I have a large collection of Case, GEC, Queen and American made Schrade knives. I recently purchased several Rough Riders, I have to say, for the money they are amazing. Great EDC knives you don't have to worry about.
Can't beat Rough Riders for variety, quality, collectability and general everyday use at that price point.....you can nit pick knives that cost 10 times more all day long and then cry over every little nick and scratch because of what you invested in them but for every day beaters that you can use or practice hand sharpening on or experimenting modifications with Rough Rider is tough to beat. Yes....quality control on Rough Riders is a bit of a gamble and a lemon comes along every now and then but the majority in my experience at least, the quality equals or exceeds slip joints that cost far far more.
Im from Uk so american made does not matter. I have a few case and lots of rough riders. Sorry but i do prefer the rough riders. If you spend half an hour on cleaning and polishing theres no difference.
"Gateway Knives" Ha ha, I like that.For me it worked the other way around, it started with that Buck canoe knife and the solo in a blister pack on clearance at WM for under ten bucks. Then a few RR knives in various patterns. Made me wonder why I should spend more since I use them in the field.
For the patina, The easiest and best way to do it that I found is to use the cheapest thinnest paper you can find, that paper in shoe boxes works great, cut a rectangle twice as thick as the knife and about a 1/8 inch longer and crease it in the center then fold it around the blade try to get it to be a little bigger than the blade thickness, and try to cut out the shape against the bolster to the same curve so the patina goes all the way to the bolster, Then douse the paper with apple cider vinegar either with your fingers or an eye dropper until its saturated, then gently rub out any wrinkles in the paper and smooth out air pockets but be careful as the paper will tear, about 10min and check patina, don't let it just get black and blacker letting sit in there for hrs, because it wont stay on and your blade may start to rust in a few spots. the real patina you are looking for that will stay on will be a lighter smoother gray color, rinse off the blade to remove any vinegar residue and wipe it down with some WD-40 or mineral oil if you plan on using it around food.
Hi; I would rather buy a rough ryder and find a small fault than find that same fault or worse on a Case that cost 4 times more. RR have a life time warranty at SMKW so any problems sent it back, it will be replaced. All the best.
only because they jacked the price up. i have a 2008 catalog and the retail prices then are now the wholesale prices . same cheap steel blades, which is a huge problem. i man i can buy s35vn for a knife for $10 or less. if RR wanted they could have quality blades made in USA and shipped to China to be put together. for $25 you could have a trapper with USA s35vn blades or pretty much any blade, 1095 D2 Elmax Vanadis 440c cardboard plastic anything but RR is making huge profits for SMKW so they want $60 USD for a chinese knife with $10 worth of blades on a two dollar frame
@@carmineredd1198 It's easier to double the value of a $20 knife than it is a $200 knife. As the price goes up, the amount of interested buyers go down. People pay thousands of dollars for comic books that sold for a dime. There's nothing wrong with the steel on Rough Ryder knives. If you want to complain about the quality of steel for the price, Case would be the big offender.
@@StephenWorth Well said, Stephen. RR knives are the best bang for the knife buck there is.... bar none. Their latest offerings are superb, with T-10 and D-2 high carbon steel blades and denim micarta covers. Far better than the run-of-the-mill Case, any day of the week. I have two of them in my hands as we speak. Less than $15 from SMKW.
I recently wanted to include a canoe pattern knife into my collection. I was spending some time in Texas and found a Rough Rider "Old Southwest" canoe knife that would make a great souvenir of my visit. For less than $25 I found a beautiful, well made pocket knife, with inlaid handle scales, match strike long pulls and swedges on both blades. With half stops. I loved it. Then I made the mistake of wanting another canoe pattern, this time by Case...it had to be better, right? Well there were no half stops, no long pulls, no match strike pulls, no swedges, but it did cost $90. Now in a side by side comparison the Rough Rider is without doubt the better knife...it even has a lifetime warranty from Smokey Mountain Knife Works. Others in the comments have said this better than I, but to repeat...don't put down Chinese made products, but look towards the U.S. importer who has ordered the cheapest possible product, and then tries to sell it at traditional U.S. prices. I just bought a Rough Rider Micarta Work Knife for $ 10 ( next batch is selling for $13)...and some professional knife dealers/collectors are saying that this knife equals GEC quality...I wouldn't know, I won't pay $150 to $250 for a slip joint that I can get elsewhere for half that price, or for less than $25 if you look at the Rough Riders. Buyer beware!
@@blueeyeswhitedragon9839 I think you purchased one of the best $25.00 pocket knives on the market to date. It is smooth in the pocket, well made all-metal construction, sharp as a tack in 5 minutes of honing, half-stops, gorgeous to the eyes of people who like southwest accents and not a nail breaker. I gave a couple out as gifts this year and have 2 for myself. LOL Rough Riders can be hit or miss (like some Case ones) but lately they seem to be producing very well appointed and high value products at budget prices. Still though for shear excellence in materials and workmanship as well as eye candy to the knife enthusiast, you cannot beat a GEC.
Yep Zombie Nick is composition. Marbles is another SMKW house brand. It’s made in the factory as the Rough Ryder. I like Case. My guess is you might still by some Rough Ryders as they have much more variety than Case and you’ll find Case knives are only marginally better at 3-4 times the cost. Also, many of the Chinese Bucks are also out of same factory as Rough Ryder. If you’re looking at Bear and Son, you need to choose wisely. They do have issues. If you like the tail gate you should check out the Case mini trapper with the cap lifter/ screwdriver! Enjoyed the show. Thanks for sharing.
roughrider was a gateway to case for me. and then case qc lead me right back to roughrider. i live in germany and we got some nice trad knives, that are getting more attention . otter knives and mercator for example
I dunno. I've got a few Cases, and a GEC (another quality level entirely), but I wouldn't call my RR Buckshot Bone Teardrop Jack 'entry level' by any means. Some of my other RRs, perhaps.
