A quick look at the Rough Rider Scout 533

dks · **on:** March 05, 2011, 12:25:13 PM

This is the first “scout” pattern knife I got, not counting similar Swiss army knives.
It is made by Rough Rider; model 533.
It was bought as “new”, but without any packaging.

The first think that strikes you is how thick and solid it looks and feels. The springs, blades, bail and scales appear reinforced, hinting that this knife can take some heavy use.
The knife looks old fashioned but in a very pleasant way, it does not look like a product made with modern machinery but rather like it was made by hand many years ago.

I believe, after doing a bit of searching on the forum, that, as mentioned by 2xtap, is similar to an older Case design.

The actual blade, similar in shape to the standard Swiss Army knife blade, is thicker than the blade of the Wenger soldier, which in itself is a reasonably thick, solid blade.

It is also shorter and wider, about 9.5cm long and 1.5cm wide.

The springs are a bit on the stiff side and it is possible to break a nail trying to open the, surprisingly long, screwdriver-bottle opener tool, mainly because its notch is quite close to the pivot.

The knife opens and closes as it should (after a bit of cleaning, something I find I have to do with all RR knives) but there is a bit of play on the screwdriver-bottle opener tool which, considering the torque that will be placed on its pivot when screwing, could prove to be a problem.

The awl, knife and screwdriver-bottle opener tool work as intended.
Note that one side of the awl is sharpened.
I assume the small secondary blade is for opening holes in cans, working with wood etc.?

There is, some, rubbing between the parts, something expected since the blades and tools fit quite close together (then tip of the main blade barely fits between the bottle opener and the awl), but I am sure that with a bit of effort this rubbing could have been avoided, by using some of the space between the bottle opener and the small secondary blade.

Sean · **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2011, 04:34:43 PM

Nice shots and thanks for your thoughts. I didn't even know Rough Rider had this
style of knife out. After reading this I'm excited to see how my RR Toothpick will
look like when it arrives.

dks · **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2011, 05:24:44 PM

I have a rifleman range RR toothpick and it is a real beauty, I hope you get a nice one too.

I hope its obvious from my pictures which knife is the scout. The knives look a bit mixed up. In the pictures, for comparison, apart from the wenger and the victorinox there is also an RR stockman.