The W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company has a very rich history that began in 1889 when William Russell (“W.R.”), Jean, John, and Andrew Case began fashioning their knives and selling them along a wagon trail in upstate New York. The company has produced countless treasures and it continues to do so as one of the most collected brands in the world.
I just bought my first Case knife, an inexpensive entry knife with their patented Tru Sharp steel and cheap plastic handle. I've always dismissed them as "old man" knives, but suddenly it hit me...I'm 54 years old, have high blood pressure, and my wife got me an AARP membership for Christmas as a "joke." Since I'm now an old man, I thought I'd buy a Case.
Like I said, it's Case's entry level knife, nothing special. However, this is by FAR the sharpest out of the box knife I've ever owned! Even my higher end Benchmades require a few passes over the whetstone at first. But not this one.
Looks like a good user. Last month I purchased two Case knives for Christmas gifts, both made in 2021. I bought them from a local Case dealer and In the process I looked at several different patterns. All the knives I examined had excellent fit and finish, good to great walk and talk. Which is a big improvement over what I saw a few years ago. I’m not a fan of Case’s Tru-Sharp stainless steel but have learned it’s a lot easier to sharpen using Diamond stones than the conventional whetstones I was using before. (Which was previously one of my complaints about it.)
Hope the knife serves you well!
Ken
Member AKTI, TSRA, NRA.
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
Nice one! These weigh next to nothing, aren't very expensive, but get the job done. Plus, unlike most this size, you have a clip point, and not drop point blade. That is much better for most jobs. The low weight works well when you're wearing sweatpants and shorts.
I keep meaning to pick up one, but have yet to. I think the size of this model is perfect.
I too have noticed that Case's factory edges/grinds in the past couple of years have improved immensely.
I bought a Half Whittler (2021) and a Pocket Hunter (2020) recently.
Both knives had excellent fit/finish, blade edge, and pinning. Maybe
Case has improved their quality.
I was real disappointed in the Case knives I bought in 2021. The small copperhead had a very loose blade, the trapper had an edge like a hacksaw as did another small copperhead and a bonestag stockman had blade rub. That ended my case collection ideas. However I do have a few small toothpicks and another copperhead pilot test run which are just fine. 50% pass muster.
robpa wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:03 pm
I was real disappointed in the Case knives I bought in 2021. The small copperhead had a very loose blade, the trapper had an edge like a hacksaw as did another small copperhead and a bonestag stockman had blade rub. That ended my case collection ideas. However I do have a few small toothpicks and another copperhead pilot test run which are just fine. 50% pass muster.
Did you buy them from an on-line source? Just curious as those I examined and the two I bought were from a brick-and-mortar dealer, where you can examine the merchandise.
Ken
Member AKTI, TSRA, NRA.
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
After reading the posts here, i don't think there is any doubt Case have lifted their game. For some reason there seems to be some anti Case sentiment among some knife people, maybe they had a bad experience over the last few years, i don't know but there is nothing wrong with Case knives. Easily obtainable, good selection and well made American knives and well priced. Sorry got off topic about the origins for this thread.
To get back on topic, my first Case knife was/is a Large stockman in peach seed bone, a great all round knife.
I bought 3 at Case museum in Bradford, 1 from deadwood, couple from Shepherd Hills. Actually the 2 from museum were both bad. I never opened the boxes till we were home. Luckily the trapper with the hacksaw blade was at 50%. the 3rd, a curly maple small toothpick is a fine little bugger as are the other tiny tps.
Just received a beautiful Case 2 blade folder in stag w. blue scroll in the mail an hour ago. Gotta be 1 of the finest knives I have seen. Bought right here at AAPK.
I like Case but my Queens just outshine em for the most part.
No one to blame but Case themselves. Prior to about early 1980’s Case was synonymous with quality in the cutlery world. Since then their quality has been up and down in cycles. JMO. I call it like I see it, at least based on my own observations. I seldom buy them on-line and when buying in person I will not buy one without first examining it.
As for Queen I’ll agree their quality prior to around 2005 was excellent. Unfortunately after then it got so spotty they lost market share including private label customers (Moore Maker) and eventually went bankrupt. Currently there are no USA made Queens to compare.
Ken
Member AKTI, TSRA, NRA.
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
They went bankrupt because the vice president and her daughter embezzled money to spend at the casino, not due to shoddy knives. I have a few later case knives and they are prime. I have heard some were kinda lacking, just never ran across 1 yet.
robpa wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:12 pm
They went bankrupt because the vice president and her daughter embezzled money to spend at the casino, not due to shoddy knives. I have a few later case knives and they are prime. I have heard some were kinda lacking, just never ran across 1 yet.
This post made me reminisce about my first Case knife. It was bought for me by an old country preacher named Billy Kelly. He was my hero. I asked him one day if he had a knife. His response was, “I have my britches on don’t I? I’d sooner leave the house without my britches than without my knife.” When he found out that I did not carry a knife he promptly took me to a flea market and bought me a large Case Stockman. That was about 40 years ago. I still have it. I intend to keep it until I leave this world.
My 1st Case I bought as a kid was a new 61048, XX era knife. Carried it all through high school, 1961-1964, left it at home when I went to Parris Island. My dad apparently assumed ownership and I discovered my 1st Case in my mother's belongings after her death in 1997. Dad died in 1979, do the math. He got the goody out of it and several others to boot.
1st Case I bought, a 61048 XX, Pop used it up!
Later I chose to have it re-bladed. It now has a new 10 dot (1970) blade and spends most of its time resting with some other old Case knives, not much pocket time.
Old blade alongside the re-bladed XX handle.
Treefarmer
A GUN IN THE HAND IS BETTER THAN A COP ON THE PHONE.
