EDC a 77 (or how to devalue a collectors item)

This thread really grew legs! Great to see other folks' experiences with the 77 Barlow and thought on more highly demanded production knives. Keep the posts coming!

Some great info coming from knifeswapper knifeswapper , as well. Mike, thanks again for putting this one in my pocket.
 
knifeswapper said:
In early 2007 when I was first talking to GEC about a dealership; they assured me they were not going to become a slave to any large retail demand. They were going to make what they wanted in small numbers and divide them fairly among their dealers. That sounded pretty good to me, because I was tired and waiting behind huge orders at the other makers. Once they started doing SFO's for me, they would let me tell them how many I wanted made. The first couple of runs I took all-comers and put their name on the variant they wanted - then cut the order. Everybody got what they wanted and I even had some for the site for a couple weeks. But there were a couple other folks cutting fairly big SFO's; and after a couple years there were 4 or 5 really large retail shops that finally decided to jump on the bandwagon. So, they were spending a good bit of time on SFO's and it was only looking to get worse. I finally told Bill in a conversation, if he wasn't careful he was going to do nothing but SFO's and a couple huge runs of #15's in a year. He had already been thinking thru this and made a rule that no SFO can be larger than 500 (later it was essentially a rule that a standalone SFO couldn't be smaller than 500 either). It also became very hard to schedule SFO's. The "add-on" SFO's became a little more common, but they were not going to spend all their time on SFO's. His rule did help a little, and the difficulty in securing an SFO is a means they use to really space them out. They still don't make nearly as many patterns as they once did in a year, because runs that were once 50-60 knives are now 500. And the runs they allow add-on SFO's are generally 3000-4000 knives (which takes more than a month).

So, the short answer is, if they made everyone SFO's often and in the quantity they wanted - they couldn't make anything else. And I think we have all seen what happens when a company chooses quantity over quality....
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Thanks for taking the time to explain Mike!
 
knifeswapper said:
I finally told Bill in a conversation, if he wasn't careful he was going to do nothing but SFO's and a couple huge runs of #15's in a year. He had already been thinking thru this and made a rule that no SFO can be larger than 500 (later it was essentially a rule that a standalone SFO couldn't be smaller than 500 either).
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knifeswapper knifeswapper

Thanks for the background information on the SFO ordering process - I truly learned something here.

One question I have is, according to your above statements (and going under the assumption that you ordered all 4 covers of the most recent run in identical quantities), GEC should have delivered 125 of each cover type to you. I know that you only guaranteed 115 spots when you ran the raffle because sometimes GEC "shorts" (maybe not the correct term) the order due to extenuating circumstances.

My first observation is: if you are required to commit to ordering 500 knives, shouldn't they also commit to deliver 500 knives? I am in no way shape or form bad mouthing GEC, I am just trying to increase my knowledge on the process. Were 125 of each cover type delivered to you on this latest run? If no, how many of each type were actually delivered? If you chose not to answer that last question, I completely understand.
 
I didn't pay any attention to exact counts. But as you know from the factory pictures, the production process takes weeks on any given knife. Thus, if a knife doesn't pass final inspection, they can't just go pop another out. Also, if they come up short on something like ironwood, they can't just stop the process and wait for another batch of ironwood. That count gets shifted. So, generally, I was long on micarta and short on ironwood - but the total number was probably very close to 500.
 
Makes perfect sense - I never even considered the possibility of fulfilling the 500 knife commitment by shifting between one cover type and another. Thanks for the education Mike!
 
I didn't bond with my inkberry right away, I figured it was the pink. Then I realized it was the square butt! All previous wood and smooth bone had radiused edges and feel great. My WorkSharp as my "belt Grinder" did the job with the help of my drill press and a few cotton wheels and compound. Smooth as buttah and I'm pleased. I even really like the appaloosa pinkberry coloring it has now. This knife melts in you hand, not in your mouth.
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The second to last pic is a close up trying to show what I’m changing. Both sudes were rounded out evening and along the sides.
 
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One full week of carry. I cheated a little yesterday and used my Spyderco Gayle Bradley to cut some commercial-grade garden edging but I still had the Barlow on me!

Dad always told me to eat the cores but I'm not that old school...

