GEC 25s - Gots 'em?

[pertinux]

Okay, somehow I missed these chunky little beauties until recently.

Who has them, and better yet, who has pictures of them? The Jacks and Barlow Jacks look most interesting to me, but the single-bladers look really good, too (Sitflyer, I'm looking at you).

I'd love to see what you have, and hear what you think.

Are they nailbreakers like many of the 26s are purported to be?

I wonder.

~ P.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now, lo these increasing years later, I'm adding the etymology of WLST® to this first post, for easy reference:

...what does WLST stand for? Seen it used a couple of times in this thread and can't figure it out.

Weird Little Stubby Thing

All royalties go to Pertinux who has the registered trademark.

Yes! It all started in Charlie Campagna's estimable thread, What Makes a Good, Traditional Barlow?, in which he presented scans of his traditional barlows of yore and then slowly but surely unveiled the on-going development of what would become the #15 TC Barlows.


When it was clear that new, 3.5" barlows were indeed the pipeline, puukkoman did say, and I quote:

I'm really looking forward to these, too. It's exciting to see GEC produce a REAL barlow, instead of that weird little stubby thing they've been making.

And off we went! So, Alex/puukkoman gets original credit, but as pmew notes, I jumped on the trademark right away. To whit:

Of these Weird Little Stubby Things®, I'm going with the one in the middle.

Added 11.5.2016​

 

[Railsplitter]

I don't have any 25's left, ~P. I either sold, traded, or gave them all away.

I do remember them having rather stiff springs though. It doesn't matter much on the Easy-Opens however. They are of course, easy to open despite the stiff springs.

None of the 25's I had were so stiff that I couldn't get them open but the pen blade on a 25 Barlow I had wasn't far from it.

I would estimate that they run about an 8 on the pull scale in general.

 

[HuntBomb]

No pics, but I have a single spear blade EO 25 in stag and another 2 bladed (clip + pen) 25 in stag. Both GEC
Stout little boogers with about a 6 pull on the 2 blade and a 5 pull on the EO.
Small enough to carry anywhere and people friendly too.

 

[Flying Guillotine]

Here's mine. The pen blade is freakin murder to open, but otherwise it's a damn sweet little folder. I like the art deco styling on this particular model, and the scales really glow in the sunlight.

 

[sitflyer]

Hey ~P...whatcha lookin' at me fo'...
I recieved this little Beauty from Mr Railsplitter in a most agreeable trade:thumbup:
I stated in the" what trad are ya totin' " thread that I was gonna carry it every day for a month...well, I did that, or close to it and must say...I LOVE THIS KNIFE!!!

I'm kinda partial to 440C, and GEC sure did that steel justice with this little stubby...I love sheepsfoot blades and this one is very well done. I would put the pull somewhere in the middle of the scale on this one, firm, but definately not a nailbreaker...I would say about a 5...very smooth action and a solid half stop. reassuring snap both ways.
Most times I just pinch the blade at the EO slot and away it goes. It's a robust feeling knife for its size, and rides exceptionally well in the watch pocket of jeans. Fit and finish are excellent on this model. It is short, but offers a decent grip for it's size, in part because for me the EO cutout offers a finger stop. The blade has en excellent grind,Full flat, and is nicely swedged.
The only negative that I found was my typical pet peave...Why Do MFGS. leave the tang spring engagement cutout sharp??? An admittedly easy thing to fix though

 

[2Dead]

Sorry, I only have the single blade ones They haven't made a 440c 2 blade one yet. 2 of EOs are easier than the others at about a 4 but the others are about a 5-6. IIRC, the older 2 blade barlows GEC made used the same spring thickness on the pen blade as the master which made them bears to open. I haven't heard of a single pen blade on those older ones being friendly. The latest ones ('11 all steel models) used thinner stock for the pens so they should be a little easier. I haven't handled any of the 2 blade ones so I'm just reporting what I've heard.

 

[zippofan]

Yup, gots 'em and loves 'em too

One single blade Wharncliffe in Bocote, a single blade EO spear in blue basketweave bone, and my latest purchase is a Bulldog branded EO sheepsfoot in smooth red bone. The latter are especially nice since they can be picked up for less $ than a similar GEC branded one. They weren't the sharpest out of the box but a few minutes on the Sharpmaker and I'm happy.

I also have a #26 sleeveboard "Little Carver" Wharncliffe/coping in Cocobolo. The coping blade isn't the easiest to get at but not bad, certainly not like I've heard about the pen blade in the #25 Barlows. One of these days I need to pick one of those up, but my Dan Burke has kept me happy for now

 

[db]

I have a single blade in orange jigged bone. Great knife one of my very favorites. Pull is about a 6.

 

[M.TEX]

Wow what a good lookking bunch !
I love the 25's ( don't have any ) don't own any Gec...
I know there is one for sale TODAY for 75.00 bucks...must be gonne by now...
I've learned on youtube that the old ones have 2 dif. size springs...and the "newer" model they are the same size...
They are indeed good looking little boogers...

 

[pertinux]

I don't have any 25's left, ~P. I either sold, traded, or gave them all away.

From Sitflyer's response (and picture) as the recipient of one of those trades, it would seem to be personal preference...?

None of the 25's I had were so stiff that I couldn't get them open but the pen blade on a 25 Barlow I had wasn't far from it.

I thought I'd heard that somewhere, but wasn't sure if I was mixing that up with some of the feedback on the 26s-- including my watching a storekeeper struggle mightily to open a 26's pen blade with a blade key.

