Lets talk GEC!

Slim278 Slim278
Since no money is committed I wouldn't call it a sale and Mike usually (not always) gives an estimate as to price.

Your decision is welcomed by me, more knives for me. lol
 
Slim278 said:
I don't see the benefit to the general public for these early order options. It has to be a great thing for the dealers. They get to sell a product prior to it even being made, without setting a price until after completion of the product. This is not how I wish do do my shopping and if it means I miss out, so be it.
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I am not seeking to change your opinion, which I do respect, though I think I will disagree. GEC prices are fairly consistent so there is a reasonable idea of what a knife is going to cost whether or not an estimate is provided. Also, reserving a knife through CK does not in of itself constitute a sale as no money is exchanged until the knife is ready to be sold.

As far as not benefiting the public? I think that providing a early reserve process is a rather large benefit to the public. One can sign up, receive notification of a pending SFO, decide whether or not to commit, and follow through accordingly. Anyone can do it if they so choose. The alternative is akin to "the chasing unicorns" process that is trying to land a Northwoods knife. I personally do not have the time, energy, or desire to remain "plugged in" in such a way that may still only provide me with a rather narrow opportunity to acquire an otherwise unobtainable knife. That coupled with my absolute refusal to entertain secondary market pricing on some models. I think Mike does a great job maintaining an adequate level of transparency and providing us with a terrific service that also happens to be free.

In the end though, you win some and you lose some, they are only knives after all... :D I happened to miss out on the Improved Trappers because I didn't have the funds at the time. And I am sure there will be others I will have to pass on or I will be passed up due to lack of attention in the future as well. It is all part of the fun.
 
I understand the customer appeal to the alerts and being first. I however think it would be more appropriate to send them when the distributor has a product in hand along with a set price.
 
I'm glad GEC is starting to stock up the dealers' shelves with some of their models. They're still only an eleven year old company, so it's taken a little while to build up to this point, but I think the consumer who is simply looking for a well made user will have some options, while collectors are still getting some smaller run SFOs to chase after. The argument that a person can't use a GEC because there's none available for purchase may soon be null.
 
Camillus said:
I missed out on this run but am ok with this - this time. We can't desire highly sought after knives and not expect them to be highly sought after!

However, I do like it when SFOs are spread around the dealers, that way I can plead for knives from some dealers who are sympathetic to the fact I am at a distinct disadvantage in the rat race living in Australia- and some are!
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knifeswapper said:
We are sympathetic, just not sympathetic enough to break federal laws. But we have recommended solutions that would actually save most international buyers money.
I guess we could turn whistleblower and get all the other guys a few thousand dollars in fines (and eliminate their ability to ship internationally) - but that isn't the way we roll.
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I'm a US citizen and resident so I'm not affected but at the same time what federal law is being broken in this scenario?
 
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Mike, thanks for the response above. By way of background, I got into GEC a couple of years ago, maybe 2014, and was straight away impressed by the company and the focus on traditional methods and techniques. I like fly fishing and camping and traditional tools, so GEC was a natural fit. But what made it more special was the relationships I was able to set up with the dealers, most particularly Bob Andrews (RIP) who kept us all informed of GECs various activities through his blog, and was always happy to help me when I asked him to locate a knife, even a rare SFO, if he could. It made the whole knife buying experience infinitely more pleasurable and personal, even from the long distance involved.

Now, fast forward a couple of years and I've lost some of that personal touch that made knife collecting so good, and am now increasingly associating good GEC knives with that same anxiety that Bilbo went through with his 'precious' in Lord of the Rings! It's no longer a gentleman's pursuit conducted in a friendly way, and increasingly nerve wracking and frustrating. Some dealers have been nice enough to give me advance warning of their website release times, but even that notification doesn't quite restore the good vibes I had from those friendly gentlemanly chats I had with Bob. I no longer view my new SFO knives as fondly as the ones he personally sought out for me.

Anyway, we can all wish for the good old days, but I wanted to explain my current disappointment with what this has become. I hope that personal touch isn't lost forever, for me its a big reason to buy a GEC ahead of spending my dollars on something else.
 
cbr1000 said:
2000 people trying to reserve the same knife at the exact same time seems bad... I vote don't change it (even though I missed out on one).

Well, don't change it unless rdave and cbr1000 get priority reservation status :)
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yeah! That's what I'm talking about...LOL
 
I think the production totals for last year are pretty interesting. I was surprised at the number of patterns produced, it seems like much fewer than previous years. It's nice that dealers can maintain some stock on a couple of the more popular knives.

I was thinking we could count on a 14 run this year (clips?) but now I'm not so sure, heck, it's already June!
 
texmex03 said:
I would like the 14 in clip with coping. It's the best size in a small knife to me but we will see when the 25 gets here.
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IMO their coping blades are unnecessarily narrow. I wish they'd make them much more full (depth. not length.). There's plenty of room in the well.

With a knife as small as the 14 pattern, I'd prefer the secondary blade is a full length sheepfoot instead of a coping. That combination of two full length blades is basically a "carpenter's knife" (often a straight jack) with a full length sheepfoot and either a clip or spear main.

On a 14 pattern, the sheepfoot wouldn't be much different than a sheepfoot on a stockman. So you still have the control of a short blade as well as all of the other benefits of a sheepfoot.
 
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I like both Josh's and Jake's suggestions for the secondary blade on the theoretical clip 14s, but we all know they will be pen blades. Smiley face.
 
supratentorial said:
IMO their coping blades are unnecessarily narrow. I wish they'd make them much more full (depth. not length.). There's plenty of room in the well.

With a knife as small as the 14 pattern, I'd prefer the secondary blade is a full length sheepfoot instead of a coping. That combination of two full length blades is basically a "carpenter's knife" (often a straight jack) with a full length sheepfoot and either a clip or spear main.

On a 14 pattern, the sheepfoot wouldn't be much different than a sheepfoot on a stockman. So you still have the control of a short blade as well as all of the other benefits of a sheepfoot.
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Yes, and put the cope/sheep on the mark side with the nail nick on the mark side so they don't have to keep the clip riding so high as would be needed to access both nicks from the pile side. I.e. like they did on the Beagles...
 
supratentorial said:
IMO their coping blades are unnecessarily narrow. I wish they'd make them much more full (depth. not length.). There's plenty of room in the well.

With a knife as small as the 14 pattern, I'd prefer the secondary blade is a full length sheepfoot instead of a coping. That combination of two full length blades is basically a "carpenter's knife" (often a straight jack) with a full length sheepfoot and either a clip or spear main.

On a 14 pattern, the sheepfoot wouldn't be much different than a sheepfoot on a stockman. So you still have the control of a short blade as well as all of the other benefits of a sheepfoot.
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This, especially with the clip (in my opinion), would be an excellent knife & would instantly replace my #83 as my EDC.
 
Slim278 said:
I don't see the benefit to the general public for these early order options. It has to be a great thing for the dealers. They get to sell a product prior to it even being made, without setting a price until after completion of the product. This is not how I wish do do my shopping and if it means I miss out, so be it.
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Extremely good point but demand is greater than price point with this product. It's an unrealistic market pard. I really do enjoy your thought out observation considering the consumer. Not beneficial at all. The only benefit obviously being crazy cool knives. But the knife market is really one that is fun to observe.
 
Jfowler said:
The 66 calf roper in ebony are up on the front page of the gec site . Looks nice , I like the plain oval shield.
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Those do look great! I'm very excited they're finally making these again, and hope there will be surplus of some.

I also wonder if they'll be in standard tubes or if they'll have the same artwork as past releases.
IMG_20170616_164200.jpg
 
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