I don't smoke, but I love this cigar (GEC White Owl)

S

SubSpace

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May 26, 2011
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Just received my second GEC knife yesterday, a White Owl in ebony. I've never owned a wood handled knife before, but after doing some reading on this forum I decided ebony was just what I was looking for. I'm in the minority in that I actually think I prefer this White Owl to my Conductor. Just a tad. I love the simplicity of it. I like simple things that do what they are designed to do, and this White Owl is a no-frills yet beautiful pocket knife. Two blades. One spring. Big enough to do anything I ask of it. Small and thin and light enough to go unnoticed. I think this may be "the one" for me.

Time, of course, will tell.

The only negative thus far is it is the dullest knife I ever received from the factory, but about fifteen minutes with the Sharpmaker and it is now up to my standards of sharpness. GEC's 1095 seems to take a little more effort to sharpen than Case's CV, but it got there and life is great.

I did my best with some photos, but I am no photographer. As an aside, is there any special care that should be given to the ebony scales?

Thanks for looking!

Andrew

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I agree, the White Owl does have those unmistakable classic lines. It looks as if it just walked out of an 1800s catalog. Yours, in ebony, sings.
 
SubSpace said:
Just received my second GEC knife yesterday, a White Owl in ebony. I've never owned a wood handled knife before, but after doing some reading on this forum I decided ebony was just what I was looking for. I'm in the minority in that I actually think I prefer this White Owl to my Conductor. Just a tad. I love the simplicity of it. I like simple things that do what they are designed to do, and this White Owl is a no-frills yet beautiful pocket knife. Two blades. One spring. Big enough to do anything I ask of it. Small and thin and light enough to go unnoticed. I think this may be "the one" for me.

Time, of course, will tell.

The only negative thus far is it is the dullest knife I ever received from the factory, but about fifteen minutes with the Sharpmaker and it is now up to my standards of sharpness. GEC's 1095 seems to take a little more effort to sharpen than Case's CV, but it got there and life is great.

I did my best with some photos, but I am no photographer. As an aside, is there any special care that should be given to the ebony scales?

Thanks for looking!

Andrew
Click to expand...

I believe GEC runs their 1095 harder than Case runs their CV. As a result the GEC takes a bit more work to sharpen, but holds an edge better. (I've tested the edge holding and sharpening. I'm guessing on the reason.) The performance difference is about the same as that between the Schrade Old Timer 1095 and Case CV, and for the same reason. Everything about the GECs is top notch, not just the fit and finish.

Congrats on the knife. She's a looker.
 
Thats gorgeous!!! :thumbup:
I love those scales, the Ebony isn't too black, but it's wonderful.

This write up has be looking, dang it, dang it, dang it.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Wise choice (Owls are a symbol of wisdom) I've been very pleased with mine-the Kryptonite is a bit bright but somehow oddly suitable for the Cigar shape.
Mine came sharp-but that's never certain on GEC stuff and I too have found it tougher than CASE or Böker equivalents.
I like this pattern a lot, the Clip Master is broad and not too thick, the knife is excellently finished, no hint of rub here. I welcome the lack of half-stops on WO, smooth opening with satisfying snap, like the Conductor. I've tuned mine up a bit by filing down the corners of the tangs, fearfully sharp in the pocket but now smoothed nicely.

Does anybody have one of these in Dead Skunk please? I was going to get that scale but don't like the current rendering of this acrylic, the earlier versions looked better- less red and no grey swirls I think.

This really is an excellent pocket carry, I look forward to their next issue of these knives.
 
willgoy said:
Does anybody have one of these in Dead Skunk please? I was going to get that scale but don't like the current rendering of this acrylic, the earlier versions looked better- less red and no grey swirls I think.
Click to expand...

I've got this one. Reminds me of a barber pole. On the whole, I agree with you in thinking the older dead skunks of GEC looked better.

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Thanks BB! That's what I thought, too much 'blood' in it-or a bit like a SAK that's got bleach spots...The earlier stuff had much more black and the white was more cream colour I think. Just my view of course and it's a very decent pattern whatever scales you choose.
 
Theese white owl pattern is very nice. Real Old-School, I think. On this pattern, I like the straight lines.

Kind regards
Andi
 
Bob, it looks very good with a Spear master as well, these are fine knives everybody.

Andi, it also looks excellent when open, the blades comes out nice and straight, no droop.
 
Thank you Will! I gonna set that pattern on my list for the first GEC.

Kind regards
Andi
 
I love the white owl. I decided to go with the snake wood and bail. Here is a quick picture I just took while at a coffee shop :)
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Hey Andrew. Nice looking knife, and nice pics! I've been a real Conductor fan ever since I got my first one, but I agree that the White Owl gives it a run for the money. I believe it was Rick (from the ashtray of California) that said the WO doesn't have quite the tendency to roll in hand, being wider than the Conductor. I agree. And like Will, I also filed down the sharp tangs and like it much better for handling and pocket carry.

The Dusk Buffalo Horn I have was sharp out of the tube, with nice even bevels, no blade wobble, and a nice 4 - 5 pull on the clip and a 5 - 6 on the pen blade. My pictures never do a knife justice, and these are no exception. It's hard to capture the nuances of the buffalo horn, but it's very beautiful to my eye.

I'm squarely on the middle of the fence when it comes to Conductor vs White Owl. I've carried one or another Conductor for about a year now and they just feel natural to me, and I've become quite attached to them. But objectively I'll have to admit the WO does feel better in hand, and yet still disappears in the watch pocket of my jeans.




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Thank you all!

Keith--I was going back and forth between ordering the buffalo horn or ebony. Since my conductor is in horn, I opted to give the ebony a try. But that horn sure is beautiful.
 
Keith, I well know what you mean about Conductor v WO. Can't make up my mind, and frankly, I don't need to as these re both so rewarding to carry!

In fact, knife owning and using got several notches more rewarding after 06 when GEC began making knives. I'm impressed by their large range and desire to try out patterns. Obviously, not all are to my taste: that 'leg thing' is absurd,not interested in the Whaler or 3 blade 56, Templar etc. But, when they started they brought out large patterns-many people hoped for smaller stuff as well and I think they excelled (X*L) with most of the smaller and medium sized knives, the Conductor and WO are very good examples of this (so too 25,26,56,66).

Thanks, Will
 
Will, my larger #53 in dead skunk really does have a completely different look than the newer ones, though both are attractive.

deadskunk.jpg
 
Jeff, that's a style of DS I've not seen before! More like Northern Lights:D:thumbup: looks really good thank you.
 
Well, I ordered a #68 to see what all the fuss is about :) I went with Kryptonite as I could use a little brightness about now.

Regarding the Dead Skunk... I too notices that the trend in increasing reds. I think this is due to collector wants. I think a lot of collectors went for the ones with more red leaving the ones with white and black on dealer shelves. I believe GEC just increased the red since that is where the demand was at.
 
I've only carried the #68 for 3 days and I already love the knife. Its the same thickness as the #33 but a little longer and wider handle. The smooth Kryptonite Acrylic is very attractive to my eyes and because its so smooth, it feels thinner than it really is. Edit: I really like the pointy pen blade too.
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*The elk is slightly thicker on one side and slightly concave on the other so the last pic looks a little distorted.
 
That Krypto looks much better in your photos than on the websites I've seen. I really dig that.
 
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