I officially have a problem. I'm attempting to carry the Camillus scout for all of 2019. I've also been trying to add in a cool second knife from my collection, to carry and show off each day. This has been working really well for me lately........ until today. I have my trusty Camillus with me, and I've selected a Case Carhartt medium stockman to show off, but I also can't seem to remove yesterday's Case Mini-Trapper from my pocket. This Mini-Trapper is really, really sweet. It's a total "
I'm in love" kind of fine. It fits my hand like it was made just for me. It looks flat out gorgeous. Fit and finish is spot on. Both blades cut like there's no tomorrow. It's actually stainless. This trapper is really working for me. I need to carry it for a while, I guess as my second knife, to see if it has the staying power that I believe it might.
So number 3 of my new
loaded pocket scenario today is the Case Carhartt medium stockman. This is yet another Case medium stockman that floats about my house
(Why is is always the Case medium stockmans that get relegated to continual chore duty in my home?) in search of something to cut. It doesn't live with my knife collection. It moves from room to room, drawer to drawer, table to table, whenever I have a long term project. It's the knife that my daughter knows to grab whenever I tell her to grab a knife for me. I originally purchased it, maybe five years ago from a genuine Carhartt brick and mortar store, which is pretty much a toy store for any Upstate New York outdoorsman.
I bought the Carharrt as sort of a beater knife. Kind of a do everything knife. The
Rugged Duck G-10 covers provide an exceptionally good grip, even for G-10, and are effectively indestructible. The tangs and bolsters have some interesting shaping, that add to the uniqueness of the design. I love the
As Ground finish on the blades, and wish more Case knives featured this finish. The shield is brass, just like the Carhartt's signature zippers. This is the knife that convinced me to give Case's Tru-Sharp stainless a real try. As much as I love higher end stainless steels, I have to admit that on a knife with this thin of a hollow grind, the Tru-Sharp works remarkably well. The grind seems to offer so little cutting resistance, that edge deformation is greatly reduced. And when a blade starts to dull a bit, it still cuts reasonably well because of that thin grind. It's even a relatively easy stainless to sharpen, requiring no more than an Arkansas stone and a strop.
Other than it not having a cover material with greater collector pedigree, it's pretty much the perfect slipjoint. Fit and finish is excellent. Better than most Case knives, IMHO, because of the
As Ground finish. I don't have to take care of it in the least, except for the occasionally sharpening. The crazy thin grinds cut better than most traditionals in my collection, and it didn't even cost me that much money. It's hardly Case's prettiest knife ever, but it must come very close to being the most functional knife they've ever made. I think it very fitting that it bears the Carhartt name, as it embodies so many of Carhartt's historic qualities.
