I bought a Case medium toothpick over the week end. I really like the knife but as I put $53 payment thru,  my stomach couldn't help but turn sour. Yes the knife was ten years old.  Yes I love toothpicks.  And yes it was in a pattern and handle style I collect. And yes it was New, in the box. And yes it was the going price for that Case knife. But still my stomach turned. 

Its getting harder and harder for me to justify buying a Case knife.  Like many knife collectors, my mantra is "buy what you like not what you think will be worth something some day."  And what I like is a good looking solidly built knife with excellent fit and finish that can get the job done.  So when I spend $53 for a knife that I know deep in the pit of my stomach is really no better than a knife made by another company that I can buy for under $15, my stomach lets me know.

Thus after spending $53 for a Case knife I've been been trying to obtain for over a year and having my stomach turn flip-flops when I paid for it, I found myself putting pen to paper (or index fingers to keyboard, actually) and this is what came about.  Excuse me for the length.

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Case vs.  Rough Riders

On average, for the price of three Case knives, I can purchase eleven Rough Riders. This was determined by comparing the average cost of my Case knife Collection divided by the average cost of my Rough Riders.  The prices used in the comparison were the lowest price quoted on either Amazon or SMKW web site for the knife in my collection.  (As some of my Case knives are old collector knives that cost more than  today’s market price, I looked for the closest current production Case knife that was similar in pattern and handle material for a more equitable cost).  

Obviously if all you bought were the cheapest Case knives, the Rough Rider to Case ratio would drop. But not all of my Rough Riders cost $9.99 and not all of my Case knives cost under $30.  The average prices for my Rough Riders came out to   $11.76; for Case knives, the average was $44.26.  This is just the cost of the knife, not the shipping charges or taxes. (11.76 x 11 = $129.36 vs.  44.26 x 3= $132.78 --thus for the cost of three Case is slightly more than that of eleven Rough Riders!) Your math may come out different depending on your on personal collection. Another way to put it is Case knives cost on average 366% more than a Rough Rider.

You might say, “So what?  Case knives are better?”  But are they really? Let’s take a look.

Case blades:   Most Case knives are made with a Stainless Steel blade called “Tru-sharp Surgical steel.  Many sources state that this is none other than 425M or 420HC stainless steel.  The HRC for Tru-sharp Steel is around 55-57.   The steel is about the same as Rough Rider’s 440A Razor Sharp Stainless Steel which has an HRC of 55-57. Edge retention of both knives is the about the same.   Of course Case also makes knives with Chrome Vanadium (CV)  blades which are carbon steel blades similar in quality to 1095 carbon steel.  The HRC on these blades is around 56-58. Edge retention is improved but the CV knives are also run about $10-15 more than the Tru-sharps knives with similar scales and frames.

Scale (Handle)  material:

Almost all of my Case knives have bone scales.   The same probably goes for my Rough Rider knives. For this reason, I’m going to compare bone scales to bone scales.

Admittedly, the edges of Case’s bone scales seem to be more rounded at the edge, but the difference is small.  Also depending on your tastes, the dyes used in some Rough Rider knives can be less than inspiring. But this really depends on the series.  This also seems to be a matter of opinion. The same can be said for Case knives.   There are some jigging patterns and colors used by Case that I really find unappealing, other I tend to love.  Unfortunately, the price of Case knives will sometime vary dramatically depending on the bone color and jigging pattern. This doesn’t seem to be the situation with Rough Rider Pocket knives.  The prices tend to fluctuate a couple dollars between the most expensive scales and the least expensive.  Among the bone handles there is very little difference in price unless special packaging is included.

For everyday use, Case produces knives with Delrin scales.  Delrin is a thermoplastic developed by Dupont.  While it is a perfectly acceptable scale material it is cheaper to use than bone. Even Case knives with Delrin handles cost twice as much as a bone handled Rough Rider knife in the same pattern.

