Is GEC the only game in town for you?

M

mbp

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Jan 26, 2015
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I love GEC but get frustrated with the limited availability of certain patterns I really like, and don't want to pay crazy secondary market prices. It would be awesome if there was more variety in the "modern traditional" market, but I feel like Queen and Case are just not producing knives on the same level as GEC. The quality is just significantly lower, below a level I can accept for the money.

I'm not really into vintage traditionals, so I feel like I don't have any options other than GEC for traditionals made at the level I want to own and carry. What do you guys think? Is anyone else out there making traditionals at GEC's level? If not, what does that mean for the traditional knife market?
 
Honestly it blows my mind that people pay $300 plus for some models of GEC knives. Go custom. Get exactly the knife you want made with tighter tolerances and exactly the pattern and materials you want. Jim Dunlap, T.A. Davison, and John LLoyd all make great stuff. Of the three, LLoyd's knives are closest in price as the highly coveted GEC's but you get a lot more for your dollar.

If you like french cutlery, check out Renaud Aubry's work. His stuff is shockingly inexpensive, 100-120 euro for custom hand made cutlery, and has impeccable fit and finish.

If your set on going production, A. Wright and Sons out of Sheffield make some pretty awesome stuff as well. I don't have any experience with their knives but plenty of folks here on the traditional board are pleased with them.
 
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I bought my 1st GEC back before they got popular, I was highly impressed with it and I still like their knives a lot. As the demand increased, and availability decreased, I started looking at other companies. Sadly the nearest competitor at the time, Canal Street Cutlery, is no more. My Boy's Knife in Zebrawood equally matches the quality of some of my GEC knives. I've seen a couple Queen knives that I liked, but small peccadillos kept me from buying them. Some of my Case knives are almost equal in quality, BUT I either hand picked them or got lucky buying them blind. Prices of some GEC models on the secondary market are beyond what I'm willing to pay, and some come close to custom prices.

Regardless, it's a good time for traditional slipjoints.
 
155440 said:
Honestly it blows my mind that people pay $300 plus for some models of GEC knives. Go custom. Get exactly the knife you want made with tighter tolerances and exactly the pattern and materials you want. Jim Dunlap, T.A. Davison, and John LLoyd all make great stuff. Of the three, LLoyd's knives are closest in price as the highly coveted GEC's but you get a lot more for your dollar.

If you like french cutlery, check out Renaud Aubry's work. His stuff is shockingly inexpensive, 100-120 euro for custom hand made cutlery, and has impeccable fit and finish.

A. Wright and Sons out of Sheffield make some pretty awesome stuff as well. I don't have any experience with their knives but plenty of folks here on the traditional board are pleased with them.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I agree with you about paying $300+ for some GECs. I've gone up to $250 for a Fremont Jack because I really wanted it, but even that felt terrible to me. I've owned customs by several makers, but haven't hung onto any of them. I just don't see the value margin. Guys like Dunlap and Davison are definitely making great knives, but $400+ vs. $100 (retail) for a GEC doesn't make sense to me. John Lloyd is producing beautiful knives at more reasonable prices but I've had bad luck with fit and finish on his.

GEC is so consistent, I've only ever had extremely minor issues with the dozens I've owned.
 
Is GEC the only game in town for you?
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No. Not really. I buy a lot of older knives, because I'm a scout collector. I also buy Queens from time to time, because I like to have some knives that are at least semi-stainless, and Queen has that awesome D2. I don't buy much Case anymore.

Now if GEC started using a lot more 440C or another upgraded stainless, I might not have the money to buy anything else.
 
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I like GEC, they make a great knife. They aren't perfect and I really think people look at them through rose colored glasses because they are popular and make a variety of patterns you don't see from the other manufacturers. They are fun to collect.

