Has GEC abandoned stainless steel?

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Stelth

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Jul 15, 2007
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I only own two GEC knives; both in their excellent 440C. I have a model 25 e-z open and a 4-blade Tuna Valley cattle knife. I'd like to get a few more models but I don't do carbon. I look at their new releases from time to time but I haven't seen anything new in stainless in a long while. The last stainless steel GEC I am aware of is the Navy knife. Is GEC still doing occasional runs in ss or have they abandoned it completely?
 
Stelth said:
I only own two GEC knives; both in their excellent 440C. I have a model 25 e-z open and a 4-blade Tuna Valley cattle knife. I'd like to get a few more models but I don't do carbon. I look at their new releases from time to time but I haven't seen anything new in stainless in a long while. The last stainless steel GEC I am aware of is the Navy knife. Is GEC still doing occasional runs in ss or have they abandoned it completely?
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The GEC folks have said that 440C is hard on their tooling compared to 1095, so they would rather stick to 1095. It's true that 440C is significantly harder to work with than 1095, especially using all the traditional manufacturing techniques that GEC uses. Combining that with the fact that GEC has no trouble selling every 1095 bladed knife they can produce, we end up with a scarcity of GEC stainless runs.

There are stainless alloys which hold a good edge and are not hard on tooling. Sandvik 13C26 and 14C28N spring to mind. There have been several discussions in Traditional over the years as to whether buyers would be interested if GEC used other stainless alloys instead of 440C. The results tended heavily toward the "no" side.
 
That date certainly is correct, but carbon steel was the norm for pocket knives other than SAK’s until at least the 70’s.

I think ease of manufacturing probably is the bigger reason.
 
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More stainless GEC's would be very welcome by me.. I mainly use my EDC to cut fruits and veggies to snack on, and when you do that with 1095 you'll get that carbon oxidation stink on your meal. Pretty much leaves them useless to me, so not a big fan.

Also knowing that fruit/tomato/etc juice is seeping down into your pivot, which cannot be taken down(pinned construction) for maintenance, puts my GEC's on the shelf as ornaments instead of users.

Would love some more stainless GEC's, in fact I'm done buying them unless they come in stainless!

Guess I'm not in the traditional mood these days.. :D
 
Need stainless, just use your SAK. That is not why I generally carry SAKs, but I clearly stainless holds up to more rigorous use and not show any patina.

To be honest about the GEC stainless issue, I care little and I'm comfortable with their 1095. A stainless (440C) knife would not nudge me to buy one way or the other. Buying is what it's all about from a manufacturer's point of view.
 
I prefer stainless, so I rarely even look at GEC. They make a great product and are very successful, so there is no reason for them to change their approach.
 
I would pay Sebenza money for a stainless Missouri Trader.

1095 on a user means choosing between Rust in the pivot area or regularly lathering the pivot in oil, and I‘d rather not have oily hands, oily pockets and oil on the fruit I cut with my GECs.

If it weren’t for the pivot „problem“, I wouldn‘t mind the carbon blade. Also not for a work knife. But GECs I mostly use as Gentlemans knives, for office carry, going out, cutting fruit etc.

Would love them in one of the Sandvik steels or similar, if that’s what would work with GECs tooling.
 
steff27 said:
I would pay Sebenza money for a stainless Missouri Trader.

1095 on a user means choosing between Rust in the pivot area or regularly lathering the pivot in oil, and I‘d rather not have oily hands, oily pockets and oil on the fruit I cut with my GECs.

If it weren’t for the pivot „problem“, I wouldn‘t mind the carbon blade. Also not for a work knife. But GECs I mostly use as Gentlemans knives, for office carry, going out, cutting fruit etc.

Would love them in one of the Sandvik steels or similar, if that’s what would work with GECs tooling.
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I like the Missouri Trapper too. I wouldn't pay Sebenza money for a stainless version however. That could probably be arranged as a custom in CPM-154.

With GEC's, I try to resist my urges to buy at least one scale version of each of their releases. I do resist and it is not futile.
 
Bill Howard & the folks at GEC have an almost cult like following that love their knives as is. So I don't blame them for continuing to do what they do best. I'm sure Chris Reeve has heard "why don't you make a flipper?" 1000's of times. He probably could, but it's not what CRK does best.

All this being said, GEC has produced stainless in the past and I too would love to see them produce one every now and then.
 
There are a bunch of threads on this in the traditional sub too.

I think one problem with this is that some (a lot) of the stainless fans aren't happy that GEC makes some knives in stainless. They want all the runs to include a stainless version so a huge up scaling of the process.
 
For me and my edc or hard use knives I prefer stainless. My work environment and life style makes it necessary and the tremendously good types of stainless now are very good. I do like GEC patterns and I bought a #29 stockyard whittler even though I generally want stainless and I don’t like the aggravating half stops, I just use care on what I’m cutting and keep it oiled. I keep an eye out for the different stainless models but so far they are hard to find and usually at a high price.
I would be pleased with a 420hc with good heat treatment if they came at a reasonable price. As far as the argument about being traditional, stainless has been around for a century now and that seems to me to be traditional well enough. And patina on the blade doesn’t have any appeal to me.
 
steff27 said:
I would pay Sebenza money for a stainless Missouri Trader.
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Here's a stainless Missouri Trader with maroon linen micarta handles that I recently acquired. This is actually one of the seller's pictures; the knife no longer has a fob!

gec42misssouri_trader small.jpg

knarfeng said:
There are stainless alloys which hold a good edge and are not hard on tooling. Sandvik 13C26 and 14C28N spring to mind.
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I have several knives with 14C28N and really like it. How are steels like CPM-154 and AEB-L on tooling? I like them, too.
 
Non stainless is the only thing keeping me away from GEC. I’m not a carbon guy, as many times as I’ve tried. I’ve even “ruined” two nice GEC’s because I’m so sweaty/salty and it’s so humid around me. I don’t have the time or desire to add another item to the maintenance list, for the maintenance a carbon steel would require in my hands.

ETA: Oh, and lockbacks. If I’m even sniffing around GEC, lockback is a big no go for me. I can’t stand that wiggle, and every single one of them has it. The followers deem it acceptable, but I just can’t use a knife that wiggles when locked open. That’s actually what ruined the couple I have. Sent them in to be tightened, and less than a week of light to medium use they were both wiggling again. Put em in their tubes and tucked them away. Check em a few months later.... rusted out.

That said, I highly respect the company and have no problem with the fact that they choose to keep it carbon. They make good money, and have a very large following. They make very nice patterns and I like most of their handle material options.
 
I like traditional Carbon steel knives, however if GEC does not do it for you, do not forget about Case, and Boker. Just an idea.
 
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