2021 GEC #68 White Owl

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Well, I have finally bagged the elusive White Owl. It is a pattern that has intrigued me from the beginning. I have always been drawn to Winterbottom Jigged Bone, so this was an easy choice for me. Plus, I just cannot abide by Stag minus the shield. (I do realize that many of you prefer unblemished Stag, and I can understand why. It is just not for me.)

The White Owl is a nice size, not too small. It fits in there with the 15’s, 25’s, and 83’s. I will not carry anything smaller than those. They are handy when you are going to the office, church, or wearing shorts. In other words, anytime a larger knife would not be preferred. I am glad this run does not have a bail. I believe a bail would annoy me on a small knife like this with a blade on the same end as the bail.

Single spring equal end knives without half stops are a favorite of mine. The Churchill 35 is one of the all time greats. The White Owl compliments it well. However, I much prefer the Churchill.

Thanks, M mcc850 , you should be able to find a Churchill. They are not cheap on the secondary market, but they have not reached the stupid level yet. I will keep an eye out for you. You are correct, the Churchill's coping blade and slightly larger size make it perfect!

Thanks JohnDF JohnDF !

untytled untytled , you nailed it. Nothing is better than a coping secondary in my opinion. I usually steer away from pen blades, but I could not resist the opportunity to get a White Owl.

R Rhinofly , the White Owl is a rare knife that a lot of people have been hunting for quite a while.
 
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Leslie Tomville said:
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Great picture and comparison.
I also love this style of jigged bone, simple and beautiful.
 
Leslie Tomville said:
View attachment 1684694View attachment 1684693View attachment 1684692

Well, I have finally bagged the elusive White Owl. It is a pattern that has intrigued me from the beginning. I have always been drawn to Winterbottom Jigged Bone, so this was an easy choice for me. Plus, I just cannot abide by Stag minus the shield. (I do realize that many of you prefer unblemished Stag, and I can understand why. It is just not for me.)

The White Owl is a nice size, not too small. It fits in there with the 15’s, 25’s, and 83’s. I will not carry anything smaller than those. They are handy when you are going to the office, church, or wearing shorts. In other words, anytime a larger knife would not be preferred. I am glad this run does not have a bail. I believe a bail would annoy me on a small knife like this with a blade on the same end as the bail.

Single spring equal end knives without half stops are a favorite of mine. The Churchill 35 is one of the all time greats, and the White Owl compliments it well.
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I have been wanting a Churchill pretty bad because it just looks like the perfect knife for me. I was thrilled that they did the white owls though as it will fill that void for me, albeit a slightly smaller version. I do like the coping secondary and size of the Churchill more, but you will not hear any complaints out of me when I get my stag white owl. Your pair look great!
 
Leslie Tomville said:
View attachment 1684694View attachment 1684693View attachment 1684692

Well, I have finally bagged the elusive White Owl. It is a pattern that has intrigued me from the beginning. I have always been drawn to Winterbottom Jigged Bone, so this was an easy choice for me. Plus, I just cannot abide by Stag minus the shield. (I do realize that many of you prefer unblemished Stag, and I can understand why. It is just not for me.)

The White Owl is a nice size, not too small. It fits in there with the 15’s, 25’s, and 83’s. I will not carry anything smaller than those. They are handy when you are going to the office, church, or wearing shorts. In other words, anytime a larger knife would not be preferred. I am glad this run does not have a bail. I believe a bail would annoy me on a small knife like this with a blade on the same end as the bail.

Single spring equal end knives without half stops are a favorite of mine. The Churchill 35 is one of the all time greats. The White Owl compliments it well. However, I much prefer the Churchill.
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Nice comparison pics and thank you for sharing those!

This makes it even more evident to me that I'd like the white owl with a coping/sheep secondary. Not as traditional I know... but man would that make an everyday fantastic carry.

The Churchill ( while I loved the combo and IMO has one of GEC's best looking performing clip point and sheepsfoot blades) It was a just a tad too large for me. Believe me I wanted to love them I tried them twice. lol
 
mcc850 said:
I have been wanting a Churchill pretty bad because it just looks like the perfect knife for me. I was thrilled that they did the white owls though as it will fill that void for me, albeit a slightly smaller version. I do like the coping secondary and size of the Churchill more, but you will not hear any complaints out of me when I get my stag white owl. Your pair look great!
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It's the opposite for me. I've always admired the Churchill but never bought one because I thought it was a little too big. The White Owl seems like a pretty good size for me.
 
