Lets talk GEC!

[BGMoHunter]

I’ve only been a GEC collector for a couple years, but I’ve been luke-warm because the collectors suck the supply to profit in the secondary market and I can’t buy the knives without turning it into a game. I also want to use the knives and not feel like I just ruined a $400 collectible. The point of GEC making knives was to ensure that part of our history, the traditional pocket knife, didn’t die. Benchmade axis locks are the norm, not a traditional. The current market for GEC’s was not sustainable, and not healthy for the traditional market. The best long-term approach is to make high-quality knives, in adequate supply, so that large numbers of people will buy them. The SFO business model doesn’t allow for that, and I’m sure their market research showed that. Just an opinion from a guy that would buy a lot of knives for the right reasons if he could get them.

 

[Prester John]

I’ve only been a GEC collector for a couple years, but I’ve been luke-warm because the collectors suck the supply to profit in the secondary market and I can’t buy the knives without turning it into a game. I also want to use the knives and not feel like I just ruined a $400 collectible. The point of GEC making knives was to ensure that part of our history, the traditional pocket knife, didn’t die. Benchmade axis locks are the norm, not a traditional. The current market for GEC’s was not sustainable, and not healthy for the traditional market. The best long-term approach is to make high-quality knives, in adequate supply, so that large numbers of people will buy them. The SFO business model doesn’t allow for that, and I’m sure their market research showed that. Just an opinion from a guy that would buy a lot of knives for the right reasons if he could get them.

I think it would be great to go into a hardware store or farm and ranch store and find a display case of GEC knives at reasonable prices. But that won't happen--they're a small company, and they fill a niche, I think. But I am not going to sit around waiting for a "drop" and scramble to get one, and I'm not paying $300 or $400 for a pocket knife.

 

[Will Power]

Especially 300-400 for an otherwise ordinary carbon bladed knife Yes, they certainly are of consistent quality and many are attractive but those 'collector' prices are just absurd and sometimes fuelled by a lemming like greed....

For me as a European, I've largely been very satisfied with being able to get most of the GECs available, it can be hard but patience is a virtue, often I've been helped by generosity here. What I never cared for was this inane crowing that some people indulged in about 'drops' setting up aps and buying up as much as they can (even when they didn't know what the handle materials were) and then pretending they had changed their mind about buying all the SFOS so 'had' to sell some to make room. Just greed, but it's only possible if the gullible enable it by buying into the group think of must have

Now the SFOs have stopped or at least temporarily halted, it could inflate prices but it could also have the opposite effect, diminishing interest-this certainly does happen in the collecting 'game' as tastes are fickle. As I wrote earlier, I just hope this contraction is not in connexion with problems related to the extended shutdown. If GEC thrives we all benefit, if it encounters trouble then that's bad news for everybody involved, fingers crossed

 

[JohnDF]

Why can't he make a nice Barlow and put nice covers on it and call it....I don't know?? Maybe a Northfield?

I believe Mike has the rights to the Northfield Barlows and Charlie has the rights to the Tidioute Barlows.
I could see them making a killing with a well-priced Farm and Field Barlow with Wood, Micarta, or Delrin handles.

 

[Fox79]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the barlows. Couldn’t they make a barlow on the 15 and 77 frame and just use a smooth bolster?

And how about the GEC brand? Maybe we’ll see more stainless steel releases.

I also had another idea for Charlie? Could Charlie possibly partner with Eric who made the recent Red Trout Knives? Maybe they could collaborate on a small batch?

Lots of possibilities.

 

[EngrSorenson]

I understand the skepticism people have about this change, but we don’t have all the details yet and this change could result in great things if we’re open to it.

Bill Howard is one of our people and he’s fully aware of what we want. He’s a smart businessman and I’m positive he’ll move the direction the dollars take him.

Prester John I dream of the same thing, the only problem is the general public doesn’t understand carbon steel maintenance anymore, and I’d be afraid improper care and a rusty GEC would diminish public perception outside of old-timers and knife-Knut circles.

