Need some suggestions for a Stockman Knife

[ctstannard]

Hi all,

I hope this is an appropriate place to post this!

I recently decided I needed to get myself a Stockman knife. Trouble is there don't seem to be a lot of good places to find them these days so I thought I would turn to my favorite forum for suggestions. Here's what I'm looking for:

• A solid stockman, 3 blade knife. Clip, Spey and Sheepfoot
• New/Modern.
• Medium to large size.
• Preferably made in the USA but I am open to considering others.
• Here is the real trick, I live in Canada so preferably something that can be found in Canada or at least isn't too bad to ship to Canada.

I know Queen Cutlery used to make pretty good Stockman's but sadly they haven't been around for a couple of years. I've looked at the Buck 301 and the Old Timer but I've heard that lately most of them are made in China and while some are still good others leave a lot to be desired.

I'd love to hear what opinions are out there. Thanks!

[dks]

Buck makes the 301 in the US, not China. Also, the Chinese made Bucks are/were very good too.
Avoid Schrade (old timer) as they have been bad for years, unless you can find an original, used most likely, US made one.

Rough Rider are very good and low cost and are easily available. Made in China but similar in quality to the Chinese made Bucks.

Case xx is also good, in my experiences, US made.

I do not know the Canadian marketplace but ebay should work for you.

[Shuya]

I got 4 Stockmans at the moment.

Ive had not so good experience with that Buck Stockman, have one laying around with really weak springs.
Plus their grind is thick, hollow grind with huge bevel.
Not comparable to other knives.

Then there are the two Case Stockman, one medium, one large, both in SS. Superb Fit and Finish, spring tension etc. Nothing to complain about. Flat grind, nice thin edge , cuts. Available in a ton of handle materials and in CV, too if you like.
Should be available at your country, too.

And the 4th is a Boker Stockman in Carbon blades. Great knife, only complain is the mainblade touches the backspring when closed, and this triggers my inner monkey so I dont carry this anymore. 


Imho: Go with a Case, cant go wrong with that.
Just checked your local ebay (ebay.ca with search "Case Stockman". Tons of options).

[dks]

The Buck 301 does have weak springs and is thick, as pointed out. The springs are not useless but they are weaker than Victorinox - if the Victorinox spring is a 5 on strength (out of 10) then the 301 is a 3 (Wenger would be 4).

It does, however, feel solid enough.

Also decide if you want Stainless steel or Carbon steel, if you decide to buy a Case xx. I think the Bucks are SS.

My suggestion would be SS and possibly a Rough Rider.

[PitCarver]

You said that you wanted a medium to large stockman...
I will echo what everyone else has said, so far.  I'm a fan of large(er) frame stockmans and will recommend the CASE 75 patterns.  4.25 inches.

[PitCarver]

I have yet mastered the art of adding narrative along with additional photos, but my current carry is a Frost branded Beaver Creek large stockman at 4.5 inches.  The yellow comp is extremely hard to find, but they do make them in other handle material.  This one is a recent eBay purchase after a 10 month search.  The factory edge on these is very good and the fit and finish was good also.   These are Chinese produced too.

[DavisNikolov]

Rough riders are nicely made, especially for the price. But I don’t like the edge retention on mine. And I’m not a “super steel” guy - I prefer my victorinoxes, buck’s 420 and on the higher end - the s30v. But that Rough Rider noticeably loses edge after sharpening one pencil with it and needs touch up after the second. It’s a congress pattern and I like it otherwise, it’s comfortable in hand and pocket and feels sturdy, but that steel…
Seems to me that the best selection of currently made stockmans is from Case - 4 different sizes, lots of handle material choices. Be aware that they advertise them as small, medium and large but there are actually two different sizes “large”. The biggest is the 6375, sometimes referred to as Jumbo stockman. Mine is peach seed jigged bone in Cv. I prefer stainless but that was available near me. And I don’t regret it, their CV is more staining rather than rusting. The easiest way to distinguish the largest one is the sheep’s foot blade - on it it’s noticeably wider than on the other models. Here is an image I poached off the ggle images that shows that difference

[Sos24]

I will echo the Case recommendations.  I have a few Case knives which are very nice.