I EDC a Case XX Jumbo Stockman. GEC, makes nothing like it, nor do any of the other companies except for Old Timer, but the Old Timer doesn't use1095 CV steel. I'd say GEC is fourth or fifth on my favorites list, but still excellent knives. Boker Tree Brand is the most expensive at two hundred and fifty bucks for the Stockman I bought. A Queen cost two hundred and forty. But Case XX is the best in almost every way. Case XX has the highest collectability, the best steel by far, and the largest selection by miles. Fir a working knife, Bear & Sons is right up there with case, but the steel isn't quite as good. Anyway, Rough Rider knives are certainly entry level where price is concerned. Old Timer has much, much better stainless steel on their top knives, but Rough Rider has carbon knives made with T10, which is a cheap, but highly underrated steel, so this is a wash. Both knives really are entry level, though, both in price, and in steel quality. This does not mean they aren't good knives because they are. It just means they're much less expensive, and don't use top steels. And if you compare Rough Rider blades with those from other companies, not just Case XX, GEC, Boker Tree Brand, etc., but also with Old Timer, you almost always find that the Rough Rider blades are thinner in similar sized knives. This is one way they're able to steel at such a low price while maintaining very good quality control. However you look at it, a very low cost knife with 440A steel, or even with T10 steel, is entry level. There are too many other knife brands out there that not only cost a heck of a lot more, but that also use far better steel. Because of this, Rough Rider knives, all of them, are entry level. They are quality knives, but you really can't compare them to brands like Case XX, GEC, Bear and Son, Hen & Rooster, Boker Tree Brand, etc.
@@jamesaritchie1 :- I suspect that your use of the term "entry level" goes back and forth in meaning from price to collector value. I try not to get the two different value systems mixed up. Price is obvious, but includes the presumption that quality of materials are equivalent, at least as far as expected/intended use. But as far as collector value...that is way too subjective to be quantified in a short comment to a CZcams video. But let it be said that collector value is whatever the market says it is. And this collector market can change on a dime for whatever reason. Just check out the tulip market in Dutch history. GEC could hire two extra shifts, produce thousands of knives and collector value will change, as quantity changes, but actual quality might not change at all.
Getting into knives about a year ago, Case nearly destroyed slip joints for me. Just junk after junk. Im giving some other brands a try now and one of them might just be Rough Rider. Case doesn't deserve to get peoples hard earned money.
You're not wrong, but Case is having a difficult time competing with Chinese outsourcing, not so much because they can't, but because people are cheap and want the junky $20 knives over the $60+ Case knives. So they have to find cheaper ways of doing it and let more and more QA issues slide which indirectly decreases production costs even further. Not long ago, though, I read a statement by a Case exec who said they were considering decreasing production variety and shrinking the market some to focus more on quality, so we will see. For now, if you're still collecting knives, I personally find buying old knives off Ebay to be infinitely more satisfying. Those old Schrades can be had pretty cheap and they were better quality than modern Case knives, plus there's the old Bokers, Camillus, Remingtons, Winchesters and Westerns.... There's a lot of stuff out there and most of it is high quality and has historic relevance.
I bought 3 Rough Rider knives in the last couple of months.Two knives have a little piece of bone missing next to the bolster(exact same place) and the third one (brass knife) the centering is awful.The blade is touching the side.I wonder if i'm just unlucky or are more people have similar problems(Erik from Belgium)
My experience with rough ryder has been positive and I haven't had any duds, have you contacted smokey mountain knife works, I think that rough ryder knives come with some sort of a lifetime warranty and your knives might be covered.
It depends where you buy them. Some dealers put returns back in stock, so as things get returned again and again, the quality of their inventory goes down. I buy from SMKW and Chicago Knife Works and the quality is high. Often when I buy from eBay or third party sellers on Amazon, the knives are defective... and not just Rough Ryder.
I have a few brand new Rough Rider Knives still in the box wrapped in its paper never been used. Open the box just to look at it. Just not the same as a Case knife my Grandfather had I put that in my show case. The Knife has to be over 50 year's old.
Most traditional knives can qualify as "gentleman's carry". I like what you showed here. I have one RR on order now, which will be my first. If I eliminate everything made in China, my choices become a good deal more limited, although I prefer USA made.
"Maybe the guy sneezed". Funny. Just picked up a RR Cotton Sampler and a Trapper. It's impressive how well made they are considering the bargain-basement prices.
I’ve always been a big RR collector bc they make amazing knives some more amazing in the looks department than others like their new “Blackbeard’s Legacy” with a black bone & a Red bone skull looking like like it’s coming out of the handle. I do Love my Zombie Nick though! But yeah the green is actually a composite not bone! However if you like that green CASE make an awesome piece that I like to carry a lot in my EDC rotation & that’s their CASE Kiwi Green Sawcut Jigged Bone. I have the Muskrat but the green bone on it pops & it’s a CASE so you get their lifetime warranty & you know it’s not gonna fail you when you really need it! I’m not CASE collector though but I have a few mostly from auctions and flea markets. I like my CASE Dwight Eisenhower in Caribbean Blue w/Ike’s signature on the blade
I have over 20 stagbone Rough Rider knives recently bought in 2020. The seller on Amazon, Rocky Mountain LLC seems to check each knife before sending or Rough Rider has really upgraded their quality control because each knife was perfect at least 95%
I dealt with Rocky Mountain LLC last year when I “purchased” 3 knives from them off Amazon. They took the money and I never saw the knives. Had to go through Amazon for a refund. Might have just been a one off but, once bitten...
