The Case 11 pattern, more commonly known as the Cheetah, has been around in some form or another since the pre – 1920 W.R. Case & Sons, Bradford, PA days and are highly sought after by collectors. These knives measure 4 3/8″ closed, feature a swing guard and a lock for the single clip point blade.
The early 11 patterns did not have a swing guard, featured green bone handles, had long pulls on the blade and were referred to as an “English jack.” The Cheetah name was first used around 1970 when Case added a running cheetah etch to the blade on the 5111 1/2 stag version.
The characteristic swing guard was added to the Case Cheetah knife during the Tested XX era (1920 – 40) and remains on the knives to this day. Handle materials on knives proir to the 1980s feature genuine sambar stag (5111 1/2) and variations of bone (6111 1/2). There is also a rare variation where an extra “1” was mistakenly added to the pattern number (61111 1/2). These are sometimes found on the knives made from 1965-69 and an unknown amount left the factory. They are highly sought after by collectors.
Check out my vintage Case XX knives page.
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