Traditional Knives (the ones with a brother from another mother)

spudley112 · **on:** September 15, 2019, 02:35:39 PM

With my recent acquisition of a really nice Case Moose, I quickly found myself digging into my knife collection to locate another Moose of almost identical design made by Rough Rider. I have a few Rough Rider knives, and I have been pretty impressed with some of them. The Moose is one of them, and it was nice to get the Case Moose in hand for a comparison from which I am almost certain Rough Rider got their design.

Top: Rough Rider
Bottom: Case

As you can see from the picture, the two designs are very similar. In fact, even the scale color would be almost identical, but I dyed the Rough Rider to darken it up a bit. They feel nigh identical in the hand.

Comparisons:
Handles: Both are bone with differing textures. They both have excellent fit with no gaps.

Bolsters: As the picture shows, the Rough Rider has a "pinched" bolster design.

Clip Point Blade: The blade shape is very similar as well.
The Rough Rider blade is 440a, which may not seem great, but I have found their heat treat to be better than expected. The Case is presumably their Tru-Sharp stainless steel, which is by no means a super steel, but quite a capable material.
The clip point on the Rough Rider is quite straight, while the Case has a slight upsweep to it.
Both take an incredibly sharp edge, and each has it's individual advantage.
The Rough Rider is a hardy blade...and the Case has a geometry that I absolutely love.
The Case edge tapers perfectly and almost feels like a straight razor. I would truly call it "scary sharp" with the proper edge.

Spey Blade: The spey blades have slightly different shapes. I reshaped the spey blade on the Rough Rider. Originally, the shape was similar to those found on Trapper spey blades...I rounded it so that it did not dig into my hand as much when using the clip point.
The edge geometry is different. Again, advantage goes to the Case for being scary sharp. The Case spey is flat ground while the Rough Rider is hollow ground.

The blades of the Rough Rider are the "match Striker" variety.

So I will end here with a surprising point. Both knives are pretty smooth in blade operation, but I actually have to give the advantage to the Rough Rider. Opening the blades on this knife is butter smooth. Very surprising.

Please, feel free to share any experiences you have with knives of very similar design by different makers. Thank you.

Aloha · **Reply #1 on:** September 15, 2019, 03:10:06 PM

I read good things about RR as well not so good. They certainly can be a "gateway" to tradionals for those who want to dip a toe in. I have a Buck Creek Solingen Germany with synthetic covers and carbon blades. I understand fit and finish differences as compared to higher priced options but its still a good knife. I'm in no way a perfectionist when it comes to tools so a bit of blade off centering is no bother or covers that aren't perfectly flush to bolsters. Its all relative to cost for me. If I am paying what I consider a premium or the maker is claiming the item is premium then I do expect more.

I too really like to moose pattern so I was very glad to see this thread

SteveC · **Reply #2 on:** September 15, 2019, 03:11:53 PM

Those are both great looking knives ! I wish RR made more with the long pull. Their knives with a regular nail nick w/ match striker look very odd to me.

VICMAN · **Reply #3 on:** September 15, 2019, 03:33:08 PM

Quote from: spudley112 on September 15, 2019, 02:35:39 PM

With my recent acquisition of a really nice Case Moose, I quickly found myself digging into my knife collection to locate another Moose of almost identical design made by Rough Rider.

Nice knives spudley!