Since I tend to drool a lot in actual knife stores, I do the majority of my blade shopping online. The Burnt Barnboard handles from Case caught my eye this week. The orangey/yellow colors and rough texture carved into calf bone look beautiful and rugged at the same time.

The Burnt Barnboard style is just that: a style. No smoked wood and no barns were harmed in the making of the handle material itself, but the effect is quite striking. True to the usual Case style, the material is fit to most of the popular pocket knife formats Case offers such as folding hunters, lock backs, Stockmans and toothpicks of varying sizes.

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Knives are pretty simple tools, but it amazes me how much variety you can get by changing just the slightest thing. Take the upcoming release of the Case Holstein Cow family of blades — bet you didn’t see that coming.

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Case Knives has released quite a few gems in the last few years, and one of our recent favorites is the uncluttered 2009 SlimLock, an elegant twist on an old workhorse.

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The SHOT Show is one of the world’s largest showcases of hunting and outdoor products and firearms — if not the largest. If you want to know what’s going to be on the shelves of gun and sporting goods shops in the coming year, you want to attend this show.  Especially exciting to me, Case Knives will be releasing their new lineup.

New Case patterns like the Humpback Stockman and the Case Desk Knife will be on display for everyone to paw at and take home with them, so it should be a good time.  This year’s SHOT Show happens January 15-18, 2009 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.  Check the site for details.

SHOT Show [Website]
Case [Website]

Case is celebrating the tenth anniversary of their XX Select brand by releasing a few limited-edition blades, with handles made of some of the most popular materials.  Each knife features a surgical steel blade with a series-signature tang stamp and a special “XX” shield on the handle.

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Where I grew up, people who didn’t carry knives weren’t real people; that’s just the way it is in some parts of the South.  So I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear country-music singers Brooks and Dunn talking about knives -– but I was.  I’m also totally jealous that Case helped them make their own knives at their factory in Connecticut.

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Case Knife collectors will gather in Pennsylvania this summer to gawk at rare knives and hang out with others who share a passion for collectible blades. The press release from Case promises fun.

“Attendees can look forward to many brand new, fun and exciting Case-themed activities planned throughout the weekend,” says Lisa Boser-Miller, Administrator of the Case Collectors Club, “like a Job Case look-a-like contest and a special dedication inside the Zippo/Case Museum on Friday morning.”

They’re holding the event July 18-19 in Bradford, PA. If you’re into going, hit the folks at Case up for more details.

Collector Appreciation Event In 2008 [WR Case]

We’ve talked about Case knives in the past, and now’s your chance to see a little bit of why we like them so much. How It’s Made is airing their tour of the Case knifeworks this Friday at 9pm on the Science Channel.

When it comes to tools we’ve come to depend on, we’re always stoked to see how they’re built and the thought process that makes them what they are.

How It’s Made [Science Channel]

Our friends over at W.R. Case took some time out of their schedule at the 30th annual SHOT show in Las Vegas to chat with us about the upcoming year and some of the new additions in the Case lineup.

Manning the front lines at Case’s SHOT show booth was John Sullivan who was stoked to tell us about case’s newest knife pattern, the Sway Back Jack. John tells us this is a completely new pattern designed in collaboration with Case and custom knife maker, Tony Bose — his fourth new blade pattern designed for the Case lineup.

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Our friends over at Case checked in with us today to let us know they put out a few cool Halloween-themed knives this season. The one pictured above is a Small Saddlehorn pattern with an orange bone handle. Instead of the standard Case shield, the knife features a “spooky Halloween scene” on the handle. Its skinner blade is partially-serrated and the knife ships in the pictured gift tin. Production of this model is limited to 350 units, which MSRP for $120. Sadly, Case says they’re likely already sold.

But if you’d still like some Halloween joy in your knife, you’re not completely out of luck. Case tells us they’re also producing a Mini-Trapper pattern in orange bone with similar engraving and a partially-serrated clip blade that’s cheaper — MSRP is $94 — and probably still available as it was produced in larger numbers.

