All About Pocket Knives

I am working on my local hardware store to pick up Rough Riders since they don't have a under 20 bucks line in Traditional folders.

I have several of them. I like mine . I can get a razor sharp edge on all of them. No problems cutting heavy cardboard or whittling a hard piece of wood. I could not afford the different patterns from a company in the USA. There are a lot of things that are made in foreign countries. My friend gave me a nice Buck liner lock made in China. It has good blade steel and gets sharp and stays sharp just like the RR knives do. I also have USA made Buck , Case, Utica, etc. knives and like them just as well. However, I'd die if I lost one of the USA made knives. The loss of the RR knife would bug me but not so much as the loss of the USA knives. For the price and the quality, hard to beat 'em.

deltaboy wrote:I am working on my local hardware store to pick up Rough Riders since they don't have a under 20 bucks line in Traditional folders.

That's either a really great, or really bad idea....lol, eh, there's worse things I can throw extra green paper at!

I bought my first Rough Rider about 8 years ago because i could not believe that any knife no matter how 'junky' could be sold for under $10, delivered ! I bought one just to see how bad, bad could be. Well the knife i received was lovely, smooth action, rock solid in the open position, hair popping sharp, etc.
My logical brain still believing in itself thought i must just have gotten super lucky because it was not possible to make such a knife and box it up and ship from China for $10 or even less, even if the workers were never paid. So i bought 2 more, and of course, same thing, 2 great knives, zero 'issues'.
So then i really bought a bunch and slowed down at around 200 Rough Riders. I still buy more because RR 8 years later continues to bring out 'new' patterns(many of them old & Traditional) that interest me.
A few years ago i fully field dressed a Whitetail using an RR Jumbo Trapper. It was the slickest knife i have ever used and made for a fast and easy job and still shaved arm hairs when finished. I have field dressed about 50 deer and used maybe 15 different knives, including Customs costing over $500, and this Rough Rider Jumbo Trapper was sharper than any of them and did not dull even with cutting through the hair to amputate the forelegs. I never expected anything like this performance which again defies all logic.
What i find interesting is that i get as much enjoyment out of examining and handling my Rough Riders as i do with my collections of expensive knives, including Customs costing 50-75 times as much. i.e., with knives, increasing cost is not directly connected to increasing enjoyment.
I like Rough Rider Traditional style folders.
kj

Man, these knives are crazy.....GOOD!
I reviewed one a couple years ago after cutting 12" x 10ft strips of carpeting so it could fit into the garbage can and I was like

I gave it to my brother in-law.....he still carries it today.

I just so happen to have a couple and I think I'll add them to my EDC rotation!

I bought two RR rigging knives. I used them when I was building powerlines. I used the marlin spike to finish putting preforms on guide wire. The locks on both failed in less than a week. The reason I bought two was because I thought the first might have been a dud. The back spring on the marlin spike side failed on both knives. The cutting blade was fine. Tried two smith and wesson china made hawkbills with marlin spikes they failed also. The old Kabar rigging knife worked great, still does.

Monte

montemojo wrote:I bought two RR rigging knives. I used them when I was building powerlines. I used the marlin spike to finish putting preforms on guide wire. The locks on both failed in less than a week. The reason I bought two was because I thought the first might have been a dud. The back spring on the marlin spike side failed on both knives. The cutting blade was fine. Tried two smith and wesson china made hawkbills with marlin spikes they failed also. The old Kabar rigging knife worked great, still does.

Monte

Thanks for the report, Monte. I guess the RRs with marline spikes may not be too good, based on your experience. Did the job you were using them on put a lot of stress on the spike spring?

TripleF wrote: I just so happen to have a couple and I think I'll add them to my EDC rotation!

Good looking knives, there, Scott!

Here is a little RR that I keep in my tackle box. Mainly it is there in case I forget my normal fish knife. It has been used some, and exposed to saltwater many times over period of a year. Note that the blades do have a bit of rust. I have not cleaned it other than rinsing it in saltwater so I guess the rust is reasonable.

Hi Dan, yes building powerlines is very hard on tools and workers. There were all kinds of uses for a marlin spike, such as separating choker cables, making up preforms on guide wire and so on. The only promlem was the marlin spike. The blade was fine worked well skinning underground wire. I dont do linework anymore that's a young mans job. I think the lock release may have pulled the spring past its limitations. The Kabar did fine. I never tried a camillus or a schrade. I've heard that schrade had a problem with their marlin spike lock years ago. Well I guess I would have to try one to know for sure

Thanks Monte

Love all my RR Knifes so far. Great buy for the money.

