#35 Beer and Sausage Bar Tool Knife

[waynorth]

My question is: "Then what?" Lets say youre prized Tibetan Terrier has done its whoopsies on the carpet aways from the tidy bin....how the hell are you going to get it there across the room using this thing without wearing most of it?
Worst case scenario...you own an incontinent Akita .

Worse yet, a St Bernard!!

 

[gaj999]

If it turns out the comb blade is a hoax, seems like a sizeable number of people will be upset, so now they almost have to make it with one.

They said they were doing something out of the box and half their customers would like it and half would hate it. This sure fits the bill. It's a knife that's really hard to be ambivalent about.

 

[gaj999]

How do you know this?

Prescience.

 

[Camillus]

I do think less of GEC because they make goofy and silly products. It harms the brand. I respect their desire to do things differently and not be a generic company. But I also have a special respect and affinity for traditional knives, and hard use outdoors equipment, and people that make them, and that respect is cheapened by this type of product.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

If that's what THEIR brand does though, and people buy them....

How does that harm the brand?

 

[Camillus]

I think it harms the brand because traditional knife making is something done with a particular mindset and value. Look at the Schrade and Camillus catalogues from the early 1990s and you can see the beginning of their end writ large with their attempts to diversify their offerings.

[edit to note that the business impact isn’t the essential point of this post- GEC may find a different market and do well. But as a customer I am able to express a preference for the type of product that appeals to me].

In GEC’s case, you have a bunch of people who love this tradition and who buy knives for that reason.

Anyway, everyone has their own opinion and I understand that I may not get the type of humour here and GEC may not mind what I think of their choices.

 

[Student762]

I hardly think the odd gimmicky product is really going to drive GEC into the ground. It's not like they're replacing their entire line of products with foolish playthings. They're still one of the leading manufacturers of traditional American cutlery and that's not a position which I think a single knife is going to hurl them from.

 

[meako]

Yes S Student762 ...quite the opposite could occur....this could for many be a tempting first toe dabble in the warm shallows of traditional knife collecting but bewaaarrre! Only a few inches from those little pinkies is the deep water, the depths of which you may never retuuuurnnn....come in the the water's nice...and look ...its only a short swim across to that inviting porch....

 

[meako]

You dont get much more traditional than Ned Kelly whose famous last words "Such is life!" echo down through the years.What many peopke dont know is that just after he said those words before he hung...he was heard to have uttered a barely audible request. .."Has anyone got a beard comb?"Is what historians believe he said .Alas the trapdoor opened and he swung ...so we'll never know...some questions are best
left unanswered.

 

[Student762]

Yes S Student762 ...quite the opposite could occur....this could for many be a tempting first toe dabble in the warm shallows of traditional knife collecting but bewaaarrre! Only a few inches from those little pinkies is the deep water, the depths of which you may never retuuuurnnn....come in the the water's nice...and look ...its only a short swim across to that inviting porch....

I'm very much inclined to agree with you there Meako. I think the whole thing is being blown a bit out of proportion. Case didn't go under because they started making the slightly silly hobo knife, and I really don't think GEC will because of this. If the consumer behave the way that consumers usually do, they'll buy what they like and not buy what they don't like. If GEC doesn't sell all their beer and sausage knives, they won't make them again. However, given the level of cachet that GEC has in the knife collecting community, and the fact that human beings tend to like weird, quirky, shiny things, I think they'll not only sell all of them, but they'll have good resale value too. Just my two cents.

 

[Student762]

You dont get much more traditional than Ned Kelly whose famous last words "Such is life!" echo down through the years.What many peopke dont know is that just after he said those words before he hung...he was heard to have uttered a barely audible request. .."Has anyone got a beard comb?"Is what historians believe he said .Alas the trapdoor opened and he swung ...so we'll never know...some questions are best
left unanswered.

I hear he kept a beard comb in his armour...I mean... armoire

 

[r8shell]

Yes S Student762 ...quite the opposite could occur....this could for many be a tempting first toe dabble in the warm shallows of traditional knife collecting but bewaaarrre! Only a few inches from those little pinkies is the deep water, the depths of which you may never retuuuurnnn....come in the the water's nice...and look ...its only a short swim across to that inviting porch....

I think that applies more to this year's "modern traditional" forum knife.

Is it possible that these Beard Scouts were originally planned as rendezvous knives? I am under the impression that those are sometimes a little "outside the box" of traditional patterns.

 

[sitflyer]

I think it harms the brand because traditional knife making is something done with a particular mindset and value. Look at the Schrade and Camillus catalogues from the early 1990s and you can see the beginning of their end writ large with their attempts to diversify their offerings.[Edit to note that the business impact isn’t the essential point of this post].
In GEC’s case, you have a bunch of people who love this tradition and who buy knives for that reason.

Anyway, everyone has their own opinion and I understand that I may not get the type of humour here and GEC may not mind what I think of their choices.

Quirky, they don't like making knives with SS blades because... tradition...and then they make a knife with a beard comb...scratch head???

Personally, I find it all a bit humorous and entertaining, it doesn't affect me. Those that like it will buy it. The conversation around it has been fun to read. I have a boatload of GEC's and love them for their wonderful construction and materials and fit and finish. I'll keep adding them as I find offerings that tickle my fancy. Seems they are having a little fun with this one and nothing wrong with that.

 

[Mass1632]

Not sure why people keep calling it a beard comb. Having a beard, you get crumbs in it when you eat. I usually just brush them out with my hand. This is a utensil for doing exactly that, brushing the crumbs out of your beard. I dont want to get into my thoughts about people combing their beard.

 

[NewBlades16]

Looks like it is going to be Autumn leaf jigged bone too. These knives will fly ! The production line pictures show no combs have been made yet. Bill Howard could be playing with us. The Antique Autumn jigged bone GEC#33 Conductor knives were released today. I am happy ! These knives will be released before Octoberfest !

Will this be "war" too?

 

[Onearmbladenut]

Moved to "Wine & Cheese !".

 

[Pomsbz]

This is what they stopped SFO's for?

 

[Bastler]

Yeah, vulgar. Using a folding eating utensil for personal hygiene is pretty gross.

This was my first thought.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

I think it harms the brand because traditional knife making is something done with a particular mindset and value. Look at the Schrade and Camillus catalogues from the early 1990s and you can see the beginning of their end writ large with their attempts to diversify their offerings.

[edit to note that the business impact isn’t the essential point of this post- GEC may find a different market and do well. But as a customer I am able to express a preference for the type of product that appeals to me].

In GEC’s case, you have a bunch of people who love this tradition and who buy knives for that reason.

Anyway, everyone has their own opinion and I understand that I may not get the type of humour here and GEC may not mind what I think of their choices.

Oh ok. So it just makes YOU like them less.

Got it.

 

[5K Qs]

Is it possible that these Beard Scouts were originally planned as rendezvous knives? I am under the impression that those are sometimes a little "outside the box" of traditional patterns.

I wondered about that, too, Rachel.
I half-expect to eventually see an announcement that the Beer & Sausage knife was designed for the Rendezvous, but since this year's Rendezvous had to be cancelled, the knife would not be made after all.

Anyway, everyone has their own opinion and I understand that I may not get the type of humour here and GEC may not mind what I think of their choices.

GEC has a marketing strategy that's not compatible with my knife-shopping strategy, but their marketing works for them, and my shopping works for me. I think we can peacefully co-exist. I agree that GEC doesn't mind what I think of their choices, and I don't mind what (if anything) GEC thinks of my choices.

- GT