HELP PLEASE: New Small Traditional Folders

The Burgh

The Burgh

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Jan 22, 2015
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Have a pretty nice small accumulation of custom fixeds and modern folders (Wm. Henry, CRK, Kizer, Brous, etc. ) to pass along to my Grandsons. The common themes have (mostly) been various wood scales (undyed), approximately 3"-or-under blades, clip or drop points. "Real pretty," "high quality," "superb fit 'n finish," "will-hold-their- value" all come to mind with all my knives.

Without more info, I'm drawn to stag and wood scaled clip ponts with one or two blades in the slipjoint category.

Can you please offer candid (even biased) opinions on brands, models, knives, dealers, etc. for new traditional folders?

Thanks very much!
 
Sounds like you are looking for Great Eastern Cutlery knives. Their knives fit the "Real pretty," "high quality," "superb fit 'n finish," "will-hold-their- value" that you mentioned.

Lucky for you, this is the right place, as many here are fans of their product line, me included.

For a list of their distributors, go to http://www.greateasterncutlery.com/our-distributors/

Of those listed, Knives Ship Free, CollectorKnives, Gunstock Jacks Knives and Collectibles, and Grand Prairie Knives are all BladeForums member dealers, and the first three are very active participants in the forum here and are well respected.
 
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Can't go wrong with Case. Check out a sway back jack. My sway back jack never leaves my pocket. And it has serious competition.
 
What John said! Great Eastern Cutlery is what you are looking for. They make a ton of patterns with clip points so I'd browse their site and the dealers sites and find the ones that appeal to you the most.
 
GEC is primarily what you are looking for with special attention paid to the Tidioute line.

But, one thing to keep in mind, being new to traditionals, you aren't that sure about what you are looking for. One easy way to remedy that is to look into Rough Rider, or older knives like Schrade Walden, Hammer and multiple others.
By doing this you will be able to get your hands on knives that have good steel (if buying older U.S. knives, the Schrade Walden and hammer I mentioned) and a Bunch of patterns through Rough Rider without spending the coin. You can get 3-5+ Rough Riders for the cost of one GEC that you aren't sure if you will take to the pattern.

Good luck and welcome aboard.
Btw, keep an eye on the exchange for a GEC Sodbuster in O1! A Great knife in a Fantastic steel. One blade, slight clip/trailing point and a this O1 that was ran hard to take a Great edge.
 
GEC (primarily) and Case are what I carry. To echo what others said GEC has a wide variety of patterns to fit most if not all tastes (if you can find them). I also agree the #71 with O1 steel is a must have, I take mine with me every time I'm in the outdoors (it is a perfect utility blade and great at cleaning small game).

My problems with case are they have a very limited selection of carbon steel bladed knives and over all they don't have quite the variety that GEC does (I really like capless-single bolster knives and Case has very few).

I really love the Case Swayback Jack, but they're tough to find (especially with CV steel), and they're not listed as in the lineup on their website. Not sure if they've been discontinued or they're just made in limited runs (I don't really have time to keep up with that stuff), but I'd like to see a lot more of them. Maybe someone out there as some more info on it??;)
 
NJBillK said:
GEC is primarily what you are looking for with special attention paid to the Tidioute line.
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My personal preference from GEC are for the higher trim-line Northfield models, and the actual "Great Eastern Cutlery" branded stainless models. I like long pulls over nail nicks (where practical), polished blades, swedges, and the more embellished bolsters, and that means Northfield. I do have several from their Tidioute line and they are great knives, but in general I am more drawn to the (more expensive) Northfield models.

MadMaximus said:
...I really love the Case Swayback Jack, but they're tough to find (especially with CV steel), and they're not listed as in the lineup on their website. Not sure if they've been discontinued... Maybe someone out there as some more info on it??;)
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Case is not currently making their Sway Back Jack in Chestnut CV steel. That is not to say that they won't ever do it again, but it's discontinued for now. I believe they dropped it right about when they added the Sowbelly in the CV.

I have plenty of Case knives and they are my most frequently carried knife brand (other than Victorinox, which is my #1). However, I got the impression that the OP is looking for top of the line, based on the other makers he mentioned. I love my Case knives but they aren't up there with GEC for consistent fit/finish and beauty or retaining their value, with the exception of the annual Case/Bose collaboration knives, which run up in the $300 to $450 range depending on the particular pattern.

Another brand to look at is the Northwoods brand owned and sold by KnivesShipFree.com. Derrick Bohn has those made to his requirements by both GEC and Queen (currently) and they fit all of the OPs requirements.
 
Can't go wrong with a Buck slipjoint, USA or China made. Excellent fit 'n finish, no one has a better heat treat on the 420HC blades, and they will not break the bank, and regardless of the country of origin, they have the same forever guarantee.
 
jc57 said:
My personal preference from GEC are for the higher trim-line Northfield models, and the actual "Great Eastern Cutlery" branded stainless models. I like long pulls over nail nicks (where practical), polished blades, swedges, and the more embellished bolsters, and that means Northfield. I do have several from their Tidioute line and they are great knives, but in general I am more drawn to the (more expensive) Northfield models.
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It has been a long day at work, and it isn't over yet. Thanks for the correction, now to take a look at those since I have been wanting a nice stainless traditional.

Sorry for the slight derail.
 
It wasn't a correction - we each have our own preferences. I was just sharing mine. Some people much prefer the Tidioute brand line over the Northfield. Hard to find any of the GEC stainless knives these days - they don't seem to produce them very often, and when they do they are in some of the less common patterns. Most recent run was in the Mako pattern.

But all are made by GEC to the same standards, just different choices of handle materials and trim.
 
just a thought worth what's paid but look at some of bob dozier's folders. based on the william henry's alone,the prices shouldn't make you jump out of your skin. lotsa nice custom classic folders out there,just depends on your price point-boses' are always nice,including collabs. a.g.russell's always has some great stuff as well as the cutting edge. look at the gec's but don't stop there. ksf has some nifty new barlows in their northwoods line-classic look with cpm-154 steel.
 
GEC is the popular brand here on the porch, as well as Queen and Case. I've been rather disappointed with case during the past couple of years where others haven't, but then I like my Queens too where a few others don't. The one company I really like though they don't have as much selection as the others in Canal Street Cutlery. The knives I have of theirs are beautiful and simply perfect. I haven't seen anything negative on them other than limited selection.
 
I hear you on the "good dog , and good blade" and yours looks like a winner . Haven't quite figured out how to post my boy , but he is also a GS.
 
DrewskiB said:
I hear you on the "good dog , and good blade" and yours looks like a winner . Haven't quite figured out how to post my boy , but he is also a GS.
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Thank you. He's been a dandy, however he's in his twilight years now. Most people don't recognize what he because of the color and the length of the coat. I'm impressed. I talk about him a little in my blog entry "Of Knives and Dogs". He's been my pride and joy.
 
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