After reading all about how great the GEC line is I decided to pull to pull the trigger on a few. I ordered from TSA knives on sunday pm and they were on my desk this am! I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with these knives. I received a harness jack, pioneer, and a whittler. The fit and fnish rivals many of my custom sj. They put case knives to shame! No doubt I'll be going back for more. Thanks for the reccomendation!
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
New GEC's arrived
- Thread starter APerna
- Start date
Capt. Carl
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,635
BJE
Basic Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2006
- Messages
- 3,079
I also disagree with this statement....strongly. I just went to SMKW and handled about five or six different GEC's and I didn't find them better than the Case I have in my pocket nor the one that I got in the mail today. I bought a GEC that day, but I haven't carried it once since I got it. I am thinking about selling it already, I mainly bought it because it had pretty bone handles and because of all the recent hype. It is a very good knife, but it was more than I like to spend on just one knife. It doesn't blow the other knives I have away and it costs two or three times as much.
The average Case sells for $30-$60, the average GEC costs about $100, that is two to three times as much and I don't really feel the cost is justified for me. I wish GEC well as I do all US companies making good knives. They are filling a niche that I have a soft spot for, a well made carbon steel traditional slip-joint.
I am not really a Case fan boy, I love their knives because I am strongly attracted to them and they make a good product for a humble amount of cash, not because of the name, but I purchased two Case knives that day at SMKW and only one GEC, guess which ones have been fighting each other for pocket space
?To each his own I guess.
Capt. Carl
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,635
That is exactly how I feel. Dead on. Thanks for articulating it so well Brian.
Brian,
If you compare like with like, starting prices, then:
A bone Case trapper at $40, and a bone GEC scout (trapper) at $55.
A Case barlow at $50 and a GEC barlow at $60
So the price spread is much much smaller.
I have only one GEC barlow and have found the F&F far better than any of the recent Case knives I own.
If you compare like with like, starting prices, then:
A bone Case trapper at $40, and a bone GEC scout (trapper) at $55.
A Case barlow at $50 and a GEC barlow at $60
So the price spread is much much smaller.
I have only one GEC barlow and have found the F&F far better than any of the recent Case knives I own.
knifeswapper
Knife Peddler
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2004
- Messages
- 3,301
I think both arguments have merit at this point in time. Case makes one superbly finished knife; their mirror finished blades and handles are unrivaled for asthetics. But the GEC's are made like army tanks and would make a much better field knife. GEC has not yet finished blades that are consistently collectible quality. They have grind lines, small metal imperfections, and an unimpressive surface etch. On the other hand, Case puts out many more pin cracks than GEC; I have seen maybe 5 pin cracks on GEC knives out of more than 1000 observed. GEC will still throw a crooked shield or some other little character aspect caused by having human hands complete every vital operation as compared to computer guided manufacturing.
I think they have different objectives right now. Case wants to put out as many quality variants as possible to take advantage of the collector market while making an acceptable using knife. GEC wants to put out fewer variations of knives that will last a lifetime for hard use while being accepted as a collectible product due to the quality craftsmanship.
On the price, you are hard pressed to compare apples to apples. The one exception being very similar Sunfish patterns wherein GEC is actually cheaper. But the limited lineup is something they must work through as new tooling / expertise permits. They do have other common patterns, but by name only. Neither one puts out a general production product that rivals any top tier custom maker; but if you had a custom maker in a factory the custom maker market would quickly disappear.
I was working on checking in some Boker slipjoints last night and thinking to myself that both of these American companies still have many lessons to learn.
I think they have different objectives right now. Case wants to put out as many quality variants as possible to take advantage of the collector market while making an acceptable using knife. GEC wants to put out fewer variations of knives that will last a lifetime for hard use while being accepted as a collectible product due to the quality craftsmanship.
On the price, you are hard pressed to compare apples to apples. The one exception being very similar Sunfish patterns wherein GEC is actually cheaper. But the limited lineup is something they must work through as new tooling / expertise permits. They do have other common patterns, but by name only. Neither one puts out a general production product that rivals any top tier custom maker; but if you had a custom maker in a factory the custom maker market would quickly disappear.
