THE ORIGINAL MULTI TOOL

WHAT’S IN YOUR POCKET?

So for this review I have gone a little old school and traveled back in time. I went back to a place and time in my past when times were simpler, we ate bologna sandwiches because we had to, where fried potatoes were considered a food group, you drank out of a water hose when you were thirsty, and most of all you had that one special knife that could do it all. My grandfather had one, my dad had one, all my uncles had one, and I had one too. What am I talking about? The good Ole’ Case Trapper.

The Case Trapper 65090 Jigged Buffalo Horn S35V, this is not the same trapper I carried as a kid, but it is an updated version of it. It has a great textured Buffalo Horn material that is gripping enough to hang onto when your hands are wet and covered in whatever animal you are processing. Yet it is stylish enough to ride in the front pocket of your slacks, overalls, bibs, or in a Case leather sheath. The blade steel is a version of stainless S35VN which is about 20% stronger than S30, has better corrosion resistance than 440 stainless, has better edge retention and chipping than D2. If you click on the link you can geek out on all the properties that are in the steel. All I know is that it came from the factory with a stone washed finish and was razor sharp. I was really surprised at how sharp it was. I usually hit all my new blades lightly on a fine stone to see the grind marks from the factory. This one had some but they were really close together and not that deep.

I got this knife during trapping season because I was wanting to go back to the old ways of skinning and trapping animals around the farm. I was using an older Case Trapper I had, but it was one of the smaller ones, and I wanted one a little larger to use while wearing gloves.

This particular Case Trapper came with two blades, a Clip point and a Spey blade. The clip point 3.25” is for your everyday tasks like piercing, cutting and gives better control when cutting shaped patterns. The Spey point 3.27” blade is well better known in the country, on ranches and farms as a castration blade. The blade is mainly round on top with just a little point at the crown of it. A lot of hunters and trappers love this blade because you can skin an animal, field dress one without hitting the stomach or vital organs. The blade also helps not to pierce the skin when skinning an animal. The overall length is 4.13” closed. The knife weighs in at 4 ounces and one thing to remember is that these knives are slip joint non locking blades. You really need to be careful when using one and be aware of the pressure applied to the blade when cutting.

I used this knife to skin about 6 raccoons and 2 deer this year. I couldn't tell you how many bales of hay I cut open with it and the numerous packages. After cleaning the knife and putting it back in my pocket or sheath I used it for other tasks like cutting potatoes, processing cuts of game meat and general tasks. The blades have only been sharpened a few times and then they were just touched up with a fine diamond stone and then a strop. The knife has not failed me at all. I really feel that if you like classic knives, maybe ones that bring back some memories, or something that you can pass down to a child, or one that is a general do all, non tactical, original multi tool knife, than this is the one for you.

The price of this particular knife is a little high, coming in at $149.99 on the Case website. I did find this knife a little cheaper at Knife Works for $125.99. Yes I bought this knife with my own money because I know it is an investment and I can pass it down to my son or to one of my grandsons when the time is right. Case does have countless variations of trappers from $40 and up and in different blade materials, collections, from Ford, Harley Davidson, John Deere to Boy Scouts of America. So if this price is too high they will have something in your budget line. The best part is they are made in America.