Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

GEC specializes in highly collectable and premium quality usable pocket knives. The company's USA manufactured knives have quickly proven to be a big hit with both collectors and users who seek quality American craftsmanship.
kootenay joe
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

I think GEC should put a shield on the stag knives. As nice as this Dixie Stag is, it would look more 'complete' with a shield. Maybe some here prefer the no shield ?
kj
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

kootenay joe wrote:I think GEC should put a shield on the stag knives. As nice as this Dixie Stag is, it would look more 'complete' with a shield. Maybe some here prefer the no shield ?
kj
KJ, I completely agree. After you see those two side by side, you can really sense that the stag just isn’t complete. I can see why they didn’t, that stag is kinda thick in spots and gnarly. At the top pin there is a piece of stag that sits out and the pin is right through it, it looks off cosmetically because they drilled through that protrusion and exposed the white inner core at that spot, it looks a bit off. If the did that same thing w/ a shield you could end up w/ a lot of white stage showing around a pin.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

I believe the stag needs to be selected for the front side with placement of shield in mind. Sorting through stag to find a piece that would easily 'take' a shield would be time consuming and therefore add to the cost.
kj
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Drukai »

85 EO Blackwood. Newest GEC pickup!
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In search of GEC 15 Farm Boy knife user or new(My Grail)
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by robbobus »

Nice 85.

Its hard to win for GEC with stag. I also prefer shields. But for many years they didn't put shields in their (their opinion) best stag anyway. I have several of the "genuine stag" knives where a hat pin shield was subbed for the shield. The explanation was they didn't want to interrupt the stag. I tend to see their point. The inletting in deeply grooved or popcorn stag can look haphazard often. And then people are upset and complain they can't do their jobs or send the knife in for a repair that isn't fixable without scrapping a sambar slab. And if they chose a boring flat piece of stag for the mark side so the shield coulb be easily and consistently fitted and a more gregarious slab on the pile side ala old time German knives, folks would complain about mismatched handles and lackluster textures. So they made the decision that on their products for regular sale, no shield (or hat pin( i like the hat pin)).
Sfo orders still can be shielded. Northwoods for example. I have some gorgeous stag handled knives from them the shield my not be perfectly flattened to the highest degree on them, I feel its to be expected in a factory knife. But I see people complain about it from time to time.
I am going to try and find a pic of a couple 2010 dogleg jacks. One in burnt stag the other in genuine stag and a 55 for good neasure.
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No comparison in the quality of handles, and it would of been sinful to have cut a shield in on the genuine stag imnsho.
In order to have a foot in both camps however, I would be unfair not to include this pic of some 48s. The Northwoods is so flawlessly executed. The 2 single blade 48s would have taken a shield nicely as well, I don't think the older genuine stag Western Trapper would have looked better with a stag. Kind of like kj said tho, needs the right slab to pin a shield on.
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kootenay joe
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

Rob, i think the GEC stag deserves it's own thread. I have some to show & chat about but that would not be in the focus of this thread.
The idea of 'matching stag' does not appear until recently, like last 20 years. Old time Sheffield & Solingen cutlers did not try to match stag according to Bernard Levine.
GEC could choose stag for the front based on ease of in-letting a shield and back side piece for attractiveness; i.e. they would not match because stag handles were never intended to 'match' which is a new idea spread by the 'fussies' nearly all of whom are more recently arrived collectors.
Go 'old' or 'traditional': stag with shield, no attempt to match sides.
kj
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

The # 81 pattern, a Moose, has not sold well. Came out in 2017 and most GEC dealers have quite a few with various handles including stag. It is a surprise to be not popular. Before GEC came along a moose pattern by Case or another USA maker was wanted by most collectors of traditional style folding knives. My bet is that when all of the 2017 Moose/Muskrat patterns have sold, many collectors are going to wish they had bought one, or more, when they could have.
So therefore, not wanting to be left out i bought a 811217 with "Antique Amber Jigged bone" handles, Northfield version. It's a good knife and the 'pull' is easy, which is good. These springs have all the strength you need, not more and then hard to open. I used to want stiffly sprung knives but then some i would not carry because the blades were not fun to struggle with. Now i understand that for every knife there is an optimal range for spring tension.
I see this 81 Moose as having spring tension in the optimal range.
I do have a question: what is "C K C" for ?
kj
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

kootenay joe wrote:The # 81 pattern, a Moose, has not sold well. Came out in 2017 and most GEC dealers have quite a few with various handles including stag. It is a surprise to be not popular. Before GEC came along a moose pattern by Case or another USA maker was wanted by most collectors of traditional style folding knives. My bet is that when all of the 2017 Moose/Muskrat patterns have sold, many collectors are going to wish they had bought one, or more, when they could have.
So therefore, not wanting to be left out i bought a 811217 with "Antique Amber Jigged bone" handles, Northfield version. It's a good knife and the 'pull' is easy, which is good. These springs have all the strength you need, not more and then hard to open. I used to want stiffly sprung knives but then some i would not carry because the blades were not fun to struggle with. Now i understand that for every knife there is an optimal range for spring tension.
I see this 81 Moose as having spring tension in the optimal range.
I do have a question: what is "C K C" for ?
kj

KJ, Nice knife. If you bought that through CK I would hazard guess that it’s CK Cutlery, if not, then I have no idea. I haven’t seen that on any knives.
That Amber Jigged bone is beautiful.
You are pushing me a little closer to buying one of these. Just mention rare or hard to get and that gets me on it.
SSk
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by QTCut5 »

GEC Tidioute #48 Smooth Ivory Bone. I got one just like this back when they first came out but ended up selling it when it started to corrode (I wasn't accustomed to the requirements of maintaining 1095 steel in a humid, salty, tropical climate). It still turned a small profit, although unintentionally, as I was only interested in getting some of my money back so it wouldn't be a total loss. I have a rule that once I sell a particular knife for whatever reason, I never purchase another one just like it...a rule I've only broken a handful of times, this being one of them. I'm glad I did, and now that I know how to properly take care of it (for long-term storage and occasional viewing & light handling), I believe it will be a part of my permanent collection. It's one of only two GEC knives I own. I used to have a lot of GEC and Northwoods, but sold them all, both because I needed the money and because I was unable to keep up on the maintenance they require.

