Case Carbon Vanadium Vs. TruSharp Stainless...

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MacTech

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I just picked up a Case Medium Stockman in red jigged bone, I was hoping to get one with Chrome Vanadium steel as I've heard good things about it's ability to take a truly killer edge, however, it turns out the knife I purchased has Case's TruSharp stainless

Which steel is the better performer, I know that CV takes a little more care and isn't as "ignorable" as Stainless, but I'm willing to deal with that, I have plenty of stainless knives in all sorts of different steel flavours, I was really hoping to find a CV slippie

Otherwise, I love the thing, it's got a real classy, classic look, it feels great in hand, and arrived decently sharp (easily fixed on the Sharpmaker)

Which steel is the better performer, sharpness-wise, and edgeholding-wise, if I had to choose between the two, I'd prefer a steel that takes a keener edge even if it needs to be sharpened a little more than normal

is the Case stainless decent, or is it substandard, compared against, lets say Victorinox steel, which I'd assume would be it's closest competitor, I can get my SAK's truly scary sharp, as i can get the 420HC on my Buck 110 and Leatherman Surge....

Oh, and if it matters, I have a salt marsh on our property, and I'm about 10 minutes from York Beach, Maine, I have had the occasional light surface rust issues with some Spyderco S30V knives just sitting in my storage box (a Native and a Dodo picked up some minor cosmetic staining on the non-polished spine and jimping surfaces, both knives were unused), I've had a CS Twistmaster pick up cosmetic spotting just sitting in storage, no handling or using, the spotting occured on the exposed part of the blade when folded), I now have silica gel packets in each compartment in the storage box, I also tend to sweat heavily in the summer (us Northerners/Yankees have no heat tolerance to speak of, yet we laugh at cold weather....)
 
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MacTech said:
I just picked up a Case Medium Stockman in red jigged bone, I was hoping to get one with Chrome Vanadium steel as I've heard good things about it's ability to take a truly killer edge, however, it turns out the knife I purchased has Case's TruSharp stainless

...

Which steel is the better performer, sharpness-wise, and edgeholding-wise
Click to expand...

I say, use the hell out of the knife and tell us if it's any good. Don't let some faceless individuals on a forum determine how you feel about knives (that's what they do on the other 95% of Bladeforums.com ;) )

To be more constructive, however, Case's SS is pretty much on par with Victorinox's stainless. I think, if you use it hard, you'll come to love your ss Case.
 
MacTech said:
is the Case stainless decent, or is it substandard, compared against, lets say Victorinox steel, which I'd assume would be it's closest competitor, I can get my SAK's truly scary sharp, as i can get the 420HC on my Buck 110 and Leatherman Surge....
Click to expand...

Seeing as how it sounds like you're pleased with your sak's, I think you'll be very happy with your true sharp stockman.

I've used both, and the only time I could tell a difference was in side by side comparison testing. Out in the real world, day by day, my Case stainless knives did everything I asked of them. Opening my mail, cutting twine or rope, opening a UPS box, light food duty on snacks or a steak at a resuraunt that served a slightly shapened butter knife, all went well with my little Case bone stag peanut in true sharp. I had a yellow handle CV peanut, but gave it away to a young man who didn't have a knife.

If you're also living in a salt water environment, the stainless is nice. You have a nice knife there, use it well and don't worry about what blade steel is in it.
 
Good points all, since I want to try a Case CV slippie, I should do the proper BladeForums thing anyway and just *BUY BOTH*, right? ;)

I guess I'll stop over at Kittery Trading Post tonight and see if they have any used but good condition Case CV slippies for cheap....

So into the pocket the Medium Stockman goes, I'm actually glad, because it really is a very nice slippie :)
 
I posted a review of the edge retention of CV vs Tru-Sharp here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=595750

The CV retained an edge better than Tru-Sharp.
I found that both took a very keen edge. No difference there that I could tell.
The CV was a tad easier to sharpen.

My Buck 301 retained an edge better than either CV or Tru-Sharp.
 
From what I've found, their CV is a little more durable (edge holding) than their Tru-Sharp. I whittle quite a bit, and for me, both were about even for ease of sharpening & edge durability. I like the patina of CV, so that's what I go with when I can.

