Imported Slip joints

[Sean]

Here are a few Rough Rider knives I just received the other day.  Aside from being a bit factory dirty
they are amazing value as has been talked about before.  I used one doing some whittling the other
day and I had no issues with it whatsoever, it took a light stropping to bring the edge back on it.

[Sean]

...

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

They really are fantastic quality aren't they

[Neil]

Rough Riders are great.  Excellent value for money and make a very good example to point out when folks incorrectly maintain that all tools out of China are poor quality.

[Sean]

Thanks Mike, Neil. 
Yes they are amazing value.  There are a few others like Colt, Marbles, come to
mind that come out of China and are equally as well made for the dollars.  I can see myself purchasing
a few more of these and maybe some of the others.  I get a little tired of carrying around the usual
fare so am enjoying the style I carried around as a younger fella. 

[Gadget Guy]

My question is how long do they hold an edge? What kind of blade steel?  I must admit that they look like a very good deal.   

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

440A I think

[Gadget Guy]

440A I think

Not a great steel but fair for the $$$.   

[Sazabi]

440A I think

Not a great steel but fair for the $$$.   

Although not a supersteel by far, their heat treating is excellent.

[Sean]

Yes I think the guys are right, it's around 440 A, as is stamped "440".  I whittled a maple walking stick with
it Gadget and it was still plenty sharp when I was finished.  I have a leather strop with some compound on
it and less than 5 minutes on it and it came back shaving sharp.

[Gadget Guy]

Yes I think the guys are right, it's around 440 A, as is stamped "440".  I whittled a maple walking stick with
it Gadget and it was still plenty sharp when I was finished.  I have a leather strop with some compound on
it and less than 5 minutes on it and it came back shaving sharp.

Thanks for the info!     You really can't beat the price and I really don't mind sharpening anyway.   

[Sean]

Yeah I don't mind sharpening either.  I have a variety of steels on knives I guess the one I have to sharpen
the most often was the H1 on my Pacific.  I do have a Russell Barlow coming in the mail pretty soon, that
one being from Germany so I am looking forward to using it as well.

[sappyg]

nice looking.... i like that jigged bone barlow especially. i've never heard of these rough riders before. thanks for the pics.

re: import slippies, i have a remington stockman with china stamped on the blade. F & F is as good as most any production knife i have. i have no idea what the steel is but it sharpens and holds better to me than that case surgical stainless.

[Sean]

Hey Sappy,  

Yeah I hadn't either, just relatively recently.  Here is a great thread you can view from our buddy
2xTap who started it on KF.  It'll take you a bit of time to peruse through it though as it became
a very lengthy and interesting thread over there.  
Hope he doesn't mind me posting the link.  

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/850284/

[2xTap]

Sean,

Nice RR's, glad you like them. The Rough Riders are the absolute best bang for the buck Slipjoints out there. The steel in them is 440A, and as mentioned their heat treat of it is spot on. And no, I don't mind you posting a link to my thread over on KF at all. 

The Rough Rider line of knives is a Smoky Moutain Knifeworks in-house brand (actually a joint venture between SMKW's and Blue Ridge I do believe). They have actually been around for quite a while now. I got into them back when Chris Kirk was doing his knife show, he was selling them then. They were a good value back then and their QC has steadily improved over the years. While not all of them come perfect, they are alot more consistant now in their overall F&F and any flaws they do have is usually quite minor.

For mere pocket change this isn't bad at all.

The factory over in China that produces these RR's is also known for some others. They also build the previous runs of imported Marbles Global Series of slippies, the new licensed line of Colt branded slipjoints, and they also build the import line of slipjoints for Buck Knives.

2xTap

[nuphoria]

I agree, excellent value knives 

Thanks for the review and pics too

I have a couple of them myself and the Canoe is really great, well worth the asking price, even in the UK!

[jzmtl]

nice looking.... i like that jigged bone barlow especially. i've never heard of these rough riders before. thanks for the pics.

re: import slippies, i have a remington stockman with china stamped on the blade. F & F is as good as most any production knife i have. i have no idea what the steel is but it sharpens and holds better to me than that case surgical stainless.

Case is using 420 if I recall, so almost can't get anything that's worse.

[2xTap]

nice looking.... i like that jigged bone barlow especially. i've never heard of these rough riders before. thanks for the pics.

re: import slippies, i have a remington stockman with china stamped on the blade. F & F is as good as most any production knife i have. i have no idea what the steel is but it sharpens and holds better to me than that case surgical stainless.

Case is using 420 if I recall, so almost can't get anything that's worse.

