YES!! YES!! YES!!
It arrived in Scandiland on the 18th but due to the sloth of Central Customs in sending it on and the high hibernating factor of the local Customs' Office (don't ask, it's unbelievable...) plus an out of town trip for 2 days I wasn't able to get my Forum Knife XI until today!
Restlessly fiddling with it at work today, can't really open bottles of beer or cider there, but you get tempted quite often...
Got it home to give it a wash and brush up like all my new knives followed by a touch of WD-40 and a light oiling. I noticed that this was the only GEC knife I've received, not to have been opened before i got it. The wax oilpaper was pristine, mostly it's a bit of a scrumpled mess after a dealer has checked it over, strong oil smell which was appreciated. The artwork on the tube is spot-on, all the choices of label looked good however and this is a very nice touch indeed.
REACTIONS
Very pleased indeed, not in the least bit disappointed. A Forum Knife is always something to be glad of and to reflect on friends and fellow forumites, this year's knife is in my view, remarkable. I have two other Forum Knives the 08 small stockman from Northwoods in Stag and the 10 Moose/Bullhead in Ebony from Queen. I like these knives a lot and would not trade or sell them. The GEC is the best made of these knives by some margin. No gaps at all even under bright light, no blade plat whatsoever, blades centre, excellent radiusing of the scales(no sharp edges to the bolsters) bone jigging goes up to the top bolster, shield flush, pins smooth against the bone, springs flush open and closed. This cannot have been an easy knife to make either, the EZ-Open and bullet end bolster require precision machining, my one is quality writ large. The Spear blade is superb, that's a Longpull I like a lot and mine does not hit the backspring at all. What of the bottle-opener? Not bad at all-perhaps I have too much natural experience....
tonight I opened a bottle of Czech Skalak beer in two pulls and followed later by a bottle of the English Marston's Extra Strong Pale Ale in two pulls and neither cap was chewed or destroyed. I suggest using speed and an angle, seems just right. No bottle opener based on a knife is going to be as efficient as a Pulltaps style opener which levers it off over the top AND has a long flat jaw that grabs 3 crimps of the cap at once. But, if I had no other opener this GEC will and does work OK for me (I wouldn't try opening those screw open stoppers with this but they're rare in Europe)
CONS FROM MY P.O.V.
These are indeed minor, not that savage sharp but this can be soon rectified and GEC's carbon is some impressive stuff.
The jigging is excellent but I find the colour muddy and dull on my knife, I would've liked toffee/caramel colour or Bradford Green but that's just personal aesthetics.
OTHER POINTS TO CONSIDER
This was I believe, the biggest Forum Knife order yet, it must have been a lot of work for the committee co-ordinating this and negotiations etc. GEC delivered us the knife with no messing about or delay, in fact we got it well before the Christmas postal rush. They also delivered us a unique and elite knife, a special point for me. The Trojan efforts of Andy in getting all the packages out of his place in an amazingly fast order meant we all got to enjoy the knife at around the same time, no dragging on here! Sincere thanks.
FINALLY
My thanks to all involved for making it possible, and to ourselves for choosing this. Special greetings to the workers at GEC who made the knives, they demonstrate a continuity of skills in authentic American cutlery that is enjoyed around the world. CAN WE PLEASE GET THAT MAP THAT SHOWS THE APPROX DISTRIBUTION OF KNIVES GLOBALLY? All Continents covered I think, that's something! I raise my glass.
