What's with Case and their quality?

for whatever reason, I'm drawn more to gec over case, I'm not really a bone handle fan, but I do love wood & antler
 
So these are my case knives. Only 3 have any play. The worst play is in the hammerhead. The play is slight, but noticeable if one is paying attention. The knife is plenty servicable still. Also, its about 20 years old. The toothpick and green seahorse whittler have the slightest play. Maybe I'm lucky.
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I have a number of Case knives. Some have had issues. Of three Trapper Locks, I have a Chestnut Bone that is perfect. I have a yellow handle that has so much blade play I don’t use it. But the worst was a John Deere that had no detent, at all. I sent it back to Case and they sent me another knife, plus a Mid Folding Hunter, my favorite pattern.
 
My biggest issue with the Case knives that I have purchased, was that none of them came with points on the blades. I think they are buffing them so much that they just get rounded over. It's an easy fix for me, but it just seems odd that they can't seem to fix this.

I've also never purchased a Case knife that had a usable factory edge. GEC knives don't come sharp either and cost twice as much.
 
I have had good experiences with case and their repair work too. I have had a couple of Cases that were just about as perfect as it gets. Ive only had 1 bad experience. I got a gorgeous trapper that had blade play pretty badly. I sent it back and it came back perfect.
Im happy overall.
 
Sorry to ruffle some feathers here.:DJust wondering what's going on with Case.

There shouldn’t be ruffled feathers. This is Bladeforums, it’s what we do. I have had good luck with Case knives, but I think Vic has better and more consistent quality. It is pretty staggering when you consider how many knives per year Vic makes.

Still, both are quite acceptable to me at their price points. Lots of bang for the buck and plenty for my everyday needs. I just can’t get away from Stockmen, love that pattern.
 
There shouldn’t be ruffled feathers. This is Bladeforums, it’s what we do. I have had good luck with Case knives, but I think Vic has better and more consistent quality. It is pretty staggering when you consider how many knives per year Vic makes.

Still, both are quite acceptable to me at their price points. Lots of bang for the buck and plenty for my everyday needs. I just can’t get away from Stockmen, love that pattern.

Don't get me wrong, i really like Case. Just wish they were better. I also like the stockman. The 18 pattern.
 
For years, if i wanted a new Case i have had to go through 4-5 knives of the same pattern to get one that was decent. This has not changed. Handles not even with bolsters, pins showing, weak springs, blade burrs ect. And the price increases 2-3 times a year. I don't get it.

My first pocket knife given to me was a Case small stockman. I like Case but with everything mentioned, its sad to see an American company put out a product that is a shadow of what it use to be quality wise.

To me Victorinox has better quality. I don't have the issues with the SAK's i buy.

Anyone else tired of the poor quality from Case?
I haven't had a bad one yet, so no I'm not tired of their quality.

If I did then I probably would be for sure, or I'd only buy what I could Inspect in person.
For me that's only a handful of models maybe 6 I'd actually buy , I'd own them already and I would be done with case.
 
Btw I hear people say Rough Rider is as good or better ?
I've had probably 6 over the past few years and not a single good one.
For the price excellent but I've had way better from case, and Case is American made.
 
Btw I hear people say Rough Rider is as good or better ?
I've had probably 6 over the past few years and not a single good one.
For the price excellent but I've had way better from case, and Case is American made.
Have a friend who used to be a plant superintendent in China because he is married to a pretty little Chinese girl who came from there. He said people were paid like 35 cents a day and mostly slave and child labor. I will not cater to that form of manufacture nor will I support it. It's a shame when we do have no choice but to buy China made, but if given the choice, no way.
 
I have over 20 Case knives and only one was returned to Case for warranty repair. It was a Cheetah with jigged horn scales, a chunk was missing on one scale.
I sent Case a picture and the customer service rep was very interested in getting the knife back. They wanted to see how QC let the knife leave the factory like that.
They sent me a new knife and some Case swag. I was very impressed by how they handled the situation.

IMO Case makes a few patterns that are consistently made better than other patterns. I've had good luck with the fit and finish on the larger patterns ( large stockman, back pocket, tribal spear)

I'm carrying this one today.
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This year I've acquired several Case knives, all bought from online retailers. None of them have QC issues that even approach unacceptable.

They can get a bit mismatchy on the lighter colored bone scales and the medium stockman I got is a little light on the main blade. None of mine have blade play in the open position. A couple can be moved from side to side when closed but not open.

I freaking love these knives and nearly all of my moderns have found their way back into their boxes on a shelf. The Case MiniCopperlock is an ideal EDC pocket knife for me. It's outstanding.
 
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The Case/Bose knives are pretty darn good. The average knife, not so much. Sadly Case is building knives for "collectors" and unlike GEC (who does the same) QC takes a back seat to sales. Case is quickly being surpassed by stuff coming in from China.

The limited run Case/Bose knives are quite nice. I've had four, still have two. In fact, I just got one last week. I'm quite fond of them, but they are often priced extremely high. They are as close as it gets to a real Tony Bose knife so they are worth it imo.
 
Have a friend who used to be a plant superintendent in China because he is married to a pretty little Chinese girl who came from there. He said people were paid like 35 cents a day and mostly slave and child labor. I will not cater to that form of manufacture nor will I support it. It's a shame when we do have no choice but to buy China made, but if given the choice, no way.
I sure don't have to buy my tools , knives, or boots from China.
 
I truly enjoy Case knives and have only had a couple ones with issues out of over a dozen.

That doesn’t bother me but what irks me about Case is how the price jumps so drastically on certain covers.
So even though I have a couple fancy Case knives the majority of mine are the delrin or semi dyed bone.
 
I've had a couple that were OK at best. Recent Case knives are a lot better in quality than they were in the 90s & early 2000s. The Case/Bose collaborations are better than some customs. I've also found that the Tony Bose patterns (Tribal, Sowbelly, Swayback, etc.) tend to be better in fit & finish too.

My personal favorite pattern is the Case Medium Jack. Not as popular as the Peanut or Texas Jack though & I wish they offered it in more options.

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