Get out the tar and feathers...

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I personally really enjoy many of the patterns and configurations Great Eastern puts out. The blade profiles, clean lines, transitions of fit and the overall finish seem to be exactly what I look for in a traditional pocket knife. I don’t care for the more novelty style knives they do, I have no need for cap lifters, combs or things of that nature. I have had a few GEC’s with issues (mostly minor) but I have also had hundreds pass through my hands in the last 8 years. It’s been an extremely low percentage of knives from GEC that I had issues with. I can’t say the same for any other brand and I have handled much less of the other traditional made brands. Most of those issues from GEC would be a lighter pull which is subject to the user, I like a stiffer pull.

I also get frustrated with some of the pricing and availability of GEC. I have no solution to the buying and flipping which makes them hard to grab. If there’s a demand for something people are going to try and profit off it. It has taken more time and energy than I would like to allow from life for these, that’s for sure. I suppose I like what many other people are also trying buy. I play the same game everyone is but like any other hobby I have had it cost me money, it doesn’t make me any. High prices take the fun out of it for me so I don’t spend as much as some on individual knives. I’m very patient when I need to be with second hand buying or I buy from lower cost dealers. I guess the sacrifice is my time instead of just paying up for what I’m after. Making friends and helping each other obtain these silly knives has been the best part of accumulating knives. Without the people I have met over the years I probably would have got bored and stopped buying and trading knives altogether.

I’ve looked to other brands that may save some money and are easier to get but I haven’t found a good alternative that checks enough boxes for me personally. I love the vintage brand knives but when I find something I like in good shape it seems to be even more expensive. Just try to keep it fun no matter what brand or style you’re chasing.



James
 
MolokaiRider said:
I think you are missing the forest for the trees.

These are slipjoints hand made by people. They are made by using contemporary methods to emulate knives made in the late 19th and early 20th century.

They do this well, and in that same vein, we have yet to see another manufacturer hit this mark as well as GEC does.

The definition of perfection can be associated with if they align with their intent, which it does.

Natural materials will have variance. Hand made products will have variance.

Disliking a pull strength, or a sharp corners are not issues, but rather a preference.

A lack of availability due to flippers buying them up to re-sell at a higher cost is an issue...sure. But that is not GEC's fault.

If there are indeed issues, I have not read any here in this thread yet.

I don't equate this as groupthink, but as being objective to what actual issues there may be.
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Ok, I know they mostly hand make knives. Thats fine. Great. They do a good job. But...

Sharp corners on the knives is not a preference thing. It is a tool. Supposedly anyway. How exactly are sharp edges on your hand a good thing for a tool to have? Do you have a preference for your scewdrivers to have sharp protruding spots? Hammers? Thats bad design.

As far as pull strength, yeah I guess some people like their ridiculous nail breaker pulls so that is subjective. I guess I just need to eat more Wheaties or something, because GECs sometimes are kinda painful on my thumbs to open. Some of their knives I would honestly be a bit nervous about trying to open. Especially since they add half stops to most knives which makes for a jerky opening.

The bone splinter thing is an objective issue. Not sure how you can spin that one into a subjective preference. Maybe you like your knife leaving a little reminder of GEC quality in your thumb? I did not.

Also, the crap warranty is an objective problem. I guess you could spin it though. Maybe the crap warranty keeps collector values high due to some knives getting trashed and not fixed, thereby making the remaining knives more valuable? Lol
 
Danke42 said:
I would say it would be more like the carpet store gave you rugburn.

For GEC I think the mostly great is what draws many people in. It shows a human element in the knives vs. a clinical more modern machine made and robot assembled knife.
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Rug burn is something you give yourself. I did not spend an hour trying to get their jigged bone to splinter into my hand, I just reached into my pocket...
A sharp bone splinter to the thumb is not an endearing old timey charm. It is poor fit and finish.
If a Rough Rider or Case had done this and I complained on here, people would say "wow that sucks, what poor F&F. You get what you pay for, at least it was cheap. That is why I never buy one without inspecting it in person." Instead of "the splintering bone shows that they put love and care into it". Just saying.
 
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you arent the only one. Some time ago when they reran the 92s, I finally got one in that jigged bone. It was a highly recommended pattern and after I got one deleted, it went in the pocket. However, over time, I noticed the bone splintering that made me put it back in the tube. Havent taken it out much since. Ive often felt, bone might need to be babied a little. Wood is a bit more forgiving.
 
Blues said:
I have one GEC, (which I was gifted), and it's a perfectly fine knife.

Further, affiant sayeth naught
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Blues said:
I have one GEC, (which I was gifted), and it's a perfectly fine knife.

Further, affiant sayeth naught.
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Me too! A nice gentleman on here gifted me one many years ago. An EZ opener red handled wharnie. Great knife! So nice that I wanted to get another one. I put myself on email lists with different dealers to get notified when they were available but as soon as I got the email they were sold out. Time after time. They're too hard to get. Plain & simple. I wish they were more readily available but until then, I'm happy with my Case CV knives.
 
mrknife said:
you arent the only one. Some time ago when they reran the 92s, I finally got one in that jigged bone. It was a highly recommended pattern and after I got one deleted, it went in the pocket. However, over time, I noticed the bone splintering that made me put it back in the tube. Havent taken it out much since. Ive often felt, bone might need to be babied a little. Wood is a bit more forgiving.
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Pretty much all the bone covered knives that I have are tough as nails with no strange issues like this...except for GECs. My Cases and every other bone covered knife I have had have been fine with no babying.
 
