Buzzbait
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2001
- Messages
- 6,810
So I'm trying to catch up with the times a bit, and have embarked on a quest to buy a couple of new slipjoints. I carry a Victorinox Farmer in my back pocket every single day of the year, but often throw another knife into my front pocket. My front pocket knife of late has been a Lone Wolf City Knife. I love the City Knife, and it carries quite well, but just isn't my cup of tea for an everyday carry. The wharncliffe is handy enough, but has some drastic shortcomings in my case. Autumn in Upstate New York is all about the apples, and there's no worse apple peeling knife than the City Knife. It takes huge bites out of the apple, instead of shaving just the peel. It's a terrible waste of Cortland and Honey Crisp!!! I also have a weakness for carbon steel, which the City Knife does not help with.
So my first purchase has been a replacement for the City Knife. I searched for a knife of approximately the same size and weight, but with carbon steel. I also decided to go with a locking blade, to add some extra versatility over the Farmer. Drop dead good looks were a must, as this knife would often be used in an office environment. I finally decided to go with a GEC and see if all of the praise over this company was well founded. So my first GEC arrived yesterday, a Northfield Mini-Lockback in burnt orange bone.
I must say that I'm quite impressed with this Northfield. I have plenty of special edition Schrades and Camillus knives in my collection, and they are quite well crafted. But this Northfield is very likely on a level above my better Cartridge Series and limited edition Old Timers. GEC put some great effort into the coloring and jigging of the bone, and the long pull and swedge of the blade are simply glorious. The fluted and pinched bolsters add a touch of class that usually doesn't make it into my pocket. The blade has pretty close to zero horizontal or vertical blade play when in the locked position. The knife even arrived relatively sharp for a traditional pocket knife. I'd also like to mention that the stiffness of the spring is absolutely perfect for a lockback of this size. Overall, I'm ecstatic about my purchase. The knife wasn't cheap, but well worth the extra funds.
Do I have any criticisms? Yep, but nothing big. The serialized number on the bolster and the giant 1 of 50 on the blade are extremely tacky. Screaming limited edition doesn't make a knife valuable. Great craftsmanship and outstanding design make a knife valuable. This knife doesn't need all of that extra limited edition marking. It stands on its own. I actually like the big Northfield logo on the blade though. And the certificate of authenticity is a nice touch, but doesn't mean much when it's a Northfield knife and the brand and pattern number aren't filled in correctly. One more thing. I would have designed the tang of the blade to meld more closely with the bolster when in the open position, to form a sort of a ricasso. It would make hand positioning a bit easier.
But I'm just nitpicking. It's an extremely nice knife, and not one that's going into a collection. The lanyard hole is a nice extra that I'll be making use of, and I really dig the UN-X-LD shield. GEC also did a nice job of packing as much blade as possible into this particular handle size. I get the same general size knife as my Lone Wolf when closed, but once open I get a lot more cutting edge. All in all, the Northfield gets a big thumbs up.
Next up is my second purchase. I have a Mooremaker large locking Sodbuster on the way, which I assume is made by Bear & Son, who I have not yet acquainted myself with. I'll post up some impressions when it arrives, but that will have to wait. I got a call from an extremely nice David Moore the other day, telling me that my Sodbuster was backordered for a couple weeks. No worries though. I have a great new Northfield to keep me busy.
So my first purchase has been a replacement for the City Knife. I searched for a knife of approximately the same size and weight, but with carbon steel. I also decided to go with a locking blade, to add some extra versatility over the Farmer. Drop dead good looks were a must, as this knife would often be used in an office environment. I finally decided to go with a GEC and see if all of the praise over this company was well founded. So my first GEC arrived yesterday, a Northfield Mini-Lockback in burnt orange bone.
I must say that I'm quite impressed with this Northfield. I have plenty of special edition Schrades and Camillus knives in my collection, and they are quite well crafted. But this Northfield is very likely on a level above my better Cartridge Series and limited edition Old Timers. GEC put some great effort into the coloring and jigging of the bone, and the long pull and swedge of the blade are simply glorious. The fluted and pinched bolsters add a touch of class that usually doesn't make it into my pocket. The blade has pretty close to zero horizontal or vertical blade play when in the locked position. The knife even arrived relatively sharp for a traditional pocket knife. I'd also like to mention that the stiffness of the spring is absolutely perfect for a lockback of this size. Overall, I'm ecstatic about my purchase. The knife wasn't cheap, but well worth the extra funds.
Do I have any criticisms? Yep, but nothing big. The serialized number on the bolster and the giant 1 of 50 on the blade are extremely tacky. Screaming limited edition doesn't make a knife valuable. Great craftsmanship and outstanding design make a knife valuable. This knife doesn't need all of that extra limited edition marking. It stands on its own. I actually like the big Northfield logo on the blade though. And the certificate of authenticity is a nice touch, but doesn't mean much when it's a Northfield knife and the brand and pattern number aren't filled in correctly. One more thing. I would have designed the tang of the blade to meld more closely with the bolster when in the open position, to form a sort of a ricasso. It would make hand positioning a bit easier.
But I'm just nitpicking. It's an extremely nice knife, and not one that's going into a collection. The lanyard hole is a nice extra that I'll be making use of, and I really dig the UN-X-LD shield. GEC also did a nice job of packing as much blade as possible into this particular handle size. I get the same general size knife as my Lone Wolf when closed, but once open I get a lot more cutting edge. All in all, the Northfield gets a big thumbs up.
Next up is my second purchase. I have a Mooremaker large locking Sodbuster on the way, which I assume is made by Bear & Son, who I have not yet acquainted myself with. I'll post up some impressions when it arrives, but that will have to wait. I got a call from an extremely nice David Moore the other day, telling me that my Sodbuster was backordered for a couple weeks. No worries though. I have a great new Northfield to keep me busy.
Took it to a party back in the summer, did some food prep in the kitchen to enhance the patina. Mistake of leaving it laying around...Next morning, I find somebody has put it in the sink to soak
