Queen vs GEC

It would not be honest for me to say that my GEC knives are examples of perfect fit and finish. I have found flaws on some knives from my small GEC collection (I have a total of 8 and 5 have/had minor but noticeable flaws). I sent three in for bladeplay and GEC fixed them free of charge.:thumbup:

Three of the GEC knives I own are nearly flawless as far as I can tell, and they measured up to GEC's reputation for F&F that I had read about before.

Overall, I am a happy customer and I plan on buying many more GEC knives. Every time I have decided to contact GEC for repairs they have been very nice. That goes a long way with me. Since I really like the materials they use, and because they are built to be last (with tight springs!) I will remain a GEC customer.

I only own one queen, so I cant really compare the two companies fairly.
 
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black mamba said:
For the price ranges they are in, it would be a lot more fair to compare GECs to Queen's Schatt & Morgan File & Wire series knives. The F&Ws use ATS-34 stainless, which is very comparable, if not better than, GECs 440C, and they come nicely sharp in my experience. Materials, fit and finish are all a cut above the regular Queen offerings, although the patterns are fewer and tend to be larger knives. The File & Wires are really beautiful knives.

My favorite, a 4-7/8" Daddy Barlow.
DaddyBarlow1.jpg
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Mamba...THAT! is one hell of a knife my friend....its got the WOW factor going for it!
 
I think the point here is that any production manufacturer is going to have "problems" with their product at some point or another.
I'm not trying to "turn anyone against" any knife manufacturer especially a U.S. manfacturer! I'm all for spending your $ on WHATEVER you like.
I think that quality control issues are inherent in any production process. There just isn't time to fix all the different"problem children" and still maintain a profit margin. If there was a large profit margin in traditional pocket knives the U.S. wouldn't have lost so many knife manufacturers to either closing their doors or moving abroad.
For me it was more about attitude and the lack of respect in the way I was treated. As it sounds to me like was the case with Flymon.

Dave
 
knowtracks said:
For me it was more about attitude and the lack of respect in the way I was treated. As it sounds to me like was the case with Flymon.

Dave
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Exactly. It isn't so much the mistake, but how you correct it. Of course frequent mistakes are no doubt a problem.

Without making an excuse for the original response you received from GEC (cause there isn't one), it sounds like the frustration of starting up a company and getting product in the market had gotten to someone. That said, if they had said that to me I probably would have shipped the knives back overnight first AM delivery and told him to sell them as fast as he could before people figured out the scam he was running.

My problem with Queen was not over a regular production knife, and there were several chances for them to "make things right". When this resolves I will tell the story here in a review of the replacement knives.
 
Stu and Dave have hit the nail precisely on the head. :thumbup:

All production knife manufacturers (and dare I say custom makers) will have a certain number of knives get out into the public's hands which probably shouldn't have had they been inspected more closely.

How they deal with these issues (in terms of time, quality, responsiveness and positive customer experience) makes all the difference. It's much easier to forgive and endorse a company/maker that goes the extra mile to ensure that the customer is happy.
 
thesouthernguitarist said:
Well actually, I do have a spyderco sharpmaker. I forgot to mention that. But i am in the process of perfecting the technique. I think I am leaning towards the GEC due to the fact that my sharpening skills are inadequate.
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Queens are almost all dull. GEC's are some better. But neither comes close in sharpness to what I want.

I know I echo what others have said here, but you will not go wrong either way.

I have dealt with both companies and carried both companies knives. I have both in my most valued knife stack.
 
FWIW: I have 1 Queen & 1 GEC. The F&F on both are excellent. The Queen came to me sharp, the GEC came dull as a butter knife.
 
I like both companies. I have knives from both companies. Each knife has it's own thing about it that I like. Find a knife you like from either or both companies and get it/them!
 
Hello all, I only have a couple of each brand.

Queen:
The #26 Amber CSB is great little knife. I had to re-profile the blades to my satisfaction, but I knew that going into the deal. A little bit of work for 3 blades, but well worth the time spent.

The Shatt and Morgan F&W series 3 Mountain Man is a beautiful knife. Unfortunately, it came with 1/16” of side to side blade wobble at the tip. I sent it back to Queen, stating my concerns, and received the knife back with no discernable difference. This occurred in 2005 or 2006. I found their customer service lacking.

GEC:
I have a couple of Scouts, a Northfield and a Tidioute that are fantastic.
Since I like lock backs, I’m going to try one of their model 72’s. Most everyone is saying their customer service is good if you have issues with the product.
 
