GEC and Do You Really Like Them?

ptradeco

ptradeco

Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
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I have for sometime privately rallied against the proliferation of GEC threads in the Traditional Forum. I have kept this to myself largely, and a few confidants, because they are apparently the preeminent American knife, slip joint anyway, knife maker. I have also noticed another proliferation of threads concerning GEC made knives. This is occurring in the Traditional's For Sale Forum. Are all of these GEC knives being offered for sale due to their proliferation in the marketplace or because they have manufacturing flaws? I do not start this discussion to inflame but rather to see what you all think. I have owned enough examples of GEC production to make my mind up but would like to here from the aficionados. No need to convince me one way or the other. Thanks. Remember, not to start a fire!
 
Could be the latest and greatest thing, good advertising, lots of patterns etc. The four or five I have are good in F&F etc. They are not any better than my well made Case or German Eye knives IMO. Others will feel different. They are USA made which I like.
 
What I often do is pick up a new pattern and see how I like it. However, my knife buying budget is quite limited so I often rotate out the ones I am not particularly taken with and maintain a relatively consistent number in the "stable." No examples I've had have had significant defects, and if I really enjoyed a pattern that had problems I'd send it back to the factory for some work.

I admit there is somewhat of a saturation of GEC on the forum but it is a sign of the times and I certainly enjoy the knives!
 
I think it's as simple as this...

1) There are lots of GEC's being made.
2) Lots of folks here are buying them.
3) Folks sell off knives they no longer need or want, often to fund more knives.
4) If GEC is the company currently making the biggest splash in the pond that is the BF Traditional community then their knives will tend to predominate the resale market here.

If all those GECs were going on the block because they had legitimate quality problems then GEC would be suffering for it and there would a groundswell of feedback from the community about it. I don't see either of those things happening.
 
So you're asking two questions as best as I can determine:

1 - Do I really like GEC knives?
2 - Why are people selling them?

I can answer those from my point of view.

1. Yes, I like SOME of them. A number of their patterns don't interest me, and I have about all of them I happen to want. The ones I own have reasonable fit, finish, and overall quality for the price.

2. I have bought three GEC knives through the forum. All of them were in good condition with no flaws that I could see. I don't know what the motivations of the sellers were, other than to change direction in their collecting or perhaps they found another similar knife they liked better and were raising funds.

As to why GEC-related threads seem to dominate the forum, I guess it's because Case isn't doing any real innovating, just releasing pretty much the same patterns in different handles. Queen and Canal Street have fairly limited product lines but people are interested to see what Queen may do under new management. Buck has their limited (and excellent) line of users, many of the others have gone out of business or sold the names and are no longer the same product.

People seem less interested in the imported brands currently, though Rough Rider gets an honorable mention now and then.

So GEC seems to be the only game in town for innovation, new patterns, direct involvement with the collector community, and something to spend your money on at the moment.
 
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I think Nate summed it up quite well.

There is a good reason (or several) why there are a proliferation of GEC threads on this board. And it isn't just hype, or the "latest thing," imo.

I own about a dozen GEC's, and I can say without question that the quality (and just as importantly - the consistency of quality) is better than I have seen with Case, Schatt & Morgan, and a host of others that invite comparison. Perfect? Of course not. But very, very good for a non-custom manufacturer - combined with excellent selection of patterns and materials.
 
I think many here are compulsive buyers/sellers who can only maintain a collection of a certain number due to budget constraints. Hence the frequent sales and trades. Since the majority of these are bought online you don't get a chance to actually get the "feel" of a knife till you can physically examine it after you've received it. Sometimes once you get it you then realize it doesn't quite click with you. Resale values of these GEC's are often at 80-90% of what you pay for them, so it's not that it's a defect it's just not quite what you had in mind. Put it up on the Exchange and many are sold in minutes.

For a production knife GEC's are very high in quality and consistency. USA made to old world standards is very important.