You can buy whatever you like, but you seem to know remarkably little about knives, and less than nothing about knife steel. Maybe steel doesn't matter to you, but to those of us who use knives, it's the number one factor. Buck made in China knives use a steel that isn't even a blade steel because they're too cheap to pay for their standard 420HC, even in China. They won't even pay for the T10 steel that rough Rider uses in their classic carbon knives. Worse, they won't even pay for the 9cr18MoV that Old Timer uses in their better knives. 1095 CV is very expensive in China, so they substitute T10. T10 is a good tool steel, much like 1095. In order to make 1095 stronger ands tougher, the west add Chromium and vanadium, which Case calls CV, and Ka-Bar calls Cro-Van. China adds tungsten. T10 compares favorably to 1095 CV in almost every way, it's very cheap in China, but Buck won't pay for it. 9cr18MoV is really Chinese 440C, which is, many believe, one of the best stainless steels for a working knife. Old Timer uses it now in their better knives, along with brass liner, nickel silver bolsters, and bone handles. These knives retail for about twenty-two dollars. Buck won't pay for it, either, yet their knives cost more than Old Timer, ands certainly more than Rough Rider. Right now, to Buck's credit, the American made Buck 110 folding hunter is still an excellent knife. It's now available in both A2 stainless, and in 5160 carbon steel, and with several types of scales. But Buck knives made in China simply aren't very good at all, at least when it comes to steel. Case XX certainly makes excellent knives. So does Bear & Sons. So do half a dozen other companies. But I think you're after prestige, rather than quality, rather than a knife to actually use. There's nothing wrong with this, but top end Rough Rider knives are not entry level, they have the same quality as any of these other brands, when comparing type and size of knives. More often than not, I EDC a Case XX Jumbo Stockman with 1095 CV blades because I need a bigger, stronger knife than anything Rough Rider offers. This knife certainly cost several times what any Rough Rider does, but it's worth it strictly because of its size and steel. But if Rough Rider offered a knife this size with T10 steel, I'd grab it in a second and never look back. I collect certain knife patterns, primarily Trapper, Stockman, and Barlow. I own Rough Rider knives in these patterns, of course, but I also own Case XX, Bear & Sons, GEC, Hen & Rooster, Boker Tree Brand, Utica, Old Timer, and similar patterns from several other companies. So I certainly have nothing against buying high quality knivs that cost a considerable amount of money. My most expensive slip joint is a Boker Tree Brand Stockman that cost two hundred and fifty bucks, not counting tax. I cxould buy a whole bunch of Rough Rider knives for two hundred and fifty dollars. I'm just saying don't sell Rough Rider knives short. They're worth owning, and they're worth using. Most do have real bone scales, but there's nothing wrong with composition scales, either. Just about every company uses them on some of their knives, including Case XX About forty-five years ago, when I need a Trapper to use as a serious working knife because running a very large trapline was how I made much of my living, I picked a Case XX Trapper with stainless steel blades and Delrin scales, just like those on Old Timer knives. I knew the steel would last the rest of my life, and it has, and I knew that, unlike bone, the Delrin scales would never, ever crack, and they haven't. Composition scales are very, very strong, as well, and I own at least a dozen knives that use them. Not one has ever cracked. The great majority of the knivs I own have natural scales, be it bone, stag, horn, or wood, and while they are beautiful, and most last well, I've had each of these materials crack over time. Anyway, yes, buy Case XX, Bear and Sons, GEC, whoever. They make excellent knives. And charge accordingly. The cheapest Rough Rider I own is a Stockman that cost twelve dollars and ten cents. Next up is an Old Timer Lumberjack Stockman that cost twenty-two dollars. Then a Utica Barlow that cost thirty-five dollars. Then a Bear & Sons Stockman that cost thirty-six dollars. The price keeps climbing. The cheapest Case XX I own, other than the one I bought forty-five years ago, is a Jumbo Stockman with CV steel that cost fifty-five dollars. It doesn't even have half stops. I strongly suggest buying one of these while you still can. The price has dropped by half since it first hit the market, and fifty-five bucks is a steal. Rumor has it that the price has dropped so much because they're going to discontinue the Jumbo, and I believe it. When they do, the price on used one will climb and climb and climb. The thing is, have fun. Find knife patterns you like, and buy them, whoever makes them. Know your steel, but ignore steel snobs who are all talk, and don't sell any steel short, including Chinese made 440A. Even our own military thinks 440A is good enough to make them buy and use forty tons of it every year, and while I don't know how they do it, Chinese 440A is a good deal better than western made 440A. .. This doesn't necessarily include Buck knives made in China. When you're too cheap to even use blade steel, especially when T10 is availoable for carbon blades, and 9cr18MoV is available for stainless steel blades, and when other companies use these steels and still sell their knives cheaper than you sell yours, I have a serious problem with your business, and with your knives.
If you have a Case CV knife using 1095CV then it must be an older Case. They are currently using a 1086CV. Slightly tougher but not as good with edge retention. Case annoys me as they just list their steels as Case Tru-Sharp Stainless or CV, which allows them to change the steel without telling the consumer. That said I do like the company.
Dude why stop buying a knife that’s a great value just because it’s made in China, the original company used to be American but sold out and went to China.
@@christophercrawford777 OK then throw away your cell phone wire. Got a watch what you say. Half the shit you’re wearing is from China. It is what it is. They became the world hub and that’s our fault for lending them money and showing them how to grow as a country back in the early 70s.