 

[cbr1000]

I believe Mike has the rights to the Northfield Barlows and Charlie has the rights to the Tidioute Barlows.
I could see them making a killing with a well-priced Farm and Field Barlow with Wood, Micarta, or Delrin handles.

For good, bad, or whatever reason, they have not made a Barlow in 2 out of the 4 lines they offer. Maybe we will see a Farm & Field, or stainless GEC version someday, but my gut feeling is we won't because they have had that option all along and decided not too. Who knows, they could start a 5th house line and that would open all sorts of new possibilities.

 

[sf fanatic]

With respect to the upcoming #33 conductor run:

Cursory searches have indicated its a single spring pen knife configuration. My beloved #35 Churchill has asymmetric grinds to fit the blades along side each other, which I love. I’m less enthusiastic about krinked blades.

anyone have a good top down shot of the previous conductor? I’m interested to know how they manage the blade well.

I know it’s not likely, but I’d buy three 2020 #33 whittlers in the clip/pen/coping configuration.

Not sure this is what you were looking for and not the greatest pic.
View attachment 1372057

 

[Fox79]

I’ve often thought GEC should do a custom shop line featuring small runs of the knives that are more challenging like the splitback whittlers. The custom house could now include certain SFO’s like the Waynorth, CK, and Lyle Frye Knives we all love.

hey, just me rambling and dreaming. I hope you are listening GEC....

 

[EngrSorenson]

Not sure this is what you were looking for and not the greatest pic.
View attachment 1372057

that’s exactly what I was looking for! Do my eyes deceive me? That looks like an asymmetric grind on the primary!

sincerely, thanks for noticing my call for help, sf fanatic . If that is truly an asymmetric grind, my interest in this upcoming pattern is renewed.

Edit:
sf fanatic has your #33 seen a lot of pocket time? What’s been your experience with it?
@black mamba can you flash up that pen -> coping mod on your #44 again? You did great work with that, and this upcoming #33 might benefit from the same treatment.

 

[sf fanatic]

that’s exactly what I was looking for! Do my eyes deceive me? That looks like an asymmetric grind on the primary!

sincerely, thanks for noticing my call for help, sf fanatic . If that is truly an asymmetric grind, my interest in this upcoming pattern is renewed.

Edit:
sf fanatic has your #33 seen a lot of pocket time? What’s been your experience with it?
@black mamba can you flash up that pen -> coping mod on your #44 again? You did great work with that, and this upcoming #33 might benefit from the same treatment.

I have not carried my #33, it’s a numbered one and I just can’t get myself to do that. I’m really looking forward to the new ones. For me it’s the perfect size for the watch pocket in my jeans.
View attachment 1372150

 

[mrknife]

I don't know, go back through the 62s, 86s, 92s, 29s, 93s and 12s. There has been 3 different acrylics, 3 camel bones, snake wood, blood wood, osage, Cocobolo, smooth bone, jigged bone, stag, and several micartas all on factory runs. GEC makes beautiful, functional knives.

On another note, do you mean to tell me that if they made a run of 77 Jacks with no Barlows they wouldn't sell out immediately? I know I would be first in line.

there is no denying the fact that certain patterns simply just sell much better. For example the 15s. Single blade clips, buy early and buy fast. The spears did pretty well too. Not counting Charle's special, but slap a bail and chain on them, theyre still available at retailers to this day.

 

[Markeologist]

there is no denying the fact that certain patterns simply just sell much better. For example the 15s. Single blade clips, buy early and buy fast. The spears did pretty well too. Not counting Charle's special, but slap a bail and chain on them, theyre still available at retailers to this day.

The standard 15 Boys Knives in all blade-types were available for quite awhile at dealers as were the last run of the now highly sought after Crown Lifters. The “upscale” versions whether standard-GEC issue like the Beer Scouts and Radio Knives or the SFOs like the Soda Scouts, Radio Jacks, and TCs flew off the shelves in comparison. GEC could make all these again save the TC with little trouble (could probably come to some agreement with Mr. CC as well on the TC though that is purely speculation on my part)....and yes, I know they can’t use the Beer Scout name, I’ve posted the court filings, etc here in past.