[SteveC]

If new is what you are looking for then I also would go with Case.

I'm going to move this to edged tools

[dks]

If new is what you are looking for then I also would go with Case.

GEC is also a good choice and easy to obtain

[SteveC]

 

[trichosirius]

GEC is also a good choice and easy to obtain

I think you forgot to begin this with “Once upon a time..” 

[PitCarver]

Rough riders are nicely made, especially for the price.

The biggest is the 6375, sometimes referred to as Jumbo stockman. Mine is peach seed jigged bone in Cv. I prefer stainless but that was available near me. And I don’t regret it, their CV is more staining rather than rusting.

My issue with Rough Ryder's is they've thinned out their blades in the last few years.  It used to be that they could be interchanged with CASE.  This wouldn't be a problem with me if they had thinned out the frame as well.  Now, if you look down into the knife there's a lot of wasted space.  Older RR's didn't have that problem.

I love the CASE CV blades in the 75's.  Here's mine with the patina.  Had a back spring break on this one.  It was good as new after a trip back to Bradford.

[NutSAK]

I highly recommend Case pattern 18, preferably in CV steel if you're not opposed to maintaining carbon steel blades.

Yellow Delrin would be my preference for a user, but you may want something "prettier".

https://shepherdhillscutlery.com/Details/?ProductCode=035&Patid=30

[Gareth]

Another vote for the Case medium Stockman.  Never did get along with my old Buck.  As NutSAK said; Yellow Delrin with CV blades is a classic look.  You do need to maintain the carbon steel (or not care about some marks )

[dks]

on Case, yellow Derlin is  THE classic look, me thinks

[SteveC]

on Case, yellow Derlin is  THE classic look, me thinks

Or Red bone   

[ctstannard]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I appreciate all of the input so far! I am glad to see so much passion for these cool traditional style of knives.

I'll take a closer look at the suggestions here and see what I can find. So far it sounds like the Case is a good one to get into so I think that is the direction I will start with.

Thanks again! I will post and let everyone know what I go with.

[nate j]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I appreciate all of the input so far! I am glad to see so much passion for these cool traditional style of knives.

I'll take a closer look at the suggestions here and see what I can find. So far it sounds like the Case is a good one to get into so I think that is the direction I will start with.

Thanks again! I will post and let everyone know what I go with.

There are certainly a number of options with Case (and in a dizzying array of scale materials).  Some are also available in your choice of stainless steel or what Case refers to as chrome vanadium (CV) which is a non-stainless steel.


Here are a few to consider:

33 pattern (small stockman) - 2 5/8” closed, square bolsters, pen blade in place of spey

18 pattern (medium stockman) - 3 5/8” closed, rounded bolsters, thin clip point blade - shown in blue G-10

032 pattern (medium stockman) - 3 5/8” closed, square bolsters, pen blade in place of spey

44 pattern (medium stockman) - 3 1/4” closed, square bolsters, pen blade in place of spey

47 pattern (stockman) - 3 7/8” closed, rounded bolsters- shown below in stag

087 pattern (medium stockman) - 3 3/8” closed, rounded bolsters, pen blade in place of spey

39 pattern (sowbelly) - 3 7/8” closed, rounded bolsters - shown below in black canvas laminate

75 pattern (large stockman) - 4 1/4” closed, square bolsters - shown below in orange G-10

In my opinion, the 47 pattern is the best of the group.  It feels great in hand.  It also gives up very little in terms of blade length to even the large stockman, while carrying much smaller in the pocket.

[Sos24]

GEC is also a good choice and easy to obtain

I would have to disagree with the easy to obtain.  Unless you want to pay huge mark ups on ebay, GEC can be pretty difficult to obtain.

[SteveC]

I would have to disagree with the easy to obtain.  Unless you want to pay huge mark ups on ebay, GEC can be pretty difficult to obtain.

