All About Pocket Knives

Posted: **Mon Dec 24, 2018 7:04 pm**

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

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:19 pm**

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

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:39 pm**

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

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:46 pm**

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).

~Q~

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:51 pm**

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

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:53 pm**

QT, that's a beauty. Looks like elephant ivory. Wow ! very nice.
kj

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 7:23 pm**

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.

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 8:33 pm**

Thank you Rob. Explains why i have not seen C K C before.
kj

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:14 pm**

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.

~Q~

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:26 pm**

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).

PC240001.JPGPC240006.JPGPC240005.JPG

~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.
SSk

Posted: **Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:15 am**

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.

Posted: **Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:52 pm**

Very nice stag indeed on the AAPK #48. I will look for one of these.
kj

Posted: **Tue Jan 01, 2019 4:31 am**

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?

Posted: **Tue Jan 01, 2019 6:18 am**

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.

Posted: **Tue Jan 01, 2019 6:18 am**

Duplicate.

Posted: **Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:02 pm**

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.

Posted: **Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:58 pm**

Rusty, you made a big splash. Great looking bunch of knives.

Posted: **Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:32 pm**

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.

Posted: **Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:01 am**

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.

Posted: **Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:12 am**

Rusty, welcome to AAPK.

I-Man, they are in Intercourse PA

Posted: **Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:58 am**

Intercourse, you're killing me, couldn't name it that today. Hey thanks, maybe I won't be swinging by. Too bad, no GEC walk in dealers on the Pacific Coast, consider yourself lucky, sounds like a great place to hang out. And get cool knives. Kudos, thanks for the info. Intercourse, oh my, that's unbelievable. What were the founders of that town thinking? Hmmmm.

Posted: **Thu Jan 10, 2019 3:08 am**

Well one definition of Intercourse is "communication or dealings between individuals or groups".

Posted: **Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:07 am**

Here is a whittler, magnificent and unique at 4 7/8". Crafted to the highest level of workmanship it is truly a special knife: The Texas Whittler 981316W, Burnt Orange Jig Bone. Two pictures shows this Whittler with his brother Texas Camp, and the last picture shows it with a 3 3/4" #77 Barlow for a size comparison.
kj

Posted: **Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:18 pm**

kootenay joe wrote:Here is a whittler, magnificent and unique at 4 7/8". Crafted to the highest level of workmanship it is truly a special knife: The Texas Whittler 981316W, Burnt Orange Jig Bone. Two pictures shows this Whittler with his brother Texas Camp, and the last picture shows it with a 3 3/4" #77 Barlow for a size comparison.
kj

Love it. That is a magnificent whittler.
SSk

Posted: **Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:38 pm**

Just received this yesterday. You've probably seen it posted twelve other places...................

All About Pocket Knives

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