GEC Prototype - use or leave in the tube

R

red05

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Aug 19, 2010
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I was just curious to see if anybody uses a GEC prototype as an EDC. I just got a prototype calf roper in and really like this knife. Part of me want to use it but the other part of me wants to leave it nice and shiny in the tube. I don't have any other safe queens besides my grandfathers knives, and I'm just afraid I'll lose them.
 
If the prototype is the PPP ones I use all of mine. Most you can't read it anymore through the patina.
 
red05 said:
I was just curious to see if anybody uses a GEC prototype as an EDC. I just got a prototype calf roper in and really like this knife. Part of me want to use it but the other part of me wants to leave it nice and shiny in the tube. I don't have any other safe queens besides my grandfathers knives, and I'm just afraid I'll lose them.
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It's really up to you! I have one that I use all the time. For what it's worth in your decision-making process, GEC's "prototypes" are typically from the regular run (not true prototypes, ie, test knives by which to confirm and/or adjust design features), just with a different blade etch.

I made my own decision based on my own peace of mind regarding using the knife or not, and not on its "prototype" designation.

Either way, a calf roper is a great knife. Congrats. :)

~ P.
 
Why did you buy it? If you bought it because you like it, use it. If you bought it as an investment, put it away.

I have only one prototype knife I keep in the safe. Every other one I sold because I ddin't want to make the decision you are. :)
 
Well, I got this one in a trade. I had been wanting a calf roper and this just happened to be a prototype. I really like the stockman pattern and this looked to be a good size.
 
Pictures or it didn't happen!! :) I love the 66 Calf Roper. It is actually the first GEC I ever bought and my first traditional knife at that. It's all been down hill from there and now I can't stop buying them. I would use it if you like the pattern and it will be something you would enjoy carrying. The Prototype etch won't really make it worth much more than a standard one just as a serial numbered one doesn't make them worth a lot more. Maybe 10 bucks or so if you find the right person.
 
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Here it is. I finally got photobucket to work. It's tomato acrylic. I love the colors in it.

 
Read jackknife's latest Peanut story that just posted this morning and you'll know how a pocket knife feels when it sits in a drawer - cruelty I say!!! Use it. Enjoy it and appreciate it's beauty and quality as it becomes a part of your life...
 
Just so there isn't any confusion.......PPP signifies " Pattern Production Premier " which identifies the initial release of a new pattern only in the Tidioute line of knives and not a Prototype knife which is marked " PROTO "
 
The GEC Prototypes that I can see currently being sold online have the word "Prototype" etched in big letters across the front of the blade. Some knives have "PROTO" etched in a small circular logo in the center of the blade. These are not the knives that have the 'PPP' logo on the back of the blade. These Prototypes generally command a significantly higher price than what the regular production knives retail for. From what I've seen, the GEC Prototypes are usually only made as "1 of 1" or "2 of 2", which makes them more rare than the others.

The GECs that have the 'PPP' on the back of their blades are not Prototypes, they are "Pattern Production Premier" knives. They do not sell for as much as I see the Prototypes sell for, and there are generally more than just a few made. I believe Some of the 'PPP' knives are more rare than others because there were less produced.

I have and would use a pattern production premier knife, but nowadays, the more rare the 'PPP', the less likely I would use or keep it .
 
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Boggs said:
Just so there isn't any confusion.......PPP signifies " Pattern Production Premier " which identifies the initial release of a new pattern only in the Tidioute line of knives and not a Prototype knife which is marked " PROTO "
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Beat me to it! lol

However, I did not realize that the 'PPP' etching was only designated for the Tidioute line. :thumbup:
 
The first release of a new pattern has always been in the Tidioute line, though I've never seen stated anywhere that this will always be the case.

The first PPP designation came on the '09 Toothpicks, pattern #12. Every one of the 25-75 knives of each handle material made on the first run gets the PPP etch, therefore usually between 100 and 200 knives of each pattern. The earlier '09 and '10 productions usually had 50 serialized knives with anywhere from 0-25 more unserialized, while the '11 and newer productions have had 25 serialized and up to 25 unserialized.
 
burnside said:
The GEC Prototypes that I can see currently being sold online have the word "Prototype" etched in big letters across the front of the blade.
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Like so (faded through use):
IMG_3517.jpg~original
[/quote]

From what I've seen, the GEC Prototypes are usually only made as "1 of 1" or "2 of 2", which makes them more rare than the others.
Click to expand...

I'd amend the above to, "The GEC Prototypes are usually only marked as "1 of 1" or "2 of 2...."

Not to belabor the point (possibly too late? ;)), but unlike other GEC knives that feature covers or configurations in truly limited numbers produced (see Rare GECs for examples!) or are distinguished as being in the first-ever run of a pattern (PPP), the GEC knives sporting "Prototype" are one or two knives from a general run that simply receive different etches than the other knives in the same run.

For sure the knives etched as Prototypes are rarer than those that aren't marked with the word, but as best as I've been able to determine so far the "Prototype" knives... aren't. ;)

~ P.
 
I buy knives so that I can admire them through use, their intended "destiny". I would have a hard time owning a knife that I didn't carry.
 
After some thought, I'm going to carry it. I can't enjoy it if it is just sitting in my drawer. And some patina will make it look even nicer.
 
This sort of issue comes out now and then, and most of us know what it's all about (no matter what decision we make).
Personally, I think that you should use it (after all, it sounds like you bought it to use it). Unless it was a rare old vintage pattern (which might deserve preservation), I don't think any slipjoint should be a safe queen, but that's just me (I have one custom slipjoint and carry it all the time).
In the end, though, it's up to you; no one here can say if the pleasure of carrying it is stronger than the wish of preserving it, or the other way round :

Fausto
:cool:
 
its up to you, and everyone feels different about it, but I would be inclined to use it. I think knives are more fun when you use them, and as you say, the patina will improve the look, I saw a tomato acrylic half-congress on here somewhere that looked really great was it went grey and black with patina. All GECs are made in small runs and are in effect rare - but when every model is rare, then no model is, if you know what I mean.
 
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