I was working on checking in some Boker slipjoints last night and thinking to myself that both of these American companies still have many lessons to learn.
BJE
Basic Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2006
- Messages
- 3,079
Most of the knives I looked at by GEC were in the $100 bracket, not that there weren't any for more or less, just the majority were in that range. Same as Case, they have some very expensive and inexpensive knives but most are around $35-$45.
There are a couple things about GEC I don't really like:
1. the half stops, not really a big fan of them and every GEC I looked at had them, I like the opening my knife to be one smooth and fluid motion, not click..clack and then clack..click again to close.
2. Blade wobble, everyone of the GEC's I looked at (which were several including the harness jack, stockman, and three or four of the scouts) had at least some noticeable blade wobble, even the one I hand picked to take home with me has a little. My Eye Brand and neither one the Case knives I bought have any (especially the Eye Brand).
3. Stiff springs, they all had very stiff springs which combined the half stops make for an uncomfortable opening for me. Not a bad thing, just not my preference. I prefer to carry smallish slippies and like lighter springs. I don't need a tank for a pocketknife, I will grab a fixed blade if my regular folder can't handle it, no need to overbuild. I like to whittle and bulk only adds to the difficulty.
4. Final edge grind, this one is very important to me. I know how to sharpen a knife and they all get sharpened before use anyway, but I don't like having to regrind the edge before I can use it. Every Case I have gotten over the years had very nice and thin grinds on them, and would take a few minutes on a stone to bring up a perfect edge. My GEC had very obtuse edges and took quite a long time on a very coarse stone to one edge acceptable, I still have one more to do. This is the reason I swore off Queen for the time being until they fix their edges.
GEC had many good qualities, like the beautiful handles and old styling. Plus they are made in USA with carbon steel, but they just don't have me hooked yet. If they would clean up those edges and offer some models without half stops, I would be willing to deal with the blade wobble and stiff springs. I also like how they aren't mass produced and some of the slight imperfections that go with that, I think it adds character, similar to my Bark Rivers.
The only problems I have with Case are that they don't have enough models in CV, many of their blades have a cant to them when open and lean a little to the closed postion as if they aren't open far enough, and I would like to see some of the carbon steel models with brushed fineshed blade in place of the polished. All of these are pretty trivial IMHO.
BTW: someone mentioned pin cracks, My GEC is the only knife I can think of that has ever had a pin crack right out of the box (except for my Boker stockman which was returned to them for other reasons), it is small and doesn't affect me in any way, but it is there and just something I noticed after giving it a good inspection upon returning home from TN.
BTW again: The Bokers I have handled have been worse in my opinion to either GEC and Case as far as overall quality. I like them OK, but I have gotten a dud before, and everyone one I handled had some issues. They are good, but I just never have held one that rivaled a Queen (and all it variants), Case, Eye Brand, or Schrade. They seem to be on the same level as the Buck slip joints, good solid users, but nothing to write home about. I could just have bad luck with them though.
There are a couple things about GEC I don't really like:
1. the half stops, not really a big fan of them and every GEC I looked at had them, I like the opening my knife to be one smooth and fluid motion, not click..clack and then clack..click again to close.
2. Blade wobble, everyone of the GEC's I looked at (which were several including the harness jack, stockman, and three or four of the scouts) had at least some noticeable blade wobble, even the one I hand picked to take home with me has a little. My Eye Brand and neither one the Case knives I bought have any (especially the Eye Brand).
3. Stiff springs, they all had very stiff springs which combined the half stops make for an uncomfortable opening for me. Not a bad thing, just not my preference. I prefer to carry smallish slippies and like lighter springs. I don't need a tank for a pocketknife, I will grab a fixed blade if my regular folder can't handle it, no need to overbuild. I like to whittle and bulk only adds to the difficulty.
4. Final edge grind, this one is very important to me. I know how to sharpen a knife and they all get sharpened before use anyway, but I don't like having to regrind the edge before I can use it. Every Case I have gotten over the years had very nice and thin grinds on them, and would take a few minutes on a stone to bring up a perfect edge. My GEC had very obtuse edges and took quite a long time on a very coarse stone to one edge acceptable, I still have one more to do. This is the reason I swore off Queen for the time being until they fix their edges.
