2020 GEC #74 Mustang Thread

knifeswapper said:
Now I am still sitting on 5 digits worth of inventory of #97's - 18 months later. Find the perfect production amount for the factory and inventory amount for the dealer is a complicated algorithm that must be calculated by the person risking their money, and their livelihood. Setting production numbers by those that want a knife to be easy to acquire; and that is the end of their interest - seems a bit volatile.

But if easy to get GEC's is the goal - I have #97's, #38's, #15's (with chain), etc. Come and get them. I took a risk on them, just like I take a risk on the runs that ended up being hard to keep in stock.
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Help Mike out, he sent me this beautiful Texas Rose a couple of weeks ago.
 
Jiki said:
I think a few negative reviews on BF would be more accurate. The walk and talk on mine is beautiful.
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I agree. The walk and talk on mine was great, but it had a light pull. I preferred the light pull unlike most others, but the knife was too big for me. I ended up trading mine to another bf member for a 44 stag, my favorite pattern to date.
 
TheJon said:
I didn't realize the run of 97 was that large, how many were made?
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My math, based on the production totals puts the entire run at just under 5000 pieces.

bbk357 said:
Too many. Worst walk and talk in a GEC I’ve ever handled.

I think that has something to do with the overstock at the dealers.
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I have succeeded in collecting almost the entire production run of 97s - I'm only missing two now.

The action varies significantly across the board. As this is the first opportunity I've had to examine so many pieces from a single production run, I am not certain if this is typical or not. My Ebony and Stag have the best action with pulls in the 6 to 6.5 range, most of the others fall in the 5 range and a couple (Waynorth and Beaver Tail) fall in the 4 range.

So yes, a 4 is too light for my tastes and it seems that is the case for others as well. A 5 is rather common and plenty acceptable and a 6.5 is fast approaching just right. All my opinion, of course.

(Missing the Beaver Tail in this pic - I have 12 out of 14)

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bbk357 said:
Too many. Worst walk and talk in a GEC I’ve ever handled.

I think that has something to do with the overstock at the dealers.
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I just can't imagine they're worse than a few other GEC. I've gotten, I have a 43 that even have 2 YEARS and being cleaned dozens of times is still so gritty it won't close all the way without some encouragement. But I love the 43s.
Jiki said:
I think a few negative reviews on BF would be more accurate. The walk and talk on mine is beautiful.
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I definitely think that's the case. The 43, had a few complaints but they got drowned out by all the good. The 97 weren't very popular to begin with so the bad reviews got noticed more.
 
The #74 looks really cool and I'm definitely in the hunt for one...unfortunately I missed the drop twice yesterday.
 
I know this isn't the 97 thread, but I'll quickly toss my 2 cents into the discussion..... I have (8) 97's from the last run.... As Pàdruig Pàdruig said, they all perform differently..... None of mine comes close to being unsuitable as a knife..... For those that use them as a fidget toy, you might not get that resounding Thwackkk!! that some knives produce....... I find the 97 is a fine knife that deserves a spot in every GEC lover's knife roll......
 
Can't wait for my ironwood and new CK pocket slip. Being an Arizona desert rat there was no way I could pass up on picking up a 74 in Arizona Ironwood. I just hope I get a nice grain pattern on my scales. Looking at the production pictures on the GEC website there looks to be a lot of variety in the ironwood scales. Some look very dark while others have some real nice unique grain patterns and color variations.
 
The Mustang has more class, I disagree on the some of the comparison, how can you compare a 71 work knife with no bolster, different handle shape with a lanyard hole to the Mustang, yes the size is similar and it's a drop point but very different in my opinion or we can just say it compares to a small drop point Sebenza because of the size and blade, not
 
knifethetank said:
The Mustang has more class, I disagree on the some of the comparison, how can you compare a 71 work knife with no bolster, different handle shape with a lanyard hole to the Mustang, yes the size is similar and it's a drop point but very different in my opinion or we can just say it compares to a small drop point Sebenza because of the size and blade, not
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Yes... my mustang was embarrassed to be seen with the lowly 71... it was a tasteless thing to do on my part...
I mean, just look at the pic... they have nothing in common with each other... :rolleyes:
 
The 71 shouldn’t be embarrassed it’s definitely a good work knife but IMO it doesn’t compare to the Mustang, there’s more to a knife comparison besides the size and blade.
 
knifethetank said:
The 71 shouldn’t be embarrassed it’s definitely a good work knife but IMO it doesn’t compare to the Mustang, there’s more to a knife comparison besides the size and blade.
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Purely in the interest of keeping this discussion going... the question asked was, what knife was this "styled after"....
To me, the "style" is more of design, blade shape, number of blades, etc. We could say the two blade barlow was styled after the good old jack knife... except it really wasn't. They don't even look the same. We could say the #06 Pemberton was styled after the #97, since they are both coke bottle type knives, even being greatly different in size.
While I understand (and mostly agree with) your statement about there being more to comparison than size and blade, I disagree with that assessment for this particular discussion. With the exception of the bolster, the two knives look very similar in size, overall shape, and blade configuration.
I definitely would not suggest GEC used the sodbuster as an inspiration for the Mustang, but they are very similar in appearance.
 
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