Sorry to bust your bubbles.
The arrowhead shield dates back to the 1800's.
Travman, The only people who've even
heard of Northfield are folks who hang out at knife forums, like this one, or heard about them on Twitter, Facebook, possibly You Tube, or some other social media..
The same can be said for GEC.
Do either buy advertising in Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, or any magazine targeting hikers, shooters, etc. who's activities would increase the likelihood they'll buy a knife at least for when they are out doing whatever they like to do, or even in Playboy magazines?
Of course not. If nothing else, they don't produce enough knives to meet demand now, let alone the additional demand from "hipsters" and such if they were to advertise nationally. Advertising nationally could well add 20,000 and more to the demand for any particular pattern run.
Lets be honest. GEC does not have the manufacturing capacity to even come close to meeting demand if they were to effectively advertise nationally. That isn't meant as a knock or bash on GEC, by the way. It is only the simple truth.
Aside from large manufactures such as Case, Buck, Puma, Böker, Ontario, Victorinox SAK, and maybe a couple of the big "kitchen knife" manufacturers, cutlery companies generally don't buy advertising in the appropriate magazines or on the Saturday/Sunday morning and afternoon hunting and fishing TV shows.
They rely on word of mouth on social media/forums. (all cutlery (and firearms) manufacturers rely on word of mouth to some extent)
Most people don't hang out at/on a knife forum, or a forum where knives get much discussion. (this includes archery, camping, hiking, and hunting/fishing forums).
At best, they know the brands of knives sold at the local big box stores, and on Amazon and eBay.
I've never seen a GEC or related brand available on Amazon. Have you? Those on eBay are all high priced "New in Tube"/"Like New In Tube and "New/Like New No Tube" used knives, unlikely to garner much interest from someone who isn't a collector or "knife nut" looking for a specific GEC they missed out on by not getting their order in sometimes a few seconds to a minute or two after it was released. (and who are well aware they are going to be "taken to the cleaners" price wise, on the secondary market.
In short, the "Average" person has never heard of GEC and the related companies, believe the original Queen Cutlery and most of the other old names went bankrupt and shut down in the 1930's, during the great depression, and haven't been made since.
Most of those who
do know what a Northwoods is, "wouldn't want to be caught dead" with a Rough Rider, or any of the long dead but in name only now made offshore knives, from what I've read on BF.
They won't buy the Rough Ryder no matter how nice it is, or what shield it has or doesn't have.
I've been a member here since 2014. Prior to joining BF, I'd never heard of GEC, or post 1930's production Northwoods, Northfield, and Queen knives. Until this thread, I didn't know Northwoods "normally" has an arrow shield.
Truth to tell, I thought Nothwoods was just another brand owned by GEC.
I don't know anyone for who the shield is a deal maker or deal breaker.
Shields are not proprietary designs. (The cross imprinted or stamped on SAK handles isn't really a "shield" but is proprietary.)
If they were, you can bet your bottom penny they would be patented, trademarked, and copyrighted (©) so no one else could use them.
How many different cutlery companies over just the last 150 years (since 1880) have used the bomb shield (both single and double) and plain oval shield? "All of them" is the correct answer.
Several cutlery companies used the arrowhead shield prior to World War one, and again between World War 1 and 2. Many more than Northwoods and Rough Ryder have used it since World War 2, as well.
Rather than "stealing brand recognition" (of a brand most folks have never heard of, no less) by using that shield, a more
likely explanation is: "
The designers and marketing team thought it looked the best."
Heck, not even the Horse Shoe shield used on some (but not all) Rough Ryder/Rough Rider knives isn't a proprietary design, and was used on knives long before Rough Rider/Rough Ryder was started.
I'm not in the customer base Northfield and/or GEC (and when they were still in business, Queen, CSC, and the other high end "collector" brands) sell their products to.
Heck, at the price point SMKW has their new Queen Cutlery/Queen City lines at, I'm not in their sights as a potential customer for those lines, either. Which is fine.
Sorry for the rant.
