"White Owl"... 3.5" Equal End... from GEC

I took some pictures this morning. They are not particularly good because of background reflections in the highly polished bolsters.

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The reflections in the bolsters are the tailgate of my pickup which was next to my photo taking operation this morning. Bolsters are highly polished and superbly fitted.

This knife is a bit smaller than I thought it was going to be. Not because I was mislead, but I just thought an equal end pattern in 3-1/2" length would be "bigger". Let me say I do like this knife quite a bit. The shoulders on the blade are low to the bolsters and that makes it easier on the pocket. The tip of the main blade is right at the top of the liner; any more and it would be above the liner.

Both blades came "almost sharp". A bit of time on the hone and strop is going to be in order. The top shot of the knife closed (above) shows just how little room is in this knife for two blades. However, they are fitted perfectly - neither rubs the other on opening or closing nor the liners. There is no perceptible "wobble" in either blade. The main spear blade measures 2-1/2" tip to bolster and the pen measures 1-11/16 tip to bolster. Both very useful sizes. This pocket knife should be legal to carry most anywhere. Too bad we knife lovers seem to be so dangerous to the general public that we have to be so tightly regulated. ... but, I digress.

The scales are a beautiful red color with just a bit of orange tinge and a bit of black to give it that "rusty" look. I don't have any complaints with the color. The scales are fit very well on this knife and are jigged in a "cobblestone" pattern. This style of jiggin looks good and has a "pocketworn" feel to it. It's a little bit too perfect, if that makes any sense to anyone.

On a whole, this knife is going to be really nice for carrying and everyday use. I like this pattern and I think many of you will too. Actually, I like this knife better than I thought I would. The execution is very good and the knife should perform very well.

Ed J
 
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A few more Northfield White Owl's are showing up this morning on GEC's website.
 
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Very nice review, Ed. Your pics look great and it's nice to see a good clear shot of the Rusty Red Bone color.

Good looking knife.

I should have my Dusk Buffalo Horn tomorrow.
 
+1 Thank you for the pictures, TLARbb. It is a fine looking blade and I am looking forward to seeing what multiple spring blade configurations GEC will produce.
 
Mine arrived today, and I am thoroughly pleased. Based on wood grain comparison, I can say that the knife I received is the same one pictured in post #89 above. It's freakin' beautiful!!! The fit-and-finish is near excellent. Although not as smooth-opening as the nicest German Bokers, there's not an obvious flaw visible. The springs, liners, blades, bail... not a gap or mis-matched edge anywhere.

It has certainly destroyed my stereotype of Great Eastern as making only large, heavy, and bulky knives. The White own is actually quite slender, with flat-ish scales and both blades nesting together and sharing a single spring. The overall handling ergonomics are similar to vintage Bruckmann knives of the same length.
 
Today I received my Dusk Buffalo Horn with the clip blade and it's an awesomely beautiful knife in every way! I wish I could post some pics (computer issues), but I'm afraid they wouldn't capture the beauty and subtleties of this handle material anyway.

As you may have read in another thread, there were some issues involving Red Buffalo Horn, which ultimately came to be called Dusk Buffalo Horn. I would describe mine as a deep (milk?)chocolate brown. I'm not seeing even a hint of red anywhere, and I'm totally OK with that - it's gorgeous! There are some hints of gray, which may sound strange, but it's very, very subtle and very, very beautiful. There's probably not many people whose favorite color is brown (myself included), but nevertheless the overall effect of this handle material on this knife is strikingly beautiful!

The clip blade on this measures exactly the same from bolster to tip as the Conductor, while the pen blade is 1/16" longer than the Conductor. Both blades on the White Owl are wider than the blades on the Conductor, as is the handle itself. No half stops and a nice easy pull with good, deep, undercut nail nicks.

F&F is excellent with not a hint of blade wobble or blades rubbing the liners or each other. The blades came arm-hair-shaving sharp with only a little touch up required. As far as I'm concerned GEC hit another home run with this pattern! :D

Happy New Year everyone!
 
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Just got my Dusk Buffalo Horn today too. As Keith mentioned, it's not the Red that GEC initially planned but I like it.

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I like this pattern a lot but I'm starting to feel frustration with what's on offer.:grumpy:

I just can't see the point of a bail on a medium/thin easy carry knife, it contradicts the purpose. A bail gets in the way and can scratch up the bolster unpleasantly. So, that's the entire Northfield run out of bounds. Couldn't they have offered some of these without the bail? Dogmatic...

Over to Tidioute. My initial enthusiasm for the Dead Skunk has now been tempered by seeing how it's turned out on the knives. Is it just my imagination or has the composition/emphasis of this colour been substantially altered? In the past it had more white and black with a splash of red. Now it's overwhelmingly massacre red with this odd grey colour and some black. Sort of SAK that's been streaked by a touch of grubby white and black. Lava Lamp or Tortoise, Black and Gold or Green would've looked sensational on this pattern. I don't know about the Kryptonite, it could be idiotically fluorescent, anybody have a picture of their knife to show? Ebony is good and the Rusty red looks nice, but I fancied an acrylic as something different and a homage to celluloid pen-knives, without the issues. Horn I'm very dubious about as I've mentioned before, and it starting red and ending brown fuels my reservations. I hope I snap out of this mood as it's potentially, a really suitable pattern.:confused:
 
I like this pattern a lot but I'm starting to feel frustration with what's on offer.:grumpy:

I just can't see the point of a bail on a medium/thin easy carry knife, it contradicts the purpose. A bail gets in the way and can scratch up the bolster unpleasantly. So, that's the entire Northfield run out of bounds. Couldn't they have offered some of these without the bail? Dogmatic...

