Advice on my first Traditional

It's hard to realize all the high end steels that you thought you needed on a thumber were unnecessary 99% of the time.

I bought a SS or tru-sharp Case for my first venture into traditionals thinking I wanted it to stay "nice" looking...I quickly (like a week) realized that much of the allure of a traditional is the little things: the sound it makes as you hone it on a stone or drag it across the bottom of a coffee cup, the colors the blade turns as you cut different things - each one adding another chapter to the story of the steel and the peace you get sitting at the table oiling up the blade and pivot. So I went out and got a Yellar trapper in CV - a nice size compromise as the blade is similar dimensions to some one handers I owned. But after a while I realized that even it was more knife than I need and I went smaller - a Case Sway Back Jack in chestnut bone.

I've got knives with s30v, cpm154, 440, aus 8, all manners of stainless supposed higher end steels sitting on my dresser at home - in my pocket taking care of 95% of all my cutting chores is a Case SBJ with CV carbon steel.
 
pinnah said:
In some sense, putting a super steel in a traditional knife is sort of like putting modern fuel injected Honda motor into an old American muscle car. Yeh, it can be done but it ain't right, if you know what I mean.
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I don't know man - to me its almost like putting an LS-2 or other modern-day V8 in an older American car - which is looked down upon by some, but actually quite awesome to others :) I do see your point and I don't have a problem with the more traditional or less-exotic steels, but the cost is my only concern - if I'm getting what I paid for in the way of quality craftsmanship, then I'm ok with that (and it sounds like the GEC knives are well worth it).

I've owned a Strider SNG before, so I'm familiar with buyer's remorse so I'm trying to avoid that again :)

Honestly, after finding a few online vendors with better pricing, I think I'm ok with spending the money on GEC knives - if I want a Case in wood (which is pretty hard to find), I'm withing $20-$30 of a few of the GEC models I'm looking at anyways, and I know 1095 pretty well since I've used them in a lot of my fixed-blades (ESEE, Becker, etc.).

This will probably fall in the rotation of my "Church Knives" or knives that I carry when dressed up a little (I work in an office and have to dress up from time to time). I still end up cutting paper-products or open boxes, and cut strings or plastic bindings on packages, but this will most likely be a light-duty knife - I won't be attempting to do any survivalist stuff with it (though if I got a whittler, I'd be forced to do some carving/whittling with it :) ).

My norm EDC is a medium-to-large sized Spyderco or Kershaw and my SAK Midnight Mini-champ attached to my keys, so if I was to carry this one, it might end up being carried with another larger folder as well.

I appreciate all the advice though - this is seriously a huge learning experience for me.
 
Good luck, your going down the same road just about all of us have.

Some folks have always been traditionalists but a lot of us (myself included) have come back to them.

FWIW in regards to your classic car analogy: take a look at Barrett Jackson and tell me how many Resto-mods you see vs numbers matching and the prices they sell at.
 
Hi EZB,

You don't sound like a steel snob at all to me. I understand your thoughts, and I will say with GEC you are getting your money's worth in fit and finish alone. You have experience with 1095 so we don't need to explain to you how it is. I will say GEC does a great job with it though.

All the car analogies got me thinking.

Here is a pic of a friend Eric in his Challanger. He built it up himself and its an original 440 car. Mid 600 to the rear wheels solid 10 second street car.
KEV_5414.jpg


When he took me for a ride in it you get so many sensations. First the big block turns over and shakes the car, then the cam lobe makes the engine run with a thunderous idle that just shakes the ground. It is the kind of car that just gives you a rush and nails you back in the seat while it lifts the front tires off the ground.

I relate this to a good ole' 1095 steel slipjoint. Original to its heritage and just pure muscle and awesomeness.

Then another good friend Charlie with his SuperSnake
KEV_5421.jpg


KEV_5453-1.jpg


A mid 700hp RWHP car that is just silly. Stars up quiet and idles smooth. BUT SCARES THE LIFE RIGH OUT OF YOU on the street. Never really been in a car that instantly lights em' up at 130 in 4th gear when you roll into the throttle. WOW. Charlie let Eric take me for a ride in it. Eric could not even hold into it until over 150 in fourth. It broke my neck back where I literally could not move. Eric said with a grin ear to ear, "oh yeah its faster then mine!!" Did he like it better??? NOPE. He likes the charm and "little things" about his classic muscle.

The thing is, Charlie had a few issues with this and being so computer oriented and highly tuned he always had to revert to the Shelby shop when troubles arose.

I kind of relate this to your dream of S90v/titanium lined Slippy. Yeah, its going to be an incredible performer and outperform the 1095, BUT which one are you going to enjoy the most in the end? Which one feels right to you?

