in my opinion a really great knife, very good barrel, very good steel from a brilliant company made in USA. Very high quality and the price for the combination made in the USA, someone has to beat it. i use it for heavy work at my job, as a knife collector i have many knives, from benchmade, buck knives, gerber to böker to my we knives, but for me is from work to the apple for breakfast, i find the kinzua or also my marilla so great. Greetings from Germany, sorry for my not so good English.
Bought a case marilla for 129.00 at our local Co-op a few months ago. It has the same problem with the blade play that your knife has. The gimping on my knife’s flipper is nice and even, but polished to the point that it serves no purpose. Did the spine whack test thinking it would fail, but it held its lockup just fine. Surprised me. The blade play is annoying. Other than that it seems to be a great knife for the price.
I bought the red version of this knife about 2ish years ago. The lockup on my blade is SUPERB, I think he got a lemon, as mine doesn't budge, not one bit In ANY direction.in the 2 years I've owned the knife, I have retightened the pivot screw 1 whole time, today actually, I just randomly looked up reviews on this knife..it truly is a great blade, even the anodizing has held up incredibly well.
I picked one up out of curiosity as well at bass pro shop for 160.00. I’ve been very impressed with mine. Makes me wonder if the seller was trying to turn a quick profit on a bad knife. Especially for 115.00 bucks. That makes it seem like a sweet deal.
I have been interested in picking up a Marilla for a while especially because they have some new colorways coming out later this year I believe. The Flat Dark Earth colorway looks gorgeous if you havenet seen it yet. Even with the problems I hear about from these I really want to experience myself if only just to appreciate the color they chose for that Marilla
For that kind of money, I'd certainly expect a better knife than what you got. Sending this one back is definitely the right call, especially as hit-and-miss as Case's warranty and repair services can be. Sorry, Case, but I'll stick with a Buck 110/112 slim for those occasions that I need a one-hand opener. Thanks for showing this one!
Good review. It’s a bummer most of the reviews are pretty much all saying the same things. I have a Kinzua and it’s perfect. Must have been a rare batch.
Happy Friday Mark. Case should stick to what it does best, make superb quality traditional knives! I have 3 Case XX's , a medium sized Wharncliffe Copperlock , a medium sized Clip Point Copperlock & a mini-sized Clip Point Copperlock & I am considering buying a Tribal lock from Case when I find one on sale but I wont be buying a Flipper from them as I am well satisfied with my flippers made by Civivi, Kershaw, etc. Its a case ( pun unintended ) of sticking to what they do really well & not trying to compete in the already overcrowded Flipper knife market
That’s a bummer. I was interested when they came out with these modern knives. Hopefully they aren’t all that way. I really do want Case to succeed but it’s hard when you have QC issues. It doesn’t inspire faith in the buying public. Thanks for sharing that with us!
I honestly wonder if the one you got was some weird F'd up return that was resold by the person you bought it from. I have one in my hand right now that i got as a Christmas gift, and the only thing that matches up with yours is the bad finishing on the gimping. My screws are fine, the finish of the handle is significantly better than the one you have. I don't have ANY play whatsoever in the lockup, its rock solid. Not sure. I'm wondering if maybe they had some lax QC on their first few batches of these and maybe have tightened things up since the reviews came out, cus as others have said, you guys are all saying roughly the same thing (and providing evidence for it of course). Not sure, but i'm pleasantly surprised with mine and frankly knowing it was $115, i would pay that myself for it.
So how is your pocket clip? Still standing out painfully proud and those pocket clip screws...are they like mushrooms growing under the clip? And that detent...is it smooth as butter or still sticking?
I've had one for a while and it locks up fine. Why would you need to push the knife in the close direction with force? You cut with the blade in the opposite direction of the lock. I love this knife and carry it everyday.