@@deathbyastonishment7930 Horseshit. Spyderco, Benchmade, Microtech, Buck, and Kershaw are some companies just off the top of my head that make all or some of their knives in the USA; and their American knives are top notch. Even Case knives are good if you can buy locally and pick out one that has good blade centering. They take a razor edge and hold it well. Buying Chinese knives is an act of war against your people and your country. Ever dollar spent makes China's military more dangerous as they invest that money into building higher-tech ships and warplanes while reducing the number of good jobs for working-class Americans.
Hello, I love the knifes. I collect "rough rider" I'm looking for a knife enthusiast who could send me the product in France at a lower cost for transport and I too can send products from France at a lower cost. God bless
Yup...The distributor is American..they couldn't care less about the Chinese make-quality. These are pretty knives, buffed, and polished to a mirror sheen--enough to make the inner bass fish in all of us want to grab onto it!...but quality wanes after you start actually using it.
Two things. I know it's "Bear & SON, but I can't stop myself from typing "Bear & SONS", plural. I have no idea why. I've owned Bear & Son knives for fifty years, and still type it worng nearly every time. I've almost given nup trying to correct it. The other thing is entry level knives. Entry level should mean low cost, not low quality. Schrade is a good example of this. Schrade owns Old Timer, and some of the Old Timer Knives, the one with real bone scales, brass liners, and that are made from 9cr18MoV steel, which is Chinese 440C, and excellent entyr level knives because they are quality, but cost from eighteen to twenty-three dollars on Amazon. But they also own Uncle Henry and Imperial. These knives use 3cr13 steel, which has an HRC of 48-49, so it won't hold an edge, and it chips, and even snaps, easily. These are NOT entry level knives, they're just junk. Dangerous junk. No one in his right mind would buy one for a young person wanting his first knife, or for anyone else who wants a knife to actually use. Most Rough Rider knives use 440A, which is highly underrated by steel snobs who either don't really understand knife steel, or who are trying to sell you some very expensive knife made from the latest crucible "pseudo-super steel. 440A is the most commonly used steel for a working knife in the world. Even our own government uses forty tons of it per year. Rough Rider knives are quality, are good entry level knives, but no one who knows anything about steel would ever compare them to Case XX, or any other top brand. Case XX uses two type of stainless steel, depending no model and price, which are 420HC with top of the line heat treat and stress relief, and a proprietary 440C, which is phenomenally good. The carbon steel Case uses is a proprietary 1095 CV. Analysis shows the reason the call it "proprietary" is because they don't want anyone to know it's exactly like Ka-Bar Cro-Van, which is the best carbon blade steel made. Comparing Rough Rider steel to Case steel is like comparing cardboard to walnut. This doesn't mean Rough Rider steel is horrible, it just means it isn't in the same leaguer with Case steel, or with the steel used by any top brand. It's inferior in every category that's testable, be it HRC, or abrasion resistance, or toughness, or strength, or edge smoothness, or edge retention. Rough Rider also uses thinner bone scales, thinner liners, and thinner blades when compared to similar patters and sizes of knives by the top brands. So it is an entry level knife, but it has more than enough quality to make it worth carrying by anyone.
James Ritchie :- Try a new release from Rough Rider ( better still visit SMKW) or listen to a few CZcams "influencers" who have reviews on Rough Rider knives. Apparently the quality on the RR knives is continually improving ( something that Case should pay attention to) and in a few cases might even approach GEC quality. Now that's not really fair, as you know...Rough Rider produces thousands of knives compared to GEC's hundreds in each run...but if it is possible to by a Case quality knife for $10 to $25...then is that not the spirit of capitalism?
Rough ryder also has a line of knives that uses T10 steel a 1095 variant that on paper at least should be comparable to CV with the correct heat treat.
Buying a nice Rough Rider for 10 euro is more gratefying than a nearly perfect GEC for 100 euro.Just my opinion.
I have a large collection of Case, GEC, Queen and American made Schrade knives. I recently purchased several Rough Riders, I have to say, for the money they are amazing. Great EDC knives you don't have to worry about.
Can't beat Rough Riders for variety, quality, collectability and general everyday use at that price point.....you can nit pick knives that cost 10 times more all day long and then cry over every little nick and scratch because of what you invested in them but for every day beaters that you can use or practice hand sharpening on or experimenting modifications with Rough Rider is tough to beat. Yes....quality control on Rough Riders is a bit of a gamble and a lemon comes along every now and then but the majority in my experience at least, the quality equals or exceeds slip joints that cost far far more.
Getting a bad one everyonce in a while is a lot better than always getting a bad Case.
@@Nothingtoya exactly....Case's QC is a roll of the dice and inconsistent and for what they cost ....darn shame for American made knives IMHO.
Im from Uk so american made does not matter. I have a few case and lots of rough riders. Sorry but i do prefer the rough riders. If you spend half an hour on cleaning and polishing theres no difference.
you can use the smkw warranty on any rough ryder i called this week and confirmed
"Gateway Knives" Ha ha, I like that.For me it worked the other way around, it started with that Buck canoe knife and the solo in a blister pack on clearance at WM for under ten bucks. Then a few RR knives in various patterns. Made me wonder why I should spend more since I use them in the field.
