I want to review this new GEC I got, but I figure this thread could serve as an introduction; I think my first couple threads in this forum probably weren't the greatest as far as first impressions go.
When I was a child, I carried a Case stockman that was handed down to me. It stayed with me all the way to eagle in boy scouts, and then unfortunately was stolen. I've gotten really into knives in the past year or so, but had been overlooking traditionals for some reason.
I clicked through to a thread in this subforum from the front page, and started getting hooked right away. These knives remind me of a lot of good times in my childhood (not that I'm ancient now, I'm still a youngster). I really like what GEC offers as far as price, style, and quality goes. I really think they have the best thing going right now, not too warm, and not too cold.
Normally I don't dig a knife in this style (two-tone bone scales), but something about this new bumble-bee scale color just grabbed me. The black and yellow look really sharp with the polished bolsters and satin blades.
The size of this knife is perfect for my hands. Anything below 4" is just hard for me to handle. You can tell that GEC really took care to make sure that the scales were very uniform on each side, the fit and finish is excellent for a sub-$100 knife. I would say that overall, it is a 7 or 8/10, with some 9/10 areas.
The blade finish is superb. I was actually really surprised... being that Tidioute is the "working" version of GEC's line, I didn't expect such an immaculate finish. I just spent the entire afternoon at work resurfacing the magnetic chuck on the surface grinder, and didn't get a finish this good.
The black and yellow in the scales creates an interesting contrast with my cat's belly hair.
I really like how the sheepsfoot blade sits in this stockman pattern. Oftentimes it sits too high, making the knife uncomfortable to hold when using the other blades. The nail-nicks are easily accesible on all thre blades, although I could do with the clip blade sitting a tad bit higher in the cavity.
I must say, the sheepsfoot and spey blade shapes/lengths are my favorite to date. GEC really got it right here. They are nice and long, with well formed geometry. Surprisingly, this knife is fairly slim, and they still managed to keep the blades from rubbing. The blade profiles are great. I haven't gotten much use out of it yet, but I can tell this knife will like to cut.
The edge bevel is very well done on all three blades. The clip and sheepsfoot blades are very sharp, and the spey blade is the sharpest out of the three, being somewhere between shaving and hair-popping. The pull is medium, and is very uniform across all three blades. There was some residual finishing grit in the action, which had to be flushed with oil. Once it was cleaned, the knife has a very smooth action overall.
The blades all open and close with a satisfying pop. Most importantly, the pressure from the spring is very predictable across the entire blade motion, so no surprises with the blade getting away from you with oily or wet fingers.
The only negatives are some slight roughness across the back of the knife along the springs, and a few rough spots near the bolsters. Luckily, these are things that will smooth out with some pocket time.
I'm very happy with this knife, and happy to join the traditional club once more. I can't wait to buy my next slipjoint.
When I was a child, I carried a Case stockman that was handed down to me. It stayed with me all the way to eagle in boy scouts, and then unfortunately was stolen. I've gotten really into knives in the past year or so, but had been overlooking traditionals for some reason.
I clicked through to a thread in this subforum from the front page, and started getting hooked right away. These knives remind me of a lot of good times in my childhood (not that I'm ancient now, I'm still a youngster). I really like what GEC offers as far as price, style, and quality goes. I really think they have the best thing going right now, not too warm, and not too cold.
Normally I don't dig a knife in this style (two-tone bone scales), but something about this new bumble-bee scale color just grabbed me. The black and yellow look really sharp with the polished bolsters and satin blades.
The size of this knife is perfect for my hands. Anything below 4" is just hard for me to handle. You can tell that GEC really took care to make sure that the scales were very uniform on each side, the fit and finish is excellent for a sub-$100 knife. I would say that overall, it is a 7 or 8/10, with some 9/10 areas.
The blade finish is superb. I was actually really surprised... being that Tidioute is the "working" version of GEC's line, I didn't expect such an immaculate finish. I just spent the entire afternoon at work resurfacing the magnetic chuck on the surface grinder, and didn't get a finish this good.
The black and yellow in the scales creates an interesting contrast with my cat's belly hair.
I really like how the sheepsfoot blade sits in this stockman pattern. Oftentimes it sits too high, making the knife uncomfortable to hold when using the other blades. The nail-nicks are easily accesible on all thre blades, although I could do with the clip blade sitting a tad bit higher in the cavity.
I must say, the sheepsfoot and spey blade shapes/lengths are my favorite to date. GEC really got it right here. They are nice and long, with well formed geometry. Surprisingly, this knife is fairly slim, and they still managed to keep the blades from rubbing. The blade profiles are great. I haven't gotten much use out of it yet, but I can tell this knife will like to cut.
The edge bevel is very well done on all three blades. The clip and sheepsfoot blades are very sharp, and the spey blade is the sharpest out of the three, being somewhere between shaving and hair-popping. The pull is medium, and is very uniform across all three blades. There was some residual finishing grit in the action, which had to be flushed with oil. Once it was cleaned, the knife has a very smooth action overall.
The blades all open and close with a satisfying pop. Most importantly, the pressure from the spring is very predictable across the entire blade motion, so no surprises with the blade getting away from you with oily or wet fingers.
The only negatives are some slight roughness across the back of the knife along the springs, and a few rough spots near the bolsters. Luckily, these are things that will smooth out with some pocket time.
I'm very happy with this knife, and happy to join the traditional club once more. I can't wait to buy my next slipjoint.
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