Review of the Case Marilla: Aluminum Framelock with 3.34" CPM-S35VN Blade
Published: 2 years ago
Yeah, I wanted to cover this. It won American knife of the year at blade show, and then released sometime in 2021. Distributors were intrigued by it, but I haven't seen a ton of personal reviews for it.
It's light. That's due to the aluminum frame... something I've yet to see from others. It feels nice and sturdy, but I still don't trust it as much as titanium or steel... not that you should submit your blades to crazy stresses anyway.
The blade. Out of the factory, this thing had a pretty gnarly blade as shown in the first impressions video. That's par for the course as I haven't seen many blades from Case that are crazy sharp out of the box (and keep in mind I stocked my shop with many of them).
It has a finish on the blade. Some sort of tumble finish. But they've also highly polished it after the fact. Something that Case does on a ton of knives, so it felt right, and helps with the action as well.
The G10 inlay is BRUTALLY coarse. It feels like a metal file. It helps with grip, especially with gloves, but stays out of the way... if you're right handed. If you swap the pocket clip to the left, your pockets will most likely be a frayed mess in a matter of weeks.
The pocket clip isn't inset into the scales, and uses some button top screws. To compensate for this, the deep carry bend is wildly taller than other companies. Since my hand doesn't interface with the bend itself, it's comfortable, but it can be greatly improved upon.
And, back to the blade, the geometry isn't really conducive for some EDC tasks. it's 3.8mm blade stock and saber grind doesn't give much time before the blade shoulder begins. As such, it's more like an axe. This isn't bad for cutting plastics, but anything your knife will be inside of, like cardboard, it ain't great.
Specs:
3.34" S35VN blade with 3.8 mm stock thickness
3.51 oz / 99.5 gram weight
0.52" (13.2mm) handle thickness (Aluminum & G10)
Frame Lock
Ceramic bearings & detent ball
It's light. That's due to the aluminum frame... something I've yet to see from others. It feels nice and sturdy, but I still don't trust it as much as titanium or steel... not that you should submit your blades to crazy stresses anyway.
The blade. Out of the factory, this thing had a pretty gnarly blade as shown in the first impressions video. That's par for the course as I haven't seen many blades from Case that are crazy sharp out of the box (and keep in mind I stocked my shop with many of them).
It has a finish on the blade. Some sort of tumble finish. But they've also highly polished it after the fact. Something that Case does on a ton of knives, so it felt right, and helps with the action as well.
The G10 inlay is BRUTALLY coarse. It feels like a metal file. It helps with grip, especially with gloves, but stays out of the way... if you're right handed. If you swap the pocket clip to the left, your pockets will most likely be a frayed mess in a matter of weeks.
The pocket clip isn't inset into the scales, and uses some button top screws. To compensate for this, the deep carry bend is wildly taller than other companies. Since my hand doesn't interface with the bend itself, it's comfortable, but it can be greatly improved upon.
And, back to the blade, the geometry isn't really conducive for some EDC tasks. it's 3.8mm blade stock and saber grind doesn't give much time before the blade shoulder begins. As such, it's more like an axe. This isn't bad for cutting plastics, but anything your knife will be inside of, like cardboard, it ain't great.
Specs:
3.34" S35VN blade with 3.8 mm stock thickness
3.51 oz / 99.5 gram weight
0.52" (13.2mm) handle thickness (Aluminum & G10)
Frame Lock
Ceramic bearings & detent ball