I have 3 Queens and 1 GEC - the 72 lockback. One of the Queens had side play in the blade. I sent it in to Queen and they fixed it - a Teardrop linerlock. The GEC had blade play - GEC fixed it.
Other than that, customer service was fine in all cases. The Queens are nice, but my minihunter has a crinked blade - I am not all that thrilled about this. It is centered in the knife when closed.
Fit and finish on the other knives are all at a very high level. Blades are centered. My GEC lockback has a nice finish, but the tip of the blade is a shade too high when the knife is closed. I'd want to keep this one in a sheath in my pocket. I don't know if this is common in the model.
Quality is high for both brands, and when there is a problem they fixed it. I don't know if this frequency of problems is typical, but it seems high to me.
 
guess i'm just really fortunate of over 100 gec's i only received one with slight blade play. certainly not enough play to be considered defective. of the past 9 queens only one had a tiny bit of play in the blade , once again not enough to consider a problem. as to sharpness neither brand issues what i call a sharp knife. i always resharpen my users to fit my own parameters. i will mention that i believe many younger buyers expect to go over a pocketknife with a jeweler's loupe expecting tolerances akin to a watch. i believe an examination of thousands of many brands of old pocketknives would give many detractors a more solid basis for criticism .a study of english pocketknives made during the period from 1850 to 1915 will show how excellent hand made knives can be. our custom makers have exclisped just about all the old masters with one exception, i've yet to see any true crocus polished modern blades.however the old knives were made with files & lots of much less sophticated machines. all i'm really saying is many newer purchasers of knives really have little knowledge of what can be expected from a factory knife.i can remember many older knives with just simple buffed edges which would'nt stand up to a reasonable task w/o going dull.
dennis
 
mapR said:
Hello all, I only have a couple of each brand.

Queen:
The Shatt and Morgan F&W series 3 Mountain Man is a beautiful knife. Unfortunately, it came with 1/16” of side to side blade wobble at the tip. I sent it back to Queen, stating my concerns, and received the knife back with no discernable difference. This occurred in 2005 or 2006. I found their customer service lacking.
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This hapened to me with 2 mountain Mans. The second one was tight untill I sharpened it. They must have some tolerance issue with them. When I returned the second one I asked for a #9 in curly zebra wood. All customer service issues with me have been very responsive. The stockman was flawless, or as expected of a production knife. My two trappers and the Cozy Glen canoe are constructed great too.
I can't say anything about GEC because i don't have one. A couple of guys at work have them and they love them. I have checked them out and they look great. I'm not a big fan of half stops but that wouldn't stop me from getting one, especially that slim trapper.

mapR, I would send the Montain man back with a letter. I'm sure they will do right.
 
DennisStrickland said:
guess i'm just really fortunate of over 100 gec's i only received one with slight blade play. certainly not enough play to be considered defective. of the past 9 queens only one had a tiny bit of play in the blade , once again not enough to consider a problem. as to sharpness neither brand issues what i call a sharp knife. i always resharpen my users to fit my own parameters. i will mention that i believe many younger buyers expect to go over a pocketknife with a jeweler's loupe expecting tolerances akin to a watch. i believe an examination of thousands of many brands of old pocketknives would give many detractors a more solid basis for criticism .a study of english pocketknives made during the period from 1850 to 1915 will show how excellent hand made knives can be. our custom makers have exclisped just about all the old masters with one exception, i've yet to see any true crocus polished modern blades.however the old knives were made with files & lots of much less sophticated machines. all i'm really saying is many newer purchasers of knives really have little knowledge of what can be expected from a factory knife.i can remember many older knives with just simple buffed edges which would'nt stand up to a reasonable task w/o going dull.
dennis
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Well said. In production knives you expect some flaws, and some to me are part of the personality of the company.
 
navihawk said:
I'm not a big fan of half stops but that wouldn't stop me from getting one, especially that slim trapper.
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Hi Steve,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I to prefer to not have half-stops but that's only because of my bad habit of closing all knives one-handed.


I currently have 10 GECs and 3 Queens and prefer the the GECs. They have been sharper out of the box (not great but better than my Queens) and have great F&F (also better than the Queens). I still bought from both companies last week though. I have 3 new GECs and 2 new Queens I'm waiting on USPS for.
 
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2Dead said:
Hi Steve,
No half stops on the Tidioute branded GECs.
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Trand,

I'm afraid that's not the case. I have 3 Tidioute's with half stops. 1 Congress and 2 Ez-Opens.

I think it's more pattern specific rather than brand.

I have an ongoing list of GEC patterns with and without half stops if anyone wants to see it.
 
Railsplitter said:
Trand,

I'm afraid that's not the case. I have 3 Tidioute's with half stops. 1 Congress and 2 Ez-Opens.

I think it's more pattern specific rather than brand.

I have an ongoing list of GEC patterns with and without half stops if anyone wants to see it.
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Ahh, my mistake then. Please send me a link to the list or a PM. I'll be happy to contribute with what I have in my collection. None of my (3) Tidioutes have half stops.
 
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