Rough Riders!

[bighomer]

Fine knife for a great price, I gave 6 bucks for mine but I had to pay $3.25 shipping

[tnorton]

That knife for less than 10 dollars -- good find bh

[kootenay joe]

I have quite a few of those Tobacco Bone Rough Riders. The fit and finish is top notch. The blade action is just as it should be and zero play. Shaving sharp edges on every blade and i have carried and used one of them: still shaving sharp, edge holds better than most knives.
There is only one problem: spending more money will not get you a better user knife. Makes it hard to justify spending 10 times as much for a GEC or 100 times as much for a custom folder.
kj

[Old Folder]

Well said kj.

[dlr110]

I'm really starting to like Rough Ryder or Rider knives a lot. As a matter of fact I'm expecting the following knives any day.
Rough Ryder KC203R Road Canoe
Rough Ryder KB27R Road Bow Trapper
Rough Ryder KC011R Road Congress
Rough Ryder KB117R Road Hawkbill
Rough Ryder KB312R Road Sowbelly
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[Doc B]

I have the canoe, David. The tobacco road series is really a nice looking (and well finished) knife.

[dlr110]

I have the canoe, David. The tobacco road series is really a nice looking (and well finished) knife.

That is a very nice series too. Right now I only have the Trapper and the Swing Guard in the Tobacco Road series, but will get the others later.

[Doc B]

I have the canoe, David. The tobacco road series is really a nice looking (and well finished) knife.

That is a very nice series too. Right now I only have the Trapper and the Swing Guard in the Tobacco Road series, but will get the others later.

I was thinking those were part of the tobacco road series. It has the same wood and numerous pins. Looks like it is done the same way. Very nice looking knives!

[Tups]

A couple of Christmas presents from my wife.

[jerryd6818]

I'm really starting to like Rough Ryder or Rider knives a lot. As a matter of fact I'm expecting the following knives any day.
Rough Ryder KC203R Road Canoe
Rough Ryder KB27R Road Bow Trapper
Rough Ryder KC011R Road Congress
Rough Ryder KB117R Road Hawkbill
Rough Ryder KB312R Road Sowbelly
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The Bow Trapper intrigued me so being a weak willed person, I ordered one.

[dlr110]

That wasn't my favorite Jerry, I think I like the Canoe or the Congress the best, but they all will be nice in my collection.

[Quick Steel]

Tups, that is an especially good looking RR. Your wife has good taste.

[dlr110]

I need to ask the question. Do you folks that follow trends better than myself believe that there has been an increased interest, and purchases, in Rough Rider knives over the past year or so? IMHO they are not top of the line, however they are good knives for EDC, attractive colors and styles and they are definitely affordable. With the 5 that are in the mail I will have 18 total in my collection and I plan to purchase more. I'm interested in reading your opinions.

[jerryd6818]

JMO, increased interest, and (increased) purchases are not synonymous. Again JMO, I think there are those who (for what ever reason) have been all along or are starting to collect Rough Riders. And then there are those who have had no interest but have become curious about what all the hub-bub is all about and they buy one or two. Maybe they will buy more and maybe not. And then there are those who turn up their nose at them and wouldn't buy one (due to their own personal reasons) if you put a gun to their head.

You asked a complicated question. I think those who have been buying, continue to buy but maybe there was a segment of the knife world who were buying but didn't advertise it and just now are "coming out". As I intimated, it's multi-faceted and not an easy question to answer.


Edit: While I'm thinking about it, here's the one I have in the works.

[dlr110]

They arrived and are veeeeery nice.
This is how I have them displayed right now.
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[Quick Steel]

David your RRs look positively elegant in your display.

[edge213]

They arrived and are veeeeery nice.
This is how I have them displayed right now.
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Nice looking display

[Dinadan]

David - nice bunch of Tobacco Road Rough Riders.

IMHO they are not top of the line, however they are good knives for EDC, attractive colors and styles and they are definitely affordable.

I think you pretty well summed up my feeling about Rough Riders with that comment.

JMO, increased interest, and (increased) purchases are not synonymous. Again JMO, I think there are those who (for what ever reason) have been all along or are starting to collect Rough Riders. And then there are those who have had no interest but have become curious about what all the hub-bub is all about and they buy one or two. Maybe they will buy more and maybe not. And then there are those who turn up their nose at them and wouldn't buy one (due to their own personal reasons) if you put a gun to their head.

You asked a complicated question. I think those who have been buying, continue to buy but maybe there was a segment of the knife world who were buying but didn't advertise it and just now are "coming out". As I intimated, it's multi-faceted and not an easy question to answer.

Jerry - very good answer! I think that many or most of us here at AAPK are older men, not representative of America as a whole. I like RRs but I understand that some folks on this forum just do not want to see, talk about, or even think about knives made in China.

I am rather fond of my RRs. They area great knives to shove into a tool box or tackle box where they may languish forgotten for years until needed. A lot of folks seem to use them for rough work where they do not want to use a more expensive knife. I do not collect them, but then I do not really consider myself a collector of anything.

[jmh58]

Keep looking at these.. Have yet to pull the trigger.. Time will tell as I like all that yinz are posting here and else where..
John

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I like my RRs, but I also have to say that I would like them much better if their bone jigging was better. I really like their smooth bone, but their jigged bone (and their bone stag) just doesn't do it for me. It's too uniform and looks exactly like what it is - a machine pressed pattern. I know I'm making an unfair comparison, but if they could do something closer to the Case jigging at this price, I would love them!

[Old Folder]

I'm in total agreement with that TFL.
Their jigging looks "imitation". It takes away from the overall quality and is rather annoying.
Hopefully it will change for the better.
Perhaps it will be corrected in 2020?
I do not know who to complain to other than SMKW. Perhaps they could get the request to Southern Asia?

[Old Folder]

I have no problem with RR bone Stag.

I also have no problem with RR Pearl and inlay.
Workmanship and quality is excellent.
American made or Custom knives of this quality would cost hundreds of dollars.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Well, I have to admit that I have not had their bone stag in hand - I've only seen the pics on the SMKW web site. Your pics do look very nice. I guess I will have to give one a try!

[kootenay joe]

Old Folder, very nice display of some very fine Rough Rider knives.
There are quite a few RR's with excellent jigged bone. "Armor Hide" is my favorite. Another are the knives in the "Gunstock Bone" series as well as some of the "Bowie" series and the "Rifleman" series. Also the "Colt 175th Anniversary" knives have some with excellent jigged bone.
The Rough Rider knives have wide variety of great patterns and the fit & finish and blade action are all reliably 'right on'. And you never get even one blade with play. And they arrive with shaving sharp edges every blade, every time.
That is plenty to understand why Rough Riders are so easy to really like and enjoy. But if you really want to appreciate Rough Rider knives, use one for some serious 'work'. For example if you hunt the field dress your next deer/elk/moose with a Rough Rider knife, any pattern of about 4-4 1/2" in size.
You will be amazed, shocked, blown away by how slick, easy & fast it went from first cut to fully dressed out, hide & lower limbs off.
Use your RR knife and you will be 10 times more impressed with them than you already are. Best edge holding i have ever experienced.
kj

[Old Folder]

Thanks for the information K J.
I'll check out the RRs you mentioned.
I"m not in the need for field dressing, however, my wife does occasionally strip oranges and apples when we are on the road.