Case's "Tru-Sharp" is 420HC......and yes you can get alot worse. I know, I've owned quite a few. I've owned some knives, particularly in my youth, that I would never use the words "edge" or "retention" in their description. Matter of fact I can recall a few right now that were bladed in some form of metal that would make Case's "Tru-Sharp" appear to be a super steel! 

2xTap

[sappyg]

thanks for the link sean.... i've been looking hard at queen, GEC, and CV cases. ATM the CV case is wining (love that swayback CV) but now i'll add the RR to the mix.

in order of interest for me

1. case CV
2. GEC (i like 1095 carbon personally)
3. queen (honestly not so crazy about D2 steel)
4. rough rider.... very intersting  

BTW.... love the new avatar 

[Sean]

Sappy,  Thanks for that.  Your looking at some very good cutlery out there.  

2xTap,  thanks for chiming in here with your knowledge of the companies and their
products. 

[Freudian Frog]

Yes I think the guys are right, it's around 440 A, as is stamped "440".  I whittled a maple walking stick with
it Gadget and it was still plenty sharp when I was finished.  I have a leather strop with some compound on
it and less than 5 minutes on it and it came back shaving sharp.

Thanks for the info!    You really can't beat the price and I really don't mind sharpening anyway.  

I... I feel betrayed! GG is headed for the darkside! Ye Gods be spurned! Quickly, GG, send me all of your made in the USA products so the Gods will no longer be confused by your allegiance!

EDIT: I have a few Rough Rider congress patterns that make it into my rotation every once in awhile.

[2xTap]

thanks for the link sean.... i've been looking hard at queen, GEC, and CV cases. ATM the CV case is wining (love that swayback CV) but now i'll add the RR to the mix.

in order of interest for me

1. case CV
2. GEC (i like 1095 carbon personally)
3. queen (honestly not so crazy about D2 steel)
4. rough rider.... very intersting 

BTW.... love the new avatar 

sappyg,

If you are liking Queen but not up for their D2 then look at their QCCC runs. A majority of the QCCC patterns are done in 1095 Carbon Steel. Also look at the MooreMaker line of slipjoints. Their higher end patterns are built by Queen and are bladed in 1095. I would also suggest looking at the earlier 1990's era Case Classics, a majority of the patterns here were built by Queen under contract and are all bladed in 1095, as were the same era's USA made Winchester slippies......Queen built and of 1095.

And another I would like to add as you seem to be a fan of 1095 is the new Utica Cutlery Co. line of slipjoints. The company is back and building slippies here in the USA again. They have a couple new lines out in their Catskill and Big Pine Series of slipjoints, all bladed in 1095. Take a look.... http://www.kutmaster.com/productline/uticacutlery/

Although I will say you can not go wrong at all picking up a Northfield or Tidioute from GEC. If you like 1095 these are superb slippies.

2xTap

[Sean]

I agree, excellent value knives  

Thanks for the review and pics too

I have a couple of them myself and the Canoe is really great, well worth the asking price, even in the UK!

Yeah I was checking out your local supplier.  Nice he has them!    The canoe pattern is one I'm looking
at pretty closely.

[sappyg]

well now every since sean posted this thread i think i have read about everything i could find on these RR knives. i'm completely amazed by what you get for the money. i'll be ordering one or three 

 

[Sean]

Sappy,
I think you'll be really quite happy with them.  There are some sellers on ebay with free shipping and
some that I'm sure have the whole line.  Post a pic or two when you get them. 

[sappyg]

you betcha.... i love pics.

[sappyg]

i got three RRs in yesterday evening. two of them were just to try an different pattern to see how i like it. i'll just post one at a time. i've always wanted to try a congress and i got a thing for tortois scales.





F&F is outstanding but you can see that one sides scales are proud.



i like the knife. it has reasonable snap and came razor sharp albeit a little toothy. aside from the 440a steel used one thing i noticed was that the blades are fairly thin. they have a good bit of flex to them and i don't think they could take much heavey use. b/c of this it is light weight and very comfortable in the pocket at 3 1/2". 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Now that is a striking set of scales

[Sean]

Looks good sappy!    What else did ya get?

[sappyg]

Looks good sappy!    What else did ya get?

a very sexy sawcut whitler.  
this is the best of the lot by far. the build is outrageous and F&F is as good as i have seen among whitlers. i think the whitler is one of the hardest slipjoints to get right.





have a look at the spring joint here. i've never seen better on a whitler.



i'm totally taken by the sawcut scales but not so much by the scalloped bolsters. plus, they seem to be slightly yellow of all things. the weight is right around that of the kissing crane whitler i posted elsewhere but it stomps the crane in build and finish. this one has put in some time doing what it was designed to do and i have no complaints. the blades are stiffer than the congress and TU quickly. i can see this one getting a lot of use.