I have noticed that, even though all the dealer drops have not finished, the aftermarket prices on the White Owl are quite a bit higher than the Pony Jack, an equally fine edc knife. I really like the White Owls myself, and luckily I was able to get one on a drop. Was there a significant pent up demand for White Owls? I saw a couple of posters in this thread mentioned that they had been hunting for one before this release.
 
Arathol said:
Yes, but in this case Howard is a trademark originally owned by C B Barker in the late 1890s. Many Howard marked knives were made by the Canastota Knife Company, some were made in Germany. One of the logos used with the Howard name was an owl sitting on a limb.
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Thank you for the info!
 
Rhinofly said:
I have noticed that, even though all the dealer drops have not finished, the aftermarket prices on the White Owl are quite a bit higher than the Pony Jack, an equally fine edc knife. I really like the White Owls myself, and luckily I was able to get one on a drop. Was there a significant pent up demand for White Owls? I saw a couple of posters in this thread mentioned that they had been hunting for one before this release.
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I’d say there was. They haven’t made White Owls since, roughly, 2012, I think. They don’t come up on secondary market with great frequency, and they’re a lot of folks’ platonic ideal of a pocket knife. I have been wanting one and I’ve seen a few other folks expressing the same, over the years. GEC doesn’t do a lot of small penknives, so if you like something other than jacks or trappers, you might have to wait a while. I recall “back in the day” a lot of people didn’t care for the bails on the Northfields, which also helps demand… here we have a quintessential dress knife, and now offered without bail. I wouldn’t say it’ll be the hardest GEC ever to get, but I’d expect it to be more sought after than some, for sure.
 
GaiusJulius said:
I’d say there was. They haven’t made White Owls since, roughly, 2012, I think. They don’t come up on secondary market with great frequency, and they’re a lot of folks’ platonic ideal of a pocket knife. I have been wanting one and I’ve seen a few other folks expressing the same, over the years. GEC doesn’t do a lot of small penknives, so if you like something other than jacks or trappers, you might have to wait a while. I recall “back in the day” a lot of people didn’t care for the bails on the Northfields, which also helps demand… here we have a quintessential dress knife, and now offered without bail. I wouldn’t say it’ll be the hardest GEC ever to get, but I’d expect it to be more sought after than some, for sure.
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Ok, that makes sense; they are sort of like the GEC Canoe in that way. I am fairly new to buying GECs so I didn't realize it had been so long since they made a knife like this. The 68s are exactly the kind of knife that I personally most carry, so I am thrilled to get them.
 
These owls look fantastic. I can’t wait till the stags start making the rounds. Please don’t be shy posting pics of either!
 
I think a 3-1/2" Equal End Pen Knife makes a perfect Every Day Knife... Especially with a good sized Clip Blade. 🤠 :thumbsup:
The blade should be big enough to slice apples and small enough not to call any unwanted attention to it... spare blade to keep razor sharp.
I'm fine with a little blade rub on these types of knives. I'd think they'd have to really pay attention and tweak each one to avoid it completely.
 
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This is honestly much better in hand than I anticipated. I love when I'm pleasantly surprised like this! Much more comfortable (for me) in hand than the pony jack or calf roper jack and I really really like those patterns. I especially like how much thinner the pen blade is on this when compared to the jacks I mentioned. I can even get a little flex on it. The weight difference between the jack and this seems negligible but in my opinion the white owl is much better balanced.

This is going to be a serious pocket contender. Some beauty shots before I booger it all up 😜
 
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HEMI 49 said:
I was going through some knives today and noticed how close in size the White Owl is to my Boker Castle Burg Barlow..... Other than the Boker being a little thicker, they are darn near the same size....
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Interesting how the WO blade is as long as the Boker Jack’s.

The Pony Jack blade is a bit longer than the White Owl’s, and the Conductor is the same length as the Owl, which is impressive because the frame is notably shorter!
 
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