Lets talk GEC!

Macchina, I think you have to read the entire post. He did say this:


"So, many if not most of my GECs have "issues." A few kind of serious, most negligible little things about the covers"
 
supratentorial said:
I finally snagged a SS Elk #15!!!!!!!!!!!!! I definitely "paid for it" but it's a looker! Woohoo! :)
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Congrats! Jealous! The elk 15 was the only one of the recent ss 15s that I missed. GECs elk has been great lately, I got an elk 63 that I really dig.
 
Macchina said:
I don't mean any offense but I'd think twice before we completed a deal on the exchange with you. I mean nothing against you oarfish whatsoever however you seem extremely picky. Some of those things (blade play and springs not being flush to a certain extent) but many of your complaints are about the details of natural materials (and random acrylic patterns).

Some of the complaints are genuine but I could easily go through my collection and probably find the same "problems" in 75% of my GECs.

The complaint about the 92 with plain Kirinite covers doesn't even make any sense? Your description would imply you were hoping the knife would come with different covers than the knife you ordered (see your complaint on the 38 for what happens when you get different covers than you ordered).
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Nah I should never have made that post, I definitely didn't express myself well. I wasn't trying to complain about my own knives, I was being as picky as someone might possibly conceivably be, to illustrate that if you look hard you can find fault with any knife. Of my knives I consider two to have serious enough "problems" to perhaps send off to be fixed. The Whittler I fixed myself with sanding (exactly how they do it at the factory) and by fixing the stag with superglue. I don't care about the minuscule blade play. The 62 I might one day send off to see if GEC can repair it. That one should IMO be a second. Every single one of the others is perfectly fine. But I do know that at least a couple were sold by their original owners because they weren't happy with the covers.
 
r8shell said:
That's odd. My confirmation email says GEC #771216, so I don't think I totally imagined it being a two blade when I reserved it. Hmm, it's a mystery.
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When I first checked the early reserve site, it did say #771216. It was later corrected to #771116.
 
GaiusJulius said:
Nah I should never have made that post, I definitely didn't express myself well. I wasn't trying to complain about my own knives, I was being as picky as someone might possibly conceivably be, to illustrate that if you look hard you can find fault with any knife. Of my knives I consider two to have serious enough "problems" to perhaps send off to be fixed. The Whittler I fixed myself with sanding (exactly how they do it at the factory) and by fixing the stag with superglue. I don't care about the minuscule blade play. The 62 I might one day send off to see if GEC can repair it. That one should IMO be a second. Every single one of the others is perfectly fine. But I do know that at least a couple were sold by their original owners because they weren't happy with the covers.
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After reading this reply I realize i took the original post TOTALLY at face value (as complaints) and not as observations of details on the knives that could be improved. It's kinda what this site exists for: the minutia of knives and the fact that to us they are more than just cutting tools.

I apologize for my haste and I think you explained your original post very well in the post you most recently made. This for giving me a chance to make good!
 
A scout 15 in 440c would be sweet -as would a 73 scout in 440c, with the square joint. They've done a few runs of two-blade trappers in stainless, but precious few of the single blade.
 
I think for me that is one of the issues getting a 'bad' cover. You either live with it or sell it, because a lot of the time it is irreplaceable. I live in Australia so by the time I receive my knife I have totally missed any opportunity to exchange it for another. It just happens that I have received a few of these recently - about four in total. Badly placed shields, badly inlayed shields, or badly mismatched covers being the issues I am referring to. I have also received a GEC with a rocking chair half stop.

I don't like having to on sell these knives, or return them, at a loss when in fairness I should be able to set my expectations with some confidence based on stock photos. This doesn't apply to stag as its a whole different story. I leave that adventure to other people.
 
I understand your annoyance Camillus. I live in Europe and that's of course much closer to America than Aus, but it can put the block on knife returns. I have been fortunate though, I hope you have not fallen victim to less than straightforward dealers who palm off a lower grade knife on a customer conveniently far away...?

The stainless 15 I was lucky to get this week from my dealer is a grand knife, I very much like the jigging marks in between the WB style wavy bone. Blade centre, no play, recessed acorn shield, fine pin work, impressive snap. the only 'improvement' I would like is stainless or NS liners instead of brass. But, these stainless 15s seem popular, deservedly so and I think at last GEC is correctly thinking of offering popular patterns in stainless, a lot of us appreciate them.

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Yes, agree, unfortunately not all of the recent stainless patterns were built to a great standard. They seemed a bit rushed. A key advantage of stainless is more protection of your investment. It's less worry. Makes it less than ideal when a stainless knife isn't produced at GECs normal standard.

I don't think I have been given a rough deal by dealers, but there is more incentive to ask for photos before shipping. A reasonable precaution.
 
Camillus, you should request that your dealer check any product before shipping to you. It should not be an issue.
 
So if a dealer hand-picks a "good" knife for out-of-country customers, what happens to the knives that didn't pass inspection? Are they repackaged and sold as new to some other customer, or do they all go back to the factory?

Should all customers also ask for hand inspection of every knife, to make sure they are not getting the leftovers from the cherry-picked knives? I'd hate to think that just by placing an order on a web page without calling and listing my exacting criteria, that I am at risk of getting someone else's passed-over knives.

What exactly is the standard of acceptability? All knives with the least bit of blade rub go back to the factory? What about a slightly proud backspring? Blade that isn't perfectly centered? Color mismatch between scales? Stag that is fat on one side and thin on the other?

If those are flaws that must be selected for by each dealer, why is it OK for a factory to ship them that way? Should the hand-picked ones cost more, since they are clearly of higher quality and also there is more labor involved?

Is it only GEC knives that should get the hand-picked treatment, or should a dealer do the same for other knives such as Case or Queen?

I've got a number of GEC knives and they are all well-made knives. A couple have some minor issues. All traditional knives seem to have some variation in quality within the same brand based on factory QA standards. I know enough about simple knife maintenance to deal with any cosmetic problems myself. People who set up an expectation of perfection in every sample will inevitably end up disappointed.
 
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C'mon John. Be realistic. Dealers cannot be expected to inspect every knife with a 10X loup, nor can they be expected to check each and every knife that is shipped.

If you receive a knife from a GEC distributor that you don't feel qualifies as a first-rate factory run example, I would expect that the dealer would make it right, as GEC will stand behind their product.

I am simply saying that overseas shipping is labor intensive and expensive, and that those knives shipping overseas should be given a general inspection. If I come across a knife that I feel isn't up to snuff, or was somehow missed by factory QC, that knife is sent back to the factory for repair or credit.
 
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