I had the marlilla model I took it apart tapped the detent ball in more and bent the lock bar in more for a higher pressure lockup but from the extreme thick blade stock and terrible jimping I just sold it on Facebook give them time they will fix the issues hopefully. P.s. hey Mark , would you by chance have a wenger tradesman for sell I really miss my old one and I’m currently looking for one would love to buy one from you thanks - Justin
The blade steel was a good choice, but agreeably the Zippo leadership blew it with every aspect of the knife (and it’s sister) after that. Not hard to believe they followed up with the Canvas Series - another failure. OMG, just improve the steel on the traditionals.
You are so correct! Case should do what they do best and fix the problems with their traditional knives (ie. steel quality, uneven grinds, dull blade tips, and separating liners/scales).
I can understand Case’s hesitation to enter the “modern folder” market due to their history. On the flip side, their modern folder quality is now experiencing the same issues other companies solved 8-10 years ago when this type of knife was coming into vogue 🤷🏽♂️
Yes, but at a much higher price point than those Chinese knives of a decade or two ago. Even today's knives made in Asia are priced more reasonably and WITHOUT the quality control issues.
A red one, was really high on my wishlist. But not anymore after watching this. Package looks nice. But is worthless for me. I can't cut with it. 🤷🏼♀️
Case has been a letdown with their traditional knives for a while for me . I can’t bring myself to buy a modern knife by them when they are having such trouble with patterns they have made for over a century .. sad
How did you figure you haven’t used the knife, after the repeated fondling/flipping scored a detent ball track in the tang… Guess you also expected the seller to eat the shipping twice… 🙄
I actually did test it mildly, I put the knife in the clamp blade back-and-forth a little bit with a very light pressure in the Framelock still failed… I also did a spine whack on it, did that on a piece of cardboard on a table and it still failed. So yes, I did expect the seller to pay for shipping twice. That’s part of the deal. And some thing you buy doesn’t meet your expectations. You shouldn’t have to pay for the shipping back.
The quality of this knife reminds me of the stuff that was coming out of China about 15-20 years ago.
in my opinion a really great knife, very good barrel, very good steel from a brilliant company made in USA. Very high quality and the price for the combination made in the USA, someone has to beat it. i use it for heavy work at my job, as a knife collector i have many knives, from benchmade, buck knives, gerber to böker to my we knives, but for me is from work to the apple for breakfast, i find the kinzua or also my marilla so great. Greetings from Germany, sorry for my not so good English.
Bought a case marilla for 129.00 at our local Co-op a few months ago. It has the same problem with the blade play that your knife has.
The gimping on my knife’s flipper is nice and even, but polished to the point that it serves no purpose. Did the spine whack test thinking it would fail, but it held its lockup just fine. Surprised me. The blade play is annoying. Other than that it seems to be a great knife for the price.
Glad I saw this, I almost bought one.
Thanks Mark
You are so welcome
I bought the red version of this knife about 2ish years ago. The lockup on my blade is SUPERB, I think he got a lemon, as mine doesn't budge, not one bit In ANY direction.in the 2 years I've owned the knife, I have retightened the pivot screw 1 whole time, today actually, I just randomly looked up reviews on this knife..it truly is a great blade, even the anodizing has held up incredibly well.
I picked one up out of curiosity as well at bass pro shop for 160.00. I’ve been very impressed with mine. Makes me wonder if the seller was trying to turn a quick profit on a bad knife. Especially for 115.00 bucks. That makes it seem like a sweet deal.
I have been interested in picking up a Marilla for a while especially because they have some new colorways coming out later this year I believe. The Flat Dark Earth colorway looks gorgeous if you havenet seen it yet. Even with the problems I hear about from these I really want to experience myself if only just to appreciate the color they chose for that Marilla
For that kind of money, I'd certainly expect a better knife than what you got. Sending this one back is definitely the right call, especially as hit-and-miss as Case's warranty and repair services can be. Sorry, Case, but I'll stick with a Buck 110/112 slim for those occasions that I need a one-hand opener. Thanks for showing this one!
You are so welcome!
Good review. It’s a bummer most of the reviews are pretty much all saying the same things. I have a Kinzua and it’s perfect. Must have been a rare batch.
