I just got in my first traditional slipjoint today, as I am not counting SAK's. I went with a Rough Rider Canoe Armor Hide. I have to admit I am enjoying this pattern so far, and it came sharp right out of the box.
I was originally in horror when I first opened the box as I found the knife somehow escaped the factory box and was bouncing around the larger box during shipment. Than came to discover that when I opened up the two blades it sounded like I was grinding sandpaper against the metal blades, and it revealed a sticky yellow goo on the blade upon opening the knife. After opening up the blades a few times the grinding stopped and cleaning up the knife with alcohol swabs thoroughly the blades started to open very smoothly and snap in blade with a bit of authority. My only real problem in this department now is that the main blade has a good pull but the pen blade takes about 2x the strength to open and close which to be honest annoys me, and it was worse till I cleaned it up. And I wouldn't have noticed this without being on this sub-forum for awhile but there are minor gaps in the construction, but is definitely acceptable for a $13 knife.
When I tested this knife against the thickest cardboard box I could find it kind of surprised me. It cut through it relatively easily as expected but than I pulled out my more modern folder and expected the same results as it's just as sharp if not a little sharper and at first the results were the same till the knife was all the way in the box and than it was like driving a large wedge into a board with how thick the blade was in comparison to the Canoe, it just didn't matter that the blade was sharp anymore it was the design of the blade holding it back. It was no contest the Canoe was just that much better for this type of task. Where as my modern folder is a wedge, the Canoe felt like a sliver of sharpened metal that just continued to slice through cardboard without any increase in difficulty. The difference was large enough that I had to put my modern folder away as I didn't want to look at it anymore for the time being. I think this alone will probably convert me more towards traditionals more than anything.
Overall after the initial scare I had with receiving the knife I am quite honestly enjoying it after cleaning it up. One of my favorite things about this knife though after the way it performed and how it feels in my hand is the design of the handle. The armor hide design just seems to provide a pretty good grip while not feeling like sandpaper. After cleaning the knife up it looks like it's a quality little folder for the money and will probably last me several years.
On a final note, thank you everyone for helping me as I asked a few questions here about traditionals and learned quite a lot before making my first purchase. Now I just have to try to keep to your advice and try to stick to Rough Riders to try out different patterns before going a bit high end to help save money. I already see a Muskrat, Stockman, Case Sodbuster CV, and Opinel in my future
.
(Here are some pictures of the knife along with my first knife a Victorinox Recruit. It just seems fitting as this knife slightly reminds me of it)
Edited in:
Wow, I accidentally turned that into a bit of a knife review unintentionally, oh well.
I was originally in horror when I first opened the box as I found the knife somehow escaped the factory box and was bouncing around the larger box during shipment. Than came to discover that when I opened up the two blades it sounded like I was grinding sandpaper against the metal blades, and it revealed a sticky yellow goo on the blade upon opening the knife. After opening up the blades a few times the grinding stopped and cleaning up the knife with alcohol swabs thoroughly the blades started to open very smoothly and snap in blade with a bit of authority. My only real problem in this department now is that the main blade has a good pull but the pen blade takes about 2x the strength to open and close which to be honest annoys me, and it was worse till I cleaned it up. And I wouldn't have noticed this without being on this sub-forum for awhile but there are minor gaps in the construction, but is definitely acceptable for a $13 knife.
When I tested this knife against the thickest cardboard box I could find it kind of surprised me. It cut through it relatively easily as expected but than I pulled out my more modern folder and expected the same results as it's just as sharp if not a little sharper and at first the results were the same till the knife was all the way in the box and than it was like driving a large wedge into a board with how thick the blade was in comparison to the Canoe, it just didn't matter that the blade was sharp anymore it was the design of the blade holding it back. It was no contest the Canoe was just that much better for this type of task. Where as my modern folder is a wedge, the Canoe felt like a sliver of sharpened metal that just continued to slice through cardboard without any increase in difficulty. The difference was large enough that I had to put my modern folder away as I didn't want to look at it anymore for the time being. I think this alone will probably convert me more towards traditionals more than anything.
Overall after the initial scare I had with receiving the knife I am quite honestly enjoying it after cleaning it up. One of my favorite things about this knife though after the way it performed and how it feels in my hand is the design of the handle. The armor hide design just seems to provide a pretty good grip while not feeling like sandpaper. After cleaning the knife up it looks like it's a quality little folder for the money and will probably last me several years.
On a final note, thank you everyone for helping me as I asked a few questions here about traditionals and learned quite a lot before making my first purchase. Now I just have to try to keep to your advice and try to stick to Rough Riders to try out different patterns before going a bit high end to help save money. I already see a Muskrat, Stockman, Case Sodbuster CV, and Opinel in my future
.(Here are some pictures of the knife along with my first knife a Victorinox Recruit. It just seems fitting as this knife slightly reminds me of it
)
Edited in:
Wow, I accidentally turned that into a bit of a knife review unintentionally, oh well.
Last edited:
