The First Five Years! GEC!!!

[waynorth]

2006 to 2011 were heady years for GEC!! Bill and Ken were charting a path to a great chapter in knife history!!
Establishing a business with durability, while hoping to earn a living, all the while maintaining integrety!!!
They chose a tough row!! Other knife companies were struggling, and competing, while this upstart company thought it could succeed in a tough business atmosphere!!
Cobbling together a rookie staff, into a formidable knife-making machine, all the while producing the best possible product, must have caused a lot of grey hairs, and money pressures!! It was an amazing process to behold!!!
Some of those early knives showed great skill, and a promise of great things in the future! Pulling the goodness in design and function from the golden Cutlery ages of past years, the first five years show special traits to me that continue to astound to this day!! We all wish we had started to collect more GECs, from the first years!!!
This thread hopes to showcase these early GECs, especially for those of us who missed a lot of them!!
Please show us yours, 2006 to 2011!! Dare we call them Old GECs?? Probably Early is a better term!!
Here are 5 of the very few that I own - real special knives!! Please post yours!!!

From 2006, a jigged bone #73 Scout
>2007, Primitive Bone
>2008, Genuine Stag #53 Cuban, slant bolsters
>2008, another Cuban
>2008 Bubinga Wood #23, rare single blade

Please comment, and correct me if I am in error!!

 

[Modoc ED]

I've got more. I'll post some of them later.

 

[Modoc ED]

2008 Linerlock - Tractor Green Bone



2011 Lockback Stonewashed Blue Bone



2007 Ebony Scout Trapper



More to come.

 

[Heynowwww]

Great idea,

Here are some 73s from 2006-2009

2006 - Sheffield Tobacco (the only 2006 I own)
2007 - Burnt Stag
2008 - Blue/Orange Open House OH-8
2009 - Brown Jig Bone

 

[Modoc ED]

2011 538311 Stockman Jigged Green Bone




All pretty dang early GEC. I think they're all 2011 or older.

 

[GPO MAN]

Were the early GEC’s as hard to get as they are now?

 

[Modoc ED]

Were the early GEC’s as hard to get as they are now?

No they were much easier to get. Some sat on dealer shelves for a long time. Some of those pictured I went back and forth about getting for a week or so - maybe longer.

 

[Pàdruig]

This is my oldest GEC, a 2006, and the only one I own that was made in their first 5 years.

 

[kamagong]

My only GEC from the early years. It's gone now, but it was a good knife.

Were the early GEC’s as hard to get as they are now?

Not nearly. Knives would sit in inventory for months, and you could take your time deciding whether or not you liked a design. I miss those days.

I feel like a fisherman with an old favorite fishing hole that is no longer secret.

 

[Will Power]

2008 Linerlock - Tractor Green Bone

View attachment 2354384

2011 Lockback Stonewashed Blue Bone

View attachment 2354386

2007 Ebony Scout Trapper

View attachment 2354391

More to come.

That Tractor Green gives me traction

 

[pmek5]

My oldest - #89 PPP from 2009 - 2nd Cut Burnt Stag

 

[waynorth]

Thanks for showing up for this thread, my fellow Porch-hangers!!
Here are three more;
The top one is my HJ from 2008!!
>Second is another Primitive Bone scout from 2007!!
>Last is a #65 from Bob Andrews (RIP) collection, made in 2011!!
For a while, Bill gave a hat pin with the Gen Stag knives, made from the shield!!

 

[Modoc ED]

The knife that started the Bull Nose line at GEC. A collaboration between Mike Latham and Bill Howard. Only 29 made.

 

[Will Power]

Really interesting and instructive idea for a thread Charlie

Even for obscure types like me in Europe it was possible to mull over a GEC for a good long while thinking it over. No drops, no frenzy, bickering, boorish celebrations and no sharks (flippers) Moderate shipping costs and no Customs intrusions... Nostalgic exhale...

I remember the first GEC I got and on opening the packet in a café I was stupefied by how good this 73 was, could not believe the quality and feel. I think that in the far distant past there WERE a good deal of quality knives but also nostalgia or received opinion can idealize the situation; there were also plenty of badly made and gap ridden knives in the past and not just cheapos. What has always struck me about GEC is their very strong dedication to consistency and reliable quality finish in their knives from 2006 to this day, for this marks them as the premier manufacturer and why they survived in a very difficult environment.

Late here and I'm worn-out so bed beckons, the first GEC I got was a Tobacco Bone stainless 2 blade, few years later I had a blade delete and much prefer it, the 73 is the cornerstone of GEC's greatness in my view.

More to follow on Saturday...

 

[danno50]

A 2009 elephant toenail and a couple of 2010 trappers, made for AAPK.

 

[cudgee]

The knife that started the Bull Nose line at GEC.

Only 29 made.

 

[Jake Dudley]

2010 clip 72
2011 spear 72
And an honorable mention for the 2012 15. I believe this is from the first run of 15’s which we all know turned out to be a hit.

 

[sf fanatic]

09 Split back #89. One of my first GECS.
View attachment 2354557

 

[waynorth]

I can't get you interesting-sounding pics to show up, Dan!!??
danno50

 

[waynorth]

Late here and I'm worn-out so bed beckons, the first GEC I got was a Tobacco Bone stainless 2 blade, few years later I had a blade delete and much prefer it, the 73 is the cornerstone of GEC's greatness in my view.

Have a nice sleep, Will!!
Modern carry (EDCers) often opts for lighter knives than our grandfathers!! Hence the trend of "blade-delete!!"
Hmmmm.