Lets talk GEC!

The federal ban goes into effect the first week of July. So these are the last ones.


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The line between custom traditionals and special order/short run traditionals continues to blur. To be fair, it's across multiple manufacturers, not just GEC.
 
So, could these possibly be the last elephant ivory factory knives produced in the US? If that is the case, they might have a certain allure to some folks. No doubt a very handsome knife.
 
I've heard these will be the last. They are also the first elephant ivory bark and stainless combo GEC has done.


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I had 100 sets of ivory sitting beside my desk for a Northwoods project. Sadly that will never come to pass.
 
#15 Boy's Knife is out in Ivory too. They seem to be adding more periodically throughout the day, I don't think any of these were announced.
 
A lot of manufactuers use exotic material and charge a premium... Case, Victorinox, etc. As an extreme example, Victorinox put diamonds on some of their knives. My own opinion is that it's still the same knife as the much less expensive standard Swiss army knife... the mechanics are the same... the steel is the same... the manufacturing (except for the covers) is the same.

To me, there is no similarity to a custom knife. I guess I'd call it a customized knife, but not a custom. The #15 with ivory covers is not a different knife than the #15 with with bone, wood, elk, or acrylic covers. The parts are still punched out. The construction is the same. The only difference is the handle material. I think it's great that exotic materials are offered for those who are willing to pay the premium. And GEC is producing very high quality knives. But I think it is unfortunate when production knives are compared to custom knives. To me, the main difference is that a custom knife is someone's artwork. I may use the knife and not just stare at it like a painting but it is still art to me.
 
supratentorial said:
A lot of manufactuers use exotic material and charge a premium... Case, Victorinox, etc. As an extreme example, Victorinox put diamonds on some of their knives. My own opinion is that it's still the same knife as the much less expensive standard Swiss army knife... the mechanics are the same... the steel is the same... the manufacturing (except for the covers) is the same.

To me, there is no similarity to a custom knife. I guess I'd call it a customized knife, but not a custom. The #15 with ivory covers is not a different knife than the #15 with with bone, wood, elk, or acrylic covers. The parts are still punched out. The construction is the same. The only difference is the handle material. I think it's great that exotic materials are offered for those who are willing to pay the premium. And GEC is producing very high quality knives. But I think it is unfortunate when production knives are compared to custom knives. To me, the main difference is that a custom knife is someone's artwork. I may use the knife and not just stare at it like a painting but it is still art to me.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying, but calling it a "customized knife, but not a custom" is one in the same, hense the root word for customized. You can buy a Stock Ford Mustang for 40K or you can buy a Shelby Gt500 for $250K. They're both the same thing but one's been customized by a well known custom car maker (customizer).

Yes dead-horse debate no doubt so i'll reply and move on. But my main intent was to really point out it's not just GEC dabbling in the customized stock knife category. Tuna Valley Time Keeper series is another example.
 
I'd be surprised if you could find a custom, same size and shape, with equivalent bark elephant ivory covers for less than twice that amount.
It's a fair price for what you are getting, just doesn't appeal to everyone.
 
No worries, jrawk. My comment was partly in response to your post but I've seen at least 3 other comparison this week alone. So I wanted to state my own opinion with (hopefully) some clarity.

I know very little about cars other than I like them. ;)

I don't want to derail the topic. Lets enjoy those ivory knives while they're still hot from the oven!
 
Nice!


;)
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Well because this forum is such a great place with great people, my plight of missing the Elk 15s did not go unnoticed! I was extended a great offer by another member that I accepted.

Here is the knife as it came to me:

27436091400_c545e06c52_c.jpg


Now, here is where I did something that I have never done before. I took a 1000 grit belt sander to my brand new GEC! I wanted a bit more white elk on the mark side of the knife, and that side was much thicker already. So much so, in fact, that it had a bad case of sunken shield. I see now why Bill wants to avoid shields on stag knives. I sanded the area around the shield down flush, and took just a bit off of part of the rest of the mark side to reveal more white elk material. Afterwards, a quick trip through coarse and fine rouges on my 6 inch buffing wheel.

Here is the knife now:




 
Jeff, my friend, you sure do have a brass set of 'em. :D

Fantastic outcome, though. Makes me feel better about my plan to ask you to dress up one of my Barlows in something really pretty down the road.
 
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