You are absolutely correct on the 15s with chains...you can still find the standard issue as well as a certain SFO at retail. Buy one of those and pull out the pliers to remove the bail. You can fill the hole with a stud or another rivet/post or if you want to preserve the hole in case you want to reinstall chain in the future, just mash a little walnut meat into the hole.

 

[rpstrimple]

I’ve often thought GEC should do a custom shop line featuring small runs of the knives that are more challenging like the splitback whittlers. The custom house could now include certain SFO’s like the Waynorth, CK, and Lyle Frye Knives we all love.

hey, just me rambling and dreaming. I hope you are listening GEC....

This is an interesting idea. Like Case with the main line and then the Bose collabs. You offer a wide release and then maybe a pattern or two a year as a limited release. The only concern I would have is quality with a wider release. If they start to produce more, I hope the quality would remain what it currently is. And would the wide release then collect dust because everyone would be spamming the refresh button for the limited ones? So many possibilities and so many questions lol. I’ll stop rambling now.

 

[EngrSorenson]

I have not carried my #33, it’s a numbered one and I just can’t get myself to do that. I’m really looking forward to the new ones. For me it’s the perfect size for the watch pocket in my jeans.
View attachment 1372150

That’s a gorgeous knife- I get why carrying it would be hard, in spite of the serialization. Is the main krinked? Or does it look like the mark side is more or less straight and the other side converges in it? If I get a second I can demonstrate with my #35.

 

[mrknife]

The standard 15 Boys Knives in all blade-types were available for quite awhile at dealers as were the last run of the now highly sought after Crown Lifters. The “upscale” versions whether standard-GEC issue like the Beer Scouts and Radio Knives or the SFOs like the Soda Scouts, Radio Jacks, and TCs flew off the shelves in comparison. GEC could make all these again save the TC with little trouble (could probably come to some agreement with Mr. CC as well on the TC though that is purely speculation on my part)....and yes, I know they can’t use the Beer Scout name, I’ve posted the court filings, etc here in past.

You are absolutely correct on the 15s with chains...you can still find the standard issue as well as a certain SFO at retail. Buy one of those and pull out the pliers to remove the bail. You can fill the hole with a stud or another rivet/post or if you want to preserve the hole in case you want to reinstall chain in the future, just mash a little walnut meat into the hole.

certainly did that with the SFA i got, but it eventually became parts for a tc mod!

 

[sf fanatic]

That’s a gorgeous knife- I get why carrying it would be hard, in spite of the serialization. Is the main krinked? Or does it look like the mark side is more or less straight and the other side converges in it? If I get a second I can demonstrate with my #35.

That would be helpful. Here’s another pic of the main blade partially open.
View attachment 1372377

 

[blanco112]

That’s really not a good sign, huh?. ~1/24 is a standard GEC. On the flip side, by mere coincidence of my aesthetic tastes, I happened to buy 9 GECs which weren’t SFO’s. I wonder if there’s a correlation between GEC buyer and likelihood of that knife being an SFO.

To be fair there a few drivers of that, the most prominent being I collect a lot of Northwoods. Secondly I tend to buy a lot of GECs of all flavors but when it comes time to paying for things I sell my standard issue GECs so what has stuck around are: Northwoods, Charlie's SFOs, Mike's 77 and 85 SFOs and anything in camel bone.

 

[EngrSorenson]

That would be helpful. Here’s another pic of the main blade partially open.

That looks even more convincing. I‘ve tried to make two parallel lines along the liners to show the unique geometry of the asymmetric grind on the master blade. Krinked blades show a uniform spine thickness, but a cant in angle near the tang. Note how the #35 shows variable spine geometry, with the secondary side having a drastically different grind to accommodate the secondary blade. For me, this and the divided two spring Whittler represent that pinnacle of knife design.
Edit: thanks again for humoring a guy who spends way too much time over analyzing knife design.

 

[waverave]

Random question for anyone who is paying attention and may know...what is the deal with the "Factory Test Runs" from 2010-2011? Were those the precursor to the PPP stamp? Seems like maybe a short-lived period where a few knives were released before the production run...but not sure. I've seen a 33 with that etch but its not listed in the production totals as a test run.