Lets talk GEC!

I'm happy that they are going to make the F&F sheep/pen blade combo again. I sold my first one (nifebrite) regretted ever since
 
Yes, this was and is a very popular knife. I had the Hayn Helper in a single blade version and always regretted letting it go. Very well made and solid as a rock!
 
I haven't seen much talk about the #63 lately. Here's the one I have.

Js34W7k.jpg
 
The #63 Mako is on my radar - specifically in 440C and with the fish scaler/degorger secondary. Not sure how much use it would see, but it reminds me of the Case Fisherman knife I had as a kid.

Nice looking Mako Ed.
 
I beg the group's pardon if this is the wrong way to do this. This is only my second post, and I have learned a tremendous amount by reading and lurking, but I just can't quite figure this one out on my own.

Short version: what's the deal with GEC?

Longer version: I've participated in a number of listservs and online forums, and the adulation of GEC here is unlike anything I've ever come across before. You guys love GEC more than musicians love Martin guitars or Gibson banjos. And you don't have to convince me that they make wonderful knives; this many blade nuts couldn't possibly all be so het up if there wasn't a lot of truth to it. I hope to own one of those knives some day. In the meantime, I need a way in: I hope someone will explain how GEC works and how you get started as an acolyte.

I'm quite unsophisticated when it comes to knives. But I have quickly gotten the sense that GEC is an extremely popular maker (cutler?). And I understand the difference between Tidioute and the other brands. What I don't understand is how they do business.

What I *think* happens is this: they decide to produce a new knife. It is assigned a number. Somehow the knife community finds out about the upcoming production models. GEC seems to sell only through selected dealers, and those dealers take reservations for the new knife. When a particular model or style sells out, that's it.

For example, if I want to purchase a 38 Grinling Whittler in ebony, and none of the dealers I find on the interwebs has one to sell, then I can assume that this particular style is sold out and in order to get one I will have to pay significantly more than the original price, as it's now a (not sure of the word) discontinued collectible? And if I can't find a 38 in ebony, but I do find one in rosewood, is it safe to assume that the rosewood model was less popular than the ebony? And what's available now are essentially (loaded term, sorry) leftovers?

And what does SFO stand for?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bright moments,
Peter Beck
pbeck15
 
I'll take a shot. People like GEC for a long list of reasons. People that like something tend to hang out and talk about how they like what they like. I buy my GECs through their dealers and occasionally from the exchange. If you can't find the knife at a dealer, then you can often find it here in the exchange. You may have to wait. You could post a WTB in the appropriate place. You may have to do some searching and PM someone who posted something about it and make your case about how you'd like to get it for your collection and offer some options. One thing I have noticed is that people often start too broad and then refine their collections over time. Perhaps it was initially just traditional folders, then it morphed to just GEC, then it morphed to just Barlows or maybe just stag handles or whatever. This makes it possible to get a hold of some older patterns as people change tastes and directions. I figure if you really want something, and it's in new, or nearly new condition, then the offering should be something like initial cost +15-20%. Realize that more times than not, the person won't want to sell as it fills a place in their collection, but to others it presents an opportunity to "swap" that ebony whittler for a new Beer Scout that is more in line with the way that their collection is currently headed.
 
Welcome and thanks for asking, otherwise how can any of us learn?

SFO is Special Factory Order, a run of knives commissioned and paid for by an individual-usually a knife dealer. They will have special unique handles or other distinct features that have been agreed on.

Keep a keen eye on the For Sale thread, with patience you can find most 'elusive' GECs. Strike up a regular communication with the dealer you most like, they often have sources or connexions for hard to find knives.

Why is GEC so popular? Well it's largely merited and not a fan feeding frenzy...not everybody likes theitrknives and given their large range of patterns not all of them will appeal to everybody. Therin lies a strength, variety/diverse style. They are a new company only started 9 years ago with a zeal for quality in production and bring an authentic feel to their knives both as collectibles and more importantly, as users. They are not flashy kitsch museum repros but knives with gravitas and often beauty. Nor are they priced too high to be beyond the reach of ordinary people, given a bit of saving etc. Pride in owning one is a big factor in my book, others will have other points.