GEC calls it an "Improved Trapper" and you can call it what you will, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a "Large Mini Trapper"(because I now collect Mini Trappers exclusively).
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

Some of the 81's have excellent black ebony, not the less dense lighter colored ebony. And traditionally this pattern often had ebony handles. Of all the natural material used for knife handles, ebony i believe is the toughest. It rarely even cracks.
Get a Northfield ebony #81 and if you don't like it, sell it to me for same price.
I'm thinking of getting an ebony one anyway because i doubt you will want to part with it. If you are often outdoors it is a good one to carry.
kj
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

QT, that's a beauty. Looks like elephant ivory. Wow ! very nice.
kj
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by robbobus »

C K C stands for Carbon Keeps Cutting. As memory serves, this replaced the TIW stamping - for Titusville Iron Works. They received a cease and decist letter for trademark. Same went possibly for the Cyclops stamping on the stainless. Could be wrong but thats what I remember.
Now, C K C did not have a popular following and was quickly replaced with CARBON stamped on the pile side tang. I think only the 81 has the C K C stamping.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

Thank you Rob. Explains why i have not seen C K C before.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by QTCut5 »

kootenay joe wrote:QT, that's a beauty. Looks like elephant ivory. Wow ! very nice.
kj
Thanks, Roland...the similarity to ivory is one of the things that really attracted me to that 48...you know how much I LOVE ivory! The other thing was the Wharncliffe secondary. I know not everyone is a fan of the Wharnie, but it's my favorite blade profile.

Although the only other GEC I currently have in my collection has neither of those attributes, I was drawn to it for other obvious reasons.
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In the master's chamber they gather for the feast.
They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

QTCut5 wrote:GEC Tidioute #48 Smooth Ivory Bone. I got one just like this back when they first came out but ended up selling it when it started to corrode (I wasn't accustomed to the requirements of maintaining 1095 steel in a humid, salty, tropical climate). It still turned a small profit, although unintentionally, as I was only interested in getting some of my money back so it wouldn't be a total loss. I have a rule that once I sell a particular knife for whatever reason, I never purchase another one just like it...a rule I've only broken a handful of times, this being one of them. I'm glad I did, and now that I know how to properly take care of it (for long-term storage and occasional viewing & light handling), I believe it will be a part of my permanent collection. It's one of only two GEC knives I own. I used to have a lot of GEC and Northwoods, but sold them all, both because I needed the money and because I was unable to keep up on the maintenance they require.

GEC calls it an "Improved Trapper" and you can call it what you will, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a "Large Mini Trapper"(because I now collect Mini Trappers exclusively).

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~Q~
QT, I have this same knife in the green pickle bone. I was drawn to if for the same reasons that you were. I love that Wharncliffe blade. Seeing how much this looks like ivory makes me think there is another one of these that I am going to “need”. I think this is really sharp looking.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by robbobus »

QT, I just got the Horn's sibling in. Superior stag on this example, ageing magnificently.
Doubt my pics will show how great it is. Ralph was kind and edited my photos for me, thanks kindly.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by kootenay joe »

Very nice stag indeed on the AAPK #48. I will look for one of these.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Tsar Bomba »

robbobus wrote:C K C stands for Carbon Keeps Cutting. As memory serves, this replaced the TIW stamping - for Titusville Iron Works. They received a cease and decist letter for trademark. Same went possibly for the Cyclops stamping on the stainless. Could be wrong but thats what I remember.
Now, C K C did not have a popular following and was quickly replaced with CARBON stamped on the pile side tang. I think only the 81 has the C K C stamping.
I love this story because it gives me yet another reason to enjoy my Appy bone 81 Bull Moose. They should have stuck with "CKC" for the whimsy factor alone. I did start noticing the "GEC CAR" stamping on later GECs but never really put two and two together on the CKC.

Does this mean the 35s were the last run with the Titusville Iron Works stamps?
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by robbobus »

I'm not too sure which was the last Titusville stamping. I don't spend much time with the tang stamps, but you could well be right. The 35 was a well received knife but I only have one in the collection. Queen did their baby sunfish so spectacularly back in 2004 with the President's Choice offering that I am satiated with that pattern by and large.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by robbobus »

Duplicate.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Rusty Trawler »

After lurking and learning for many months I took the plunge. I drove about 55 minutes to Country Knives and picked these up this morning.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by doglegg »

Rusty, you made a big splash. Great looking bunch of knives. ::tu::
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Ivoryman »

Great group Rusty, where is Country Knives? I'd drive there too if it was in the vicinity. Congrats, nice score, welcome to the club. Robobus that's a fabulous looking trapper, AAPK does some sweeties for sure. Cool pick up.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by Rusty Trawler »

Ivoryman wrote:Great group Rusty, where is Country Knives? I'd drive there too if it was in the vicinity. Congrats, nice score, welcome to the club.
Country Knives is in southeastern PA and I’m in Delaware. They are a GEC authorized dealer with a huge inventory of knives and the employee who helped me was very knowledgeable and spent about one hour with me.
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Re: Mail Call, Post Your New GECs.

Post by jerryd6818 »

Rusty, welcome to AAPK.

I-Man, they are in Intercourse PA
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