Most of my knives are still Case. I tend to like their overall patterns better. Case is a good bit cheaper than GEC and honestly, I don't see as big a gap in quality between Case and GEC as many make them out to be. I do think GEC is consistently better, but they cost a good bit more too, you should be getting a better knife. My biggest fault for Case is that I think they overpolish the knives. I'd like to see crisper edges on the spine of the blade like GEC has.

I just carry a knife I'm happy using. For some reason, I just don't get the same joy out of my GECs as I do the Case knives. If I'm using up a knife, I feel a little guilty using up a GEC..... kinda takes the joy out of it for me. Most days, I carry a Peanut and a 6375 stockman..... Oh, I should also add, I really like the Opinel I have. Love the steel and how well that blade takes a patina.
 
mbp said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I agree with you about paying $300+ for some GECs. I've gone up to $250 for a Fremont Jack because I really wanted it, but even that felt terrible to me. I've owned customs by several makers, but haven't hung onto any of them. I just don't see the value margin. Guys like Dunlap and Davison are definitely making great knives, but $400+ vs. $100 (retail) for a GEC doesn't make sense to me. John Lloyd is producing beautiful knives at more reasonable prices but I've had bad luck with fit and finish on his.

GEC is so consistent, I've only ever had extremely minor issues with the dozens I've owned.
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GEC is in a league of it's own here in the states. The only comparable stuff in terms of quality at the same price point can be found in Europe.

Renaud Aubry's stuff is better than gec imo but the patterns might not be to your taste. He also offers what are considered premium scale materials at a crazy low price. There are some close up photos of his work in this thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/dutch-forum-knife-2012.939283/

Laguoile en Aubrac makes good knives in the same price range as GEC, but can come with minor finish issues.
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EDIT: I suppose I should also mention Buck Knive's Custom Shop, they make some pretty awesome stuff but are very limited on patterns.
 
GEC is not the only game in town for me but I find them impossible to resist.

In addition to the consistent quality, I like GEC's because of the way they're made and the reason they're made that way. The phrase "they don't make em like they used to" holds no weight with GEC. They do make em like they used to. You just have to buy the right brand if that's what you want in a pocket knife. I couldn't ask for anything more than that.

I still buy other brands and probably always will but I'm really, really glad that GEC is one of my options because I don't think any production maker can top them at this point in time. Regarding the inflated prices, I've never paid more than $150 for a GEC and that didn't set well with me. I don't blame the seller at all. Just thought it was something I would never do. I'm glad I own the knife but I think the trick is to get them while they're new so I don't have to pay so much.

I suppose it might be more practical to buy every GEC pattern at the time of release and then sell it later if it's not my cup of tea. I probably wouldn't lose any money on the sale and I would avoid the inflated prices.
 
I'm not a collector. I have about a dozen traditionals and I use and carry them. I do agree though that the hysteria and prices have gone over the top. To me I won't go more than $100-125 max for a GEC. Beyond that forget it. I have plenty here (nearly all GEC except for a few Case) and I mostly carry the same 3 or 4. The rest only get an occasional spin in the pocket for a day. The main ones I use are my favs and they get lots of carry.

Case makes a pretty decent knife for 1/4 to 1/3 the price of GEC, I don't hesitate to go with Case and I like them. My yellow Peanut has been my exclusive EDC for two months now in fact. It's a wonderful and quality companion and I've not felt under-knifed at all.

The collectors drive up the hysteria and prices follow. I'm just not into that personally. A knife is a fine precision tool, but there's a limit to what I'll pay for one.
 
I have only seen 1 actual Gec in real life(other than pics) ever. This was a few years back, but you had to have a pair of pliers to open it. I know you can't judge an entire company by 1 knife, but I was afraid to buy one sight unseen after that and their lack of availability makes it so I can't test them to judge several. I have looked at their website, again a few years ago, so it might have changed too but it seemed to show so many knives and the offshoot brands I was confused and then when i found one that I might be interested in, it was not available. I'm probably the opposite, I see some great looking Gec's posted on here that I like the looks of and then I go and check to see if Buck or Case has something similar. If Gec was readily available where I could look them over and I liked what I saw the price wouldn't be a factor. The lack of availability though makes it hard for me to fork over that much money or even find one if I wanted too.
 
