I like their stainless. Patina is ugly.
Polished Shiny blades are nice.
My Case have come sharp, except one with a small wire edge. Easy fix.
Their QC is good enuf for me.
Pinned shields are over rated. Haven’t lost a shield yet. Can’t tell if it’s pinned or not w/o a flashlight.
You shouldn’t buy Case if you find them so deficient…or do you get them to grouse?
To each his own. Agree to disagree.
I buy Case knives for the same reason others do: They appeal to me.
That said, there's a great big eastern elephant in the room that demonstrates a few times a month what benefits come from a little bit more attention to detail - for not that much more money. I guess I'd rather pay a little more and get a higher level of fit and finish - or at least have the option to.
With Case, it's pretty common for people to buy three or four examples of a given pattern, intending to keep the best of the lot and return the others. Don't shoot the messenger, it wasn't my idea.
The other option is to go straight from "gambling" or bulk buying Case's more affordable offerings in hopes of getting a good one, straight to quite-a-bit-less affordable options a la Bose and Ruple.
I just wish they'd offer a line of higher tier knives, with steel that might require a bit more interaction from the user, and with a little more attention paid to fit and finish. I'd be willing to pay a premium for that service and I think some other folks would too.
The shield fell out of my S35VN Jigged Buffalo Horn Case BackPocket. I epoxied it back in myself, better than new, as it wasn't set flush at the factory. As an American who remembers quality American manufacturing, that kind of thing doesn't make me super proud. Not a deal killer, but if they'd pinned it I'd feel like they cared enough to go the extra mile. I'm not the only one has experienced the issue, if you spend any time in the Totin' thread, you'll see a number of Case, and others, knives that are missing shields. Pinning might not make the knife any more functional, but it sure is nice when something is well-crafted even if it doesn't have to be.
I guess sharpness is a relative perception, unless someone's gonna bust out some lab equipment. When I was 10, I used to think I could get my SAK really sharp - turns out, I didn't even know what sharp was. By 12, I would've called my 10 year old self's knife dull. Compared to some of the knives in my possession, not a single one of my Case knives have ever come even close to sharp, GEC's either for that matter, but, like I said, that all has to do with a person's exposure to very sharp knives. I have a couple moderns that are truly scary sharp. Never received a Case like that.
I'll probably keep purchasing Case knives here and there for as long as they stay in business. They've outlasted most of their contemporaries, I'll certainly give them that. After all, "grousing" is a tried and true pasttime here on the leading edge of knife discussion. I guess I'm in good company.