Fit & Finish

As far as Fit & finish goes, I have to admit on some of my Rough Riders, the pins aren’t completely flush. But  on many occasions I don’t notice the slight protrusion until many days of carrying the knife.  When you do the light test to see how tight the springs are, it is minimal for both brands.  It is truly a tie.  As for walking and talking, Again, difference is negligible.  Both brands open smoothly and close with a about the same snap. Both knives come with a manufacturer’s warranty against defects. I’ve had to use this warranty on one occasion.  That was when a Case Canoe was so poorly assembled the blades actually crossed paths when I tried to close it.  I’ve never had that happen to a Rough Rider. 

Rough Riders, especially many of the earlier models seemed to suffer from “nail breaker” syndrome.  That is the back springs were so strong, you’d break a nail trying to open the blade.  This seems to have been solved on newer models and reissued earlier models.

Over all, I feel the fit and finish of both knives are exceptional.  Yes I’d  give the edge to Case, but it is a slight edge, not a 366% better than a Rough Rider!

Variety

When it comes to variety, Rough Rider actually blows Case out of the water.  Same goes for usability. Why spend $40 on a knife you’re going to use when you can spend $10 and get a knife with the same life span?

For example, the cheapest Case Hawkbill goes for around $25. The cheapest with a bone handle goes for around $40 You can pick up just about any Rough Rider hawkbill of the same size and pattern for around $11. This includes the very popular yellow composition handle as well as the bone handled versions. The armor hide cost about $15. The most expensive Case goes for $60 but has a CV blade.

Rough Rider seems to make a knife in just about every pattern in the Case line up.  The only real exceptions are the Seahorse Whittler and the Russlock.  That’s two for Case.  Rough Rider on the other hand currently produces a Rigger (Marlin Spike), a linerlock Sodbuster ,  two styles of locking canoes, a wide variety of fixed blades, a Canittler, a several other patterns  that are either no longer offered by Case or were never offered by Case.  Rough Rider also doesn’t go around putting knives in  “a vault” simply to drive up the collector value. Yes knives go out of stock or are discontinued, but it isn’t done artificially.

Traitor.  You should buy American, aren't you proud to be American!

Yes!  Case is made in America.  However, while Rough Riders are manufactured in China it is an American company. Honestly, every time I buy a Case knife, I feel like I’ve been over charged. Every time I buy a Rough Rider, I think, “This knife for that price?  What a great deal!” How can I justify buying a $42 knife when an almost identical knife of an almost identical quality is available $12?  Should I spend almost four times as much simply because it is the patriotic thing to do? When did spending hard earned cash foolishly become the American Way?  I love America but America needs to find a better way to get me to buy American made products than trying to call me un-American when I buy foreign made products; especially when those foreign made products are sold to me by Americans trying to make a living.  Heck even the original Camillus knives were imports!

They won’t ever be worth anything?

First let me say,  “Thank you Nostradamus!”  I’m not able to predict the future, I’m glad someone is."

Will a Rough Rider retain its value over time.  Who knows?  I’m sure Case fans will say not as well as a Case.  Maybe so, but I’m not buying knives under some obscure notion that some day one I’ll be able to retire when I sell them.  I buy a knife because I like it, not because it’s a good investment.   I plan on using my 401K for retirement. (that and a shopping cart, if the economy doesn’t turn around)

I expect the knife to be a good value when I buy it, That is, it should be worth the price I’m for it in the here and now.  I’m of the school that many of the knives bought today, especially those made by Case, are with the collector in mind.  As such they also will not increase much in value for many, many years.  There are collector’s items and there are collectable Items.  You won’t really know what a collector’s item is until a future demand for a particular item is established.   Unless you can predict the future you really don’t know which if any currently produced knives will be collector’s items.

Like Case, Rough Rider also makes knives with the collector in mind but at a price that actually may lead to the knife being used and not just stored.  This is a scenario similar to the most sought after Case knives.  The old Case knives that people seek out as collector’s items were good, inexpensive knives that were cheap enough to use every day.  People bought them with the intent of using them. Thus the ones that managed to survive in near mint shape are the ones that are worth lots of money (at least for now) Ten years from now even those knives may go down in value.  Thus I find it kind of silly to buy a knife as an investment. 

This above everything else is why I own ten times as many Rough Riders as I do Case.