Rough Rider & Related Slipjoints

My collection of Rough Rider started with the this blue bone Canoe.

I had ordered the latest congress from GEC .
I added the canoe in order to get free shipping as I was a bit short of the minimum $ required with just the congress alone.

ukPLzTe.jpg


I was SO pleasantly surprised with the RR. NICE ! :thumbsup:
My daughter liked it so very much so I gave it to her . Her first pocket knife and she carries it everywhere :)

So I ordered a few more :)
The tiny toothpick has somewhat of weak snap when opening but I don't mind that in such tiny knife.

WRCNnI6.jpg


The barlow had a problem, at least for me. Both blades were almost at the same height and it was very difficult for me to open them, even the pen blade had a hard to access nail nick. I chipped my thumb nail trying to use this knife to the point I had to put it away, cut and let my nail grow again.

Yesterday I did some minor surgery on it. Cut and easy open notch on it with my dremel and file the kick and lowered the pen blade ( a lot, there is plenty of room in the well for the pen blade to be lowered ) so now both nail nicks are very easily accessible wich = a joy to use :thumbsup::)

FAfXbC1.jpg
 
CelloDan said:
My collection of Rough Rider started with the this blue bone Canoe.

I had ordered the latest congress from GEC .
I added the canoe in order to get free shipping as I was a bit short of the minimum $ required with just the congress alone.

ukPLzTe.jpg


I was SO pleasantly surprised with the RR. NICE ! :thumbsup:
My daughter liked it so very much so I gave it to her . Her first pocket knife and she carries it everywhere :)

So I ordered a few more :)
The tiny toothpick has somewhat of weak snap when opening but I don't mind that in such tiny knife.

WRCNnI6.jpg


The barlow had a problem, at least for me. Both blades were almost at the same height and it was very difficult for me to open them, even the pen blade had a hard to access nail nick. I chipped my thumb nail trying to use this knife to the point I had to put it away, cut and let my nail grow again.

Yesterday I did some minor surgery on it. Cut and easy open notch on it with my dremel and file the kick and lowered the pen blade ( a lot, there is plenty of room in the well for the pen blade to be lowered ) so now both nail nicks are very easily accessible wich = a joy to use :thumbsup::)

FAfXbC1.jpg
Click to expand...
Very slick.... looks "factory".... you should call the knife company that has these made, and suggest this mod to them. They could incorporate it into their regular line, and call it the "cello barlow"....
 
Added two more to the collection. They arrived June 1.

You Tube notified me that Marbles has come out with a "D2 with Black Canvas Covers" series. The Sow Belly stockman was featured in the review.

I ordered one.
Marbles MR431. Very nice. No gaps, no wiggly wobbly blades, and the blades are all sharp enough to smoothly remove arm hair out of the box.
It has half stops on all three blades. All the grinds are even.
On my example, the clip point main and sheepsfoot had a pull of just over "5" maybe a little over, but still under a "6" out of the box. The Budding/Spey blade was a 10 or higher. I could not get it to op ... move unless the sheepsfoot was open, which dropped the pull to about a "6".
That had to be dealt with before it could go into my pocket.
Rounding the corner of the tang that first moves the back spring, extending the inside swedge down and towards the tip, and thinning the pile side liner about 0.001 brought the pull with sheepsfoot closed or open down to a "4.5" or "5". :D
Despite the difficulty with the Budding/Spey blade, I'm happy with it. I don't know if mine was a fluke though. The guy doing the review on You Tube didn't have that problem with his.
Oh, it is 3.75 inch closed, a little smaller than I usually carry, but it feels good in hand, and the blades don't look flimsy.

