GEC worth the money?

I own a lot of Case knives and I own a lot of GEC. Both are great manufacturers. I whole- heartedly believe that GEC now and have been the best for some time. Fantastic Cutler firm- I personally rate GEC right up there.
 
Oh no. Definitely not. In fact, I know I certainly don't but I don't think anyone on this forum even owns one! :p
 
I no longer own a Case
and I don't own a custom.

GEC fills most of my needs in a pocket knife.
 
The guys with a collection of GEC can answer better because they have handled more of them. I sent my 56 in for repair because it didn't have a smooth walk and talk and it was starting to affect the nail. Case customer service seems to be better, but they are a larger manufacturer. GEC must be waiting to do a run of 56's to fix mine. I called after a few weeks and they said they wouldn't get to it for a couple of more weeks. Has anyone else had any experience with GEC returns?
 
pmew said:
Oh no. Definitely not. In fact, I know I certainly don't but I don't think anyone on this forum even owns one! :p
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:D
objection sustained.the defendants are prosecuting themselves.
If I had both I would prefer the GEC:thumbup:
 
GEC is definitely worth the extra coin to me. I don't really look outside of their offerings anymore, they generally have what I need. I love vintage knives and GEC is the closest thing I have found to matching the classics in terms of feel, execution and quality.

As to your specific knife in question, the #42 is one of my favorites and I carry one most everyday (green linen today!). The only issues to be aware of are the mediocre edges and that you may experience very slight vertical play

imagejpg4_zps08011b12.jpg
 
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What I can add here is if you ever get a chance to tour the factory and talk to the staff, you will totally "get it" about the quality and the work that goes into their products, they are very friendly and will go out of their way to answer questions.
 
navihawk said:
Has anyone else had any experience with GEC returns?
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I spoke with Christine about returning a knife for some work. I ended up not sending it, but during our conversation she mentioned that they don't have anybody designated for warranty work. The people that make the knives do the warranty work during lulls in production while they wait for more knives/materials for their station. With all of the #77s that they're pounding out right now it's not too surprising that the warranty work is a little behind.
 
Cory Hess said:
With all of the #77s that they're pounding out right now it's not too surprising that the warranty work is a little behind.
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While I understand your meaning Cory, I think "pounding out" is a rather unfortunate choice of words. For a small factory (24 employees) that produces about 300 knives a week, with all assembly, fit and finished work being done by hand, one knife at a time, I think "pounding out" is not an accurate description of what happens at Great Eastern Cutlery. I wouldn't want folks that are not familiar with the Brand to get the wrong idea.
 
I sent my #72 clip pt in stag and my #33 Conductor in stag to GEC for warranty work and I had them back within 12 days and paid nothing but shipping.
Minor issues btw...I broke the bail off of my #33 and my #72s blade was sitting proud and the tip was exposed when closed. All better now.
They were very nice to work with and I will be a GEC customer for life.
 
Their knives won't do anything a Buck 110 won't do... they are just finished a little nicer and have nicer cover options. The other thing is GEC tends to be more variety in pattern, handle material, blade pattern, swedges, nail nicks, bolstering..... etc. They are a low volume, high variety, shop with good fit and finish.

Case is a large manufacturer that makes great knives.... they aren't as consistent, but they can make a sweet knife.

I like both, but tend to have more Case knives.
 
If I had a choice between laying out $30 for a Case or $90 for a GEC, I might take the Case (nothing wrong with CV and yella, friends). If the choice were a $55 Case or a $90 GEC, I'd take the GEC every time.

-- Mark
 
I don't like GEC. It has nothing to do with fit/finish, but with their designs.

Their designs are thick, too clunky and I can't stand sunken pins. I also dislike 1095 for any pocket knife other than a basic one such as a basic Scagel pattern or sodbuster; give me a good high quality stainless any day in other models. Why would I want a fine shiny pocket knife with premium handle material to get an ugly patina, rust if put away damp and get black spots and pits when used with lemons and limes at the bar? There's a reason most every cutom slipjoint is in stainless.

I find Case, Queen and Schatt and Morgan designs and knives much more to my taste. Unlike most people here who shop on the internet, I shop at shows. We get a huge selection of GEC about once a year at our local gun shows. They look good in the pictures, but for me, they don't look good not in hand or feel right either. Never had one that jumped into my pocket and said "take me home...now". :)

For me, I think their thick toothpick is a good example of what I don't like about them. To me the toothpick is a slender slim long blade with a similar handle...not the GEC, the only company to make a "fat" toothpick.
 
"Their designs are thick, too clunky and I can't stand sunken pins."

For the pins, it's your preference. But I have to say that the single blade GECs I own, for instance the #15's and the #48's, are not fat & clunky. They are nicely rounded for carry. I hardly notice them in my pocket. They make 'em in so many designs, it's hard not to find something you'd like, but to each his own.
 
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brownshoe said:
I don't like GEC. It has nothing to do with fit/finish, but with their designs.

Their designs are thick, too clunky and I can't stand sunken pins. I also dislike 1095 for any pocket knife other than a basic one such as a basic Scagel pattern or sodbuster; give me a good high quality stainless any day in other models. Why would I want a fine shiny pocket knife with premium handle material to get an ugly patina, rust if put away damp and get black spots and pits when used with lemons and limes at the bar? There's a reason most every cutom slipjoint is in stainless.

I find Case, Queen and Schatt and Morgan designs and knives much more to my taste. Unlike most people here who shop on the internet, I shop at shows. We get a huge selection of GEC about once a year at our local gun shows. They look good in the pictures, but for me, they don't look good not in hand or feel right either. Never had one that jumped into my pocket and said "take me home...now". :)

For me, I think their thick toothpick is a good example of what I don't like about them. To me the toothpick is a slender slim long blade with a similar handle...not the GEC, the only company to make a "fat" toothpick.
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No sunken pins here. Fat? I think not:

P1000574.JPG
 
There are GEC knives with flush or domed pins yes, but a lot more of them do sport sunken pins. It seems most people don't mind this, I must say I value a knife with flush or domed pins, just looks a lot more carefully finished.

However, GEC generally gets the springs nicely flush on open, CASE and other more expensive competitors seem to find this more difficult to accomplish.....

Swings & roundabouts:D
 
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