use. If you have a diamond hone, I very much recommend it. However, you won't get much, if any patina on D2 - perhaps a minor gray "stain" here and there -- if you neglect it too much it tends to pit instead of form a patina to any significant extent.
 
Frostyfingers said:
I like traditional knives, but I've gotten away from carrying them. My question is this: what is a good basic sodbuster to start with? I'm looking at a Case Jr. in carbon steel, a Boker in carbon steel, and a Queen Country Cousin in D2. ... One last note...I have limited experience with D2. Will it take a patina like a carbon steel? That's one of the appeals of traditional knives for me.
Click to expand...

You will LOVE the Case soddie jr. in CV with a folksy yellow handle.
 
I have a few sodbuster pattern knives with different steels from different companies. The Case Sodbuster Jr. in CV is my favorite. In my opinion it has the most comfortable handle, best blade shape, and best steel. The Case also has the better finish with a great factory edge and "pocket worn" rounded corners on the blade spine and handle.
 
For a while there I was in a soddie phase, and carried nothing but a soddie. I had Case, Boker, Eye-Brand, Kissing Krane, and a Queen country cousin in D2. Of them all, I guess the Case was the overall best of the litter. The Eye-Brand cut like a laser, but wasn't fitted like the case. The KK Brown Mule was a nice cutter, but again was not in the F&F class with Case.

The Queen arrived out of the box dull as a butter knife. Really ticked me off good. I'm old fashioned in some regards; I think a car aught to run right when you buy it, a gun should shoot strait without having to go back to the factory, and knife right out of the box should be sharp. Also the Queen is a bear to sharpen out in the field quick. Another of my pet peeves.

To this day, I keep a Case yellow junior soddie in CV around.
 
I prefer the Case, and would start there, but its whatever floats your boat.


july192008001Medium.jpg

Some patina for you, on a large Case sodbuster.

july192008013Medium.jpg

Case.

42009001.jpg

Queen, wearing a red dress.

sodbusterrx4.jpg

One of my favorite Sodbuster pics. I cannot remember who took it (Brother Thomason, maybe?), but the knife is now in my arsenal.:thumbup:
 
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jackknife said:
The Queen arrived out of the box dull as a butter knife. Really ticked me off good. I'm old fashioned in some regards; I think a car aught to run right when you buy it, a gun should shoot strait without having to go back to the factory, and knife right out of the box should be sharp. Also the Queen is a bear to sharpen out in the field quick. Another of my pet peeves.
Click to expand...

I found this to be tha case with most Queens. They arrive dull from the factory and it takes a lot of elbow grease to get them up to snuff. On my Country Cousin I thought the corners of the spine were sharper than the edge. :(
 
Case or Queen, you can't go wrong. Sodbuster or Country Cousin, you'll like it!
 
I'm VERY happy with my Case Sodbusters. I've got a CV and a stainless one, I like the carbon steel one better but they are both very good.

I use them frecuently, a Case soddie is a lot of knife for the price. I'd like to see something nicer than the yellow plastic handle, but that's just nitpicking.

I tried a couple of German Eye brand sodbusters recently, while the blades were good, fit and finish was a disaster.
 
Here is my sodbuster collection.

From top to bottom: Kissing Crane Brown Mule, Case Sodbuster Jr. SS, Case Sodbuster Jr. CV, Queen Country Cousin D2, German Eye
sodbusters.JPG


sodclosed.JPG
 
Case in yellow scales and CV. Or Schatt Morgan stag sod buster, as long as I get mine first.
 
The only knife I carry all the time is a yellerhandle CV Case Soddie Jr. I never leave home without it. I may sometimes add a peanut or med stockman depending on what's going on (all yeller CV), but the Sodbuster is ALWAYS with me.
 
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