GEC beavertail history?

I don't think there's much of a story to tell. They started making Beavertail knives in bone and then in jigged wood with a beaver shield.
 
I don't have a 73. My Beavertail is a 23 made in 2007. The pattern goes back to the earlier days of the company.

Beavertail1.jpg


In the early days they stamped the year of mfg on the base of the blade. Later they integrated it into the model number. If you can give us the info written on the blade we could give you a bit more info, or look for yourself at the companies website. http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/information/production-totals-06-present/
 
Actually the term "Beavertail" can have two different meanings with regards to GEC knives. The term "beavertail" can generally refer to certain knife patterns such as the GEC 23 and 73, because of the wider part on the rear of the handle. These were the first patterns produced by the new Great Eastern Cutlery in 2006 and released starting in 2007, and Mort Canards knife is a good example of one. These patterns draw from the Queen Mountain Man, designed by Bill Howard. Later, in 2010, GEC started a series of knives in different patterns with Jigged Wood handle scales. They named this the "Beavertail Series" and these continue today, with the latest release being the John Chapman Budding & Pruning Knife, pattern #383215, released in April 2015.
 
What is the basis for the "Beavertail Series" ? i.e. what is common to the knives that makes them "Beavertail" ? I doubt it is handle shape as the 38 pattern is in this series.
kj
 
rma100 said:
Mort Canard said:
My Beavertail is a 23 made in 2007. The pattern goes back to the earlier days of the company.

Beavertail1.jpg
Click to expand...

Actually the term "Beavertail" can have two different meanings with regards to GEC knives. The term "beavertail" can generally refer to certain knife patterns such as the GEC 23 and 73, because of the wider part on the rear of the handle. These were the first patterns produced by the new Great Eastern Cutlery in 2006 and released starting in 2007, and Mort Canards knife is a good example of one.

...Later, in 2010, GEC started a series of knives in different patterns with Jigged Wood handle scales. They named this the "Beavertail Series" and these continue today, with the latest release being the John Chapman Budding & Pruning Knife, pattern #383215, released in April 2015.
Click to expand...

Aha-- thanks for the further information. I was looking at the above knife wondering, "But, where's the beaver?"-- meaning, the shield I associate with anything named "Beaver Tail." Wrongly so, as is being made clear here.

Do all the knives in GEC's "Beaver Tail series," dating from 2010, sport jigged cherry wood and the beaver shield?

383215-jc-jigged-brazilian-cherry1.jpg


This is what I remember seeing, without looking researching further.

(I will be officially shocked if any one naming convention or series in GEC's history encompasses "all the knives," but hey, maybe this is a first. :D)

~ P.
 
Thanks for the info & link. The answer is "Beavertail" is just a marketing term. Neither blades nor frame pattern share a commonality. The link to GEC site shows the wide variety of frame patterns being called "Beavertail". They do all have a beaver shield.
kj
 
kootenay joe said:
Thanks for the info & link. The answer is "Beavertail" is just a marketing term. Neither blades nor frame pattern share a commonality. The link to GEC site shows the wide variety of frame patterns being called "Beavertail". They do all have a beaver shield.
kj
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If you read my first post, you can see that I spoke of "two different" meanings for the term "beavertail". One generally describing a knife pattern, the other SPECIFICALLY describing a Series of Knives. Read the post.
 
I did read your post. I did understand the post.
Usually a 'series' of knives all share something in common more than a shield. I was looking for what is the common aspect of this series. Maybe all had a Beavertail like blade, more bulbous towards the tip end. but no. so it is just a marketing term.
I think what i am asking about/saying should now be clear.
kj
 
pertinux said:
Do all the knives in GEC's "Beaver Tail series," dating from 2010, sport jigged cherry wood and the beaver shield?
~ P.
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It's not always cherry wood. It's been bubinga & wenge wood in the past as well. Maybe others that I'm not aware of.

Can't say without looking if those other woods were pre 2010 or after.
 
The First in the GEC Beavertail Series was the Jigged Bubinga Wood #53 Furtaker Trapper. It was released in February 2010.
 
I have a question from the 2007 listings on the GEC website. What is the difference between the "Beaver Tail" and "Beaver Pond" knives?
 
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Something tells me that the lack of accuracy and consistency is not accidental... I think/suspect that GEC know that part of the appeal for collectors can be the absence of reasons and idiosyncrasies in product lines.
 
Camillus said:
Something tells me that the lack of accuracy and consistency is not accidental... I think/suspect that GEC know that part of the appeal for collectors can be the absence of reasons and idiosyncrasies in product lines.
Click to expand...
Since the original Beaver Tail and Beaver Pond knives without the Beaver shield were produced in the first few years of the company, I would think that it was not a planned lack of consistency but rather just a developmental process. When they figure out that the newer shield would add something to the knives, they made the changes. Just my $.02.
 
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