All About Pocket Knives

I'm continuing my survey of Chinese made knives... I was browsing Amazon and a Rite Edge 4 inch Stockman turned up for a little over $9 with free overnight shipping on Prime. I figured what the heck. Let's see what under ten bucks will buy you.

It arrived yesterday. Here it is...

For a little backstory about why I'm interested in low end knives... When I was a kid, I remember getting my first pocket knife. It was a Barlow probably made by Imperial. It was on a cardboard card along with a batch of the same knife at the counter of the sporting goods store- impulse item. My dad told me that I could have one. It probably cost a couple of bucks. I still remember that knife. I learned how to sharpen using that knife and I carried it everywhere with me (until I lost it- a very sad day). I moved up to Bucks and have had a Buck medium stockman in my pocket every day since.

Recently I decided to pull all the Buck knives that were scattered all around my house into a collection all in one place. I decided to fill in some empty slots by cruising eBay. One thing led to another and I was looking at all kinds of knives. I spent hundreds of dollars on a few very nice knives. But I kept seeing youtube guys talking about Rough Ryders and other inexpensive brands; and looking at them in the video, they didn't look any different than my expensive knives. I bought a couple as an experiment, and I was surprised to find that other than the kind of steel used, they were comparable. I heard people talk about manufacturing flaws in Chinese made knives, but I didn't see any in the ones I bought. So I bought more. At this point, I think I've ordered about six $100 batches from Chicago Knife Works. In the dozens of knives, I've only come across one $10 knife that wasn't good.

So how does a $9 super cheap knife stand up? Surprisingly well, actually.

The knife came out of the box incredibly dirty. The first thing I did was to thoroughly clean it. The springs and joints were crunchy with grit, but after cleaning, they started to come around. I oiled them and worked the blades back and forth for an hour, and the crunchiness was gone. It has a good solid pull now. It's relatively smooth. A couple of tiny bumps in the main blade pull, but it's getting better as I use it. I think one more oiling and about 20 minutes of working it, and it will be perfect. I'll find time to do that this week.

The handles look nice. They have a matte finish, which I wasn't expecting. I usually see gloss on pearl handles. But the matte finish is very practical for a knife that you are going to carry and use. The blades, bolsters, liners and springs are all stainless. The blades have a brushed finish and the main blade is etched with a logo. Sharp out of the box. Pins and shield are completely flush. The only thing different is the fit on the back springs. I normally find the back to be completely smooth. This one you can feel the liners slightly. But the springs have no gaps and work perfectly.

This knife cost me a little over $9 shipped. A comparable Rough Rider costs about $14. A Chinese made Buck is $29. A US Buck is about $55. A Case costs around $60. Great Eastern Cutlery gets $115. This knife isn't quite as good as any of those other brands, but it is darn close. The fact that you can get a decent every day carry traditional knife for $9 is amazing. I would definitely carry and use this knife. I can afford to spend a a few bucks more for a Rough Ryder with slightly better steel and fit and finish; but to be honest, But by the time knives get up to costing over five times the price, I have a hard time justifying it. Quality above a Rough Ryder Reserve seems like overkill. I would never notice it in everyday use, and in fact, the high price tag would probably make me afraid to use it.

There is definitely a purpose for cheap knives. I wonder if there are kids out there getting one of these the way I got that Barlow all those years ago. They might feel the same way about this Rite Edge as I felt about the Imperial.

I just got a Congress in the same style. I'll post here about it when I get a chance to clean it up and lube it.

If you spend $10 for a new knife, you have a $10 knife.

edge213 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:42 amIf you spend $10 for a new knife, you have a $10 knife.

I didn't realize that if I spent $10 on a knife, I'd get a damn good knife!

Here is the matching Congress...

This one was also a little over $9 too. Same story as the Stockman. It wasn't as dirty. Only took about 15 minutes to clean up. A little bit of a gap between the pearl and the bolster on the left. Just barely enough to get a fingernail in. Never ran across that with Rough Ryders. But this is still a great deal.

I really think if they cleaned these up and oiled them at the factory, they could charge more for them. This is in no way a cheap knife. Good steel, solid bones, decent fit and finish. This is a good every day carry knife and I'm sure it would last for many years. For $9, that is remarkable. I've had hamburgers that cost that much.

What was the price of the vintage knives when they were originally sold? For instance a bread and butter Case XX Stockman from say 1960? It would be interesting to correct that for inflation and compare it to a comparable knife today. Would the 1960 Case be closer in price to Rough Ryders or GECs?

edge213 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:42 am If you spend $10 for a new knife, you have a $10 knife.

Well put. I can't speak for the quality or lack thereof of Chinese knives. But I know that American workers as cutlers or in any other craft raise American families and pay American taxes to finance our Country. And I know that China is now, has been for a long time, and will no doubt continue to be our enemy financially and culturally. Chinese goods are brought into our country by unbelievably wealthy Americans who don't care whether you live or die and hide their obscene profits from their morally rightful taxation responsibility. I believe this to be fact, not political opinion. There is a difference and therefore there should not be a reason to remove this post to a political venue.

bigshot wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:56 pm It arrived yesterday. Here it is...
IMG_2336.jpg

So how does a $9 super cheap knife stand up? Surprisingly well, actually.
The knife came out of the box incredibly dirty. The first thing I did was to thoroughly clean it. The springs and joints were crunchy with grit, but after cleaning, they started to come around. I oiled them and worked the blades back and forth for an hour, and the crunchiness was gone. It has a good solid pull now. It's relatively smooth. A couple of tiny bumps in the main blade pull, but it's getting better as I use it. I think one more oiling and about 20 minutes of working it, and it will be perfect. I'll find time to do that this week.

