How Do You Read a Case Knife Pattern Number?

Short answer

Case reads its pattern number in three parts: the first character or characters name the handle material, the next number is the blade count, and the rest is the factory pattern. Case's own example, 6318, is a #18 factory pattern knife with a jigged bone handle and three blades, and a steel code such as SS may follow.

6318SS on a red jigged bone Medium Stockman

The listing for the Case Medium Stockman CA786 gives 6318SS, red jigged bone and three stainless blades. By Case's rule, the 6 is the handle code, the 3 is the blade count and the 18 is the factory pattern, and Case's Blade Materials page labels SS stainless steel.

Case uses the same 6318 as the example on its identification sheet, and its Handle Materials page states the handle rule: "The first character(s) in the pattern identifies the knife's handle material."

The handle code can run past one digit

Case's handle key mixes single digits, a two-digit 10, a 6.5 and letters:

1: solid hardwoods

2: smooth black synthetic or thermoplastic rubber

3: smooth yellow synthetic

4: smooth synthetic (various colors)

5: genuine stag

6: smooth or jigged bone (various colors), jigged synthetic (various colors) or jigged laminated hardwood

6.5: BoneStag

7 or P: wood or laminated hardwood

8: genuine mother-of-pearl, abalone or paua

9: imitation mother-of-pearl or Corelon

10: Micarta, G-10 or Kirinite

I: ivory, imitation ivory or mammoth ivory

EX: exotic materials

M: stainless steel or aluminum

BH: buffalo horn

So a 6 alone does not mean bone. The Case Peanut in Blue Pearl Kirinite (CA23446) is listed as 10220 SS: handle 10, two blades, factory pattern 20.

CV, SS, CS and DAM after the number

Case lists its pattern stamps with the steel code after the number, and its Blade Materials page labels four codes:

CV: chrome vanadium, which Case says "is not corrosion-resistant"

SS: stainless steel, which Case calls Tru-Sharp surgical steel, a Case trade name

CS: carbon steel, which Case says is its 1095

DAM: Damascus, which Case has made in both carbon and stainless

The yellow Case Stockman (CA035) is listed as 3318 CV: smooth yellow synthetic, three blades, factory pattern 18, chrome vanadium. The American Workman Medium Stockman (CA73931) is listed as 4318 CS, the same factory pattern in smooth synthetic and carbon steel.

What a Case number never tells you

A Case pattern number does not date the knife; dating by the tang stamp belongs to how Case tang stamp date codes work. Nor does the number carry a pattern name; Case's store files 6318 SS under Medium Stockman, and each design is described in the traditional pocket knife patterns.

Some Case stamps carry characters the handle key does not explain, such as the leading R in R5220 SS or the trailing W in 6107W SS. Case documents no meaning for them, so ask Case directly; the Case brand page covers the maker.

Frequently asked questions

Do a 3318 and a 6318 share a factory pattern?

Yes. By Case's rule both are three-blade knives on factory pattern 18; only the handle code differs, 3 being smooth yellow synthetic and 6 smooth or jigged bone, jigged synthetic or jigged laminated hardwood.

Does Case ever call the handle code the first number?

Yes. Case's pattern identification page and sheets use that wording, while its Handle Materials page says first character or characters, which fits a key containing 6.5, 10 and letters.

Does the pattern number say what the bolsters are made of?

No. Case's rule covers handle, blade count and factory pattern; bolster metal shows up in product descriptions, such as the CA786 listing's nickel silver bolsters.