I picked 1095, traditional steel. To me, the savage scary sharp edge I can easily get with my translucent stone is the built 440 firing up. The S90v that you really need the right skills and tools to sharpen is the Shelby. If you don't know what you are doing, your calling the shop.

I just think get whatever you like but realize a 1095 GEC is nothing like the Fixed blades of ESEE or Beker. They are classic renditions heat treated very well that are a pleasure to use, sharpen and watch the character form and change over time.

Bigfatty, Shatt and Morgan, classic :D
 
EZ Bake said:
I do see your point and I don't have a problem with the more traditional or less-exotic steels, but the cost is my only concern - if I'm getting what I paid for in the way of quality craftsmanship, then I'm ok with that (and it sounds like the GEC knives are well worth it).
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I wouldn't hesitate to buy a GEC if I had the coin. There are a few that are on my radar screen to be sure.

EZ Bake said:
This will probably fall in the rotation of my "Church Knives" or knives that I carry when dressed up a little (I work in an office and have to dress up from time to time). I still end up cutting paper-products or open boxes, and cut strings or plastic bindings on packages, but this will most likely be a light-duty knife - I won't be attempting to do any survivalist stuff with it (though if I got a whittler, I'd be forced to do some carving/whittling with it :) ).

My norm EDC is a medium-to-large sized Spyderco or Kershaw and my SAK Midnight Mini-champ attached to my keys, so if I was to carry this one, it might end up being carried with another larger folder as well.
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Length of the main blade and what you wear normally definitely are things to consider. Most of my time in the office, I'm wearing jeans, khakis or some other heavy, loose fitting pant. I don't like clipped knives and with the pant I wear, I don't mind a folder with some length or heft. I regularly carry an Opinel #8 (very light, blade is in the 3.25" range) and just got a Buck 500 (substantial, 3" blade) and both carry fine for me in those kinds of pants. One thing I like about a larger non-clipped knife is that I can easily reach *past* them to get change out of my pocket. With smaller knives, I need to grab the knife and change at the same time.

That said, when I wear slacks, I do prefer a lighter, thinner knife. My Schrade 5OT fits that bill and if I were to replace it today, it would be with a Buck 501 or a Buck Canoe (nice thin profile).

(pictures of my most commonly carried knives follow in a bit...)


Regarding patterns... Here's an excerpt to a little tutorial I wrote for my nephew last year. I'm sorry for the basic tone of it, but I find this categorization helpful when sorting out traditional folders.

I think of pocket knifes as fitting into 4 major groups: slip-joints, locking hunters, farmer's or peasant knives and Swiss Army Knives.

The most common pocket knife is the slip-joint, which means that the blade opens and closes under pressure from a spring. Slip joints tend to be well under 4" when closed but can be a bit on the heavy side. There are a gazillion different patterns and blade styles and many of them grew out of different working traditions. If slip-joints appeal to you, it's worth spending a bit of time looking at the different patterns to get a better idea of which style appeals to you. Both the Buck and Case web sites are good places to start.

The Buck 110 was introduced in the 1960s and attempted to provide the durability of a fixed blade knife in a folding style. These are big knives and are meant to be carried in a belt holster. The Buck 110 became hugely popular among workmen and was widely copied by many US makers such as Kabar and Schrade. The blade locks into position with a sturdy "lock-back" design which requires your thumb to unlock. Over time, smaller versions of the folding hunter became available. Those that are in the 4" range when closed become usable as pocket knifes, but there is a quite a range available from thin to thick.

Somewhere in between the small slip-joints and the big folding hunters are the farmer's or peasant's knives. The two most prominent examples are the French Opinel and the US "Sodbuster". Generally these are about 4" when folded. Their blades tend to be bigger than those found on most slip joints but their joint isn't as tough as brass bolstered folding hunters. They are also known for being light and arguably, they give the most cutting for the least weight of all of the traditional designs.

Lastly, there is the Swiss Army Knife (SAK). I'm including them for completeness. They are generally slip-joints but there's so many of them and the fans are so loyal, they're worth mentioning separately.


Some of my most commonly carried knives...

The Buck 500. The blade is 3" and I don't generally feel under knifed for any EDC or utility use.

Buck 500 Duke by Pinnah, on Flickr

The Opinel #8. These are love em/hate em knives. I love em. They're inexpensive and need some modification to make them your own. They out slice anything pretty much and despite their light weight and stupidly low price, mine has proven to be very tough and capable.

opinel-leaves by Pinnah, on Flickr

Schrade 5OT lockback. Blade is about 2.75" long. Roughly equivalent to the Buck 501 only this oldie has a 1095 blade. I would consider replacing this with a Buck 501 or 503 someday for the prettier wood scales.

schrade-5ot by Pinnah, on Flickr

These are *my* choices and not yours. That's the thing about traditionals, there are so many more choices. You have to find what speaks to you.
 
