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Case Wharncliffe Mini Trapper

Case Wharncliffe Mini Trapper

I purchased a Case Wharncliffe mini trapper through Shepherd Hills, Case’s largest distributor. The knife came with yellow Delrin handles and the Wharncliffe style blade was of stainless steel.

In my search for the perfect all purpose blade, I have come to the conclusion that the Wharncliffe blade is as near to perfection

as can be when performing all knife tasks. In truth, it does most tasks better than the blades that were designed specifically for each task! Read more about that in this post: Blade Style: Wharncliffe | One Folding Knife One Blade, Your Choice?

A little background is needed: I have been a Case knife owner and fan since I was about 5 years old! I know that sounds a little crazy to the modern mind, but it is true and was not all that uncommon in rural America 5 or 6 decades ago. Hey, when I was a kid you could order guns from Sears through the mail! Times have changed!

I have long been a serious fan of Case pocket knives, and have even owned a few Case fixed blade knives over the years. I could always count on a Case product to deliver the best in quality and service…but then things changed, and I will tell you more about that later!

In this case, I bought the knife through a large distributor (this particular style and type of knife is ONLY available through this distributor) and when I got it, it had a pretty wide separation between the liner and the spring, and between the bolster/liner and the handle scales. I contacted the distributor and we made satisfactory arrangements for an exchange.

This was a substantial improvement over the treatment I had a few months prior to this, which I will explain in a different article in due time. Let me say this, though: If you want to buy a Case knife I suggest buying through a dealer like Shepherd Hills, where problems can be corrected before you reach corporate level!

Shepherd Hills did replace the knife, and the one they sent in return was in perfect condition.

Upon opening the new Case Wharncliffe Mini Trapper, I found a good amount of resistance, proper for the knife, and no gritty travel, a 50% stop, and a nicely honed blade that opened with appropriate ease.

I found the slim little knife fit easily into my pocket, and the blade was easy to pinch to open. The blade was also perfect in length and width for normal use and was easy to use for carving as well.

I have long been a fan of Delrin handles and find that they do not break easily, and are easily found if dropped in forest environments, and the price was quite reasonable.

The knife was shaving sharp when I got it, and the stainless steel dulled when doing some pretty heavy work, but in spite of all the bad press against Case stainless steel, a skilled sharpener with a good stone can bring it back to surgical sharpness in just a little more time than it takes to get a good edge with the standard chrome vanadium blade, and with a lot less corrosion!

I am very pleased with the Case Wharncliffe Mini Trapper, and if I could only have one pocket knife with one blade, it would be a serious contender for that spot!

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