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I was fortunate enough, after failing to draw for any of the four handles on the NF Barlow, to get the opportunity to buy an EDC model in the smooth elderberry bone. The S for Store is stamped on the tang of the coping blade, and just visible in the photo. The knife is virtually perfect to my eyes, except for one possibility: it only measures 3.67" closed, rather than the listed 3.75". Not much smaller, but most all the GEC's I have are within 3-4 hundredths of their listed lengths, not the 8 hundredths that this one is short. I'm curious if any of you with a regular, non EDC elderberry, could measure yours to see if they are closer to 3¾" closed.

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black mamba said:
I was fortunate enough, after failing to draw for any of the four handles on the NF Barlow, to get the opportunity to buy an EDC model in the smooth elderberry bone. The S for Store is stamped on the tang of the coping blade, and just visible in the photo. The knife is virtually perfect to my eyes, except for one possibility: it only measures 3.67" closed, rather than the listed 3.75". Not much smaller, but most all the GEC's I have are within 3-4 hundredths of their listed lengths, not the 8 hundredths that this one is short. I'm curious if any of you with a regular, non EDC elderberry, could measure yours to see if they are closer to 3¾" closed.

5XnHnUT.jpg
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Weird. I wonder how it could come up that much shorter than the others? Over-eager shaping of the handles once put together?
 
rswanson said:
One full week of carry. I cheated a little yesterday and used my Spyderco Gayle Bradley to cut some commercial-grade garden edging but I still had the Barlow on me!

Dad always told me to eat the cores but I'm not that old school...

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Very nice example you have there:thumbsup:
But I'd have to contradict your dad about the cores...cores have pips and they contain cyanide :eek: albeit in small quantity. No wonder they taste so foul:poop::D
 
black mamba said:
I was fortunate enough, after failing to draw for any of the four handles on the NF Barlow, to get the opportunity to buy an EDC model in the smooth elderberry bone. The S for Store is stamped on the tang of the coping blade, and just visible in the photo. The knife is virtually perfect to my eyes, except for one possibility: it only measures 3.67" closed, rather than the listed 3.75". Not much smaller, but most all the GEC's I have are within 3-4 hundredths of their listed lengths, not the 8 hundredths that this one is short. I'm curious if any of you with a regular, non EDC elderberry, could measure yours to see if they are closer to 3¾" closed.

5XnHnUT.jpg
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Same here. 3.673 Elderberry
no 'S'
 
black mamba said:
I was fortunate enough, after failing to draw for any of the four handles on the NF Barlow, to get the opportunity to buy an EDC model in the smooth elderberry bone. The S for Store is stamped on the tang of the coping blade, and just visible in the photo. The knife is virtually perfect to my eyes, except for one possibility: it only measures 3.67" closed, rather than the listed 3.75". Not much smaller, but most all the GEC's I have are within 3-4 hundredths of their listed lengths, not the 8 hundredths that this one is short. I'm curious if any of you with a regular, non EDC elderberry, could measure yours to see if they are closer to 3¾" closed.

5XnHnUT.jpg
Click to expand...
Same here for my "non S" ironwood example, measuring 3.675 or so. A full 1/8 inch off of the published length.
 
black mamba said:
The knife is virtually perfect to my eyes, except for one possibility: it only measures 3.67" closed, rather than the listed 3.75". Not much smaller, but most all the GEC's I have are within 3-4 hundredths of their listed lengths, not the 8 hundredths that this one is short. I'm curious if any of you with a regular, non EDC elderberry, could measure yours to see if they are closer to 3¾" closed.
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They were always 3 5/8"; the art girl at GEC just missed it. You don't see me advertising them at 3 3/4" anywhere.
 
Mike, thanks for clearing that up. The GEC website lists them at 3¾". Then I have no idea why this one is an S knife. Literally the grinds, the handle thickness and symmetry, the bolster to cover fit, the pulls, walk & talk, everything I can think of, are as good as any knife I have.
?:confused:?
 
Ending the week same as I started it. Haven't felt the itch to put my 77 on the shelf yet. It's a little bit liberating to not have to make the "daily knife decision." And I have to say that for most out of pocket tasks, there isn't a much better blade combination. I'm still contemplating lowering the secondary to make the clip pinchable but really haven't felt the need as much as I thought I would.

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