If you’d like one, you’ll find ‘em at your local Case dealer.

With the Cheetah on its way to “the vault,” I found Case’s announcement of the Tony Bose-designed Swing Guard lock blade knife to be welcome news.  This limited-production blade looks a lot like the Cheetah, but adds a classic ”swell center” (read: the pointy bits in the middle). 

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Case recently announced their new vault program, an announcement that took me by surprise to say the least.  It appears to be true, though.  Here’s a portion of the press release that confirms it:

Coins, jewelry, stock certificates and your Case knife collection – all of these are items to be stored away for safekeeping. There are many valuable items at Case, but the most prized would be the knives we make. Or more accurately, the knife patterns we make – like the Case Trapper, Case Peanut or Case Seahorse Whittler. The Case patterns, and there are more than 140, are treasures not only for the factory, but they are prized by our collectors. That’s why the time is right for Case to build a vault – the Case XX Vault – where knife tooling will be stored for safekeeping.

That’s right, starting Jan 1, 2008 Case will toss the Doctor, Lockback, Tuxedo and Cheetah (my personal favorite) into “the vault.”  Sounds like a good thing, right?  Think again.  For those who don’t know what “vaulting” entails or how it’ll work, think Disney – as in “buy one for your kid now ’cause we’re not going to let you buy one for a few years.”

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Remember that guy whose tools you left out in the rain when you were five?  Yep, that’s Dad, and his special day is coming up quickly.  And just like last year, we’d like to recommend a good quality pocket knife as a perfect Father’s Day gift.  We’ve posted about a few already, but here’s another you might consider: the Case Small Congress Mammoth Ivory.  It’s unusual enough that he wouldn’t likely spring for one himself, yet it’s still a strong, usable knife.

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Our friends over at Case dropped us a line today to tells us that their damascus-bladed SlimLock picked up a Popular Mechanics “Editor’s Choice” award at this year’s National Hardware Show.  We’re not surprised: when we spent some quality time with their bone damascus Peanut earlier this year, we were impressed.  The Damascus is not only beautiful, it’s also excellent steel, holding an edge longer than you’d imagine.

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Have you ever wanted to feel like the Toolmonger version of James Bond, pulling out the perfect tool for the job — the job of cutting a lime at a cocktail party or opening the mail at the office?  If so, we’ve found the knife for you: Case’s bone damascus peanut.  It’s beautiful, it’s functional, it’s even a bit rare, and best of all: it’s affordable.

Read on past the jump for our hands-on experiences carrying the damascus peanut for a few weeks.

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Sean and I carry pocket knives every day.  Well, every day we’re not going to the airport, in which case we ship one in our checked luggage so we can have it on the other end.  Think of them as the ultimate man’s security blanket.  There’s just something comforting about having your good ‘ole pocket knife with you.  We use ‘em, too.   From slicing open the mail to cutting wire and digging stuff out of the shop vacuum filter, we use ‘em hard. 

So when Case suggested that we put aside our beloved daily-carrys and try out some of their new stock for a few weeks, we jumped at the chance.  Then it sank in.  Remember when Charlie Brown hid Linus’ blanket?  Yeah, that’s us.

Then the package arrived, and we opened it up to find two shiny-new W.R. Case Red CVs.  How do you get the attention of a couple of tool writers?  Send ‘em two knives with chrome vanadium blades and red bone covers.  Half our shop is red and/or CV.  Nice.  Instantly it was out with the old and in with the new.

Now after two weeks of daily use and abuse, we’ve got lots to say.  Read on to see how they fared.

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We’re sorry we didn’t get this info out to you earlier — for some reason it slipped by below our radar.  For years Case offered a number of their pocket folders with real India ”Stag” bone handles.  Then, in 2000, the government of India placed an embargo on all Stag shipments — effectively ending mass production of India “Stag” knives.

Case says that when India briefly lifted the embargo to release “pre-ban” Stag stockpiles, they managed to secure enough Stag to “allow for continuous production of Stag handled pocketknives for some time.”

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