The Tidiote version has no bail. They're made with the same 1095 steel as the Northfields, and have some beautiful wood handles too. The only difference I can see, other than the bail, is that only the Northfields have the pinched bolsters. So, it seems, if you're dead-set on pinched bolsters, you gotta take the bail too. ;)

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Seen the snakewood handles yet, available on the Northfield White Owls? Incredible.
I may need to pick up a second knife from these folks, ya know, just to check for quality consistence... ;)
 
I like the sound of a Tortoise or Black/Gold White Owl....truly a homage to celluloid knives..........
 
I could go for some tortoise shell acrylic on this one too. I'm not a fan of the bails so I'll pass on the Northfields. I'm not saying this is going to happen but GEC did make a buffalo Northfield Conductor without a bail. Maybe they'll do the same for these in the future?
 
The Tidiote version has no bail. They're made with the same 1095 steel as the Northfields, and have some beautiful wood handles too. The only difference I can see, other than the bail, is that only the Northfields have the pinched bolsters. So, it seems, if you're dead-set on pinched bolsters, you gotta take the bail too. ;)


Not for nothing, but the Northfield also have polished blades (Tidioute leaves them belt finished), long pulls, and swedges.
And in this instance the bolsters are pinched, and lined on the Northfields.

I too wish they had left the bails off, or at least made them optional. But I also wish Ebony was a Northfield option rather than Tidioute.
Oh well, maybe we will see some SFO's of these. I bet we will.
 
Not for nothing, but the Northfield also have polished blades (Tidioute leaves them belt finished), long pulls, and swedges.
And in this instance the bolsters are pinched, and lined on the Northfields.

I too wish they had left the bails off, or at least made them optional. But I also wish Ebony was a Northfield option rather than Tidioute.
Oh well, maybe we will see some SFO's of these. I bet we will.

Did anyone notice that the Northfields were satin finished on the White Owl's? You would need it in hand to notice, but this run is unique in that aspect.
 
Did anyone notice that the Northfields were satin finished on the White Owl's? You would need it in hand to notice, but this run is unique in that aspect.

There I go ASSuming :eek:

I hope I am not wrong about an SFO though, hint hint.
 
This Knife does not appear to make sense to me or the GEC production lists.

I bought this 68 at the recent GEC Rendezvous from the display case in the GEC store. The tang stamp and the tube list this knife as a 681211. There is nothing on the 2011 production total lists with this number and these Antique Yellow Jigged bone covers. I’m thinking this one was put together to sell at the Rendezvous from leftover parts. But, for some reason they didn’t label the tube as a Special Assembly Knife like they normally do. It has the Antique Yellow Jigged bone handles & all steel construction that were only offered on the 2013 Pony Jacks. Also, no shield like the 2013 Pony Jacks. However, it has the opposite end blade configuration of the 2011 White Owls. None of the 2011 listed 68’s had a configuration like this one. So I think it is a “parts” knife, but have no way of knowing for sure.

What do you think? Is there any information that I am missing?

Edit: thank you @jsdistin for finding these listed on the 2013 Production Totals list. There were 19 of these made with clip points and 2 made with spear points with Antique Yellow Jigged bone handles. These were in red type on the 2013 production list which means they were built in 2013, but the tang stamp and blade tang stamp was from an earlier year. So that pretty much confirms that this was some sort of parts knife they made in 2013 using leftover blades and springs from 2011.

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This Knife does not appear to make sense to me or the GEC production lists.

I bought this 68 at the recent GEC Rendezvous from the display case in the GEC store. The tang stamp and the tube list this knife as a 681211. There is nothing on the 2011 production total lists with this number and these Antique Yellow Jigged bone covers. I’m thinking this one was put together to sell at the Rendezvous from leftover parts. But, for some reason they didn’t label the tube as a Special Assembly Knife like they normally do. It has the Antique Yellow Jigged bone handles & all steel construction that were only offered on the 2013 Pony Jacks. Also, no shield like the 2013 Pony Jacks. However, it has the opposite end blade configuration of the 2011 White Owls. None of the 2011 listed 68’s had a configuration like this one. So I think it is a “parts” knife, but have no way of knowing for sure.

What do you think? Is there any information that I am missing?

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I saw one like this before on the forum, thought someone turned their pony jack into a white owl of sorts since the covers and all steel construction are those of a pony jack. They made them with these exact covers, besides rust red jigged bone, ebony and nifebrite. The clip point has a nail nick though, so the spring (I assume there's only one?) and the blades seem to be from a white owl. Very interesting. :thumbsup: Certainly wouldn't mind if GEC made some more like yours or in the jack configuation. :)
 
I saw one like this before on the forum, thought someone turned their pony jack into a white owl of sorts since the covers and all steel construction are those of a pony jack. They made them with these exact covers, besides rust red jigged bone, ebony and nifebrite. The clip point has a nail nick though, so the spring (I assume there's only one?) and the blades seem to be from a white owl. Very interesting. :thumbsup: Certainly wouldn't mind if GEC made some more like yours or in the jack configuation. :)
The one you saw was probably the one I posted recently in the “What Traditional knife are ya totin today” thread. When I posted it, a few people sent PM’s asking about the apparently weird configuration, so I figured I would ask about it here.

Yes, I certainly wouldn’t mind if GEC had another run of 68’s.
 
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