Funny looking Case stag

[methadoneman]

The shield side of this knife has almost purple looking tones in it. Has anyone else ever had stag look like this? I didn't buy it new so it could be a rehandle job but I don't think so. Does this hurt the value of this knife?

[knifeaddict1965]

IMG_20240602_182331743.jpgThe shield side of this knife has almost purple looking tones in it. Has anyone else ever had stag look like this? I didn't buy it new so it could be a rehandle job but I don't think so. Does this hurt the value of this knife?

The pattern number on the tang should be 52048 (5-Stag/2-number of blades/048-pattern number for a Slimline Trapper) if it was originally made with Stag. I have seen many variations of Stag from Case and a few similar to this, so as long as the pattern number matches, it should be fine.

Everyone has different taste in Stag, and I personally prefer it to be darker and rougher, but other people may like this look. This is a newer knife and fairly common pattern, so the Stag probably won't affect the value too much.

[methadoneman]

IMG_20240602_182331743.jpgThe shield side of this knife has almost purple looking tones in it. Has anyone else ever had stag look like this? I didn't buy it new so it could be a rehandle job but I don't think so. Does this hurt the value of this knife?

The pattern number on the tang should be 52048 (5-Stag/2-number of blades/048-pattern number for a Slimline Trapper) if it was originally made with Stag. I have seen many variations of Stag from Case and a few similar to this, so as long as the pattern number matches, it should be fine.

Everyone has different taste in Stag, and I personally prefer it to be darker and rougher, but other people may like this look. This is a newer knife and fairly common pattern, so the Stag probably won't affect the value too much.

Yeah the numbers are right on the knife, I have just never saw stag look like this. I'm like you I don't care too much for this particular stag knife. Earlier today I was looking at 2 peanuts. One red stag and the other regular stag. Which do you prefer or does it vary from knife to knife? I love stag but I find myself reluctant to carry it and usually carry something else due to the value of stag knives.

[knifeaddict1965]

IMG_20240602_182331743.jpgThe shield side of this knife has almost purple looking tones in it. Has anyone else ever had stag look like this? I didn't buy it new so it could be a rehandle job but I don't think so. Does this hurt the value of this knife?

The pattern number on the tang should be 52048 (5-Stag/2-number of blades/048-pattern number for a Slimline Trapper) if it was originally made with Stag. I have seen many variations of Stag from Case and a few similar to this, so as long as the pattern number matches, it should be fine.

Everyone has different taste in Stag, and I personally prefer it to be darker and rougher, but other people may like this look. This is a newer knife and fairly common pattern, so the Stag probably won't affect the value too much.

Yeah the numbers are right on the knife, I have just never saw stag look like this. I'm like you I don't care too much for this particular stag knife. Earlier today I was looking at 2 peanuts. One red stag and the other regular stag. Which do you prefer or does it vary from knife to knife? I love stag but I find myself reluctant to carry it and usually carry something else due to the value of stag knives.

I personally love them all as long as they have a lot of character. Here are pictures of a couple of my favorites.

[Mumbleypeg]

One of the beauties of stag is that no two knives are ever alike. Same can be said for any natural material, but I think it is most evident in stag. Different folks like different attributes - dark, light, red, brown, golden, (I have a stag peanut that has blue-green highlights in it), slick, “gnarly”, “popcorn” and so on. Somewhere here is a thread with members’ examples of many different versions of stag.

Ken

[Modern Slip Joints]

Threre are a few possible explainations for less dark stag. "Regular stag" is tourched or burnt to darken it and create more contrast between low and high areas. The colors of the original surface vary as does the amount of burning. How old is this Trapper? Stag can fade as it ages. If a prior owner cleaned off mold the cleaning could have removed some darkness.

[/quote] [...] I was looking at 2 peanuts. One red stag and the other regular stag. Which do you prefer [...]
[/quote]
Case's Midnight Stag is darkened with black dye and their red stag is dyed red. While I might prefer either with the knives in hand, ordering knives that I do not get to see before they arrive I choose regular burnt stag. For a higher price Case had Prime Stag which was burnt and their top of the line Vintage Stag which was neither burnt nor dyed. On average Vintage Stag is not as dark. It's another possible explaination for your Trapper being less dark. Its tang stamp starts with a V.

I think it was in the 1980s that Case also dyed stag blue, green, orange and maybe purple. However those colors were much more obvious than your Trapper's slightly purple tint. I own a 5318 blue stag Stockman. In hind sight buying a sample of each of the other dyed stag colors would have made a great conversation display but the ones I watched were bid higher than I was willing to bid.

Like Knifeaddict1965 wrote, taste in stag is so subjective that any affect different stag has on value is unpredictable.

[jmh58]

Didn’t Case have a 2nd cut stag that kinda looks like that??
John

[Mumbleypeg]

Didn’t Case have a 2nd cut stag that kinda looks like that??
John

Second cut stag is typically light in color - some of it appears to have been torched, but it is made from sawn slabs having basically no texture. Some of it was died various colors (IIRC red and green, there may have been others). It is jigged to give it some texture, and you can see the jigging which to my eye doesn’t replicate the random roughness of stag. JMO. There is also second cut bone, which I think was probably actually stag but it was given a 6 handle code.

Ken

SC06347 (Second Cut)

[treefarmer]

IMG_20240602_182331743.jpgThe shield side of this knife has almost purple looking tones in it. Has anyone else ever had stag look like this? I didn't buy it new so it could be a rehandle job but I don't think so. Does this hurt the value of this knife?

I have noticed on several Case knives with stag handles, the mark side has less character than the pile side. Have no basis for my opinion other than it would be much easier to set a shield in the smoother stag. That said, the men doing the work might choose to do this or maybe it's an industry norm.
Treefarmer

[sextonknifeworks]

the pattern number should be a V52048 SS for vintage stag.

Case made a hand full of patterns in the lat 90's early 2000s that were untoasted and kinda plain looking:

83 Whittler
54HB Hobo
65 Folding Hunter

and several others. As for smoother stag on the front I have always heard that is to make it easier to work a shield in but not sure if this is true. Maybe this is why most of the new Case "Prime" stag knives were shied less.

[toomanyknives]

IMG_20240602_182331743.jpgThe shield side of this knife has almost purple looking tones in it. Has anyone else ever had stag look like this? I didn't buy it new so it could be a rehandle job but I don't think so. Does this hurt the value of this knife?

This knife looked just like your's when I got it, MMan. A good friend gave it to me, after he had lost it and left it out in the weather for about 2 months before he found it. It was super dry and bleached looking. I soaked it in mineral oil for about a day and a half to rehydrate it. This is the result. It's about
100 times better than it was.I then dried it well, and buffed it with a microfiber towel. Might be worth a try.

[Mumbleypeg]

Cautionary note: Repeated soaking in mineral oil softens stag. In your case you had extenuating circumstances (long term exposure to the elements) which may have warranted it. Occasionally wiping with mineral oil is common practice for some, and they swear by it. I prefer RenWax. It protects and preserves, so hopefully the stag won’t dry up, therefore no other treatment necessary.

Ken

[toomanyknives]

Cautionary note: Repeated soaking in mineral oil softens stag. In your case you had extenuating circumstances (long term exposure to the elements) which may have warranted it. Occasionally wiping with mineral oil is common practice for some, and they swear by it. I prefer RenWax. It protects and preserves, so hopefully the stag won’t dry up, therefore no other treatment necessary.

Ken

I agree totally Ken. Good info. I have only done this on about 3 knives in 30 years, and they all had been left in the elements for a long time and had become terribly dry. I use RenWax for regular maintenance also.