Who still carries a Case Knife?

Side O'Beef said:
I picked up this autumn bone Folding Hunter the other day. I don't know what else to say besides I'm smitten. I am not exaggerating when I say this has the best F&F I've ever seen on a Case. Nor am I exaggerating when I say I have personally owned knives 3 to 5 times the price of this, that were surpassed by this Folding Hunter.
I really hope my photos come close to doing it justice.


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That is a really nice looking hunter. Case seems to do this pattern really well... I had one gifted to me (single blade) from one of the great forum members here... it's really nice.

Case hunter open.jpg

Then, on my recent birthday, my brother gave me THREE of them... he knows I like stag, so he gave me a two blade in stag, and then two single blades in bone. I have a pic of the stag one.... I'm not carrying it today, but I will at some point.... they are BIG knives.... the light was not quite right , and the stag looks a touch more yellow in the pic than in person, but it's really nice. I'll try to get pics of the other two shortly...

Case hunter stag open.jpg

Case hunter stag mark open.jpg
 
hornetguy said:
That is a really nice looking hunter. Case seems to do this pattern really well... I had one gifted to me (single blade) from one of the great forum members here... it's really nice.

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Then, on my recent birthday, my brother gave me THREE of them... he knows I like stag, so he gave me a two blade in stag, and then two single blades in bone. I have a pic of the stag one.... I'm not carrying it today, but I will at some point.... they are BIG knives.... the light was not quite right , and the stag looks a touch more yellow in the pic than in person, but it's really nice. I'll try to get pics of the other two shortly...

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That is some gorgeous stag!
 
I wish I could figure out how to post pictures, I picked up a mint 1981 large stockman recently for a carry knife, and it is something else. I've generally had so-so experience with new Case if I can't hand pick the knife, but I have been buying some older stuff and it's pretty amazing how nice it is.

The 6392 I got is every bit as nice as any GEC I have had, with the bone being much, much better looking (in my opinion) than GEC bone (although GEC has way better variety in Bone styles, Case has better jigging and sawcut). And this knife was less than 75 dollars, so half the cost of a GEC from a dealer.

Certainly going to be looking for more old Case knives to carry. This knife is quickly replacing my GEC 35 cattle knife.
 
For me, nothing beats a sodbuster. Up until very recent I had a handful of Case Sodbusters. Then ESNYX came along and made it a front flipper and I gave ask my soddies away and bought 2 of the flipper busters and haven't been happier!

My problem with Case and most of the cheaper traditional makers, is that their knives tend to be pretty poorly constructed. Blade play/slop is almost never acceptable to me and I never had a single Case that didn't have massive, noticeable wiggle in the blade. I never trusted a single one for use on anything more than slicing duties. RR is significantly worse. The only cheapie I've had that this wasn't an issue with, is a rosecraft. It's super solid! Thus I still have it.
 
bladerunner01 said:
My problem with Case and most of the cheaper traditional makers, is that their knives tend to be pretty poorly constructed. Blade play/slop is almost never acceptable to me and I never had a single Case that didn't have massive, noticeable wiggle in the blade.
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The Barlow I just got in the mail Saturday is tight as a bank vault has as perfect of a F&F and W&T as I have ever seen from Case.
I wouldn't really expect any better from GEC.
If you care about blade centering ( I do not ) the main blade is absolutely perfect, and the secondary sits a little to the right but does not rub on the liner.
 
bladerunner01 said:
For me, nothing beats a sodbuster. Up until very recent I had a handful of Case Sodbusters. Then ESNYX came along and made it a front flipper and I gave ask my soddies away and bought 2 of the flipper busters and haven't been happier!

My problem with Case and most of the cheaper traditional makers, is that their knives tend to be pretty poorly constructed. Blade play/slop is almost never acceptable to me and I never had a single Case that didn't have massive, noticeable wiggle in the blade. I never trusted a single one for use on anything more than slicing duties. RR is significantly worse. The only cheapie I've had that this wasn't an issue with, is a rosecraft. It's super solid! Thus I still have it.
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My experiences with Case knives have been the exact opposite, but then I've only been using them for about 55 years, so there's that.


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Hickory n steel said:
The Barlow I just got in the mail Saturday is tight as a bank vault has as perfect of a F&F and W&T as I have ever seen from Case.
I wouldn't really expect any better from GEC.
If you care about blade centering ( I do not ) the main blade is absolutely perfect, and the secondary sits a little to the right but does not rub on the liner.
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I prefer a centered blade, but in the end an uncentered blade won't change my opinion as far as a knife being a keeper or not. Blade play can and usually does, however.
 
Ironbut said:
My experiences with Case knives have been the exact opposite, but then I've only been using them for about 55 years, so there's that.


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Maybe it's a difference of when and/or where they were made...? Maybe I've just been unlucky. Who knows. I can only speak from my personal experiences. Case is a hard pass for me every time. I've had the same experience with GEC & RR as well, sloppy/loose blade pivots. My A Wright & Son, on the other hand was pure perfection. Though I decided to let it go because I'm a steel snob. Same thing for my Michael May.
 
bladerunner01 said:
Maybe it's a difference of when and/or where they were made...? Maybe I've just been unlucky. Who knows. I can only speak from my personal experiences. Case is a hard pass for me every time. I've had the same experience with GEC & RR as well, sloppy/loose blade pivots. My A Wright & Son, on the other hand was pure perfection. Though I decided to let it go because I'm a steel snob. Same thing for my Michael May.
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You've probably just been unlucky, but I understand you being turned off by your experience. I have a couple older ones that are 50-80 years old, but most of my Case knives are stockmans & Barlows that I bought in the past 10 years or so. I own maybe 30 Cases now & there is only one that came with some blade play, and they've all been holding up well.
 
bladerunner01 said:
Maybe it's a difference of when and/or where they were made...? Maybe I've just been unlucky. Who knows. I can only speak from my personal experiences. Case is a hard pass for me every time. I've had the same experience with GEC & RR as well, sloppy/loose blade pivots. My A Wright & Son, on the other hand was pure perfection. Though I decided to let it go because I'm a steel snob. Same thing for my Michael May.
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I hate to hear about your bad luck with Case & also GEC. Those have not been my experiences at all, with either brand. I can't speak for the RR bc I don't own any.

Ironbut said:
You've probably just been unlucky, but I understand you being turned off by your experience. I have a couple older ones that are 50-80 years old, but most of my Case knives are stockmans & Barlows that I bought in the past 10 years or so. I own maybe 30 Cases now & there is only one that came with some blade play, and they've all been holding up well.
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I've have similar experience with Case. I own maybe a dozen different Case knives, all have had a good action & no blade play. One or two might have a slightly off center blade but none are touching the liners. Most, like yours we bought in the past 10 years.
 
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