Case Second Cut Stag or Bone with Bombshell Shield

[donjr]

A seller on the Bay sold me this Case Peanut (6220), and described it as Second Cut Stag in his listing, but the Tang Stamp clearly says 6220, not 5220. When I questioned him about it, he said that Case sometimes used the 6 instead of the 5 for Stag, and Second Cut Stag. Anybody know if this is true? And why this Knife has the Bombshell Shield? Any help letting me know would be Greatly Appreciated. I need you help Steve (Knifeaholic) or anyone else! Thanks in advance for your help! donjr

[jlw257]

To new for me, but I would call it Bone.

[olderdogs1]

Bone, not 2nd cut stag.

Case did stamp some of the USA 65-69 knives that were 2nd cut stag with a 6. Most of the time it was dyed a darker color than the regular 2nd cut stag ones were.

Steve can no doubt explain it better and hopefully will.

Tom

[Mumbleypeg]

A seller on the Bay sold me this Case Peanut (6220), and described it as Second Cut Stag in his listing, but the Tang Stamp clearly says 6220, not 5220. When I questioned him about it, he said that Case sometimes used the 6 instead of the 5 for Stag, and Second Cut Stag. Anybody know if this is true? And why this Knife has the Bombshell Shield? Any help letting me know would be Greatly Appreciated. I need you help Steve (Knifeaholic) or anyone else! Thanks in advance for your help! donjr

I believe the seller is correct, Case did sometimes use the 6 on second cut stag (or maybe it was second cut bone?). However I'm not sure what if any rhyme or reason there is to it, nor if there were certain years, patterns, or SFO runs that were specific to either the 5 or the 6. Hopefully someone else knows. I have a couple of second cuts with the 6 in their pattern number which you can see by enlarging these pictures. I believe these were both SFOs for Frost Cutlery in the 1990s.

SC06347 second cut stag whittler

Sc06347 second cut stag whittler

As regards the bomb shield, Case has changed shields a lot over the past 30 years so it's not necessarily an indication of anything wrong. I don't try to keep up with all the variations Case has used to entice collectors of modern day Case knives.

Ken

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I'm no expert, but the OP's knife looks like bone not stag to me. I've never seen stag dyed orange. With that said, Case's variations are completely ridiculous - and their use of a single digit in the pattern number to represent the handle material is just dumb - let alone the times when they have broken their own rules. Case tends to get a lot of credit for having better knife dating and pattern markings than most knife manufacturers, but that bar is very low. They are the smartest idiot at the moron convention...

[Mumbleypeg]

With that said, Case's variations are completely ridiculous - and their use of a single digit in the pattern number to represent the handle material is just dumb - let alone the times when they have broken their own rules. Case tends to get a lot of credit for having better knife dating and pattern markings than most knife manufacturers, but that bar is very low. They are the smartest idiot at the moron convention...

Like a lot of things this needs to be viewed with the perspective of history, instead of limited to current events. Case's pattern numbering system dates to over 100 years ago. And from that time up until about 1980 it worked pretty well. The world was a lot simpler then, when pocket knife handles were made from only a handful of materials, and typically only one color of each.

People bought knives as tools, not collectables. Very few if anyone aside from the factory and their dealers paid any attention to the pattern numbers. Then people started collecting knives, and the pattern numbers facilitated collectors being able to communicate more effectively. An unintentional but none-the-less lucrative benefit of that numbering system. Instead of "I have a 3-1/2 inch serpentine three blade stockman with brown bone handles" they could just say "I have a 6318". Collectors liked it. So Case has ridden that "smartest idiot" idea all the way to the bank while their competitors have gone bankrupt.

Nowadays with all the varied colors of bone, the 6318 number has lost a lot of its meaning. Which is why several years ago Case started using an additional, totally different numbering system. Maybe a hundred different versions of the basic 6318 pattern have been made since 1980. Different colors, shields, bolsters and so on, each with another unique number that means nothing to me.

As a devotee of old pre-1980 Case knives I'm not about to disagree about all their more recent ridiculous variations, but IMHO giving up the old pattern numbers totally and trying to use only the new ones is descending into the Tower of Babel.

Ken

[gsmith7158]

With that said, Case's variations are completely ridiculous - and their use of a single digit in the pattern number to represent the handle material is just dumb - let alone the times when they have broken their own rules. Case tends to get a lot of credit for having better knife dating and pattern markings than most knife manufacturers, but that bar is very low. They are the smartest idiot at the moron convention...