Honestly, I didn´t buy knives for a long time now... more than two years from now on no traditional knife has been added to my collection.

Well, GEC is not the only game in town for me. They make great knives and great users. The knives are well made and don´t cost an airplane. They have a good heattreatment. The tolerances are ok. Some have blade wobbling when they come from the factory. But I don´t usually treat them like they were custom made.

CASE has also great traditionals as Böker has or Queen. Each of these brands are highly appreciated and I like to carry and use them the same way.

So no - GEC is not the only game for me.
 
I appreciate the quality of GEC and do my best to get on the early reserve list for patterns that I really like, but I refuse to overpay on the secondary market. I have picked up a few unique pieces in the exchange (ivory scales, a custom #14 TC by ESNYX from BigBiscuit), but for the most part I know that if I miss a pattern there will be another run in a couple of years or less.
 
I love my GEC's but my last 2 purchases were a Case seahorse whittler and a KA-BAR large coppersmith, pretty sure I picked up a couple Buck's and Rough Riders before that as well. So no, GEC isn't the only game in town for me. If I see a pattern that interests me, looks like it's decent quality, and it's not ridiculously priced then I'll pick it up. I'm not married to any particular company.
 
Good thread... I own several (gecs) and enjoy all of them. I like the comment about the rose color glasses, you may be right sir.
Since I spend more time looking at my carry knife than using it, it brings me great joy to see a centered blade, small gaps (if any) and really close tolerances between handle and bolster.
I will keep paying (overpaying) for gec as long as the fit and finish stays high (subjective).
Enjoy the hobby and the knife in your pocket
 
Agreed, Queen is just not there in terms of quality for the price, even Case cost too much for what you get, at least after markup, shipping, exchange rates in Canada. When I order a GEC, I know that I'm at least getting a quality knife for the high price tag. Unfortunately, there are no local dealers here that I can go to see and handle before purchase so it's a bit of a gamble with any knife purchase. I was hoping to pick up one of the Lionsteel Roundheads when they come out but no Canadian shipping so I'll have to wait and see if I can grab on the secondary, after seeing some video reviews to see if it's worth the risk, cost, and wait... I have seen some others that I might want to give a shot to as well, however Canadian availability or rather lack thereof has made that more of a hassle than it's probably worth. I'm currently waiting for my custom K'roo, his work is fantastic, ( I've got a "Chunky Drunk")but as with any custom, there is a wait.
 
It is a bit myopic to think GEC is the only game in town. I like them, and a couple of years ago I thought I may no longer need to buy custom slipjoints because GEC makes knives of such excellent quality. The explosion in popularity has made it very difficult to get their knives though, so much so that I find it a hassle.

If GEC's knives were more readily available, they might well be my default choice. But for the prices they command in the secondary market or even with rebranded knives? No thanks, I'll spend a little more and buy a custom. As good as GECs are I've never had one in my hand that is as well made as one of my customs. And I don't even have anything from the masters like Tony Bose or Ken Erickson.

Alternatively I also look at older knives from other manufacturers. GEC may make the best production knives currently, but that hasn't always been the case. There are plenty of great knives out there if you know how to look, and you might as well make the effort since GECs themselves require a fair bit of effort to acquire. For example, here is one that is better and more beautiful than any whittler GEC has ever made.

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Expand your horizons. There's a lot of interesting knives out there. Or as the Bard said -

"There are more knives in heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of by GEC."
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;)
 
I think it boils down to the pattern that you prefer, and GEC has most versatile patterns with very consistent quality. However, there are choices: Queen makes some good stuff, and so do A. Wright and Sons from Sheffield (I like their lambfoot, as well as barlow - inexpensive and reasonable quality).
 
Yes, but I think it has to do with consistent quality and the lack of physical knife stores in my area.
 
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