For the patina, The easiest and best way to do it that I found is to use the cheapest thinnest paper you can find, that paper in shoe boxes works great, cut a rectangle twice as thick as the knife and about a 1/8 inch longer and crease it in the center then fold it around the blade try to get it to be a little bigger than the blade thickness, and try to cut out the shape against the bolster to the same curve so the patina goes all the way to the bolster, Then douse the paper with apple cider vinegar either with your fingers or an eye dropper until its saturated, then gently rub out any wrinkles in the paper and smooth out air pockets but be careful as the paper will tear, about 10min and check patina, don't let it just get black and blacker letting sit in there for hrs, because it wont stay on and your blade may start to rust in a few spots. the real patina you are looking for that will stay on will be a lighter smoother gray color, rinse off the blade to remove any vinegar residue and wipe it down with some WD-40 or mineral oil if you plan on using it around food.
I like that green canoe!
You are going to find similar f&f on Case knives that cost 4X as much.
I carry nothing but Rough Ryder.
Hi; I would rather buy a rough ryder and find a small fault than find that same fault or worse on a Case that cost 4 times more. RR have a life time warranty at SMKW so any problems sent it back, it will be replaced. All the best.
Good for you. More Case for me to choose from. All my Case old n new 97~99% Perfect
Name me one knife brand that has increased in value by 200% in the past 15 years? Case? GEC? Schatt & Morgan? Nope.... that would be Rough Rider!
only because they jacked the price up. i have a 2008 catalog and the retail prices then are now the wholesale prices . same cheap steel blades, which is a huge problem. i man i can buy s35vn for a knife for $10 or less. if RR wanted they could have quality blades made in USA and shipped to China to be put together. for $25 you could have a trapper with USA s35vn blades or pretty much any blade, 1095 D2 Elmax Vanadis 440c cardboard plastic anything but RR is making huge profits for SMKW so they want $60 USD for a chinese knife with $10 worth of blades on a two dollar frame
@@carmineredd1198 It's easier to double the value of a $20 knife than it is a $200 knife. As the price goes up, the amount of interested buyers go down. People pay thousands of dollars for comic books that sold for a dime. There's nothing wrong with the steel on Rough Ryder knives. If you want to complain about the quality of steel for the price, Case would be the big offender.
@@StephenWorth Well said, Stephen. RR knives are the best bang for the knife buck there is.... bar none. Their latest offerings are superb, with T-10 and D-2 high carbon steel blades and denim micarta covers. Far better than the run-of-the-mill Case, any day of the week. I have two of them in my hands as we speak. Less than $15 from SMKW.
Nice selection, thanks.
What is the purpose and advantages of having double stops? Thx
Gently click the green one on your tooth and you will know right away if it is bone or delrin.
rough rider is for working men
Who makes and where can I find the Diamond Gem SouthValley Lockback. Send me the link or where I could find that pocket knife. Thank you
I recently wanted to include a canoe pattern knife into my collection. I was spending some time in Texas and found a Rough Rider "Old Southwest" canoe knife that would make a great souvenir of my visit. For less than $25 I found a beautiful, well made pocket knife, with inlaid handle scales, match strike long pulls and swedges on both blades. With half stops. I loved it.
Then I made the mistake of wanting another canoe pattern, this time by Case...it had to be better, right? Well there were no half stops, no long pulls, no match strike pulls, no swedges, but it did cost $90. Now in a side by side comparison the Rough Rider is without doubt the better knife...it even has a lifetime warranty from Smokey Mountain Knife Works.
Others in the comments have said this better than I, but to repeat...don't put down Chinese made products, but look towards the U.S. importer who has ordered the cheapest possible product, and then tries to sell it at traditional U.S. prices.
I just bought a Rough Rider Micarta Work Knife for $ 10 ( next batch is selling for $13)...and some professional knife dealers/collectors are saying that this knife equals GEC quality...I wouldn't know, I won't pay $150 to $250 for a slip joint that I can get elsewhere for half that price, or for less than $25 if you look at the Rough Riders. Buyer beware!
Sharp Knife Very well said!
@@Evan-gz3cf :- Thank-you.
@@blueeyeswhitedragon9839 I think you purchased one of the best $25.00 pocket knives on the market to date. It is smooth in the pocket, well made all-metal construction, sharp as a tack in 5 minutes of honing, half-stops, gorgeous to the eyes of people who like southwest accents and not a nail breaker. I gave a couple out as gifts this year and have 2 for myself. LOL Rough Riders can be hit or miss (like some Case ones) but lately they seem to be producing very well appointed and high value products at budget prices. Still though for shear excellence in materials and workmanship as well as eye candy to the knife enthusiast, you cannot beat a GEC.
I've sent knives to smokey mountain that I bought elsewhere and they still replace them
Grownups Do not need halfstops lol ... Nice vid!
Yep Zombie Nick is composition. Marbles is another SMKW house brand. It’s made in the factory as the Rough Ryder.
I like Case. My guess is you might still by some Rough Ryders as they have much more variety than Case and you’ll find Case knives are only marginally better at 3-4 times the cost.
Also, many of the Chinese Bucks are also out of same factory as Rough Ryder.
If you’re looking at Bear and Son, you need to choose wisely. They do have issues.
If you like the tail gate you should check out the Case mini trapper with the cap lifter/ screwdriver!
Enjoyed the show. Thanks for sharing.
Queen and Queen City are very similar to Rough Ryder too. They're SMKW house brands as well.
@@StephenWorth , yep. Now coming out the same factory for the last few years.
@@KnifeChatswithTobias I spotted a Boker Magnum that is made in the same pattern as a Rough Ryder too.
Very good review I subscribe👍
roughrider was a gateway to case for me. and then case qc lead me right back to roughrider. i live in germany and we got some nice trad knives, that are getting more attention . otter knives and mercator for example
I dunno. I've got a few Cases, and a GEC (another quality level entirely), but I wouldn't call my RR Buckshot Bone Teardrop Jack 'entry level' by any means. Some of my other RRs, perhaps.