I think its coming down to the Northfield Conductor in Ebony Wood (I like the Northfield over the Tidioute because of the Bail). It appears to be the only way to get the Conductor, with a bail, and have wood handles. The Ivory Bone is nice looking too, and I really like the Cranberry Perylic. But I just can't bring myself to get a synthetic material on this particular knife, and I still don't care for Stag, burnt Stag, or jigged bone (I do find myself appreciating the all-brown and patterned look of the Antique Yellow Jigged Bone on the Great Eastern Cutlery version of the Conductor, but it doesn't come with a Bail).

I did stop by a local knife shop yesterday afternoon and figured out that I really liked the Case Stockman (in smooth Chestnut Bone), and the Boker Carver's Congress Whittler (in Rosewood), so I might end up getting those two if I ever make it back to that store.


I find myself wanting several, but then sort of going through and eliminating each knife because of something I don't care for, which makes me feel like I'm being too picky.

This is friggin hard.
 
The Northfield Cocobolo and Snakewood White Owls with clip blade should be released soon. The spears are already out. The clip blade should look the ones on the #66 jacks/calf ropers and they will have bails.
 
2Dead said:
The Northfield Cocobolo and Snakewood White Owls with clip blade should be released soon. The spears are already out. The clip blade should look the ones on the #66 jacks/calf ropers and they will have bails.
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Hmmmm - that's interesting. I was just looking at a Bocote White Owl with a clip blade... I may have to wait on that one. Cocobolo would look very nice on that knife. For that matter, the Calf Roper I just found in Cocobolo looks pretty awesome.
 
So I was camping with the family on Mt. Nebo in Arkansas this weekend, and in the visitor's center, they had a display of "McCoy Knife Company" knives that were made in Mt. Ida, AR.

I asked to see a few and checked them out (the girl working there acted like I was crazy :D ). One had a tiny little bit of blade-play, so I asked to see another.

I ended up buying a Little McCoy and a McCoy classic (one was $20, the other was $27 - couldn't go wrong). Very nice wood with no shield, silver-nickel bolsters, 440HC steel with full-flat grinds, and made in the USA - pretty decent fit/finish and most of the blades were very sharp (one was a little dull, but I can sharpen it as soon as I get a chance).

Anyone heard of these knives before? I searched the forums, but couldn't find anything.

I've now got two Case's in smooth chestnut bone and a boker congress on order (considering a Queen Medium Stockman in Curly Zebra Wood pretty hard), meanwhile I'm trying to figure out which Northfield Conductor I'm going to get (as soon as I find one in the wood that I like).

This traditional knife stuff is more addictive than Spydercos are. I need to get a second job.
 
I could swear there was a topic on the McCoy Knife Company knives a good while back. Thought it was here but it must have been on another forum.

I remember seeing some pics and thinking that they looked like decent knives. Wish I could remember where I saw that.

Anyway, congrats. I liked them when I saw them.
 
EZ Bake said:
This traditional knife stuff is more addictive than Spydercos are. I need to get a second job.
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Welcome to the madness.:thumbup: With all of the different patterns out there being offered in a multitude of steel and scale choices it's easy to get carried away. It may be hard on the bank account, but you won't find a better bunch of enablers anywhere.:D


The only other time I remember reading about McCoy was from this past giveaway by Ken Erickson. I haven't ever seen anything else regarding the quality, but they do have a website.
http://mccoyknifecompany.com/
 
I've always liked my Case knives, so I will always recommend Case.
However, I bought my first GEC knife about 2 months ago, and now I own 6.
So, if you can fork over the cash...go GEC.
Conductor pattern with bail is sweet btw.
And how can you not like stag??? (Especially GEC stag)
 
Those Mcoys look a little like Bear and Sons?
I gotta wonder if there is a connection.

I would go for GEC when you want another slippy, they make a really great knife. Many different styles and and designs to feed everyone's knife wants.
They are constantly improving their selection and bringing fourth new knives.
 
Railsplitter said:
That's the thread I was thinking of right there. Thanks, Dan!
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No problem, Rick. I remembered Ken posting about it after Blade. It took me a few minutes to find the thread because I forgot that it was a giveaway. Then I got distracted by the company's website.:rolleyes: It seems like they are mostly sold in small hardware and farm supply stores in addition to quite a few gift shops. By the time I got around to finishing my reply, I saw that you had already posted and figured we were thinking about the same thread.
 
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I'd suggest trying to find a pre-bankruptcy Imperial Schrade. Or a pre-bankruptcy Camillus. Maybe an inexpensive Böker Tree Brand. But honestly, there ain't nothing wrong with an American-made Buck IMHO.
 
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