All About Pocket Knives

For all the years I have been collecting knives (formally since 2005) I have shopped for Case Knives at the Surf & Turf, a small gasoline engine repair shop in Selma NC. The owner loved Case Knives and was a platinum dealer; he had a small knife showroom off of the bigger chainsaw/weed whacker/hedge trimmer showroom. I stopped by yesterday on a rare trip to Raleigh, hadn't been by in 9 months, the knife showroom was gone - he shut it down. I was all set to buy a couple with the 2020 tang stamp - what a bummer! I bought my first modern Case Knife there in 2005 after losing my Schrade USA 108OT on a jobsite and subsequently discovering they had moved offshore. My search for a USA made replacement led me to the Surf & Turf - going to miss the knives and the older lady who ran that department - she was nice and she was patient, letting me snap all I wanted until I made my selections. OH

That is a bummer! I feel your pain.
However, if you come a little to the west, along the I-77 corridor north of I-40, there are two great case dealers about 15 miles apart. One is off exit 65 in Union Grove and the other is off exit 82 I believe in Elkin. As a bonus, they both sell guns as well!

Sorry for your loss of an old friendly place! It always stings.

I know the feeling..early this year we lost a local mom and pop hardware store that had been in business for almost a hundred years and they were a Case dealer for a few generations.. I didn't buy many knives from him but he was always there to BS with about knives and antiques ..he took me to his house one time and showed me his collection of dealer displays and special editions that Case sent them over the years... Some really nice stuff.. he told me a story about when they ordered Case John Deere special edition Christmas knives I think he said (I think they came with a toy tractor?).. they meant to order 10 --for some reason he said Case sent them 100 and he sent most of them back... He said he still kicks himself in the butt for not keeping all them to sell/gift/keep...

Similar experience here. A local mom and pop hardware had been in business 40 or 50 years. They had a small Case dealership, one of those two-tiered display stacks. The owners sold the business and retired. The new owners changed it to an Ace Hardware store. In the process they remodeled the store, and dropped the Case dealership along with many other brands. Aside from box cutters the only knives there now are a couple different sizes of cheap blister-packed made-in-China flippers. Maybe two different styles/sizes, but you can pick from about 6 different colors.

Unfortunately I expect to see more of this, not less.

Ken

That really stinks OH! Sorry to hear this.

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 3:50 pm Similar experience here. A local mom and pop hardware had been in business 40 or 50 years. They had a small Case dealership, one of those two-tiered display stacks. The owners sold the business and retired. The new owners changed it to an Ace Hardware store. In the process they remodeled the store, and dropped the Case dealership along with many other brands. Aside from box cutters the only knives there now are a couple different sizes of cheap blister-packed made-in-China flippers. Maybe two different styles/sizes, but you can pick from about 6 different colors.

Unfortunately I expect to see more of this, not less.

Ken

You're right, Ken.. I always tried to buy from them first.. about the only thing they didn't carry was lumber/drywall etc... On the upside-- he's renting the building to an antique dealer that turned it into a mini antique mall... The guy has been doing very well since he opened...I've sold him a few things and bought a few knives off of him... my uncle has bought a few knives off of him as well...

Younger folk seem to mostly prefer Chinese made cheap tactical knives--I was looking at the BSA's own knife selection at Scout Stuff last night; and that was most of the BSA branded knives; in addition to the Chinese made clones of the BSA patterns--they only had a couple Buck BSA knives and two Council axes as USA-made edged tools. I have several Benchmade and Spyderco; at 24 but mostly prefer traditional knives. Workmen prefer folding utilty knives/box cutters. I don't get them. Yeah, you can change the blade, but you get less blade than on a 2 1/2" keychain knife in the handle the size of a folding hunter.

Case is my second-favoritefavorite American-made knife company next to Buck. Buck is great, but they don't offer enough traditional models; since they're still "retooling" the 30X series, leaving the 301 and 303 (and the Whittler from Bass Pro). Getting a Buck in carbon steel is nigh impossible, unless it's Copper & Clad or Custom Shop. Bear quality sucks; so I've put them on my "AVOID" list. Utica knives are really hard to find; except for Klein; and quality on those is bad--even compared to comparable Camillus model; say a Klein 1550-2 vs. Camillus #27 for example; both near identical patterns; and originally the same price. Moore Maker isn't too easy to find outside Texas; and well Bear makes some of the lineup. Gerber makes "mall ninja" knives and multitools; Leatherman is all tools. GEC, Spyderco, and Benchmade fall way outside of the "bit of extra cash" category for me. Typically buying a specific model takes time to allow funds to build up.

The only reason I still order from Amazon is that I forgot to cancel Prime when it auto-renewed. They are the scourge of small business; if you ask me. I don't like the company; I don't like their CEO. I wrote SMKW off long ago; prefering most of my knives come from smaller places. I recently wrote Walmart and Lowe's off. I can find better quality stuff and at better prices at State Electric (regional electrical supply warehouse) and Citizens' Building Supply ( independent small Ace affiliate that sells building supplies and hardware). USA-made tools as well--both mostly sell Klein.

Tractor Supply stores usually have a smallish Case selection (as well as some Bear, Buck, Gerber). I just bought a Sodbuster. Jr. today.

Farm Bureau; a small chain with 5-6 stores here in my area (and headquartered in the next town over) used to be real big on Case (silver level dealer) and sold them at the two locations we have locally. Now, they only sell Frost (in some stores) and Chinese Schrades. Their tools have gotten awfully Chineese too.

We still have a small cutlery dealer; New Graham Knives, that was basically an expansion into a new store from New Graham Pharmacy's small knife selection.

Sorry to see another Mom and Pop store going.
I had worked part time for 3 Mom & Pop stores for many
years over time. Cannot beat it. The owners cared about their
employees.


Bob

Unfortunately this is the way of the modern world, sad, but that is the way it is. It is sad that we now have a generation of kids that will never know or have the fun and pleasure of going into a mom and pop store. The smell that those old hardware stores had is something that will remain with me for the rest of my life. And being given advise on a personal scale from someone who knew what they were talking about is now very hard to find. Take care all and have a good and safe weekend.

How close are you to 67 Hardware in Jonesville, NC? I stopped by this place en route from my sister's house in Kernersville and bought a few Case knives, they threw in a t-shirt, which I still happen to have.

67 Hardware looks interesting - I can get there in 4 hours and 27 minutes if I don't stop or get held up in traffic on the Interstate or passing through one of the cities enroute. Maybe if I'm heading that way one year I will stop in and look it over. There are other places with a few Case displays but I've never been in any store within five hours that had anything like what the Surf & Turf had. I don't need anymore knives, but I will miss them - nice folks. OH

They have/had a lot of new Case knives, but just keep in mind it is a hardware store. It would be like Home Depot with a knife section.

67 hardware is one of the two I mentioned early in this thread. I said it was in Elkin but apparently it’s in Jonesville which is right next door to Elkin. It’s a great store but about 15 miles south is Union Grove general store which is my favorite of the two. As stated before, they both have some firearms and other interesting stuff. The Union Grove store is only about 15 minutes from me. Call me if you want to go, I’ll meet you there.

There used to be a big dealer in Amory, Mississippi.

Charlie