In two minds about the GEC #74 – please persuade me either way

C

Corso

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Aug 16, 2007
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I've been looking for a two blade slip joint for a while, used to own a GEC 73 but found no use for the second blade so ended up moving it on and getting a single bladed version as i wanted a slimmer profile.

I want to try again and really like the blade options for the #74 but the only thing I’m not convinced about is the folded blade sticking out from the handle

A few have posted pics but as yet I’ve not seen any user reviews

Anyone care to comment?
 
I don't find the other blade particularly bothersome in use, but I haven't really done a lot of cutting with my Forum trapper.
 
i had same questions,but this is most attractive two blade(or any multiblade)configuration to me,so i couldn't let it pass,
next best thing will be exact same blades,in separate handles :)
(OK,tad thicker blades would be perfect....just dreaming)

Knife arrived yesterday and i did some cutting,(mostly food)and it works fine for me :thumbup: ,
perhaps on prolonged cutting tasks it could become little bit uncomfortable,but nothing that worries me.

IMGP6489.JPG


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IMGP6522.JPG


and i did manage to take a short walk with it,and it works in gloves too ;)
 
I am interested to see what others have to say. I really like the blade combo. Is it just me, or does it look like the handle and blade are a bit thicker on this one than on the 73?

Also, any ideas if they'll do a single blade 74, with the wharncliff blade as the single blade?
 
Corso said:
I've been looking for a two blade slip joint for a while, used to own a GEC 73 but found no use for the second blade so ended up moving it on and getting a single bladed version as i wanted a slimmer profile.

I want to try again and really like the blade options for the #74 but the only thing I’m not convinced about is the folded blade sticking out from the handle
Click to expand...

This is one reason why I'm such a big fan of single blade locking knives. How a knife feels in my hand is a big deal for me. I almost never ever carry a slip joint and this is a big reason why.

I've also found that I can live with a single blade for nearly all of my EDC uses. I prefer something flat ground in the 3" to 3.5" range. Occasionally, I need a smaller blade for some close wood trimming. A lot, lot, lot more than occasionally, I need a good sharp and stout pair of scissors. Cutting zip ties in one such time. I also need access to small screwdrivers and very importantly at the end of a long day, a bottle opener. Ok, sometimes I use that at lunch too. You might be guessing where this is going...

At this point, I prefer having my second blade be part of a second tool. So, this is my answer to the 2 blade question. Solid locking folder in the RFP. Leatherman Micra in the LFP.


Every Day Carry Pairing by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
pinnah said:
This is one reason why I'm such a big fan of single blade locking knives. How a knife feels in my hand is a big deal for me. I almost never ever carry a slip joint and this is a big reason why.

I've also found that I can live with a single blade for nearly all of my EDC uses. I prefer something flat ground in the 3" to 3.5" range.
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I know what your saying - its how i usually feel but I was intregued enough by the design

I usually stick to the 73 or my 72

GEC.jpg


but on occation i like a two blade trapper :D

P1000478.jpg
 
Corso, great looking knives. Both of them.

Remind me.. you dropped the point on the Beaver Tail yourself, no? Looks great.

The double bladed Opinel is just stunning. Again, you did that yourself, no? Would love to see the steps
 
yep did both :D

plan to get a couple more opinels after Xmas - no 12 saw and a no 12 blade - intend to make a sawback trapper - will try and remember to take pics....
 
Please, please, please take pictures of the sawback operation!

That would be a dandy tool to keep in the backpack.
 
I'm hoping for a single Wharncliffe version with the frame flipped over into a Swayback configuration, which would easily swallow up that wide Wharncliffe blade with no added bulk. The Wharncliffe Trapper pattern always struck me as a poor layout; too much blade hanging out of the handle makes it needlessly wide in the pocket, and with two-blades you're always stuck with a sharp, hot-spot prone blade spine under your fingers. Even though it was beautifully made, I ended up selling my 2012 BF version a few days after it arrived.
 
aside from having a slimmer knife, a single-blade lets you appreciate the ergonomics of a trapper handle to the fullest. so if you have no real need for two blades, get the single that calls out to you. for me, it's the pioneer single with a lanyard hole.
 
Rick said:
I'm hoping for a single Wharncliffe version with the frame flipped over into a Swayback configuration, which would easily swallow up that wide Wharncliffe blade with no added bulk.
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Now that's a 74 I would buy!
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Wouldn't that be a new pattern though? 74 wharncliff blade with a SBJ handle? Let me just say that I would get one too.
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Yes, according to nomenclature, but still visually recognizable as "the 74's handle, flipped"-- like how the current Doglegs and Gepettos are the same frame, or the #25s and #26s. To name just a few. ;) Makes it easier to project into new desires, having a known frame in front of you.

Er, that's good, right?

~ P.
 
I've never seen them in person, nor in the same picture, but I think someone mentioned this on some thread.
Isn't the #47 frame (the F&F Hayn' helper one) the same frame of the #74 flipped? as in 47 - 74 ?
I had the same thought when I first saw the drawings of this knife, and I asked Alfredo the same question in his dedicated thread.
A 47 jack with a single wharncliffe (from the 74), or even with a secondary pen blade, would surely look nice :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
My opinion on the configuration is that the handle and both the clip and the wharncliffe are too tall (deep?) for my tastes. I don't believe I will carry my BF trapper for that reason. Now if it was a single blade knife with either blade, I'd be really happy with it; with both blades open, the handle feels great in the hand.

I may get booed out of the room for making those comments, but it is my feeling. Unless they offer the 74 with single blades, I'll not be buying one of them.

Ed J
 
quattromori said:
I've never seen them in person, nor in the same picture, but I think someone mentioned this on some thread.
Isn't the #47 frame (the F&F Hayn' helper one) the same frame of the #74 flipped? as in 47 - 74 ?
I had the same thought when I first saw the drawings of this knife, and I asked Alfredo the same question in his dedicated thread.
A 47 jack with a single wharncliffe (from the 74), or even with a secondary pen blade, would surely look nice :)

Fausto
:cool:
Click to expand...

You guys are dangerous. REAL dangerous. Makes me want to buy a 74 and a 47 single blade and snatch the wharncliffe out of the 74 and replace it into the 47 frame and make the 74 a single clip bladed knife. I would have just what I would love to have in the blade configurations I want. I need to talk to my knife mechanic. Mr. Seals are you watching this thread?

Ed J
 
The 74/47 observation is very clever Fausto, I never thought of that! I guess there is a Hay'n Helper 'swayback' with a single sheepsfoot blade; now I just want it with some of that copperhead bone. Oh, the possibilities :D
 
after some though i'm going to holdout and hope they make the clip point single blde #74
 
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