Regards, Will
 
pbeck15 - Your assumptions are mostly correct. SFO stands for Special Factory Order. GEC has a web site. They are not a paid dealer here at BF although they should be so I will not provide a link to them. I'd say you've already been there.

swonut gave you a good reply.
 
I'm fairly new to traditional also, but have 5 GEC knives so far. For the price they seem to be better knives than anything else in the price range and much more consistent with their quality.
 
pbeck15 said:
I beg the group's pardon if this is the wrong way to do this. This is only my second post, and I have learned a tremendous amount by reading and lurking, but I just can't quite figure this one out on my own.

Short version: what's the deal with GEC?

Longer version: I've participated in a number of listservs and online forums, and the adulation of GEC here is unlike anything I've ever come across before. You guys love GEC more than musicians love Martin guitars or Gibson banjos. And you don't have to convince me that they make wonderful knives; this many blade nuts couldn't possibly all be so het up if there wasn't a lot of truth to it. I hope to own one of those knives some day. In the meantime, I need a way in: I hope someone will explain how GEC works and how you get started as an acolyte.

I'm quite unsophisticated when it comes to knives. But I have quickly gotten the sense that GEC is an extremely popular maker (cutler?). And I understand the difference between Tidioute and the other brands. What I don't understand is how they do business.

What I *think* happens is this: they decide to produce a new knife. It is assigned a number. Somehow the knife community finds out about the upcoming production models. GEC seems to sell only through selected dealers, and those dealers take reservations for the new knife. When a particular model or style sells out, that's it.

For example, if I want to purchase a 38 Grinling Whittler in ebony, and none of the dealers I find on the interwebs has one to sell, then I can assume that this particular style is sold out and in order to get one I will have to pay significantly more than the original price, as it's now a (not sure of the word) discontinued collectible? And if I can't find a 38 in ebony, but I do find one in rosewood, is it safe to assume that the rosewood model was less popular than the ebony? And what's available now are essentially (loaded term, sorry) leftovers?

And what does SFO stand for?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bright moments,
Peter Beck
pbeck15
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum Peter. You posted in the best place to find the answers to your questions.

I will not pose as an expert on the Brand but I will give a few thoughts.

- The SFOs hook people, and rightly so. They are often times a close representation on the older traditional knives, not always, but mostly.
- Yes, there is a sense of pride in owning them, especially with the amount of exposure they have in this subforum.
- The low numbers usually mean better quality. Hand made vs mass produced
- To my understanding, and from the post I have seen, they are made using traditional tools and machinery, meaning a closer connection the history, imo, of these patterns.
- There is a real pride in the work done by GEC themselves and the owner has a real passion for traditional knives. This is a big selling point for me.
- Due to the passion mentioned, the fit and finish quality, and their reputation there is a trust built between maker and user.
- I,as a novice myself, will refer to post on their heat treatment and grind as a positive
- They create a hook, meaning they produce enough to hook people but never enough to bore people. If that makes sense.

Words like, "closest production knives to a custom you can get," are not uncommon for the brand.

On a second issue .. they really aren't that popular in the big picture. Those in the know tend to like them, but at shows and other places they are still unknown or just being watched as they are still relatively young. Here on the forum you would think the whole world knew who GEC was.

As far as linking them they have 2 sites. One as a dot net and one as a dot com. Go to the dot net version, if you have not already, they have a full list of their distributors.

Sites I can link, like collectorknives.net have a text message system set up, alerting you of recent reserves.

Lastly, they hold their value really well, even when used, and people sell them often for marked up prices creating more of lore about them imo.