I've never gotten a bad one with quality issues. GEC is the only brand I bother with anymore. They're outstanding in quality for a non-custom made knife.
 
ptradeco said:
I have for sometime privately rallied against the proliferation of GEC threads in the Traditional Forum. I have kept this to myself largely, and a few confidants, because they are apparently the preeminent American knife, slip joint anyway, knife maker. I have also noticed another proliferation of threads concerning GEC made knives. This is occurring in the Traditional's For Sale Forum. Are all of these GEC knives being offered for sale due to their proliferation in the marketplace or because they have manufacturing flaws? I do not start this discussion to inflame but rather to see what you all think. I have owned enough examples of GEC production to make my mind up but would like to here from the aficionados. No need to convince me one way or the other. Thanks. Remember, not to start a fire!
Click to expand...

It was to be expected I think. I mean outside traditional folders Emerson and Spyderco to a large extent have done much the same thing creating a whole new side industry on the secondary market from many different angles. I don't see personally how GEC and the proliferation of threads on said products could be anything other than a good thing.
 
I'm sure there are just many being sold because there's many being bought. There's always at least one or two Chris Reeve for sale threads on the front page of the Exchange also, but certainly not because they aren't quality knives. They're just popular like the GECs.
 
I see a lot of GEC designs and materials that absolutely light my fire.... like, so so many. The two I own I absolutely adore for a long list of reasons, and the ones I own or have owned from other companies do not match up. I am talking about a very small sample size though, and know that I'm sure I could get a slipjoint from another company that I would love as well as get a GEC that I didn't.

But I would give away every other knife in my collection before I gave away my Conductor if that says anything. And the next (and perhaps last) knife I'll buy will be one of STR's GEC #15 EKs.
 
More of mine have been snagged off the exchange than had new, and only very minor F&F problems have been seen in a very small number of those. So I don't believe it is a manufacturing flaw issue at all, more a got to have it because of the hype, then folks want something else and flip them for available funds to spend elsewhere. My GEC's are users for the most part, and they really are a great product for that purpose. I also believe that some of the pickier collectors buy multiples, then select their keepers and sell off the rest, but that is purely speculation...
 
I tend to try a lot of patterns to find what I like best. I was onboard with GEC from near the beginning (2008) and so have accumulated a lot of their knives. They have also increased their production much faster than anticipated, and continue to come out with new patterns I either like better than some I already have, or just want to try out. When I sell GECs on the exchange, it is not to dump poor specimens (I've had only a couple), but to make room for new and different patterns.

I have purchased 134 GECs to date, and only returned one for an over-zealously routed pin hole, and gifted one with a cracked scale, which the factory would do nothing about because they no longer had any of the bone. The ones I've sold have all been quality knives.

Let me also add that I am not a super duper nit-picker. I do not expect a factory, production knife to be flawless, even though quite a few GECs have been close enough to my eyes. A sliver of light between scale and spring, or a tiny bit of blade play means next to nothing to me. Even expensive (four figure) customs are not perfect to a truly critical eye, though a lot closer. So I think a little more reason should be used when critiquing production knives.
 
Oh, and to answer your questions about a perception related to threads vs sales, easy... do a per-user study. You could probably then start identifying individuals who are talking a lot about GECs and then selling them off, victim to marketing and hype and dominant paradigm. As well you will be able to identify people who just like the GEC pretties :)
 
I like a good portion of their designs, but not all of them. I still feel a number of their designs look like they're on steroids. Some still have excessive pulls. However, for the most part they are my favorite knife company right now.

I started a knife group on Facebook called Slipjoint Addict. A member stated that there were too many GEC posts (I shared custom makers and Queens stuff, and Bob's Facebook posts for his shop). I told him that I liked GEC, and there was a bias, but there was no reason he couldn't post threads in the group about other knives. He never did to my recollection. Start some threads about other companies and their knives, and hopefully they won't get lost in the juggernaut that is GEC.

As for sales, I see no reason other than knife nuts are a fickle bunch and are already moving to the next toy before their knife has a chance to get a patina.
 
Being new to this hobby, I've noticed the same thing being at least 50% of the threads in this section having to do with GEC. Doing my research with more than half the posts being about GEC, I started there. Plus, being made in the USA and also made in Pennsylvania (big plus) so I started finding some patterns that appealed to me and bought some.

I don't know why most of the talk is about GEC, but I can take a guess that it is their build quality, and even more important the consistency of build quality. Also the many patterns they offer probably appeals to a larger crowd that way.

