Like many, my bloodwood arrived last night. I was pretty excited about this run, as I've been craving some of Barry's bloodwood ever since he did that run of Beer Scouts back in 2015. Low and behold, this run even has the same shield as the Beer Scout run. Somebody feel free to post an epic pic of the two knives together!!!!! They would make an incredible set.
My thoughts on the knife:
- GEC did an exceptional job with both fit and finish. This is possibly as close to perfection as I've seen from GEC. The walk and talk is perfect for this size of knife. I'd guess the pull to be around a 6 or 6.5. No wobble. No spring gaps. Everything is flush. No blade rap.
- The bloodwood is absolutely gorgeous. This may be my new favorite wood. The grain has so much depth to it, and it constantly changes with small shifts in lighting. It could stare at it all day long. It's positively mesmerizing.
- This is my favorite shield, so woohoo!!!!!! Very similar to my WW2 engineer knife shield. So classic. Perfectly sized for this frame.
- I totally dig Barry's nifty pin, which was included in the tube.
- I love the clip/coping combination. One of my favorite combos.
- GEC still gets no forgiveness from me for forcing SFO's to have blade etches. I hate them. At this point, I have to be reasonably sure that I'll actually use a knife enough to cover up the etch, if I'm even going to consider a purchase. I guess that a vendor could spend a bunch of money to have a talented artist come up with a seriously good blade etch, but until small vendors like Barry can manage to afford such art, I'll continue to complain about the ugliness. This knife serves better. No slight to Barry though. I place full blame on GEC.
- As is normal for me, I wish the steel was stainless. I'm not so stuck in the past that I can't live without rust and pitting on my blades.
- The knife is an interesting size and weight. I have a feeling that the #86 is a tad too big and heavy for my ideal EDC, but it's not too bad. I think that 3 3/4" is my ideal frame size, and this isn't too far off the mark. I'm glad it's slightly larger, as opposed to slightly smaller. I could definitely see people being bothered by the weight. This knife is a bit of an anvil. I wonderful if we could have shaved off some weight by going barehead on this run.
- The grip is absurdly good, with both blades. Very secure. Some corners will need a bit of rounding though, as is common with GEC knives, to be truly comfortable in the hand.
- The cant of the blades is bang on. Enough slant to make cuts both comfortable and efficient, but not so much that you lose versatility. But GEC ordinarily does a fantastic job in this regard, so no surprises here.
- I'm not exactly thrilled with the shape of the clip blade. I honestly prefer a clip with a bit more tip, and a tad less upsweep. But hunters should like the shape very much.
- The secondary coping blade is just a bit longer than I normally prefer. I like my secondary blades to be short enough for detail work, and this blade's length falls slightly out of that range. But I'm being picky. It's a good blade. As far as shape goes, GEC nailed it.
- Both of my blades are ground wonderfully thin. They measure in around .017 to .019" behind the edge. GEC usually does a good job with their grinds. In this case, they did exceedingly well.
So there it is. My bloodwood #86 is a tremendous knife. From a functional perspective, this is pretty close to ideal for the outdoorsman. The size is right. The blades are right. The grinds are right. I'd personally go stainless for outdoor work, but opinion varies.
For an average EDC, this knife is maybe not so perfect. It's a tad large and heavy. The clip blade could be shaped differently for everyday work, and the coping could be a hair shorter. But still it's pretty good, if you don't mind the weight.
For the collector........ The wood is so nice. The shield is perfection. The fit and finish is outstanding. But the etch just ruins it for me. GEC needs to start marketing an etch remover for their own products.
Well done, Barry. THIS IS GREAT SFO. Other than the etch that was forced upon you, this is one of the finest SFO's to come from GEC.
Pàdruig !
