If you were to start over......

Ron Sabbagh

LOVE YOUR COUNTRY
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I've been carrying a custom slip joint for many years. But as crazy as it sounds....I've never bought a non-custom (production) traditional. I always thought...well...the custom must be better.

But with better technologies nowadays, I'm thinking maybe a high quality production or mid tech traditional might find room in my EDC collection. I don't want to be one of those "custom" snobs...

Sorta like the CRK Sebenza can be favorably compared to most customs....I'm sure there are some production traditionals that hold up to the customs.

so if you were to start over again....where would you look? GEC? Case/Bose?

I don't want to travel down the rabbit hole of vintage just yet.....just looking for what you'd recommend that's available now. Or maybe stick with customs...I don't know.

My current traditionals include knives from Gary Crowder, Terry Davis and Gene Shadley and PJ Tomes
 
Of the currently produced factory knives, GEC is where it's at. They've been around long enough now that there is a nice variety of patterns available if you would consider new and pre-owned. The Queen/S&M knives from the 1990s through the mid 2000s are of excellent quality as well, and can still be found for reasonable money. Having owned quite a few of both GEC and Queen/S&M, I no longer buy custom pocket knives as I can't justify the added expense for myself. Of course, your opinion could be different, but there just isn't a large difference between the better production knives and the majority of customs, IMO.
 
Case/Bose is the first thing that comes to my mind when comparing production knives to custom knives. Second would be anything with A.G. Russell's name on it, regardless of country of manufacture.

You also might want to take a look at the Lion Steel Barlows, Bolus series knives, and the new Best Man soon to be released.
 
Admittedly, I'm in over my head on this as I'm sure there's a bunch I'm not aware of but Case/Bose and Fontenille Pataud jump to my mind.
 
The first things that come to my mind are the Lionsteel Barlows, the Viper EZ-open, and the carbon steel knives out of Solingen toward the end of the last century. And GEC, of course, but that one is obvious.
 
" start over " ?
Shoot I'm still getting started.

If I was to start over I do it all the same though, all the knives are part of my traditional knife journey.
Even the knives I didn't end up liking, they went to those who do / did.
I learned something about my preferences in my experience with them and most were added to my teenage cousins collection.
 
From my limited experience with custom slipjoints, it seems like the main selling point for most customs is that you can specify the exact details of what you want made.

Comparing fit and finish of some of the customs I have handled to GEC production knives, I don't see a many hundred dollar difference. I'm sure there are some high end customs, the $1000+ makers, that are superior in fit and finish to GEC production knives, but there are some customs that aren't better than a GEC.

If you are used to spending for customs then it probably isn't a big investment to buy a GEC and check it out for yourself. And if you don't like it, they almost always hold their value on resale.
 
From my limited experience with custom slipjoints, it seems like the main selling point for most customs is that you can specify the exact details of what you want made.

Comparing fit and finish of some of the customs I have handled to GEC production knives, I don't see a many hundred dollar difference. I'm sure there are some high end customs, the $1000+ makers, that are superior in fit and finish to GEC production knives, but there are some customs that aren't better than a GEC.

If you are used to spending for customs then it probably isn't a big investment to buy a GEC and check it out for yourself. And if you don't like it, they almost always hold their value on resale.

Those are some piss poor customs you have experience with. But you're right, if they don't have superior fit and finish to a GEC you're wasting your money.
 
You’re not going to find a production knife that will have the same level of fit and finish as a knife by a top custom maker.

Production traditional knife steels are almost universally mundane.

Exotic scale materials can be found on production knives, but the cost increase that accompany these will be disproportionate (ridiculously so, in some cases) relative to custom knives.

In short, just about any production knife will come up short by any objective measure compared to a high quality custom knife.

The Sebenza is a special case. In fact, there is a strong case to be made that the Sebenza *started* the current custom knife trend.

So I’d suggest a different approach. Buy a US-made traditional knife in whatever pattern you favor and take it for a serious, multi-week test-drive. You may find that it meets your needs just fine, and you may find that it doesn’t bring you anything approaching the same level of satisfaction as your customs. If the latter proves true it doesn’t make you a “snob”; it just means you have different priorities.

If *I* were to start over I’d pick up a Victorinox Pioneer, carry it around for a month while using it for whatever task it is remotely appropriate for, and then marvel at how somebody was able—in this day and age—to manufacture such a remarkably useful tool to such a level of quality, ship it across the ocean, and sell it for 35 bucks.
 
I don't have any custom knives.
If I was to start over... I'd just buy Case Trapper knives, A Wright's Lambsfoot knives, and GEC Boys Knives. That's pretty much what my collection is dwindling down to anyways. It would have saved me a lot of money.
 
GEC are great knives for the most part. Some patterns and runs are better than others for sure. None are worth more than $250 max IMO. Maybe if your a collector or "just have to have it" but honestly GEC isn't even in the same conversation compared to a decent custom. Case in point, I've never seen a GEC that had a flush spring in all 3 positions. 1095 is as cheap as it gets for steel. GEC doesn't relieve the liners, most of which are brass. I'm not saying GEC are bad at all just not even close to custom quality. They are great user slippies that take on special qualities through actual use experiences. One reason why my canvas micarta #66 is maybe my favorite slippie in my collection. All that said, Case Bose is where it's at for the high end, non-custom multi blade slip joint game. Higher end steels, materials and production processes. They can be a little hit and miss for f&f BUT in my experience if you get one that has an issue Case warranty will make it right. A little annoying they can't just finish them all out a little more consistently through each release but I've had excellent results sending mine in to them. Every time getting my knife back with perfect f&f. My Case Bose ebony cattle knife is one of the best values I've ever purchased. Quality and f&f is as good as anything I've ever owned including high end customs. This though after I sent it in for blade play and bolster to cover transition smoothness. For single blade options I just think there are way too may great makers whose books are open that make top notch customs for under $400 to try and fill the gap between them and their production counterparts. Charlie Bell, Bobby Toole and Manny Saldana come to top of mind there. Anyway, sorry for the long winded post. That's just my 2 cents and some experience with production and customs.
 
The old Queen made Black Box Winchesters are some of the highest quality production knives I've owned. --KV
 
I've had a few GEC produced knives that were flush in all three positions.
I've had a few Case produced knives that were flush in more than one position. :D
 
I've had a few GEC produced knives that were flush in all three positions.
I've had a few Case produced knives that were flush in more than one position. :D
What patterns were the flush GEC's you've had ?
 
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