JTR357 said:
Me too! A nice gentleman on here gifted me one many years ago. An EZ opener red handled wharnie. Great knife! So nice that I wanted to get another one. I put myself on email lists with different dealers to get notified when they were available but as soon as I got the email they were sold out. Time after time. They're too hard to get. Plain & simple. I wish they were more readily available but until then, I'm happy with my Case CV knives.
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Yeah, I am with you. I wish Case would do more CV though.
It is just exhausting to jump through the GEC hoops and then fail, and see the knives you want getting resold the day after they sell out for a scalpers price.
Not to mention seeing people on here hoarding multiples of every variety of every run and then telling other people that its easy to find GECs and there are plenty to go around. Lol
 
I've gotten more than one from GEC, with catchy jigged bone but man are they nice when broken in and smoothed out.
There are few knives I own that I didn't have to "touch" when received.
From krinking blades to center, smoothing jigged bone, improving dye, securing scales to shaping stag and maybe correcting other "flaws".
And that covers ALL knives I have from a plethora of makers. GEC knives are MUCH better than most.
There just very seldom is a perfect traditional pocket knife ... I have one or two ... but they are the exception.
For me, it's a given that virtually no traditional knife is perfect and will need to make it mine and to my preference, new or used.
I'll take sharp edges and catchy bone ... I expect a new knife, not a used one ... unless that's what I'm shopping for.
And not only is it nice that people aren't being a dick, but not even a "bonehead" ;)
 
CVamberbonehead said:
Yeah, I am with you. I wish Case would do more CV though.
It is just exhausting to jump through the GEC hoops and then fail, and see the knives you want getting resold the day after they sell out for a scalpers price.
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I won't play the flippers market. If I can't get it from a dealer, I won't get it. & yes I agree with the Case CV statement. I won't buy their stainless, The Rockwell hardness must be 52-54. It dulls after one cut.
 
GEC pulls have improved a lot since the early 23s and Cubans. They do get the odd one wrong but they are generally fine these days, similar to Victorinox.
 
theyve dropped the ball on pulls on several occasions, 97, 92s (most recent), 14s (2022)
 
I think we can all agree GEC knives aren't perfect. They're assembled and finished by humans, and humans aren't perfect by nature. Being assembled and finished by hand they normally turn out a darn fine looking knife for the price (pre-dealer and consumer flipper prices). We need to keep in mind these are production knives, not customs. I think people forget that when they willingly over pay for them.

My biggest issue with the company is on the distribution side. GEC is standing by allowing a handful of their dealers to sell their allotment of knives to back door buddy lists, rather than give everyone a fair chance at purchasing them. In my opinion that's not a dealer, that's someone with an inside connection. They also turn the other way when some of their dealers flat out flip their allotment of knives. They haven't changed anything about either of these issues and in my opinion it shows they don't care to try to get as many knives into potential customer hands, but rather just want to ensure they keep their dealers happy.
 
When I got my first 77 I thought it had a crazy heavy pull. Now it feels like nothing.

Same with my 73. Now it’s stout but not unmanageable.

23? Same deal. Don’t know if the knives broke in or I just became more manly.

But to get back on topic with this thread…

I don’t like the UnXld shield, I’m not a huge fan of the cloud, don’t love the hotdog… in general I wish they did more federal style shields or bombs. Don’t like the new heraldic shield particularly either. If they did every knife as an acorn I’d be ok with that. But it seems they hardly use that one too, even when they occasionally do something in 440c.

I also don’t like how they generally never reissue knives exactly as formerly. Sometimes that combination was the sweet one and I just want a chance to buy one.

And I don’t like how people complained about something silly like “blade rub” and now when they do whittler patterns the main blade never has such length that it rests between the tangs. I heard they changed this after the Grinling Whittler and the bellyaching of some customers. This smacks of lowering standards.

I also don’t like how mediocre some of the stag is. Makes me extremely reluctant to ever try for stag since I’m not on the “special lists” and would probably get run of the mill stuff after the good ones get cherry-picked. Not that I begrudge privilege I just wish some of it wasn’t mismatched and kinda ugly.
 
mrknife said:
Remember when you got Bill to do a really really long pull? Pepperidge farm remembers,


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Technically mine is longer :p


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🤣
 
Old Engineer said:
When I continued to have issues with a major auto brand , I switched brands .
CVamberbonehead CVamberbonehead : Since in your opinion " GEC is the most over rated thing since the Mona Lisa " , will you be buying any more GECs ?

Harry
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Well, if a GEC cost me $20,000 like a truck then yeah I guess that would change things and I would not buy them anymore? lol
Since they don't though, and I just think that they are overrated but I still like them... then yes I will probably get more at some point. They end up on the exchange and I will buy users when they are not priced too high. I can like the Mona Lisa and still think that its overrated.
 
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