I think dks had his tongue firmly in cheek 

[Farmer X]

I've never owned a GEC, because I haven't found one at a price I'm willing to pay. The Case 18 pattern is a good one. American-made Camillus and Schrades are also good, but you'll have to search the secondary market if you want one of them...

[dks]

I've never owned a GEC, because I haven't found one at a price I'm willing to pay. The Case 18 pattern is a good one. American-made Camillus and Schrades are also good, but you'll have to search the secondary market if you want one of them...

Not thread related, but there are still some keychain GECs at dealers for around $80 (expensive dealer, they were around $65 in others) and the Remington 2021 GEC model is still widely available for $169, if you want to scratch a GEC itch.

If, however, you are expecting to pay $50ish then you need to wait for a new Farm and Field release,

[cody6268]

In terms of modern production knives under $100, I'm going towards Case. I have a 6347 that's 70 years old and still going strong.

I'd also look at some older Sheffield stuff. I have a trio of Wostenolms I got for something like $20, and they beat out pretty much every other brand in my collection; including all Wostenholm production under the Egginton Group.

However, if you can find a US-made Camillus or Schrade, you'll probably be equally as happy. I don't know how much harder they are to find up north than here in the States, however.  I've seen Schrades with "Canada Works With Schrade" boxes; but I see about one of those for every couple hundred "America Works with Schrade" boxes.  Queens can be expensive.  Those marked "DFC"--AVOID!!!!! When Bill Howard (later founded GEC) ran the company, and even before that, Queen produced some nice stuff. The Daniels family made a mess out of the brand when they bought it from Servotronics/Ontario.    I have a 2015 Railsplitter that's rough, but a 4 3/8" Stockman they made for Moore Maker in 2001 that is exquisite.

[Aloha]

Not much to add other that the Stockman is a nice pattern.  Good luck with your search. 

[Fuzzbucket]

I think if you want American made then, as others have said, Case is a good option and genuinely easy to obtain (Deeks  ). That being said, I think their fit n finish can be a bit hit or miss and they can sometimes look a bit rushed... at least on the newer stuff... That's just my opinion and experience though, before people start bashing me.

However, if you were to go down the vintage rabbit hole route, then there's absolutely tons of options on auction sites including the Queen stuff you already mentioned... and, there's also the contract knives that Queen made for other manufacturers or made under aliases, like Robeson, Schatt and Morgan, Winchester etc... Winchester Stockmen for example frequently pop up at reasonable prices... and look exquisite. 

Edit to add: Winchester Black Box stuff not the newer smurfe.

[Fuzzbucket]

Can I just post this rather opulent pic of an S&M Stockman please?

[dks]

I think if you want American made then, as others have said, Case is a good option and genuinely easy to obtain (Deeks  ).

Just shout out loud that  you love deeks ...
no pressure fuzz 

[Fuzzbucket]

Just shout out loud that  you love deeks ...
no pressure fuzz

I was affectionately poking you.

[LoopCutter]

I have several Stockmans and have luv’d this pattern since I obtained a Camillus 66 from a pawn shop several years ago.

My EDC stockman is a Buck 301, recently replaced with a Buck 301, 2 blade w/Micarta scales.

The Buck 301 because of the 420HC steel, maintains an edge yet pretty easy to tidy up with a stropping. Same steel as my 112 and 110.

It mentioned about the back spring earlier.  Buck uses three back springs, one for each blade. Allows for very smooth and easy opening. 

Many other Stockmans use only two back springs with center blade mounted at a angle to fit, and the back springs can break if both blades are opened at same time.

Non issue with Bucks 301. Comparing to Victorinox is not practical since multiple implements share back springs. 

Comparing Buck to Case, Buck is a better value. Designed for work, for function. 
Case models provide many choices of scale and steel. CV for working knife.  Yet they are pretty, few are used as working knives.

Do not discount the working quality of Buck. 1:1 ratio for blade:back spring, forever warranty and 420HC BOS heat treat makes a great knife to be trusted daily.   

I collect, and I use what I collect, some more that others.


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