Lets talk GEC!

[Texoma]

I have not been fortunate to received any 2021 TC Barlow's so I really can't talk about the F&F but compared to other manufactures these GEC's Barlow are a deal, kudos to Bill for manufacturing an affordable Barlow

 

[Pàdruig]

The Barlow is worth exactly what the market will pay. No more, and no less. This exact situation is the result of the Barlow being priced significantly below what it is worth.

The profit GEC makes is an entirely different matter.

For the sake of conversation, what do you think this current Barlow is worth? Some dealers think 200+, others think 65ish, and consumers run the gambit of anywhere between 70 and 500 bucks.

Personally, based on my experience, this Barlow is a 60 dollar knife - if it was made better, then perhaps closer to 85. I won't ever sell mine due to a number of reasons: 1.) It's one of Charlie's - 2.) It is a decent pocket knife, despite its flaws - 3.) It isn't worth what I paid and I wouldn't ever be able to sell it in good conscience.

(ETA: Some of my comments may be construed to reflect poorly on Charlie - which couldn't be further from the case. I love Charlie and all that he has done for our community - if I am being critical, it is not of him.)

 

[mrknife]

Eh the more i see of these facebook knife groups, half of em arent people who actually want the knife for the sake of the knife. A lot of them are either grabbing it to flip or use it as trade fodder to scare up other things. It tacks on extra costs for the person who ultimately ends up with the knife and takes away from the people who actually want it for their collection or just to use and enjoy.

 

[tmd_87]

Not by any of my observations...... In another write up I read 1/32" when open..... I'd like to see that with my own eyes....... Springs are sanded flush when the blade is closed...... For a non CNC produced, non custom $100.00 knife I think GEC does a bang up job......

I have all versions of this run and I'm very pleased with the quality.......

I'm pleased with my knife, and have no issue with it. I was just stating it has a proud spring and others have stated the same. I have never had a GEC made knife with such an issue.

I wouldn't get rid of this knife. It's just perfect in every other way no gaps, walk and talk improved after a flush and even the spring depth improved.

I know what the climate is with covid and the restrictions that are placed on bussineses. So I am giving them a break. But what I said stands. Seems like there were more proud springs.

GEC dominates my collection for a reason. They make fantastic knives at a great price point. I am a fanboy for this reason.

 

[jrawk]

No better way to tame the secondary market than to stop making them so damn perfect every time....

Ok in all seriousness, there is nothing new here. i've gotten GECs at dealer prices that have proud back springs, uneven grinds and non-existent secondary bevels, gaps in the liners, non-uniform threads on the bolsters. You can search my previous posts for examples throughout the years.

But it's as if collectors now expect, and nearly demand by way of return policies and factory repair, $70-$100 knives to immediately appreciate in value to $200 when its taken out of the tube for photographs instead of accepting it for the $70 knife that it is.

 

[skx013k2]

For the sake of conversation, what do you think this current Barlow is worth? Some dealers think 200+, others think 65ish, and consumers run the gambit of anywhere between 70 and 500 bucks.

Personally, based on my experience, this Barlow is a 60 dollar knife - if it was made better, then perhaps closer to 85. I won't ever sell mine due to a number of reasons: 1.) It's one of Charlie's - 2.) It is a decent pocket knife, despite its flaws - 3.) It isn't worth what I paid and I wouldn't ever be able to sell it in good conscience.

Ok, maybe I’m getting caught in semantics and missing the spirit of the comment.

I agree a 1095 Barlow with little f&f issues should be a $65 knife. Absolutely no argument. I’d feel comfortable paying that, supporting a good company, and would use it daily.

I believe the market would pay in the $200 range for a limited run GEC Barlow with little f&f issues. It becomes a collectors item.

 

[skx013k2]

But it's as if collectors now expect, and nearly demand by way of return policies and factory repair, $70-$100 knives to immediately appreciate in value to $200 when its taken out of the tube for photographs instead of accepting it for the $70 knife that it is.

This is the nightmare scenario for GEC. People pay $200 via a non-authorized flipper for a $65 MSRP knife. The dealers get annoyed because flippers are making all the money. The collectors expecting a perfect knife for $200 start sending them back to GEC for warranty service. Now GEC is loosing money. Also, the time GEC spend responding to warranty requests prevents them from making new runs. Now GEC is really losing money.

This is all boring business talk for a knife forum - and I’ll stop. But the business case here is interesting to watch.

 

[JTB_5]

Hey! This is family friendly here!!


Just kidding, I’m sure it was a typo.

 

[Pàdruig]

Ok, maybe I’m getting caught in semantics and missing the spirit of the comment.

I agree a 1095 Barlow with little f&f issues should be a $65 knife. Absolutely no argument. I’d feel comfortable paying that, supporting a good company, and would use it daily.

I believe the market would pay in the $200 range for a limited run GEC Barlow with little f&f issues. It becomes a collectors item.

I think that for the market to truly appreciate what a $65 Barlow brings to the table, it needed to be a far larger production run - numbering in the thousands. However, it is a limited run which has simply made it yet another boutique collectible rather than the value oriented cutting tool it should be.

I imagine that based on some of the info shared here, the pandemic threw a wrench in GEC's aspirations and they are simply trying to work at the capacity that they are able to - which appears to be limited.

 

[skx013k2]

I think that for the market to truly appreciate what a $65 Barlow brings to the table, it needed to be a far larger production run - numbering in the thousands.

