black mamba
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 23,082
The four inch, large stockman has been, for some time now, my favorite pattern of pocket knife. GEC’s #81 pattern has met with such rousing acclaim (with prices going through the roof!) that I decided to do a comparo between it and the knife which most likely spawned it, the Schrade 881. To compare apples to apples, so to speak, I chose a green bone version of each knife. The Schrade is a Parker-Frost branded knife from 1978, while the Tidioute is from 2013, and both have 1095 carbon blades.
You can see that the Tidioute is a slightly larger knife, both longer and deeper, although it is actually thinner through the pins. The springs are slightly softer on the Schrade Parker-Frost, about a 5 to a firm 6 for the Tidioute, but both have good snap. The one drawback to the GEC for me (otherwise I would probably have every handle option
) are the short bolsters. Not only are the bolsters shorter on the #81, but because it is also wider, they look even shorter. I think they make the knife look a little “blocky.” But both are beautifully made, and about as useful as a pocket knife can be.
Let’s see your photos of either of these patterns, and tell us what you like and dislike (if anything) about them.
You can see that the Tidioute is a slightly larger knife, both longer and deeper, although it is actually thinner through the pins. The springs are slightly softer on the Schrade Parker-Frost, about a 5 to a firm 6 for the Tidioute, but both have good snap. The one drawback to the GEC for me (otherwise I would probably have every handle option
) are the short bolsters. Not only are the bolsters shorter on the #81, but because it is also wider, they look even shorter. I think they make the knife look a little “blocky.” But both are beautifully made, and about as useful as a pocket knife can be.Let’s see your photos of either of these patterns, and tell us what you like and dislike (if anything) about them.
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