IMHO, SAK's stainless doesn't last nearly as long as Case's Tru-Sharp, which is why I don't bother whittling or carving with them. But - one of the reasons I love SAK's is they are really easy to sharpen.

thx - cpr
 
Case's stainless works just fine. I'd say its a bit better than the victorinox stainless, a bit tougher.
 
I do prefer CV, but rest assured, you still have a fine knife there. As stated earlier, don't let some faceless person you don't even know tell you weather you like your knife or not.
 
orca8589 said:
IMHO, SAK's stainless doesn't last nearly as long as Case's Tru-Sharp, which is why I don't bother whittling or carving with them.
Click to expand...

+1.

If you're happy with Victorinox steel, you'll be delighted with Tru-Sharp. That said, I do prefer CV, if only because it gets that old-time patina that reminds me of the things I've done with it.
 
I stopped back at Ace this morning and checked out their Case slippies, now that I know what I'm looking for, all their slippies, save two, were Stainless, the only CV slippies they had were a Small Stockman and a Trapper, the small stockman was too small, so I took a look at the Trapper, a basic yellow handle trapper

It turns out that the Trapper pattern isn't as bad as I thought, the Stockman *looks* classier, but the Trapper just fits better, no blade humps extending far past the scales like the sheepfoot blade did on the Stockman pattern, and the long handle of the Trapper just balances better, not to mention it packs in more usable blade length

I also like the Spey blade more than I thought I would, mainly due to it's mostly flat edge, similar to a Wharnie, plus, the rounded tip would be less intimidating to NKP, plus, the yellow scales give it more of a "Grandpa's Old Knife look and feel to it, I thought I wasn't going to like the yellow plastic scales, as I do prefer jigged bone on classic slippies, but the problem with jigged bone is they look *too* nice, I'd be hesitant to put a jigged knife to hard work, as I wouldn't want to get it dirty and scuffed, it looks too nice to use, the yellow scales I have no problem letting get dirty and beat up looking, as it will *add* to their appearance as a well used and loved tool

On to the blades....

Compared against the TruSharp stainless, there was a quite noticeable difference in sharpness, using the thumb-drag test (drag thumb lightly across the blade, perpendicular to the cutting edge), the TruSharp factory edge felt somewhat dull, not even as sharp as a factory Vic SAK, the blades would not shave hairs from the factory, acceptable for normal use, bit not acceptable for us Scary Sharp fanatics, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being Scary Sharp, the TruSharp blades would rate a 7

the CV blades, OTOH, had an immediate and noticeable toothiness to them, they felt much sharper, and the edge felt consistent from tip to end, the clip point blade would not shave hairs, the spey blade would shave, but not pop hairs, they were *close* to Scary, but not Scary yet, I would imagine that a couple quick passes on the Sharpmaker white rods at the 30 degree setting will easily take the blades to Scary, factory sharpness would be more than acceptable for normal use or the average knife user, on a scale of 1-10, the CV blades rate a 9 for the clip point and a 9.5 for the spey

the Trapper has much better "walk and talk" than the Stockman as well, blades spring open and snap closed with a decent snap, the backsprings are nice and strong, and have an almost Victorinox level "snap" to them, the "walk and talk" on this knife is great, I'd imagine the tighter walk-and-talk on the Trapper is due to having blades only at one end of the knife, the backsprings don't have to support blades at each end, which means the springs can be stouter and more solid

fit-and finish is quite good, the blades have a nice mirror sheen to them, the edges gleam in the light, the bolsters and Case logo shield are nice and shiny, the only real "drawback" is the blandness of the yellow scales, but as I said upthread, this works in the knife's favor as I won't feel the need to baby it, it's a tool, no I won't abuse it, but I'm not going to baby it either

And as an added advantage, this Trapper was $10 less than the Stockman I returned, I got better steel for less money, another advantage of the simple yellow handles, I guess, they're cheaper and make the knives a tad more affordable

Bravo Case, I understand the popularity of the Trapper pattern now
 
I've been carrying a Case in SS mostly since last summer and have been very happy will with how well it has held up.

Before this I was a die hard Carbon steel fan and only made the switch to SS because of the snow, ice and rain I work around.