I EDC a Case XX Jumbo Stockman. GEC, makes nothing like it, nor do any of the other companies except for Old Timer, but the Old Timer doesn't use1095 CV steel. I'd say GEC is fourth or fifth on my favorites list, but still excellent knives.
Boker Tree Brand is the most expensive at two hundred and fifty bucks for the Stockman I bought. A Queen cost two hundred and forty. But Case XX is the best in almost every way. Case XX has the highest collectability, the best steel by far, and the largest selection by miles.
Fir a working knife, Bear & Sons is right up there with case, but the steel isn't quite as good.
Anyway, Rough Rider knives are certainly entry level where price is concerned. Old Timer has much, much better stainless steel on their top knives, but Rough Rider has carbon knives made with T10, which is a cheap, but highly underrated steel, so this is a wash. Both knives really are entry level, though, both in price, and in steel quality. This does not mean they aren't good knives because they are. It just means they're much less expensive, and don't use top steels.
And if you compare Rough Rider blades with those from other companies, not just Case XX, GEC, Boker Tree Brand, etc., but also with Old Timer, you almost always find that the Rough Rider blades are thinner in similar sized knives. This is one way they're able to steel at such a low price while maintaining very good quality control.
However you look at it, a very low cost knife with 440A steel, or even with T10 steel, is entry level. There are too many other knife brands out there that not only cost a heck of a lot more, but that also use far better steel. Because of this, Rough Rider knives, all of them, are entry level. They are quality knives, but you really can't compare them to brands like Case XX, GEC, Bear and Son, Hen & Rooster, Boker Tree Brand, etc.
@@jamesaritchie1 :- I suspect that your use of the term "entry level" goes back and forth in meaning from price to collector value.
I try not to get the two different value systems mixed up. Price is obvious, but includes the presumption that quality of materials are equivalent, at least as far as expected/intended use. But as far as collector value...that is way too subjective to be quantified in a short comment to a CZcams video. But let it be said that collector value is whatever the market says it is. And this collector market can change on a dime for whatever reason. Just check out the tulip market in Dutch history. GEC could hire two extra shifts, produce thousands of knives and collector value will change, as quantity changes, but actual quality might not change at all.
@@jamesaritchie1 Rough Ryder makes a jumbo stockman in their Classic Carbon II series. T10 carbon steel. Nice knife. $15.
Getting into knives about a year ago, Case nearly destroyed slip joints for me. Just junk after junk. Im giving some other brands a try now and one of them might just be Rough Rider. Case doesn't deserve to get peoples hard earned money.
You're not wrong, but Case is having a difficult time competing with Chinese outsourcing, not so much because they can't, but because people are cheap and want the junky $20 knives over the $60+ Case knives. So they have to find cheaper ways of doing it and let more and more QA issues slide which indirectly decreases production costs even further. Not long ago, though, I read a statement by a Case exec who said they were considering decreasing production variety and shrinking the market some to focus more on quality, so we will see.
For now, if you're still collecting knives, I personally find buying old knives off Ebay to be infinitely more satisfying. Those old Schrades can be had pretty cheap and they were better quality than modern Case knives, plus there's the old Bokers, Camillus, Remingtons, Winchesters and Westerns.... There's a lot of stuff out there and most of it is high quality and has historic relevance.
@@Im_With_Stupid I've started to collect some older knives. I also lost interest in RR to some degree, their knives are just too wide.
I bought 3 Rough Rider knives in the last couple of months.Two knives have a little piece of bone missing next to the bolster(exact same place) and the third one (brass knife) the centering is awful.The blade is touching the side.I wonder if i'm just unlucky or are more people have similar problems(Erik from Belgium)
My experience with rough ryder has been positive and I haven't had any duds, have you contacted smokey mountain knife works, I think that rough ryder knives come with some sort of a lifetime warranty and your knives might be covered.
It depends where you buy them. Some dealers put returns back in stock, so as things get returned again and again, the quality of their inventory goes down. I buy from SMKW and Chicago Knife Works and the quality is high. Often when I buy from eBay or third party sellers on Amazon, the knives are defective... and not just Rough Ryder.
I have a few brand new Rough Rider Knives still in the box wrapped in its paper never been used. Open the box just to look at it. Just not the same as a Case knife my Grandfather had I put that in my show case. The Knife has to be over 50 year's old.
Most traditional knives can qualify as "gentleman's carry". I like what you showed here. I have one RR on order now, which will be my first. If I eliminate everything made in China, my choices become a good deal more limited, although I prefer USA made.
Nice
The decline was slow, but Case knives are well on their way to being on the same level as Frost where qc is concerned.
"Maybe the guy sneezed". Funny.
Just picked up a RR Cotton Sampler and a Trapper. It's impressive how well made they are considering the bargain-basement prices.
@Late to the Game Actually I do, in fact my roommate is black. And yeah, a 'cotton sampler' would be insensitive.
@Late to the Game Her-- and no, female roommates get a little creeped-out by a knife toting dork.
@Late to the Game Hell no, I'm old.
