Help me pick a traditional please...

I just ordered myself a little Buck 303 stockman yesterday. I bought my Dad a 301 for Christmas last year and it really blew me away. I liked it so much I almost kept it for myself, haha. I usually have my Ritter mini Griptilian or PM2 in my pocket so this'll be a big change from my normal EDC knives.

I'm with you on nail nicks, though. I absolutely despise them unless the action(?) is smooth. Maybe you're like me and most nail nick knives you've used were old school Cases/Bucks people carried for 20 years and it feels like your pulling out your finger nail each time you opened it. That 301 was quite the opposite. Opened without any trouble whatsoever. That kind of changed my opinion on them.
 
007hunter said:
Great knife choice. Very light pull/easy to use nail nick and also has half stops! I love how you can get 4 finger grip and control of the small blade choking up on this one (it looks out of proportion on blade/handle ratio but I like that about this particular knife). I just picked up a chestnut bone in CV last week. I looked at both the chestnut and whiskey in CV. Keep in mind the chestnut has a wharncliff blade and the whiskey has a esky style spearpoint blade. Also, they have different shields. Here is the chestnut that I picked up. I mostly preferred the jigging coloration of the chestnut over the whiskey and I was leaning more towards a wharncliff but both blades are nice. On mine the wharncliff measures 2 1/4" of cutting edge and 2 1/2" full blade length, closed length of knife measures 3 5/8".

cdce1ws.jpg
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Great pic and info, thank you!! This is the key question...which blade, wharncliffe or spearpoint, would be a better slicer for my needs, ie opening mail, packages, loose threads, apples and etc ?

Man your knife looks cool...
 
bryan123 said:
Great pic and info, thank you!! This is the key question...which blade, wharncliffe or spearpoint, would be a better slicer for my needs, ie opening mail, packages, loose threads, apples and etc ?

Man your knife looks cool...
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Thanks. IMO for food and hunting tasks I prefer the spearpoint...for edc tasks opening mail, packages, etc. I prefer a wharncliff. So, if you want a do it all would probably lean towards a spearpoint but both can get the job done everyone has a difference of opinion on what works best...really comes down to which one grabs you and what else you may have that's complimentary in your collection. Once you open Pandora's box I'm sure many more will find a way to your collection so think about what could be next in your arsenal when selecting. And by the way, on the case whiskey teardrop it's a zulu spear so you kind of get a hybrid of both which alot of folks find extremely useful.
 
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007hunter said:
Thanks. IMO for food and hunting tasks I prefer the spearpoint...for edc tasks opening mail, packages, etc. I prefer a wharncliff. So, if you want a do it all would probably lean towards a spearpoint but both can get the job done everyone has a difference of opinion on what works best...really comes down to which one grabs you and what else you may have that's complimentary in your collection. Once you open Pandora's box I'm sure many more will find a way to your collection so think about what could be next in your arsenal when selecting. And by the way, on the case whiskey teardrop it's a zulu spear so you kind of get a hybrid of both which alot of folks find extremely useful.
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I just ordered your knife. Well, not yours but the same model. Can't wait.

Thanks to everyone. This'll be my first Wharncliff btw. Also my first carbon steel knife.

Should I force a mild patina as I have seen others do or should I let it develop on its own? Thanks
 
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bryan123 said:
I just ordered your knife. Well, not yours but the same model. Can't wait.

Thanks to everyone. This'll be my first Wharncliff btw.
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I couldn't agree more with 007hunter 007hunter above. Some blade types are better at certain tasks, but there's been very few (if any) situations where I couldn't complete a task because I had the "wrong knife".

If you open a lot of blister packs, you will appreciate the wharncliffe though.

Congrats on your new knife!
 
Sabercat said:
I couldn't agree more with 007hunter 007hunter above. Some blade types are better at certain tasks, but there's been very few (if any) situations where I couldn't complete a task because I had the "wrong knife".

If you open a lot of blister packs, you will appreciate the wharncliffe though.

Congrats on your new knife!
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Thanks, same question to you....should I force a patina or treat blade with mineral oil frequently?

And now clamshell/ blister packs will cause me no fear!!!!!!!!
 