Happy Friday Mark. Case should stick to what it does best, make superb quality traditional knives! I have 3 Case XX's , a medium sized Wharncliffe Copperlock , a medium sized Clip Point Copperlock & a mini-sized Clip Point Copperlock & I am considering buying a Tribal lock from Case when I find one on sale but I wont be buying a Flipper from them as I am well satisfied with my flippers made by Civivi, Kershaw, etc. Its a case ( pun unintended ) of sticking to what they do really well & not trying to compete in the already overcrowded Flipper knife market
That’s a bummer. I was interested when they came out with these modern knives. Hopefully they aren’t all that way. I really do want Case to succeed but it’s hard when you have QC issues. It doesn’t inspire faith in the buying public. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Yes I was definitely bummed out! It’s sad to see. I really wanted to like this one
I honestly wonder if the one you got was some weird F'd up return that was resold by the person you bought it from. I have one in my hand right now that i got as a Christmas gift, and the only thing that matches up with yours is the bad finishing on the gimping. My screws are fine, the finish of the handle is significantly better than the one you have. I don't have ANY play whatsoever in the lockup, its rock solid.
Not sure. I'm wondering if maybe they had some lax QC on their first few batches of these and maybe have tightened things up since the reviews came out, cus as others have said, you guys are all saying roughly the same thing (and providing evidence for it of course).
Not sure, but i'm pleasantly surprised with mine and frankly knowing it was $115, i would pay that myself for it.
So how is your pocket clip? Still standing out painfully proud and those pocket clip screws...are they like mushrooms growing under the clip? And that detent...is it smooth as butter or still sticking?
I've had one for a while and it locks up fine. Why would you need to push the knife in the close direction with force? You cut with the blade in the opposite direction of the lock. I love this knife and carry it everyday.
I’m glad to hear you got a good one, but this one was absolute garbage. Would never buy it again and not give it a second chance.
That's a bummer cause growing up case was to dog on knifes if someone had a case knife, I thought they was serious about there tools
Great review
I had the marlilla model I took it apart tapped the detent ball in more and bent the lock bar in more for a higher pressure lockup but from the extreme thick blade stock and terrible jimping I just sold it on Facebook give them time they will fix the issues hopefully. P.s. hey Mark , would you by chance have a wenger tradesman for sell I really miss my old one and I’m currently looking for one would love to buy one from you thanks - Justin
My son has the Marilla and loves it so maybe he just got a good one and you got a bad one idk
The blade steel was a good choice, but agreeably the Zippo leadership blew it with every aspect of the knife (and it’s sister) after that. Not hard to believe they followed up with the Canvas Series - another failure. OMG, just improve the steel on the traditionals.
You are so correct!
Case should do what they do best and fix the problems with their traditional knives (ie. steel quality, uneven grinds, dull blade tips, and separating liners/scales).
What's worse is the function of the frame lock wasn't dependent on QC. Unless the aluminum was a bad batch.🤔
I can understand Case’s hesitation to enter the “modern folder” market due to their history. On the flip side, their modern folder quality is now experiencing the same issues other companies solved 8-10 years ago when this type of knife was coming into vogue 🤷🏽♂️
Yes, but at a much higher price point than those Chinese knives of a decade or two ago. Even today's knives made in Asia are priced more reasonably and WITHOUT the quality control issues.
A red one, was really high on my wishlist. But not anymore after watching this.
Package looks nice. But is worthless for me. I can't cut with it. 🤷🏼♀️
Case has been a letdown with their traditional knives for a while for me . I can’t bring myself to buy a modern knife by them when they are having such trouble with patterns they have made for over a century .. sad
How did you figure you haven’t used the knife, after the repeated fondling/flipping scored a detent ball track in the tang…
Guess you also expected the seller to eat the shipping twice… 🙄
I actually did test it mildly, I put the knife in the clamp blade back-and-forth a little bit with a very light pressure in the Framelock still failed… I also did a spine whack on it, did that on a piece of cardboard on a table and it still failed. So yes, I did expect the seller to pay for shipping twice. That’s part of the deal. And some thing you buy doesn’t meet your expectations. You shouldn’t have to pay for the shipping back.