GEC Beagles

jmh33

jmh33

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Mar 16, 2003
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Just saw this on their site!! Being an avid Beagler who collects any/every knife I find with a beagle on it this is a must have!! Waiting to see how this goes!! First 2016 knife??? John
 
I'm digging it. Looks like the GEC version of the Peanut. Doubt it will be the first they make in 2016. Right now it's just a drawing. Should be early in the year though.
 
Hahaha @ Woodrow F Call, those poor vipers..always getting pushed to the back of the queue.

I must say it's a very interested knife. I do think it'll be another nice watch pocket knife, especially the spear with a secondary coping blade.
However.. It falls just a bit short in the closed length for me. Maybe I wish they had called it the corgi ;)
 
It's a serpentine jack and under 3" so it fits the pattern description of a "peanut"....though like many GEC knives, it is blocky compared to similar patterns from other makers.

I like the combination of the spear and sheepfoot blade. It's great to see more sheepfoot/Wharncliffe secondaries being offered by GEC. The combination of a straight edge blade and a blade with some belly has a lot of utility but unfortunately it's not common on 2 blade knives. The only other peanut with a sheepfoot/Wharncliffe secondary is the AG Russell pinched peanut and that is an expensive knife. My one criticism is that GEC usually makes the sheepfoot narrower than necessary. As you can see by the huge kick on the sheepfoot, there was much more room inside the well. A pen blade benefits from being narrow but a sheepfoot doesn't.

18-DRAWING-COYOTE-AND-BEAGLE.jpg
 
jmh33 said:
Just saw this on their site!! Being an avid Beagler who collects any/every knife I find with a beagle on it this is a must have!! Waiting to see how this goes!! First 2016 knife??? John
Click to expand...

Have you seen the "dog paw" knives made by GEC? I can't link the dealer page but they'll come up with a Google search.

 
The Coyote has my attention. I'm hoping there's a micarta choice or two in this run.
 
Might consider the Coyote but it is very small, for that reason I'm not interested in the multi-blade Beagle version, just too fiddly.
But, once seeing them, who knows?
 
Put it on a chain, beagles usually put their nose to the ground and sniff till they're lost :D
 
I do like little knives even though i now find them hard to open, so i shall be all over the the #18s when they come out.
 
supratentorial said:
My one criticism is that GEC usually makes the sheepfoot narrower than necessary. As you can see by the huge kick on the sheepfoot, there was much more room inside the well. A pen blade benefits from being narrow but a sheepfoot doesn't.

18-DRAWING-COYOTE-AND-BEAGLE.jpg
Click to expand...

That there secondary is GEC's coping blade, not a sheepsfoot.

Does that help? ;)

[Interesting observation about the size of the kick and its implications regarding "room." Thanks!]

~ P.
 
I thought I might be called out on that one. There's sometimes a fine line between GEC's coping blades and sheepfoot blades. My criticism is the same. They are unnecessarily narrow. I would prefer a wider sheepfoot or a wider coping blade.

This is common on GEC knives. The "straight edge secondary blades" ;) on their Eureka and Workhorse knives were like little tyrannosaurus rex arms. ;) :D I have several theories about why GEC uses the narrower blades. As far as utility is concerned, I think that a wider blade would be more useful... or at least useful for longer. I'm hoping that by posting this criticism that they'll change things up and start using wider straight edge blades in the future... either on full production runs or SFOs.

 
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Just to make sure it's clear. My criticism does not mean that I don't like the knives. I do like them. Life is not black and white. Sometimes forum discussions become more of an advertisement than a critical discussion... like the sponsored content episodes on Southpark. ;) It's a neat pattern. It looks like a scaled down version of their #56 pattern. And I would much rather have a coping/sheepfoot blade in place of a pen blade even if it's narrower than necessary. I would prefer a wider blade though.
 
I get exactly what you are saying Jake and agree whole heartedly. The coyote is just a mini houndstooth, I like the idea of it, if you like small knives I am sure it will be a great companion in your pocket. The 55 3.5" frame is perfect for me, my hands and my work, doesn't mean I am not intrigued. I would have love to seen both full size blades on such a small knife on the same frame.

I also like the bare end of the coyote. It would certainly be a welcomed update if the 55's were re-released. GEC did a great job with the 55, it is one of my favorite. I would have loved to see it be done as a jack with both blades as well. I got to hold one of the 48's made with the full wharncliffe and did not like how high it was in the frame when closed. Along with Jakes critique of the thin secondary I would add that nesting blades further down should be considered on some models, even if it means that the secondary wharnie be made 2/3 size. I consider small normal secondary blades 1/3. I just think their is room for such improvements to these modern-day traditionals. After all, the point of the knives is function and today's world has different tasks at which a knife is used for then 100 years ago.
 
Jake you made some very valid points. There's times I wonder why a secondary blade is made so small. As you point out, the Eureka is a great example. There's so much more frame there to add some "weight" to that secondary coping.

I do see the use for a small blade like that though, it certainly adds to its utility when doing precise and fine cuts which is the purpose of a coping blade to begin with, but some extra blade is always welcome. Sometimes when using a small secondary, I find my knuckles or hand almost getting in the way. Meaning that I can't get my hand and the knife in a good position to comfortably and effectively use the blade itself. Some more length or width however and the problem may be rectified.

edited to add:

These new patterns are so small to begin with that it may not be an issue though. But judging by the length measurements of the frame...that secondary is going to be tiny!
 
Good points, Jeff and Jake. Nesting the blades is also an important consideration in the design of a knife. On the 2015 Forum knife, the discussion led to lowering the sheepfoot so that it didn't stick out quite as far. GEC is also constantly improving and maybe we'll see some of these changes in the future. On this particular knife, the coping blade couldn't be lowered any further unless a recess was made in the handle to access the nail nick-- not a bad option to consider. As presently designed, there is still a lot of room inside the well for a bigger blade (there's a huge kick) so a wider blade wouldn't stick out any further. I wouldn't want them to make the blade sit up any higher.
 
I was mentioning the nesting in case anyone does a run with both main blades together. I also don't understand why one of these small knife runs does not have a lanyard hole in it? Be nice to attach an ebony one to my keys ;)
 
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