Who makes the strongest slip joints?

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but the Victorinox Soldiers are pretty stout. Hard use? They'll last a lifetime if you don't try to pry truck tires off of the rim with them. I could probably do it with their badass screwdriver blade.
 
Define "hard use". With proper care and reasonable usage, any well-made slip joint should provide years upon years of service. Heck, take a look at some of the 40 to 100+ year old knives that still see everyday use and have plenty of life left in them.
 
I think your will find that knives made by Great Eastern Cutlery (GEC), Canal Street Cutlery, and Schatt & Morgan generally fall into the lifetime catagory. Of course, it depends on how hard a use you are talking about. If you baton a regular pocket folder, you are likely to hurt it if you aren't careful. I have almost always been satisfied with my Case and Queen knives. I also like Vic swiss army knives and I use them hard when needed and I use one every single day for something. Buck still makes a good knife also.
 
Depends. Classic traditional slipjoints aren't really meant for "hard use".

But if you're gonna use the hell out of it, I recommend a Buck 301 (or 303) above all. I can guarantee its tough as nails. Besides that, Victorinox Alox knives are tough.

But I think what might happen is that you realize that slipjoints aren't meant to be used in such a "hard use" purpose. Fixed blades are for that purpose. I personally use my slipjoints (Case, Schrades) for opening packing, cutting fishing line, whittling, cutting string, and small food prep. It easily takes on the role of hunting knife or fishing knife too (in the case of a trapper).

When I'm gonna beat the living daylights out of a blade, I use my beloved Mora. As far as SAKs go, that's a whole different discussion.
 
I'm a pretty big GEC fan. My Sunfish is by far my favorite slip joint, although I'll confess that I don't have all that many in my collection. It's a problem that I intend to rectify this year.

I haven't had it all that long, though I've been using it pretty heavily. I'm pretty sure it will take whatever abuse I am willing to throw at it.

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Starting in 1967, I tried to kill a Buck 301 stockman with what can be termed hard use in the army engineers, and later a machine shop. After 25 years it got retired for a 303 Buck cadet. I've also got a Wenger SI that has been there and back. All very tough knives.

Carl.
 
Nice Sunfish, Tasmaniac! Now THAT is a knife! I have one.

I recommended Canal Street purely on reputation. I don't own one.
 
It is hard to answer the question if we don't know what you mean by hard use.

I'm going to move this to the traditional knives forum and let them add their expertise to the discussion.
 
dogstar said:
Which brands can stand up to hard use year after year?
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To be honest, I can't think of a single slip joint brand that won't stand up to being used year after year as long as you don't get a gents model with mother of pearl scales.
 
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I purchased an inexpensive Frost Cutlery Sunfish pattern ($12) [Ocoee River series] a couple of months ago to play with and it actually seems like a fairly good knife for the money. It is chinese made. It will not likely hold an edge like the GEC above, but it should physically hold up. My GEC Sunfish really impressed me. You will notice that it is a four-fingered sized knife, so you can really use it if you have to. These run in the $100 price range or so.
 
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Hard use with no abuse?
Like you use the knife to cut stuff on a daily basis

I think most folk here will say any slipjoint will last a long time
There are pictures of regular nothing special old knives, where they often have their blades worn thin by constant use
Perhaps if the sharpening stone used was less aggressive, those knives would have lasted longer than the 20 to 30 year pocket time.

And common sense is a larger knife for heavier work will hold longer than a smaller knife
So a 4 1/4" stockman will handle heavier work than a 3 1/4" stockman from the same brand

Oiling the joints and keeping it clean from lint is the basic maintenance

BUT you shorten the knife's life to a fraction; the moment you start abusing the knife like prying against the pins holding the blade, or using the blade as a screwdriver.

And common sense is a larger knife for heavier work will hold longer than a smaller knife
So Carl's Buck 301 stockman handled heavier work than his 303 Buck cadet
 
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As much as I enjoy GEC, I can't avoid the longevity of Victorinox.
Seriously, you buy one for like $20 at Target and you CAN NOT get rid of it.
And the only reason you can come up with to buy another is based on either model or color.
 
Nathan Dewey said:
As much as I enjoy GEC, I can't avoid the longevity of Victorinox.
Seriously, you buy one for like $20 at Target and you CAN NOT get rid of it.
And the only reason you can come up with to buy another is based on either model or color.
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The only reason you don't have a GEC that has held up for 20 years is the company has only been in business for 5. I have a friend who uses his GEC knives heavily for camping and hunting chores. They hold up fine for everything he does and he does NOT baby them.
 
Thanks for the responses, fellas. 'Hard use' is different things to different people. I just wanted people's opinion on what the strongest, best made slip joint are.
 
dogstar said:
Thanks for the responses, fellas. 'Hard use' is different things to different people. I just wanted people's opinion on what the strongest, best made slip joint are.
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If you stick with the highly regarded brands, you can't go wrong. Then it's down to picking the right knife design to suit your "hard use".

For instance, my swayback jack is potentially prone to tip "failure" if you somehow get into really nasty lateral movement of the blade, whether it is cutting in a cramped space, digging, or prying, etc... Whereas that sunfish pictured above would probably prove to be more resilient (however, good luck doing much detailed whittling with that one ;) ) this doesn't make the SBJ weak or poorly designed, just designed with something different in mind.

However I think the whole "hard use" knife fad has mostly been quarterbacked by people who do less using of their knives, and more thinking about their knives turning into glass if they cut anything more than cardboard with them. I think with a little respect of that piece of steel in your pocket, you would be surprised at what a so called "weak knife" could stand up to. YMMV and no disrespect intended to people who like those thick users, we all have our preferences, not all of which can accurately be argued for on paper.
 
TL-29...no one mentioned it, so I thought I would. I have many. Several made by Camillus cost me less than ten dollars and are like tanks.
 
Boker Tree Brand 'classics', especially in carbon steel, are pretty hard to beat. Sorry, but the few Case examples I have just don't compare... to me. My old Buck 301 is stout, but it's SS edge-keeping is less than exemplary. An old carbon steel Boker's blade is just a great example of a long time user, it's patina indicative of use.

Stainz
 
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