100% agree. It would be absolutely wonderful if GEC consistently produced a basic, no frills, Barlow as their baseline offering and then continued their current model of limited runs for other patterns.

 

[mrknife]

I think that for the market to truly appreciate what a $65 Barlow brings to the table, it needed to be a far larger production run - numbering in the thousands. However, it is a limited run which has simply made it yet another boutique collectible rather than the value oriented cutting tool it should be.

I imagine that based on some of the info shared here, the pandemic threw a wrench in GEC's aspirations and they are simply trying to work at the capacity that they are able to - which appears to be limited.

Precisely but if they run only about 200 or so of each it becomes a massive rat race, and everyone but GEC profits. And one of the knife groups im part of, a good chunk of it is will trade Osage/G/R Gold/Sepia barlow for x knife with rest being ISO said barlows.

 

[Tx308]

Here's a thought. What about one pattern a year. Hear me out. Bill chooses one pattern for example the Abilene stockman and commits to make it the entire year while doing limited runs such as the barlows or say harness jacks. The kicker is that next years knife could be the barlow with limited runs of a few other patterns. If made widely known then folks would be more hesitant to pay exorbitant flipper prices when it is possible to wait and get the pattern of the year at more reasonable price.

 

[Viper84]

Ignoring the occasional fit & finish issues with GEC, my biggest pet peeve is that I've never received a truly sharp knife from them, and I have about 8 in my collection now.

I wish GEC could put an edge on a knife like Lionsteel. Look at this edge on a Lionsteel barlow. It's perfectly symmetrical with a needle point. This is M390 which is much harder to sharpen than 1095, and this thing could shave arm hair right out of the box.

From what I've read, I think Lionsteel is a smallish company of about 20-30 people. If Lionsteel can sharpen a knife like this, surely GEC could as well.

 

[HEMI 49]

Ignoring the occasional fit & finish issues with GEC, my biggest pet peeve is that I've never received a truly sharp knife from them, and I have about 8 in my collection now.

I wish GEC could put an edge on a knife like Lionsteel. Look at this edge on a Lionsteel barlow. It's perfectly symmetrical with a needle point. This is M390 which is much harder to sharpen than 1095, and this thing could shave arm hair right out of the box.

From what I've read, I think Lionsteel is a smallish company of about 20-30 people. If Lionsteel can sharpen a knife like this, surely GEC could as well.

LionSteel, Viper, Maserin and others in that Italian knife making neighborhood all do a great job sharpening.....
It is really tough to get 100% consistency with a human doing it freehand.... It would be my opinion that the Italian manufacturers use some form of jigging/workholding to assist the operator in getting consistent cutting edges.....

 

[btb01]

I don’t mind GEC’s factory edges. No, they aren’t great (although they seem to have improved in the last year or two), but I like that they leave them a bit obtuse and don’t overdo it (i.e., remove a lot of metal).

I’m happy to do the sharpening myself, get the angle the way I like it, and because their blades are generally nice and thin behind the edge, the results are (to me at least) very satisfying.

 

[Jiki]

The mustangs and vipers were also very difficult to get but there is not droves of people collecting those specifically. The TC on the other hand has many many long time collectors and it seems most new people either want a TC or a beer scout or both. The TC run just exponentially ramped up all the issues that GEC and it's customers are experiencing in the current environment. We can all speculate on how to fix it like the internet professors that we are but at the end of the day Bill Howard will continue to do the best he can. I for one hope it is enough.

This one is a bright spot during 2020 for me.

 

[BDubbs]

I’ve been really happy with every GEC I’ve acquired. There are a few with very minor cosmetic issues that I just attribute to any object that is hand made. Those issues quickly disappear or are less obvious if the knife is put to daily use and really would only be an issue for a collector trying to obtain a pristine perfect example...which is tough given the current demand. As a working knife the cosmetic issues are irrelevant and the knife will acquire more stains, dings and scratches. They make a great knife at a very reasonable price point and I can say for the knives I bought at authorized distributors I would have paid more no issue. Good on the company for not increasing prices although demand certainly indicates that they could. I can’t blame the retailers for increasing prices either given the white hot demand.

 

[Alex.Y.]

Talking about prices and worthiness. GEC claims to be producing a high quality traditional knives, also they are known to be the best at this. So what I personally expect from them is an excellent quality knife with decent sharpening, and I totally agree to pay around hundred bucks for that, but only for that. So stuff like weak or protruding springs, gaps, and so on really puzzling me.

Some would say that my expectations is my own business, and GEC is not responsible for not meeting them. Yeah, maybe, but they themselves have earned such reputation, you know, it's not just my fantasies. So if it's not on a level, with such prices too, then I guess it's better to try your luck and buy a handful of RRs or something like that.

Don't get me wrong. I really like GEC and I sure want to like their product, but as far as I heard, it might not be all the time as perfect as it seems. And that is concerning. I just hope those are nothing more than unpleasant exceptions.

 

[Will Power]

I think that Lionsteel & Viper & the other Italian manufacturers are makers primarily of Moderns with Contemporary Traditionals as an offshoot. They have very hi-tech machinery and up to date production methods so it's not surprising they produce superbly sharp knives using modern steels.

GEC does not have this at their disposal but I've found their sharpening to be far better than it was say 6 years ago, but in my view all knives should arrive sharp enough to shave the endangered arm-hair I posses Time to move on to leg hair...

 

[Will Power]

As for Flippers and their dupes, I very much doubt if they are bothered-or even KNOW about Flush springs on open/close They likely don't even handle the knife as their 'investment' might pick up a pepper-spot