Personally I'm a big fan of letting the patina form naturally through use. There are a lot of guys that force patinas of different degrees, some of them really cool looking, but I think the answer to that question should come from within. Some like it, some prefer it not be there at all and care for their knife accordingly, and some (like myself) prefer to "work" it in naturally and let its beauty reveal itself over time.
 
bryan123 said:
Thanks, same question to you....should I force a patina or treat blade with mineral oil frequently?

And now clamshell/ blister packs will cause me no fear!!!!!!!!
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Patinas seem to be another matter of preference. My preference is to keep my knives oiled and avoid patina, however I allowed my #83 to patina when I accidentally spilled cranberry juice and didn't realize it got in my knife laying on the counter. It took about 10 minutes to turn it nearly black (pure cranberry juice btw).

If I wanted patina, I'd probably let it happen naturally and gradually.

I'm not against patina at all, I just prefer not having it.
 
I don't use my carbon knives for food. In my experience the high polish Case CV stays looking like new, except for scratches.
 
LastRodeo said:
I don't do either with my CV Case knives and have never had an issue.
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LastRodeo said:
I don't use my carbon knives for food. In my experience the high polish Case CV stays looking like new, except for scratches.
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This has been my experience as well. I don't use my carbon (or stainless) pocket knives for food and I don't oil the blades or force a patina. I did try forcing a patina on one knife but then realized it wasn't necessary.

Aside from that one knife, all of my other carbon blades that were only used by me still have the factory gloss with no signs of oxidation. Some of them have a few scratches but that's it.
 
This is either very cool or it's an inside joke that went over my head but thanks just the same.
 
LastRodeo said:
I've used (not a BF dealer member) and they are a BF dealer, so you can't go wrong there. Look to see if Collector Knives has it also. Mike participates regularly on this forum.
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I got my new Case knife from Mike at your suggestion and I'm glad I did. Nice guy. I also picked up a sheath for the new Case knife as well as a sheath for my Opinel Inox Beech 0008 Tactical Weapon system.

Thanks

Bryan
 
Sounds like a good choice you made there. The Tear Drop Jack gives you a decent size handle with a short enough blade for your needs. Case's CV is a decent basic steel. I don't personally notice much difference in performance between the CV and the Tru-sharp SS. Depending on your sharpening skills, I'd say the CV is a little easier to sharpen.

Patina vs. no patina is a bigger topic. Short version - if you don't regularly cut food, patina development will be very slow if at all. If you keep the blade relatively clean and use a little mineral oil every once in a while, you shouldn't have to worry about rust. If a patina forms and you don't like it, you can polish it off pretty easily with a little metal polish and a cloth or paper towel.
 
bryan123 said:
And now clamsh
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Clamshells are intimidating! The Wharncliffe is good but a Hawkbill or small Pruner as found on the SAK Pioneer is really the best blade for these. Wish somebody would pair a small Pruner with a Clip to Spear on a single spring knife, waiting.....
 
If I plan to use a carbon steel knife with food, then I force a patina. This tends to minimize the metallic taste you get, because the chemical reactions have already taken place (I think!?). Anyway, it seems to work for me. Just a light gray forced, then let nature take it's course, naturally.

I meant to post a photo, but Photobucket is being a p***k this morning.
 
007hunter said:
Thanks. IMO for food and hunting tasks I prefer the spearpoint...for edc tasks opening mail, packages, etc. I prefer a wharncliff. So, if you want a do it all would probably lean towards a spearpoint but both can get the job done everyone has a difference of opinion on what works best...really comes down to which one grabs you and what else you may have that's complimentary in your collection. Once you open Pandora's box I'm sure many more will find a way to your collection so think about what could be next in your arsenal when selecting. And by the way, on the case whiskey teardrop it's a zulu spear so you kind of get a hybrid of both which alot of folks find extremely useful.
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Hi 007hunter and everyone,

Knife arrived yesterday. Looks great.

I have a question about the Wharncliff blade. I expected it to be a better slicer. It can't come close to matching my Opinel Inox #8 or my SAK Cadet (both can easily shave arm hair for instance) in this regard. Is this typical of a Wharncliff or should it be better at slicing tasks? I have a Spyderco Sharpmaker and I could touch it up if it would help. Would I use the 30 or 40 degree setting? The package directions call for a whetstone at 10-15 degrees..

Thanks
 
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