I got the Moore Maker Stockman #3301 in the mail today. So far I'm fairly impressed. The knife has a nice solid feel without being chunky, the mechanisms work well, meaning, the hinges are smooth and tight, but not so tight that you worry about losing your fingernail when openning it. It came with a fair factory edge, sharp but not up to my standards. So, out came the stone and oil. The edges are not where I want them to be yet, but from the way the steel is working up I believe this knife will hold a great edge.
A few day ago I dropped by a knife store and handled every stockman they had, two caught my eye:
Case XX - These knives were close to what I wanted but the blades were rather thin, NOT carbon steel, and the stocks were thin. The edge was rolled over right from the factory, not a good sign. Over all the knife did not feel like it would hold up as a worknig knife.
Buck - These were solid and felt nice in the hand, but to be honest, I've had a few Bucks, they were stolen out of my open top Jeep. I do not fully trust Buck steel, the out of the two knives that were stolen, one was great, a nearly perfect combination of hardness and the ability to sharpen. I was so impressed I got another as a back up. This knife was a piece of over hard junk.
The other knives I looked at were true customs. Priced to the point of being absolutely stupid. They even had a damascus Schrade that was priced at over $600. Like I said, "stupid money".
Out of all the knives I looked at I'd still walk away with the Moore Maker as my choice. If your in the market for a good solid real everyday mans knife give Moore Maker a hard look
...@... Mooermaker.com
A side note : For those that see commercialism at every turn. Predator Masters has absolutely no connection to Moore Maker Knives and neither do I. This was a true evaluation from my point of view.