Stout little boogers ....

I love that description! Thanks for the feedback on the pull as well.

Here's mine. The pen blade is freakin murder to open, but otherwise it's a damn sweet little folder. I like the art deco styling on this particular model....

I wouldn't have drawn the connection, but now that you've mentioned it....

(A "stout little Art Deco booger" loses something in translation, however, so I should probably stick to one descriptive at a time.)

Hey ~P...whatcha lookin' at me fo'...

Dunno. Maybe because of THIS?

You started it, posting it in one of my threads and all. And before and after that, too. What a looker.

The only negative that I found was my typical pet peave...Why Do MFGS. leave the tang spring engagement cutout sharp??? An admittedly easy thing to fix though

For Mr. Tools, maybe.

Sorry, I only have the single blade ones

Another beautiful array. There's something grand about seeing so many together. I love the combination of the squirrels on the blade, acorn as the shield, as on Sitflyer's above.

IIRC, the older 2 blade barlows GEC made used the same spring thickness on the pen blade as the master which made them bears to open. I haven't heard of a single pen blade on those older ones being friendly. The latest ones ('11 all steel models) used thinner stock for the pens so they should be a little easier. I haven't handled any of the 2 blade ones so I'm just reporting what I've heard.

Okay, this is some of the feedback that both concerns and enlightens me (concern regarding earlier models, hope for the later ones). Is it possible for the older pen blade springs to become more workable over time, or is that unrealistic? Is this something GEC can address or fix if it's an unsurmountable problem in a given knife?

Yup, gots 'em and loves 'em too

One single blade Wharncliffe in Bocote, a single blade EO spear in blue basketweave bone, and my latest purchase is a Bulldog branded EO sheepsfoot in smooth red bone.

Okay, about those "pictures." I saw GEC's stock photograph of one earlier today, but would love to see a real-life one. Maybe with your new Peanut. I ain't choosy.

I also have a #26 sleeveboard "Little Carver" Wharncliffe/coping in Cocobolo. The coping blade isn't the easiest to get at but not bad, certainly not like I've heard about the pen blade in the #25 Barlows.

Hmmm, more concern again, except that-- of all the stout Art Deco boogers in this thread and elsewhere-- it's a '11 barlow that seems to be beckoning; it sounds like that might that have a more workable pen blade?

(Yes, M.TEX, I saw that barlow in the Exchange-- schweet. Still, I have my fancy-shmancy bone GEC, and for this size and style of knife, it's a wooden Tidioute barlow that has my eye.)

Thanks, too, db-- your feedback helps as well.

Hmmmmm.

~ P.

 

[FLymon]

Whittled a little with one

 

[waynorth]

Nice work Stu!!

 

[Railsplitter]

From Sitflyer's response (and picture) as the recipient of one of those trades, it would seem to be personal preference...?

Well, I guess you could say that. The GEC #25's are outstanding little knives in my opinion. Built like little tanks and those sheepsfoot blade Easy-Opens make wonderful little utility knives. To be honest, I have only good things to say about them except for maybe the stiff pull on the Barlow's pen blade. I highly recommend the 25's to anyone who thinks they might like them. The ones I gave away were chosen because I wanted the recipients to have something they would like, not because I didn't like them myself.

I sold and/or traded my other 25's because I have other knives to carry that suit me better. Some customs, some not.

The GEC 25's are outstanding little knives. No question about it.

I think it's pretty safe to say that if you get one, you will be quite fond of it. Maybe ask the dealer to rate the blade pull for you before you commit to purchase or handle one in person if possible. They are a hard knife not to like.:thumbup:

 

[waynorth]

I have this redbone, which looks like it has old time jigging.
Does anyone know more about it?? I'd like to see more of this jigging from GEC.
It has the wide pen spring, but it's not too bad too open.

 

[Finedges]

Been carrying this one quite a bit. My vote for TOTM by the way. Fit/Finish top notch, the main clip opens a little stiff, I'd say a 7, the pen opens quite easy. It rides in the pocket great and it feels like you have a very substantial blade in hand when in use, even tho the blade length is fractionally longer than a peanut. I never feel underbladed when carrying. A wharncliffe or sheeps version would probably seem like more knife edge, but I love the blade shape of the clip, straight edge with the belly curve at the end.

 

[pertinux]

Been carrying this one quite a bit. My vote for TOTM by the way.

Uh oh.

~ P.

 

[Billy516]

I love these little knives! Here's my two sandwiched in between two Cases.

 

[glocktenman]

Sorry, I only have the single blade ones They haven't made a 440c 2 blade one yet. 2 of EOs are easier than the others at about a 4 but the others are about a 5-6. IIRC, the older 2 blade barlows GEC made used the same spring thickness on the pen blade as the master which made them bears to open. I haven't heard of a single pen blade on those older ones being friendly. The latest ones ('11 all steel models) used thinner stock for the pens so they should be a little easier. I haven't handled any of the 2 blade ones so I'm just reporting what I've heard.

I like the single blades as well. I've got two of them. They're thin and light to carry. I really like your's in the center with the wharncliffe blade.

 

[zippofan]

I know, I know, I've been lazy with the camera. The only way I can get stuff off my cell phone camera is with bluetooth, never had a phone that I couldn't plug in to the computer before. Maybe I can make some time this weekend, no planned Scout trips for a coupla weeks.

 

[MyDogsHunt]