GEC had many good qualities, like the beautiful handles and old styling. Plus they are made in USA with carbon steel, but they just don't have me hooked yet. If they would clean up those edges and offer some models without half stops, I would be willing to deal with the blade wobble and stiff springs. I also like how they aren't mass produced and some of the slight imperfections that go with that, I think it adds character, similar to my Bark Rivers.
The only problems I have with Case are that they don't have enough models in CV, many of their blades have a cant to them when open and lean a little to the closed postion as if they aren't open far enough, and I would like to see some of the carbon steel models with brushed fineshed blade in place of the polished. All of these are pretty trivial IMHO.
BTW: someone mentioned pin cracks, My GEC is the only knife I can think of that has ever had a pin crack right out of the box (except for my Boker stockman which was returned to them for other reasons), it is small and doesn't affect me in any way, but it is there and just something I noticed after giving it a good inspection upon returning home from TN.
BTW again: The Bokers I have handled have been worse in my opinion to either GEC and Case as far as overall quality. I like them OK, but I have gotten a dud before, and everyone one I handled had some issues. They are good, but I just never have held one that rivaled a Queen (and all it variants), Case, Eye Brand, or Schrade. They seem to be on the same level as the Buck slip joints, good solid users, but nothing to write home about. I could just have bad luck with them though.
Last edited:
In the last year I bought approximately 7 case knives. All had sratches on the blades especially the sowbellies. The liners also showed spaces. The gec's that I have have no issues with the above. I have 2 customs made by Rick Nowland and when comparing the 2 my gec's are dam close in f&f. Don't get me wrong they don't shine a light to my Morrow or Preston customs. The point that I was trying to make is that I'm really happy to see an american manufacturer putting out quality products.
I prefer my GEC to the Cases I've had, but I don't consider my Cases to be considerably worse. I would say that the fit and finish of my GEC #25 is about equal to the Queen gunstock I used to have; not flawless, but very good. I do prefer the GEC 1095 to the Queen D2 by far.
TSA Knives (not to be confused with the airport goons) was great to deal with; very prompt and personal service. When I expressed some concern over the stiff springs, he offered to cherry pick a mild one for me, and the springs are firm without being excessive.
I have a GEC #23 coming in a trade, and I am looking forward to it; it will be my second one! The #23 is probably waaaayyyyyy too big for my uses, but I am infatuated with that model anyway.
TSA Knives (not to be confused with the airport goons) was great to deal with; very prompt and personal service. When I expressed some concern over the stiff springs, he offered to cherry pick a mild one for me, and the springs are firm without being excessive.
I have a GEC #23 coming in a trade, and I am looking forward to it; it will be my second one! The #23 is probably waaaayyyyyy too big for my uses, but I am infatuated with that model anyway.
BJE
Basic Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2006
- Messages
- 3,079
Were they all stockman patterns? I have also noticed this on their stockman but not the other patterns. I think it is because of the crinked blades rubbing together when being opened. The polished blades show the light scratches well, would not be as noticeable if they were a brushed finish. I only have two or three of about 20 Case knives that have very small gaps in the back springs, I once again attibute this to the hefty polish they give eveything. The higher end customs are always light years ahead of production companies, wish I could afford them.
BJE the majority of issues are on my multiblade folders ie whitlers, sowbellies. most 2 blade models are just fine. Don't get me wrong about case knives. They are still one of my favorites. I just sent back a 6254 with 154 cm steel because the action was just terrible.
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2004
- Messages
- 474
Well, the last 3 Cases I got were crap, along with their customer service, so I won't own another one as long as GEC is in business.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2008
- Messages
- 84
The fact that this discussion is going on at all is great for all lovers of these type of knives. This is fun no matter where your "affiliations" lie!
BJE
Basic Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2006
- Messages
- 3,079
Care to elaborate? Which models did you have problems with? I don't think I ever got a knife from a US company that was total "crap". Please explain how their customer service is lacking, I have never heard a bad word spoken of Case CS.