Rough Rider RR1740 (large 4.25 inch closed) Classic Carbon Steel with Yellow Composition covers
No gaps, great walk 'n talk. No blade rub, blades are pretty much centered, all have a "5" pull, and unexpected half stops. :)

Anyway, if you like the Sow Belly stockman pattern, I can honestly recommend the D2 Marbles MR431, despite the slight difficulty I had with my example. SMKW was willing to replace it under warranty, but I'm an impatient old S.O.B.. I was bored, had nothing else to do, got a new WENN Dremel type rotary tool, (with a diamond cone grinding bit that would work on that tang corner) and decided to fix it myself, rather than wait for the replacement. :)

If you like a real "large" (over 4 inch closed) stockman and want carbon steel blades (for considerably less than Case gets for theirs ... Case also claims blade rub is a design feature of a two spring 3 blade stockman, yet Rough Rider builds them without blade rub) You should get one of the Rough Ryder RR1740.
Based only on the display box with magnetic closure the Rough Ryder came in, I'm going to guess the Classic Carbon Steel line is going to be a somewhat limited time deal, like the 'A Stroke of Luck' and 'Rider's of the Silver Screen' moose are/were. (don't wait too long)
 
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afishhunter said:
Added two more to the collection. They arrived June 1.

You Tube notified me that Marbles has come out with a "D2 with Black Canvas Covers" series. The Sow Belly stockman was featured in the review.

I ordered one.
Marbles MR431. Very nice. No gaps, no wiggly wobbly blades, and the blades are all sharp enough to smoothly remove arm hair out of the box.
It has half stops on all three blades. All the grinds are even.
On my example, the clip point main and sheepsfoot had a pull of just over "5" maybe a little over, but still under a "6" out of the box. The Budding/Spey blade was a 10 or higher. I could not get it to op ... move unless the sheepsfoot was open, which dropped the pull to about a "6".
That had to be dealt with before it could go into my pocket.
Rounding the corner of the tang that first moves the back spring, extending the inside swedge down and towards the tip, and thinning the pile side liner about 0.001 brought the pull with sheepsfoot closed or open down to a "4.5" or "5". :D
Despite the difficulty with the Budding/Spey blade, I'm happy with it. I don't know if mine was a fluke though. The guy doing the review on You Tube didn't have that problem with his.
Anyway, it has been in my pocket since the June 5.
Oh, it is 3.75 inch closed, a little smaller than I usually carry, but it feels good in hand, and the blades don't look flimsy.

Rough Rider RR1740 (large 4.5 inch closed)) Classic Carbon Steel with Yellow Composition covers
No gaps, great walk 'n talk. No blade rub, blades are pretty much centered, all have a "5" pull, and unexpected half stops.
This one has been in my pocket since 1 June. :)

One unusual thing about both the Marbles and Rough Rider: Neither had the "MR" or "RR" (as applicable) number on any of the blades.

Anyway, if you like the Sow Belly stockman pattern, I can honestly recommend the D2 Marbles MR431, despite the slight difficulty I had with my example. SMKW was willing to replace it under warranty, but I'm an impatient old S.O.B.. I was bored, had nothing else to do, got a new WENN Dremel type rotary tool, (with a diamond cone grinding bit that would work on that tang corner) and decided to fix it myself, rather than wait for the replacement. :)

If you like a real "large" (over 4 inch closed) stockman and want carbon steel blades (for considerably less than Case gets for theirs ... Case also claims blade rub is a design feature of a two spring 3 blade stockman, yet Rough Rider builds them without blade rub) You should get one of the Rough Ryder RR1740.
Based only on the display box with magnetic closure the Rough Ryder came in, I'm going to guess the Classic Carbon Steel line is going to be a somewhat limited time deal, like the 'A Stroke of Luck' and 'Rider's of the Silver Screen' moose are/were. (don't wait too long)
Click to expand...


There must be some visceral appeal to that RR sowbelly. I don’t even think of it as a favorite pattern, but somehow I find there are four examples on my shelf, including the Marble’s D2. I guess I had better start paying attention to this pattern, since apparently I can’t resist buying it.
 
Henry Beige Henry Beige
Since you have a Marbles D2 Sow Belly, I gotta ask:
Does your Budding/Spey blade have a significantly harder pull like mine did, (at least when the sheepsfoot is closed) or are they all about the same "5" or "6" regardless of if the sheepsfoot is open or closed?

I'm tempted to order another, or maybe the Rough Ryder Classic Carbon Sow Belly, next month. :)
(as you may be aware, it is difficult - if not impossible - to have "too many" stockman's.):)
 
afishhunter said:
Henry Beige Henry Beige
Since you have a Marbles D2 Sow Belly, I gotta ask:
Does your Budding/Spey blade have a significantly harder pull like mine did, (at least when the sheepsfoot is closed) or are they all about the same "5" or "6" regardless of if the sheepsfoot is open or closed?