Slip joint knives are obsolete
thanks
I’ve always been a big RR collector bc they make amazing knives some more amazing in the looks department than others like their new “Blackbeard’s Legacy” with a black bone & a Red bone skull looking like like it’s coming out of the handle. I do Love my Zombie Nick though! But yeah the green is actually a composite not bone! However if you like that green CASE make an awesome piece that I like to carry a lot in my EDC rotation & that’s their CASE Kiwi Green Sawcut Jigged Bone. I have the Muskrat but the green bone on it pops & it’s a CASE so you get their lifetime warranty & you know it’s not gonna fail you when you really need it! I’m not CASE collector though but I have a few mostly from auctions and flea markets. I like my CASE Dwight Eisenhower in Caribbean Blue w/Ike’s signature on the blade
I have over 20 stagbone Rough Rider knives recently bought in 2020. The seller on Amazon, Rocky Mountain LLC seems to check each knife before sending or Rough Rider has really upgraded their quality control because each knife was perfect at least 95%
I dealt with Rocky Mountain LLC last year when I “purchased” 3 knives from them off Amazon. They took the money and I never saw the knives. Had to go through Amazon for a refund. Might have just been a one off but, once bitten...
@@itsawonderfulknife7031 Could be mail problem.
I think all my case knife makers have severe allergies!
That last Case there was nice. Love US made knives. Only have 1 RR and probably won't buy more except as gifts.
You can buy whatever you like, but you seem to know remarkably little about knives, and less than nothing about knife steel. Maybe steel doesn't matter to you, but to those of us who use knives, it's the number one factor.
Buck made in China knives use a steel that isn't even a blade steel because they're too cheap to pay for their standard 420HC, even in China. They won't even pay for the T10 steel that rough Rider uses in their classic carbon knives. Worse, they won't even pay for the 9cr18MoV that Old Timer uses in their better knives.
1095 CV is very expensive in China, so they substitute T10. T10 is a good tool steel, much like 1095. In order to make 1095 stronger ands tougher, the west add Chromium and vanadium, which Case calls CV, and Ka-Bar calls Cro-Van. China adds tungsten. T10 compares favorably to 1095 CV in almost every way, it's very cheap in China, but Buck won't pay for it.
9cr18MoV is really Chinese 440C, which is, many believe, one of the best stainless steels for a working knife. Old Timer uses it now in their better knives, along with brass liner, nickel silver bolsters, and bone handles. These knives retail for about twenty-two dollars. Buck won't pay for it, either, yet their knives cost more than Old Timer, ands certainly more than Rough Rider.
Right now, to Buck's credit, the American made Buck 110 folding hunter is still an excellent knife. It's now available in both A2 stainless, and in 5160 carbon steel, and with several types of scales. But Buck knives made in China simply aren't very good at all, at least when it comes to steel.
Case XX certainly makes excellent knives. So does Bear & Sons. So do half a dozen other companies. But I think you're after prestige, rather than quality, rather than a knife to actually use. There's nothing wrong with this, but top end Rough Rider knives are not entry level, they have the same quality as any of these other brands, when comparing type and size of knives.
More often than not, I EDC a Case XX Jumbo Stockman with 1095 CV blades because I need a bigger, stronger knife than anything Rough Rider offers. This knife certainly cost several times what any Rough Rider does, but it's worth it strictly because of its size and steel. But if Rough Rider offered a knife this size with T10 steel, I'd grab it in a second and never look back.
I collect certain knife patterns, primarily Trapper, Stockman, and Barlow. I own Rough Rider knives in these patterns, of course, but I also own Case XX, Bear & Sons, GEC, Hen & Rooster, Boker Tree Brand, Utica, Old Timer, and similar patterns from several other companies. So I certainly have nothing against buying high quality knivs that cost a considerable amount of money. My most expensive slip joint is a Boker Tree Brand Stockman that cost two hundred and fifty bucks, not counting tax. I cxould buy a whole bunch of Rough Rider knives for two hundred and fifty dollars.
I'm just saying don't sell Rough Rider knives short. They're worth owning, and they're worth using. Most do have real bone scales, but there's nothing wrong with composition scales, either. Just about every company uses them on some of their knives, including Case XX
About forty-five years ago, when I need a Trapper to use as a serious working knife because running a very large trapline was how I made much of my living, I picked a Case XX Trapper with stainless steel blades and Delrin scales, just like those on Old Timer knives. I knew the steel would last the rest of my life, and it has, and I knew that, unlike bone, the Delrin scales would never, ever crack, and they haven't.
Composition scales are very, very strong, as well, and I own at least a dozen knives that use them. Not one has ever cracked. The great majority of the knivs I own have natural scales, be it bone, stag, horn, or wood, and while they are beautiful, and most last well, I've had each of these materials crack over time.
Anyway, yes, buy Case XX, Bear and Sons, GEC, whoever. They make excellent knives. And charge accordingly. The cheapest Rough Rider I own is a Stockman that cost twelve dollars and ten cents. Next up is an Old Timer Lumberjack Stockman that cost twenty-two dollars. Then a Utica Barlow that cost thirty-five dollars. Then a Bear & Sons Stockman that cost thirty-six dollars. The price keeps climbing. The cheapest Case XX I own, other than the one I bought forty-five years ago, is a Jumbo Stockman with CV steel that cost fifty-five dollars. It doesn't even have half stops.
I strongly suggest buying one of these while you still can. The price has dropped by half since it first hit the market, and fifty-five bucks is a steal. Rumor has it that the price has dropped so much because they're going to discontinue the Jumbo, and I believe it. When they do, the price on used one will climb and climb and climb.
The thing is, have fun. Find knife patterns you like, and buy them, whoever makes them. Know your steel, but ignore steel snobs who are all talk, and don't sell any steel short, including Chinese made 440A. Even our own military thinks 440A is good enough to make them buy and use forty tons of it every year, and while I don't know how they do it, Chinese 440A is a good deal better than western made 440A. ..
This doesn't necessarily include Buck knives made in China. When you're too cheap to even use blade steel, especially when T10 is availoable for carbon blades, and 9cr18MoV is available for stainless steel blades, and when other companies use these steels and still sell their knives cheaper than you sell yours, I have a serious problem with your business, and with your knives.