Got a Barlow on the way.

I bought my first Rough Riders in 2007. Most were under $10 shipped at that time. I bought the first one because i could not believe any knife no matter how bad could be made shipped marketed sold & delivered for $10. I was amazed by the very good knife i received and thought it was a fluke. I bought a few more (always on ebay) and same thing: very good knives and what i liked best: very sharp edges, unlike the Queen & Case knives i had been buying. So i posted in BF about RR knives being very good even though it did not seem possible for the extremely low price. I was told to shut up about Chinese Crap by many members and a moderator. So i did not post anymore RR's for about 4-5 years but i kept buying them and now i have about 250 (?). Not even one has blade play and every one has shaving sharp blades.
What i find interesting is that i get as much enjoyment and feeling of satisfaction from getting a new RR as i do from receiving a new GEC, or Northwoods, etc., knives that cost more than ten times as much.
I have given quite a few RR's as surprise gifts to unsuspecting people and they are so pleased. Often it is the first truly sharp blade they have ever used and this sharp cutting bonds them to the knife & it becomes 'special'.
Whomever the owners are of Rough Rider knives, they have done a great deal towards the appreciation of Traditional style pocket knives.
kj

I've been under the impression that the owners of the Rough Rider brand is Smokey Mountain Knife Works. Am I wrong?

kootenay joe wrote: What i find interesting is that i get as much enjoyment and feeling of satisfaction from getting a new RR as i do from receiving a new GEC, or Northwoods, etc., knives that cost more than ten times as much.kj

There is a special satisfaction to unwrapping a new knife, be it ever so cheap! When I get a $100 knife it is a special treat to be savored and displayed. When I get a $15 knife it is a special treat to be shoved in my pocket and used. One thing I can say is that I have never regretted getting a new Rough Rider.

jerryd6818 wrote:I've been under the impression that the owners of the Rough Rider brand is Smokey Mountain Knife Works. Am I wrong?

Good question Jerry! But then the question is: who owns Smokey Mountain Knife Works?

Recently got a Rough Rider trapper so I could see what the discussion is about. Also have a canoe on the way. So I find this a perfectly useable knife. I was drawn to this as my first RR because Kentucky is on the orange and black shield along with Coal Miner. Don't know what the symbol of the owl is doing there. It seems unlikely to be the state bird. Blades are nice and tight; and sharp. The fit of bolster and scales is unrefined. A solid value; should provide years of effective use.

That looks like an "Owl Head" shield. See Owd Wullie's post (with picture) here --- viewtopic.php?t=13256

Thanks for the info Jerry. I gather the owl usage is a carry over from German predecessors. Well, imitation is the sincerest form.....etc.etc.

Quick Steel wrote:Recently got a Rough Rider trapper so I could see what the discussion is about. Also have a canoe on the way. So I find this a perfectly useable knife. I was drawn to this as my first RR because Kentucky is on the orange and black shield along with Coal Miner. Don't know what the symbol of the owl is doing there. It seems unlikely to be the state bird. Blades are nice and tight; and sharp. The fit of bolster and scales is unrefined. A solid value; should provide years of effective use.

Quick Steel - what makes you think that the Owl Head is a Rough Rider? Does it have RR stamp on the blade? I have an Owl Head knife which is very similar to my Rough Riders and may well have come from the same factory, but it does not have RR anywhere on the knife. By the way, I got this knife because of the Friends of Coal on the handle. The company where I work does a lot of work for coal handling facilities.

Dinadan: A well intentioned but evidently misinformed person informed me that the Owl Head brand was a RR under a different name. In a few day I should have a true RR to examine.

Owl Head were German made knives for a few years and then became a China made brand. I used to have quite a few of both, German & Chinese made ones. They are decent but i think Rough Riders are a consistently better knife.
kj

Weren't the old Iver Johnson pistols called "Owl Heads"? Did they also produce knives back in the day? Just a thought .
Treefarmer

Got a Yellow RR BARLOW.

This little RR canliter (sp?) came in yesterday. The master blade opens smoothly enough but closing the blade takes some real effort.

Rough Riders might be the best deal out there for a working man.

Got another Barlow in Yellow .

Quote deltaboy: "Rough Riders might be the best deal out there for a working man"
I agree.
Despite the low price of Rough Riders, they are tuff and they arrive very sharp, edge hold much longer than you expect and are easy to re-sharpen. And the low price means when you loose it you can replace it with about 1/2 hr worth of wages.
kj