Good write. Nice job.

Here you go Bigshot. Describes what you're discovering about these knives.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh9NmuhvdLI

What is the handle material you are describing as pearl? Must be some kind of celluloid or acrylic?

cbay wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:46 am Here you go Bigshot. Describes what you're discovering about these knives.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh9NmuhvdLI

Terrific post and vid cbay. Very interesting.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 3:19 amWhat is the handle material you are describing as pearl? Must be some kind of celluloid or acrylic?

Interesting question!

I googled it. They are cut from oyster shells in very thin slices. Then they build up the rest of the handle with some sort of plastic to make it thick enough and strong.

cbay wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:46 amHere you go Bigshot. Describes what you're discovering about these knives.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh9NmuhvdLI

Great video! I had one Rough Ryder that I noticed had a gap along half of the spring on the back. I could run my finger over it and just barely feel it. The action of the knife was fine, so I decided to live with it. I pulled out my cleaning kit (Flitz, Hoppe's 9 Gun Oil, Ballistol, Renaissance Wax, a big pile of microfiber cloths, gun patches and brass wand, etc.) and I went to work cleaning and lubing it inside and out. The second I started cleaning it, I saw blackish mud coming out from the crack in the spring. I would wipe it clean and more would seep out. I worked the blades back and forth to move the springs around and kept wiping. Eventually the springs were clean and lo and behold, there was no more gap. It was caused by the dirt.

One other thing I've noticed is that Rough Ryders whose blades aren't perfectly centered always lean towards the fingernail nick. I think they do that so as you use it, the blade won't scrape when you push on it with your fingernail, and over time will break in to being centered.

In any case, these knives are a terrific bargain. They are just as good as my Bucks and they are better than my Case knives. The variety of patterns and handle materials makes them a lot more interesting than my more expensive knives too.

I have a couple of Rite Edge knives. They are decent quality, better than I had expected, really. At $8 or $9, I was pleasantly surprised that the mark-side bone on this Congress was beautifully dyed unevenly. I like it!
I do prefer knives made in the USA, but I like to give away knives to friends and acquaintances, and cannot afford to give away expensive knives. I wish I could.
I did buy a handful of Second Quality inexpensive knives at the Bear & Son factory sale this past week. As I can repair them, I may be giving away cheap US knives, too.

You know there are similarities between your Rite Edge knife and Rough Ryders. There might be some connection.

I finally got around to reading this thread. I think you know that I try to be fair to Chinese knives. However, one question can only be answered by an owner who uses multiple brands a lot and the other is obvious, edge retention and handle material. You do not have to have worked with silver colored metals much to be able to write the metal in a picture is aluminum rather than stainless steel or chrome. With the same degree of certainty I can write that your "pearl" is composed of only plastic with no real shell. After handling enough samples of each the difference is obvious at a glance. The question of edge retention is better resolved by young men who own few knives and have to use them at work every day. Back yard and household duty hardly gives a retired collector's knives enough of a work out to compare all his different knives edge retention. I'll watch for you to write a comparison.

My lighting just sucks. I can tell the difference between steel / nickel silver and aluminum. The bolsters and springs are pretty much the same as on my Rough Ryders. The liner is steel instead of brass. I'm pretty sure they're the same steel as RR on the blades too. (Edit: I found a site that listed specs on these... They have stainless steel bolsters and 420 steel blades.) In fact, I think these knives might be made in the same factory. I looked up Rite Edge. They're owned by Szco https://www.szco.com . They look like a similar kind of company as SMKW. They manufacture tools and import from China, Germany, Pakistan and Japan. I can't judge pearl. There is definitely some sort of plastic over the top, but there is a thin layer at the bottom with the opalescence. Don't know what that is. I'm not going to complain about it not being real pearl for $9 shipped.

I got some other really nice Rite Edge knives in work knife patterns. I can post photos of those if you are interested. One is a Sod Buster and the other is a gardening knife with a hawkbill and a really neat blade/branch cutting tool. I have a nice Barlow by them too. Those are made of 420 stainless and the bolsters are brushed stainless steel. I've got a melon knife too, but that looks completely different- more of a novelty knife. That one may be made in Pakistan. It isn't marked. The others say China.

Here is an overview of Rite Edge knives by Thrify Kaniffy.

https://youtu.be/Y_Hm5WQYEPw?t=294

As he says, they come kind of dull and dirty. But take 15 minutes and polish and oil them and they shine really nice and open smoothly. These aren't status symbols or super solid knives that will last a century, but they're decent knives that do the job. I've got some Marbles knives that are very nice too. I've been very pleasantly surprised at the cheap knives I've picked up.

If you wanted to just try one, I'd recommend the Sod Buster with the wooden handle. I have Case Sod Busters and a Rough Ryder one, and I like the Rite Edge one best of all. It's a solid work knife.

Mine was sharp, but I haven't used it enough to determine the edge retention. It is a little more cheaply made than a Rough Ryder - namely with stainless liners and bolsters. That makes for a durable knife, but not as pretty as one made with brass and silver nickel.