And I'm not easy on my work knives making my queen congress dull in a days work.


Don't get me wrong, I really like my Case CV's, My Buck 301's and The Queens I own in D2 also.
I mean what isn't there to like? :D
 
you can't go wrong with either, buying both is definately the way to go:D
 
cv or ss, I dont think you will notice much difference. I like the cv because of patina and tradition. But I've used Case ss and like that also.
 
MacTech said:
It turns out that the Trapper pattern isn't as bad as I thought ... I also like the Spey blade more than I thought I would, mainly due to it's mostly flat edge, similar to a Wharnie ...
Click to expand...

I had the same revelation. I was always so hung up on the blunt "tip" of the spey blade but then, once I finally gave in and bought a trapper, it occurred to me: This blade has a long, flat edge - forget about the tip! What's that anyway, 5% of the blade? That long flat edge is good for all sorts of rough cutting. Hell, think of it as a sheepsfoot blade if that helps. OR, take advantage of the blunt tip and use it to spread peanut butter or soft cheese or whatever on crackers. If you need a tip, use the clip blade.

BTW, I ended up trading off that trapper, a Boker, and I replaced it with a Case yellow CV model. It's the sharpest knife I own, bar none. Hmmm. I'm taking a couple days off work and heading up to the mountains beginning tomorrow morning. Think I just decided which knife will be going along for the ride. :)
 
555 said:
Don't get me wrong, I really like my Case CV's, My Buck 301's and The Queens I own in D2 also.
I mean what isn't there to like? :D
Click to expand...

They're all good. They're all just different. I'm always fascinated by the differences.
 
mnblade said:
I had the same revelation. I was always so hung up on the blunt "tip" of the spey blade but then, once I finally gave in and bought a trapper, it occurred to me: This blade has a long, flat edge - forget about the tip! What's that anyway, 5% of the blade? That long flat edge is good for all sorts of rough cutting. Hell, think of it as a sheepsfoot blade if that helps. OR, take advantage of the blunt tip and use it to spread peanut butter or soft cheese or whatever on crackers. If you need a tip, use the clip blade.

BTW, I ended up trading off that trapper, a Boker, and I replaced it with a Case yellow CV model. It's the sharpest knife I own, bar none. Hmmm. I'm taking a couple days off work and heading up to the mountains beginning tomorrow morning. Think I just decided which knife will be going along for the ride. :)
Click to expand...
I have that exact same yellow Trapper, and it is truly Scary Sharp, I love carbon-steel, I can get my Opinel No. 8 so sharp it scares me, the combination of carbon steel and a thin bladestock translates into a brilliant slicer

y'know, maybe I shouldn't have returned that Pocketworn Red Trapper due to the stainless blades, I *DO* like the Stockman pattern, maybe I should go back and pick it up after all, with a full size Trapper and a Medium Stockman I should be good to go, I won't *need* any more slippies, and what better way to compare TruSharp to CV......
 
Well, I guess I was destined to own that Pocketworn red bone Stockman, I went back to Ace today and picked it up again, and it *IS* a nice knife

comparing the two steels side-by-side, as i remembered, the factory edge on the CV Trapper was much keener than the SS Stockman, it only took about five minutes on the Sharpmaker to take it from factory sharp to Scary Sharp, the factory edge on the Stockman was acceptable, but nowhere near as sharp as the factory edge on the Trapper, and it took me about a half hour or so on the Sharpmaker to get the edge Scary, and even then the CV steel in the Trapper just *feels* sharper

the Trapper still looks new, no scuffs, scrapes, or "beauty marks" yet, the Stockman OTOH, already has some scuffing on the bolsters, and scrape marks on the pen blade from the short Spey blade, initially I was dissapointed that it's already marked up, but now I realized that I can safely put it in my LF pocket with my keys and such since it's no longer "perfect", they're both users, so "beauty marks" are a non-issue

in a way, it's actually good that the Stockman is SS, as those rub marks would be at an increased risk for corrosion
 
I like the edges on the CV blades more than those on the TruSharp blades.

They're sharper out of the box, and they stay sharp longer.
They also sharpen to a sharper edge.

But TruSharp is a decent stainless steel, and I've got no issue with carrying and using my Case TruSharp knives.
 
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