Have fun researching them and again welcome to the porch. :)
 
I can explain why GEC is so popular among enthusiasts of Traditional style pocket knives. It has been a long drought since about the 1960's since an American manufacturer made truly high quality knives, with high quality handle materials, and reliably so. From about 1960 to about 2006 the American knife manufacturers had hard times and quality in general went downhill, with far too many unacceptably poor knives that needed to be returned. Offshore manufacturers stepped in: Japan and then more recently China to make reliably good knives but still the yearning was for "Made in U.S.A." high quality Traditional style folding knives.
Then in 2006 GEC starts up and within one year they have their act together and are making a wide variety of Traditional folding knife patterns with high quality results. And, every year since then, they have improved even further.
There is also the condition of "knife addiction". Many of us have it and GEC is The Man, the answer to our prayers, with almost never the bitter disappointment of a knife with 'issues'.
That's why.
kj
 
As far as GEC being popular on this forum goes, I think a lot of it has to do with hype. They are very good at producing "flavors of the month". If they came out with a catalog in the beginning of the month, like Queen and Case do, and made the same knives all year round I don't think they'd be viewed as that much different than Queen or Canal Street. They put out a schedule saying what they're going to be producing for the next couple of months and anticipation swells. There are multiple threads about the upcoming patterns and it builds a sense of urgency, as people know that there's only going to be so many knives to go around and there is a lot of chatter about those knives. Then they release and everybody is posting tons of pictures of their new knives and talking about all the things that they like about them. This leads to a second surge of buyers that maybe didn't get in on the initial rush, but have become curious based on what others are saying. By the time that surge has passed we're on to the next new pattern.

Look at how many people were posting about farmer's jacks and hawkbill blades three or four months ago. There were enough Lick Creeks being posted that it seemed like everybody had at least a couple. Then we were on to the 73s, then the new TCs dropped and we had a couple threads about spey blades, and now it's the sheepsfoot and caplifter. In a couple months everybody is going to be carrying small lockbacks. Within a couple of months of each of these patterns coming out nobody is talking about them anymore, but for that couple of months they are the hottest thing going. This leads to an inflated sense of how popular they are, and since they are made in limited numbers you get the feeling that if you're ever going to want one you better pick one up now. There's always a new GEC pattern coming out, so they always seem more popular than they actually are. Even though there were only a couple hundred Lick Creeks made and everybody seemed to have at least one, there are still some sitting unsold at the dealers.

None of this is to take anything away from their knives. The one thing that you have to have in order to sustain this success is consistency. All it would take is for one pattern to come out subpar and the hype for the next pattern would be diminished. Somehow, GEC has managed to maintain a very high level of craftsmanship throughout all of their patterns. I felt like Queen had a little bit of momentum going a couple months ago, but then their scouts came out and there were a lot of complaints. I don't even know what their latest shipments were, because nobody's talking about them much at this point. In the time I've been here, GEC hasn't had a single dud. When Queen gets it right I think that their knives are just as good or better than GEC. The problem is, you never know if the next knife from Queen is going to be one of the good ones or one that leaves you a little cold. GEC hits their mark every single time.
 
Cory Hess said:
....
Click to expand...

Cory, that is a very poignant post that nails down a lot of issues I face when browsing the forums. There are knives and patterns that come out that I know I won't like or carry, but they're presented so often and often so beautifully that I find myself checking dealers to see prices and availability. The Magnum and the upcoming little lock back come to mind. They're both too small for me to carry regularly enough to justify the price, but I've stared at both in my shopping cart / reserve list more than a few times.

Peter, I think the reason you see more brand prominence here with GEC than you would on a guitar forum about Martins (to use your metaphor) is that GEC really has no competition when you consider their cost to value ratio and being hand made in the US. Guitarist have a plethora of production manufacturers making quality guitars in the US and each of them has their specific merits and downfalls. Folks typically become loyal to one brand, but because there are so many brands, everything is more diversified. GEC doesn't have that level of competition.
 
My sister is a Harvard Business School grad. Most highly educated stay at home mom I know. Anyhow, we talked about this and there is a business model, that I truly believe that Bill Howard does not even know his is following. Substitute the citations of 'Lululemon" in the Wall Street Journal article below (see link), with GEC. Only difference is that the paying dealers on BF are the "listeners".
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303812904577295882632723066
 
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