Why I look at Case as growing history...

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

May be hard to explain... But, here goes... Case has been continual since it's start. They have had different owners, but the company is not just some name that got picked up after a company went out of business and then got picked up later by somebody wanting to ride the name for it's recognition. Yes, Case has evolved.. has used modern tech as it has come along, and is what happens (or we would still be in the stone ages by avoiding change). So, with Case, what you see from the 1920's, 40's, 60's, 80's, 2000's... is a history of the Case company unfolding as we witness it. You may prefer an older one over a newer one.. but they all represent an ongoing evolvement and a continuing growth of this american company's history. Let's say Case goes out of business today (may no more US made knife firms go out again.. long live Case, GEC, Queen, Buck... and all the other few left). But, let us say they go out of business, just as an example. All of their knives will likely be collected and admired 100 years from now.... all will represent different eras of the company called Case, and all will be a part of that company's history... and in turn, of american history Just my way at looking at things.... ymmv

 

[Blueberry815]

Very well said that is why I like case as a company

 

[jc57]

I do certainly enjoy the Case knives that I have and use, both current manufacture and some of the older ones. I hope they continue to be able to adjust and adapt to the changing nature of the marketplace and world economy and keep providing good quality traditional style knives for generations to come.

To keep this conversation about knives so that it doesn't get moved, here's one of my older Case slipjoints that I don't think I've posted a pic of before:

Case 6235 1/2 Jack knife, made in 1982, brown jigged Delrin handles, satin finished full flat grind blades perfectly centered. Fit and finish is amazing, half-stops, snap on both blades is like a bear trap at all three positions. The jigged Delrin was done so well you have to look close to see that it's not really a deeply dyed bone.

I'd put this one up against a GEC in terms of build quality, though clearly not as dressed up. And this was sold as a working blade, not part of their collector patterns.



Fast forward to the present. They are still turning out great knives, by collaborating with designers like Tony Bose to keep their designs interesting and up to date like the Swayback Jack, made in 2012 (30 years later) which most on the forums here are big fans of:



So as long as they keep up with the market and keep turning out knives that both work as tools for the user, and provide beauty and variety for the collector, hopefully they'll be around a while longer.

 

[jackknife]

Case is a bit of American knife manufacturing history. With the loss of both Schrade and Camillus so close together, Case is sort of left holding the dike by themselves as far as old time factories go. Many generations of American boys got a Case pocket knife as their very first knife, and many of our grandaddies carried a Case.

I hope they stay around a bit.

Carl.

 

[pmew]

I am a Brit, yet ever since I joined Carl's cult earlier in the year I have carried a case peanut to work. Long live case knives!

Paul

ps. all hail the grand high muckba

 

[midnight flyer]

Case is a bit of American knife manufacturing history. With the loss of both Schrade and Camillus so close together, Case is sort of left holding the dike by themselves as far as old time factories go. Many generations of American boys got a Case pocket knife as their very first knife, and many of our grandaddies carried a Case.

I hope they stay around a bit.

Carl.

That is exactly what happened in my experience. I now have my grandfather's large stockman that he carried (I think) in the late 40s until he passed in the mid 60s. I now have my Dad's CASE peanut, large skinner, and one of his jacks. They are at least 30 years old, maybe older. One of the knives I was able to track the date down on after applying a scotchbrite and a large magnifying glass showed it to be from the late 60s.

I still have one of the first CASE knives I bought in the mid 70s, and as a poor young craftsman, it was the only knife I carried for a few years, then I carried it later out of habit because I like it. When the weather turns cool and I don't sweat so much, I still carry and use it. It's like having an old friend around.

CASE knives run deep in my family as I am sure they do in others. I am one that truly hope they can keep their market share and stay in business to carry on their tradition as a knife maker.

Robert

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Case is a bit of American knife manufacturing history. With the loss of both Schrade and Camillus so close together, Case is sort of left holding the dike by themselves as far as old time factories go. Many generations of American boys got a Case pocket knife as their very first knife, and many of our grandaddies carried a Case.

I hope they stay around a bit.

Carl.

These days, so many companies apparently fail due to a bad 'business model', which fails to guide a company through tough economic times. I'm not a business major (or even minor), but even I've been impressed at Case's apparent tenacity in keeping their business alive (in the U.S.) for essentially a century, uninterrupted. Multiple owners over the years, yes. But they're still kickin', and they're still doing it here. That seems historic in itself, to me. If they aren't already, I'd think many business schools could use them as a teaching example.


David

 

[Zidfeldts]

I never saw a Case knife until 2004. In Alberta hardware stores there were mostly German pocketknives sold under Premier Lifetime brand. If you broke one you could take it back to the store and trade it for a new one out of the display case. A lot of hardware stores also had Schrade knives for sale as well. We saw a few Buck knives but they were a lot more money than Schrades. I only saw Case knives in magazines and later on the Internet. I just loved the bone and the different styles. Fast forward to 2013 and I have still never seen a Case knife that I didn't own. I do have several dozen of my own and still love the bone scales and the different styles. I have almost every brand of production knife and will stack my Case knives up against any of the others for value. I know everyone looks down their noses at their stainless blades but they work for me.