If you have a Case CV knife using 1095CV then it must be an older Case. They are currently using a 1086CV.
Slightly tougher but not as good with edge retention.
Case annoys me as they just list their steels as Case Tru-Sharp Stainless or CV, which allows them to change the steel without telling the consumer.
That said I do like the company.
James Ritchie Excellent post with good information - thanks!
Very learned. Thank you.
Lots of good information on the steels used. Thanks!
Case knives suck! Won't hold an edge . Stay away from them if you make your living as a wood carver. They are for looking at or collecting.
The ride got to rough for this rough rider with he’s rough rider knives.
Dude why stop buying a knife that’s a great value just because it’s made in China, the original company used to be American but sold out and went to China.
The company is still owned by an American company. One of the biggest and best.
jojojeep1 :- Smokey Mountain Knife Works out of Tennessee
That is exactly why you shouldn't buy. Economic treason should not be rewarded.
@@christophercrawford777 OK then throw away your cell phone wire. Got a watch what you say. Half the shit you’re wearing is from China. It is what it is. They became the world hub and that’s our fault for lending them money and showing them how to grow as a country back in the early 70s.
I'd rather have 1 good American made knife than 10 Rough Rider knives. Thanks for sharing. :)
How about one poorly made American knife? Because that’s the most likely situation
@@deathbyastonishment7930 Horseshit. Spyderco, Benchmade, Microtech, Buck, and Kershaw are some companies just off the top of my head that make all or some of their knives in the USA; and their American knives are top notch. Even Case knives are good if you can buy locally and pick out one that has good blade centering. They take a razor edge and hold it well. Buying Chinese knives is an act of war against your people and your country. Ever dollar spent makes China's military more dangerous as they invest that money into building higher-tech ships and warplanes while reducing the number of good jobs for working-class Americans.
I refuse to pay over $30 for a knife, glory to the ccp @@chrisandsneaky2453
Dustin Quell, no matter what you do, there's always going to be someone to tell you that you did it all wrong...lol.
Hello, I love the knifes. I collect "rough rider" I'm looking for a knife enthusiast who could send me the product in France at a lower cost for transport and I too can send products from France at a lower cost. God bless
Yup...The distributor is American..they couldn't care less about the Chinese make-quality. These are pretty knives, buffed, and polished to a mirror sheen--enough to make the inner bass fish in all of us want to grab onto it!...but quality wanes after you start actually using it.
Boker is made in Germany
Boker has tons of sub brands.
Actually only a minority of products that bear the name Böker are made here in Germany.
Two things. I know it's "Bear & SON, but I can't stop myself from typing "Bear & SONS", plural. I have no idea why. I've owned Bear & Son knives for fifty years, and still type it worng nearly every time. I've almost given nup trying to correct it.
The other thing is entry level knives. Entry level should mean low cost, not low quality. Schrade is a good example of this. Schrade owns Old Timer, and some of the Old Timer Knives, the one with real bone scales, brass liners, and that are made from 9cr18MoV steel, which is Chinese 440C, and excellent entyr level knives because they are quality, but cost from eighteen to twenty-three dollars on Amazon.
But they also own Uncle Henry and Imperial. These knives use 3cr13 steel, which has an HRC of 48-49, so it won't hold an edge, and it chips, and even snaps, easily. These are NOT entry level knives, they're just junk. Dangerous junk. No one in his right mind would buy one for a young person wanting his first knife, or for anyone else who wants a knife to actually use.
Most Rough Rider knives use 440A, which is highly underrated by steel snobs who either don't really understand knife steel, or who are trying to sell you some very expensive knife made from the latest crucible "pseudo-super steel. 440A is the most commonly used steel for a working knife in the world. Even our own government uses forty tons of it per year.
Rough Rider knives are quality, are good entry level knives, but no one who knows anything about steel would ever compare them to Case XX, or any other top brand. Case XX uses two type of stainless steel, depending no model and price, which are 420HC with top of the line heat treat and stress relief, and a proprietary 440C, which is phenomenally good.
The carbon steel Case uses is a proprietary 1095 CV. Analysis shows the reason the call it "proprietary" is because they don't want anyone to know it's exactly like Ka-Bar Cro-Van, which is the best carbon blade steel made.
Comparing Rough Rider steel to Case steel is like comparing cardboard to walnut. This doesn't mean Rough Rider steel is horrible, it just means it isn't in the same leaguer with Case steel, or with the steel used by any top brand. It's inferior in every category that's testable, be it HRC, or abrasion resistance, or toughness, or strength, or edge smoothness, or edge retention.
Rough Rider also uses thinner bone scales, thinner liners, and thinner blades when compared to similar patters and sizes of knives by the top brands.
So it is an entry level knife, but it has more than enough quality to make it worth carrying by anyone.
James Ritchie :- Try a new release from Rough Rider ( better still visit SMKW) or listen to a few CZcams "influencers" who have reviews on Rough Rider knives. Apparently the quality on the RR knives is continually improving ( something that Case should pay attention to) and in a few cases might even approach GEC quality. Now that's not really fair, as you know...Rough Rider produces thousands of knives compared to GEC's hundreds in each run...but if it is possible to by a Case quality knife for $10 to $25...then is that not the spirit of capitalism?
Rough ryder also has a line of knives that uses T10 steel a 1095 variant that on paper at least should be comparable to CV with the correct heat treat.
James Ritchie one of the most balanced and informative comments I've ever read on YT knife videos. Appreciate the detail, thanks.