I'm tempted to order another, or maybe the Rough Ryder Classic Carbon Sow Belly, next month. :)
(as you may be aware, it is difficult - if not impossible - to have "too many" stockman's.):)
Click to expand...

My small blades are both a “5”. Makes no difference if they are both open or not. The clip is a little bit stronger, so call it a “6”, although the difference is very slight. The Classic Carbon is one I don’t have. I am inclined to leave it that way, for now, at least.
 
afishhunter said:
Henry Beige Henry Beige
Since you have a Marbles D2 Sow Belly, I gotta ask:
Does your Budding/Spey blade have a significantly harder pull like mine did, (at least when the sheepsfoot is closed) or are they all about the same "5" or "6" regardless of if the sheepsfoot is open or closed?

I'm tempted to order another, or maybe the Rough Ryder Classic Carbon Sow Belly, next month. :)
(as you may be aware, it is difficult - if not impossible - to have "too many" stockman's.):)
Click to expand...
I have a D2 RR. Pull on the secondary blades is the same on both, about a 5.

I also have a carbon steel model, with yellow delrin. The blades seem to fit better imo, on this model. I'm not sure if they had a harder time crinking the D2 steel? I will try to take some photos today showing what I mean.
 
cbach8tw said:
I have noticed a few posts about the RR carbon steel blades in yellow, that state they are carbon steel and not the 440 steel listed on the blades.
Click to expand...
These are not stamped 440, those posts must have been referring to other knives.
 
littleknife said:
This is from the Description on the SMKW website:

T10 Carbon Steel Blades. Mirror Polished. Match Strike Pulls. Half Stops. Yellow Composition Handles. Brass Pins and Liners. Nickel Silver Slant 'R Bolsters and Classic Carbon Shield.

Measures: Blade Length: 2-3/8" Wharncliffe Blade. 1-3/4" Pen Blades. Blade Thicknesses: 1/16". 3-3/4" closed. Made in China.

NOTE: T10 carbon steel is brand new to the Rough Ryder line and this first run of carbon steel pocketknives may be mislabeled as 440A in fine blade markings. These are, however, carbon steel, not stainless.

.............

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

cbach8tw said:
I have noticed a few posts about the RR carbon steel blades in yellow, that state they are carbon steel and not the 440 steel listed on the blades.
Click to expand...
I remember they had the same issue back when they made the Colt knives and brought out a line of Colt's with Ti coated carbon steel blades.
That was a couple years ago. The discussion in this thread is probably 75 to 100 pages ... maybe more ... back. I didn't attempt to find it.
 
I had opportunity to visit the big knife store in east Tennessee early last week. I bought these three, 2 marbles and a Rough Rider. I'm very impressed as these are built like a tank. They also came quite sharp from the box. I believe the D2 to be my favorite so far. I was pleased the two Sowbelly patterns have half-stops.IMG_0412.jpg
 
y1UCZ45.jpg

I had forgotten to include my latest RR's on this thread. As you can see this classic carbon lockback is definitely carbon steel. I decided to do a forced patina just for the fun of it(ketchup):D

This neato sowbelly trapper caught my eye, I haven't seen the typical trapper blade combo in a sowbelly pattern before.
hPu1JHY.jpg


But there may be a reason for that, as I had to modify the spey. As it was the peak near the tip dug into my little finger, right inside the joint of my knuckle. A few minutes with a Nicholson file solved that though.
bJeCyrr.jpg

Now its more of a drop point. Seems to me Rough Ryder isn't afraid to try interesting blade combos and shapes,or interesting jigging patterns either. Which is a good thing imho:thumbsup:
 
scattershot said:
I’m a big fan of RR knives, But have never had a carbon steel model. How’s the edge holding ability on these?
Click to expand...
So far I'd say on par with the stainless, maybe a tad better. But I haven't used the carbon one very much yet. I know this is subjective, but on my fine diamond stone it "feels" good. Softer steel feels gummy on it and the RR doesn't feel that way. But on the same hand it doesn't feel hard to sharpen, I'd say like Case CV its a good middle ground.
 
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