wondering about a Case

Rsmith_77 said:
yeah i agree
if i didnt void the warranty...which i am not sure if i have or not
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I have used Case's warranty service and when I did I was quoted repair prices as well. I don't recall the actual price but I do remember thinking that it was reasonable.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Might be a distinction between what he calls a 'worker', and what I would view as 'disposable'. In that sense, any cheap knife could be used and abused to a very quick demise, for any dirty job, without worries about the 'pretty ones' getting all scuffed up. If scuffs are the worry, that's what a Case Sod Buster was tailor-made for (in Tru-Sharp or CV). And it'll keep right on working. :D

BTW, if my previous reply seemed a little harsh, it wasn't directed at you. More-so, at the guys recommending cheap knives as more 'usable' over the quality brands we know and like around here. :)
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I think it may have been a little harsh but then again I have never seen the people that you are referring to. All I have ever seen would be people stating to go with Buck for the higher RC and better edge retention. Can't knock someone for picking a Buck over a Case...I won't knock someone for going with Case over Buck. But stating facts is not in any way an uninformed act. You and I both know sometimes being able to form a proper edge is the most important part anyhow. We also both know certain steels have their pro's and con's. RC hardness does have a real effect on performance, but you know that also.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
thanks for your imput...

and what would you consider to be hard duty for a pocket knife? Just out of curiosity
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I work in building maintenance. I cut vinyl composite tile, carpet (new and old), mastic adhesive, silicone and latex caulk, plywood, particle board and sheetrock on a daily basis. I like S90V for what I call normal use. Hard duty, well there you get into asphalt shingles and bags of concrete, which is the province of disposable blades to me, although I admit to using a stockman for those things when I didn't have a utility knife handy.
 
richstag said:
I think it may have been a little harsh but then again I have never seen the people that you are referring to...
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You've apparently read something into my comments that simply wasn't there.

That 'reference' was in regard to the dealer spoken of by the OP (post #7), that recommended the Frost knives as more worthy as a 'work' knife than the Case (or Buck, or any other reputable knives with decent steel). Had nothing to do with a Case vs. Buck comparison. They're both good, and I mentioned so previously.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
i have the case mini-trapper in CV
remember when i said hit or miss...

gaps, blade wobble, wayy off centered blades
and whats worse, when i tried to tape the bolters to tighten up...well i must have tapped to hard cause the blades got real hard to open and close
i am honestly thinking of calling Case and sending it back, wondering if i voided the warranty or not and if so how much its gonna cost me :p
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I have no personal experience with Case customer service, but I have read about a lot of very positive experiences folks have had. Good luck.
 
I'm not going to argue the hardware store guy was anything other than tragically wrong. Yet I suspect one thing influencing his point was that the Frost knives are "affordable" enough to work hard (i.e. use until they break and then throw away). I imagine he thought Case knives are too expensive and, therefore, too precious to use hard. Some people seem to think anything over $20 is a fortune to spend on a pocket knife.
 
Fall 2010 a friends dad in his late 70's dropped and elk back in about 5 miles behind a gate. Time to round the troops, so I got there with what I had on, new low top shoes, a decided lack of hunting / work cloths & a 3 blade stockman big brother to your knife.

After getting the bull out and back to the house Sam & I started skinning the quarters. He kept trying to pawn off one of his "big hunting knives" on me because everyone knows you have to have a big knife to skin an elk... :o After he was through knife # 3 I was still able to out cut him with blade #1 on my Case.

the steel is good enough for me...

God Bless,
 
Most of the talk against CASE stainless is either uniformed repeating of hearsay, or it's from people who just don't like stainless steel at all. It may have some very long throwback to the early days of stainless (80 years and more ago...) when it wasn't much cop, perhaps. There again, many users prefer cv for its patina qualities and look, fair enough indeed.

For the tasks you mention, there should be no problem at all. CASE stainless sharpens very well (poppin sharp..) and for the averge pocket knife tasks it retains the edge without issue, is more needed? Unlikely. Some people do prefer CASE's brushed or matte finish on stainless blades, (or put it on themselves) it certainly helps avoid scratches or finger-print hell!
 
I think CASE's reputation for poor quality stainless blades started when they first came out with them. Working in construction I had to have a CASE stainless as I thought my daily knife maintenance to prevent rust would be sharply curtailed. I had an old red bone handled trapper in the mid 70s, and the stainless was no less than awful. It was butter knife soft, and didn't work well on the job.

Not connecting the dots, I bought a stockman in stainless right after that. Same thing. Awful. I hated that knife.

To be fair, I was trying anything in stainless. I sweated so much that I soaked through my jeans after about an hour on the job. My carbon steel knives would be rusting by mid afternoon sometimes and easily by the end of the day. I spent a lot of time taking care of the knives I had and just got tired of it. No other tool I had required daily maintenance. I bought a Queen folder in stainless, and it was no better. In fact it was much worse. I tried a couple of other brands and decided that at that time the stainless in the knives of the day weren't ready for prime time. Back to carbon and frequent wipes with an oil I could find.

Knife lovers have a long memory, though. I remember my hard earned money leaving my pocket for both of those knives and the huge disappointment of owning both of them. Worse, back in those days you paid a premium for stainless, so I really felt like I wasted my money. And on a carpenter's helper wage in '75... So paying a premium for a lousy product sure put me off CASE for a while.

I have heard good things about CASE's stainless, and after all, that was almost 40 years ago. I have one friend that carries CASE stainless, and he says it does as well as his other stainless knives. Soft enough to sharpen easily and doesn't rust in his pocket. He doesn't require more than that. I don't know how many or what kind of knives you are used to, but if I recall correctly, AG Russell shows CASE stainless blades being hardened to 54 - 57 Rockwell. If you got one that was at the 54 range, it might be much softer than you are used to using.