I also noticed the sales on the exchange being 90%+ of original price and will sometimes be sold in minutes. That part I don't understand as other brands tend to sell at 75% or less.

Myself, I've had to move on to other brands mostly because of the stiff springs in most of GEC products. I'm actually kind of glad since it has opened my eyes to a lot more selection.

Mostly I think it comes down to the Jones scenario - people tend to want to be part of what the crowd is doing similar to the iphone/ipad thing.
 
For someone that is relatively new to slipjoints, I have been very active in looking at many different brands as well as the patterns they offer. There is something about Case knives that seems "stagnant" to me, where the GECs that pop to me (I definitely do not like all of the patterns) seem to have weight to them that belies the short life of GEC so far. For me, the consistency in F&F and what my mostly uneducated mind considers as innovation in the modern resurgence in traditional knives leads me to really like them as a brand.
 
Brad, my first passion is 70's and earlier CASE knives. You and I had a lengthy and very enjoyable phone conversation several months back in regards to vintage CASE knives. I would've talked to you beyond the 40 minutes or so we had already spoke if it wasn't for the fact my wife called wondering where I was because she needed milk for some very important baking she was doing :)

Many of the answers/thoughts listed above are echoed by me as well. The sign of the times---I'm very pleased/impressed with GEC and love the abundance of them on the secondary market because I can try them out for less then new.

We'll have to pick up on the conversation we had several months ago---your a wealth of info and enjoyable to talk to :thumbup:

Take Care,

Paul
 
1 - Do I really like GEC knives?
2 - Why are people selling them?

1 - Yes, I really like them. Some more than others. Some not so much. Some not at all.

I only started collecting/using slip joints a few years ago so I don't/didn't have experience with various patterns and cover materials nor do I have nostalgia for any of the existing/passed companies. GEC has come out with many patterns I am able to try and put my own wear in to see what I like. Their cover materials look better to me than many of the existing ones out there. While some of their knives/patterns are thicker/bulkier than traditional patterns made by others, they seem to be working on that making smaller and thinner knives/blades. I have been trying production knives to figure out what I would want in a custom knife. While I could buy "old" knives over the net and 'bay, my luck hasn't been that great in getting quality. My GEC knives, while not perfect, have great and consistent quality imho. I can buy a new GEC in an old pattern and have a current company to back it up should there be an issue. I have found that I do look at other companies that make/made similar knives to my GECs if I find I really like a pattern. But not knowing what I'll get still makes me hesitant to get them at prices that aren't always lower than GECs. While I have a bunch of traditional knives now, GEC makes up about 70% of the collection.

2 - I can't speak for anyone else but I have sold a few GECs, some recently. If a knife is flawed, it goes back to the factory, not the Exchange for someone else to deal with. I have sold hard to find GECs to friends that really wanted one but missed the boat, usually for less than I paid for too. I have recently sold knives not because I don't like them, but because they are popular, I'll likely not be carrying them, and to fund new knives. Those new knives are mostly GEC too. GEC is coming out with more #48s which are my favorite and I'm expecting 2 custom knives before the end of the year. Also, having recently joined the unemployed has led me to look at money already invested in knives to fund new purchases rather than just store the knife and pay out of my paycheck.
 
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I like them, yes.
Are they better than Case or others? That's an opinion.
I like carbon steel. Case doesn't seem to want to do much with carbon. I dislike yellow delrin, so right there I have limits with modern Case CV. Glued shields also bug me. I don't like having glue holding any part of my knife together. It's just a personal thing.
I also favor wood handles. Case has limited offerings in ebony. I can't recall seeing a cocobolo Case, though with their long history I'm sure one was made somewhere and sometime.
Vintage Case? Different story. I love vintage Case knives, but they are not always affordable to buy as users and it's a hunt to find a pattern you want.
GEC gives me carbon steel, pinned shields (or no shields at all!), woods from the exotic to the mundane (not that ebony is ever mundane in my world), endless variety with new patterns coming all the time, not to mention the great SFOs.
All this, plus I visit them once a year in the summer. I've met and spoken with the owner of the company. He personally sharpened up one of my knives for me and buffed up the ebony for me. The owner of the company! They employ about 20 people who are hard working Americans and I like giving them my money.
So yes.
I guess I like GEC :)
 
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