Rough Rider Bluegill Barlow Jigged Bone Folding Knife RR2632

Shields don't belong on a Barlow

I bought this knife purely for the gorgeous bone handle. The quality of the build of this knife is fantastic. For most people, the only fault for this knife will be the blade centering on the main clip blade. The blade rests dangerously close to the shield side of the handle. It doesn’t rub, but it is far from down the middle. The smaller pen blade is much closer to dead-center in the channel. So besides the off-center main blade, the fit is near perfect. No gaps, well pinned handles with flush pins, and just about perfect transitions from Bone to bolsters. And the walk and talk is excellent.

The knife features the half stops and blade swedges that have become common place on most Rough Rider slip-joints. The blue green jigged “bone stag” covers are absolutely stunning, and the “Double R” shield is well seated.

Now at this point, most people are assuming that I gave the knife four stars for the slightly off centered blade and for many knife collectors that would be enough to rate the knife at one star. But after a lifetime of using and collecting slip joints, slightly off centered blades on a Barlow are not a big deal for me. As long as the blades are not crossing or hitting, I’m okay with it.

My beef with this Barlow is primarily with the shield. I have never been fond of shields on a Barlow knife. I do not find them aesthetically pleasing. To me, the RR Badge shield should’ve been replaced with a deep etch in the nickel-silver bolster.

I also have never really liked the rounded bolster on the Rough Rider Barlows. I find the squared of bolster more pleasing to the eye.

I am also not fond of the blade arrangements. Rough Rider used to have the pen blade in front of the clip blade which allowed for both blades to be opened from the front side of the knife. Due to complaints, they flipped the blades and now you need to turn the knife over to reach the pen blade. I personally feel that the change was unnecessary, but I can live with this change considering the number of people who apparently were having issues with the nail-nick.

Still, I knew what I was getting with the knife, including the rounded bolster, the shield and the blade arrangement. And while one of them at least has some merit (ability to more easily open the blades) the other two features make the knife less aesthetically pleasing in my book. And that is why I knocked off a star.

Toibas