I like the suggestions you got to try it out. You won't know until you try the knife and the steel out yourself. You might be just as pleased as can be with that knife in both the steel and practicality.

Robert
 
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Rsmith_77 said:
heh the man at the Ace Hardware store where i bought this knife, literally told me if i need something for "work" to get one of the frost brand knives, they are workers, the case knives are just for looking at these days....
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Not to be insensitive, but is he retarded?

-- Mark
 
willgoy said:
Most of the talk against CASE stainless is either uniformed repeating of hearsay, or it's from people who just don't like stainless steel at all. It may have some very long throwback to the early days of stainless (80 years and more ago...) when it wasn't much cop, perhaps. There again, many users prefer cv for its patina qualities and look, fair enough indeed.

For the tasks you mention, there should be no problem at all. CASE stainless sharpens very well (poppin sharp..) Throat Poppin Sharpand for the averge pocket knife tasks it retains the edge without issue, is more needed? Unlikely. Some people do prefer CASE's brushed or matte finish on stainless blades, (or put it on themselves) it certainly helps avoid scratches or finger-print hell!
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Any case knife is sharp enough to slit yer throat if yer frustrated with it.
 
midnight flyer said:
I think CASE's reputation for poor quality stainless blades started when they first came out with them. Working in construction I had to have a CASE stainless as I thought my daily knife maintenance to prevent rust would be sharply curtailed. I had an old red bone handled trapper in the mid 70s, and the stainless was no less than awful. It was butter knife soft, and didn't work well on the job.

Not connecting the dots, I bought a stockman in stainless right after that. Same thing. Awful. I hated that knife.

To be fair, I was trying anything in stainless. I sweated so much that I soaked through my jeans after about an hour on the job. My carbon steel knives would be rusting by mid afternoon sometimes and easily by the end of the day. I spent a lot of time taking care of the knives I had and just got tired of it. No other tool I had required daily maintenance. I bought a Queen folder in stainless, and it was no better. In fact it was much worse. I tried a couple of other brands and decided that at that time the stainless in the knives of the day weren't ready for prime time. Back to carbon and frequent wipes with an oil I could find.

Knife lovers have a long memory, though. I remember my hard earned money leaving my pocket for both of those knives and the huge disappointment of owning both of them. Worse, back in those days you paid a premium for stainless, so I really felt like I wasted my money. And on a carpenter's helper wage in '75... So paying a premium for a lousy product sure put me off CASE for a while.

I have heard good things about CASE's stainless, and after all, that was almost 40 years ago. I have one friend that carries CASE stainless, and he says it does as well as his other stainless knives. Soft enough to sharpen easily and doesn't rust in his pocket. He doesn't require more than that. I don't know how many or what kind of knives you are used to, but if I recall correctly, AG Russell shows CASE stainless blades being hardened to 54 - 57 Rockwell. If you got one that was at the 54 range, it might be much softer than you are used to using.

I like the suggestions you got to try it out. You won't know until you try the knife and the steel out yourself. You might be just as pleased as can be with that knife in both the steel and practicality.

Robert
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I was working in Automotive, Sporting Goods and Hardware at a discount store back then. Gerber was the only company I found running their steel hard at the time. Night and day difference in performance and price. A Folding Sportsman II would have cost you as much as both those Case knives, and the single blade would have kept an edge as long as all five of the Case blades put together, assuming you didn't chip it to death on hard stuff. I know what construction workers do to their knives, I've been one.
 
Hi guys!

I have the similar knife; Case Mini Trapper Amber Bone SS. It was my first american traditional. I carry it from time to time as EDC Knife. I has already seen a lot of use.

The stainless steel which is used by Case is a pretty good one. It keeps the edge pretty long and gets a good edge very fast. In my experience, the 420HC steel of Case is nearly the same the famous 420HC from Buck Knives. I like them both.

I used that Mini Trapper at a working knife in my job. Opening packages, cutting ropes, food prep and so on. My Case Peanut is also in their SS, the same result in sharping and keeping the edge.

Case Stainless :thumbup: !

I don´t wanna say anything to their CV steel, but that´s also a very good and durable steel.

Kind regards
Andi
 
The only difference I can tell between my CV #47 stockman and my SS #47 is the CV gets a nice patina that is it. Durring the hot months I prefer the SS. Your knife like my amber bone stockman a very fine trapper and if it's your cup of tea yes go for it! That knife will look great after some work and pocket wear!
 
i have the exact knife, same handles, new in the box. Started carrying it a little, the other day noticed the shield fell off and is gone. Oh well, looks like the box isnt doing me much good now! I will be carrying and beating to death now, I will let you know
 
caseknife64 said:
i have the exact knife, same handles, new in the box. Started carrying it a little, the other day noticed the shield fell off and is gone. Oh well, looks like the box isnt doing me much good now! I will be carrying and beating to death now, I will let you know
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Haha, thats what I did with my GEC EZ Open when it got on my nerves. It has been taking it better then I expected.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
just for clarification, for "work knife"

i mean cutting lots of cardboard, pallet ties, plastic and Seran wrap (however you spell that) pretty much whatever else in the warehouse + all the normal edc uses, food, opening letters, string, more cardboard etc etc.

they work hard, but i DONT use them for prying or trying to cut cinder blocks :P
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just slightly off topic
anyone put a rough rider through this kind of work?
does the rough rider hold up to this kind of use? I am beginning to think it just might...but thought I would ask if anyone has any experience with this...
 
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