Like a lot of things this needs to be viewed with the perspective of history, instead of limited to current events. Case's pattern numbering system dates to over 100 years ago. And from that time up until about 1980 it worked pretty well. The world was a lot simpler then, when pocket knife handles were made from only a handful of materials, and typically only one color of each.

People bought knives as tools, not collectables. Very few if anyone aside from the factory and their dealers paid any attention to the pattern numbers. Then people started collecting knives, and the pattern numbers facilitated collectors being able to communicate more effectively. An unintentional but none-the-less lucrative benefit of that numbering system. Instead of "I have a 3-1/2 inch serpentine three blade stockman with brown bone handles" they could just say "I have a 6318". Collectors liked it. So Case has ridden that "smartest idiot" idea all the way to the bank while their competitors have gone bankrupt.

Nowadays with all the varied colors of bone, the 6318 number has lost a lot of its meaning. Which is why several years ago Case started using an additional, totally different numbering system. Maybe a hundred different versions of the basic 6318 pattern have been made since 1980. Different colors, shields, bolsters and so on, each with another unique number that means nothing to me.

As a devotee of old pre-1980 Case knives I'm not about to disagree about all their more recent ridiculous variations, but IMHO giving up the old pattern numbers totally and trying to use only the new ones is descending into the Tower of Babel.

Ken

Dilly, Dilly!

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I don't disagree with you - I have no doubt that the original thought went something like "stag, bone, wood, misc - that's all we'll ever need". My primary issue with any process (not just Case knife numbering) is when tradition begins to interfere with function. You do not have to throw the baby out with the bathwater to make meaningful improvements. And, if you look at what they have done to the pattern numbers, it just baffles me why they made some of the decisions they did.

When I look here:
http://www.wrcase.com/case_college/hand ... erials.php

I have to ask: Why waste 2, 3, & 4 on such narrow meanings, then have 6 become a mess of variations?? Why have 1 & 7 both mean "wood"??

Whether they have still made money despite these decisions is really not the point. As I said, this numbering is still far better than pretty much every other knife maker of the same age. That still doesn't mean it is good...

[knifeaholic]

The posted knife has bone handles. The quickest way to find the exact variation (what Case called it) would be to post it on the Case Collectos Club forum.

[donjr]

Thanks Steve,
So you think it is a Case Collectors Club Knife? Thanks Again for everyone's help. donjr

[knifeaholic]

Thanks Steve,
So you think it is a Case Collectors Club Knife? Thanks Again for everyone's help. donjr

No its not a CCC knife. But the quickest way to get an answer would be to ask Case directly. You could either post in the forums at CCC or email pics to Jon Bradish at Case directly.

[donjr]

Thanks Again Steve! You are the Best!!!!! donjr

[knifeaholic]

I don't disagree with you - I have no doubt that the original thought went something like "stag, bone, wood, misc - that's all we'll ever need". My primary issue with any process (not just Case knife numbering) is when tradition begins to interfere with function. You do not have to throw the baby out with the bathwater to make meaningful improvements. And, if you look at what they have done to the pattern numbers, it just baffles me why they made some of the decisions they did.

When I look here:
http://www.wrcase.com/case_college/hand ... erials.php

I have to ask: Why waste 2, 3, & 4 on such narrow meanings, then have 6 become a mess of variations?? Why have 1 & 7 both mean "wood"??

Whether they have still made money despite these decisions is really not the point. As I said, this numbering is still far better than pretty much every other knife maker of the same age. That still doesn't mean it is good...

Part of the problem is, Case handle material numbering goes back to the VERY early years of Case, most likely pre 1920. For all of the years from then until the late 70's, there was no such thing as "bone colors". Bone in colors is a creation for the modern collector era. So the simple numbering system using 1 through 9 worked pretty well.

Due to the long tradition, Case would have a problem changing the number system too much. And with the many many variations of bone colors and jigging, trying to assign each variation numbers or numbers/letters would be impractical.

No good solution. I have thought that one way would be to do a light surface etch on the back of each knife's master blade with the bone color and jig pattern. Even that has its limitations.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I would have been very happy if they had simply put the Delrin knives in the 2xxx range instead of the 6xxx range. To me, they mingling Delrin & bone was simply because they wanted everyone to think that Delrin & bone were interchangeable.

[donjr]

Well here is the answer - It is a 2012 - Winterbottom Jigged Sunset Bone with the Bomb Script Shield - per Jon Bradish at Case. I have never heard of Sunset Bone! Thanks Again for all who have helped!! donjr