The First Five Years! GEC!!!

[black mamba]

I'm glad it finally found its way home!

 

[atk]

 

[waynorth]

I've posted this knife before, but took new pics!! This knife sits on my desk, reminding me of those early years of consistent Great Stag!!

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

Not a great picture, I’ll have to remember to add some individual photos later on. Anyways, here are the three in my collection from the “first 5”.

A 61 Congress in stag from 2009, a 68 White Owl in Cocobolo from 2011, and a “GEC brand” 25 in stainless/elk from 2010.

View attachment 2643565

That congress

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

I've posted this knife before, but took new pics!! This knife sits on my desk, reminding me of those early years of consistent Great Stag!!View attachment 2648796View attachment 2648797View attachment 2648798

Is it getting harder to find good stuff?
I have one GEC stag which was from last years run, it’s ok. Certainly nothing like your piece.

And is that a liner lock?

 

[mrknife]

Is it getting harder to find good stuff?
I have one GEC stag which was from last years run, it’s ok. Certainly nothing like your piece.

At a gec rendezvous two years back, Bill explained in tremendous detail the difficulties of securing quality stag and enough of it for a run.

 

[waynorth]

And is that a liner lock?

Yes, Liner Lock! I love that knife!!

 

[lambertiana]

I've posted this knife before, but took new pics!! This knife sits on my desk, reminding me of those early years of consistent Great Stag!!View attachment 2648796View attachment 2648797View attachment 2648798

Great stag is an understatement, and cut correctly, too. Correctly cut great stag is a rarity these days.

 

[Alex.Y.]

Great stag is an understatement, and cut correctly, too. Correctly cut great stag is a rarity these days.

What do you mean? How to correctly cut stag?

 

[lambertiana]

What do you mean? How to correctly cut stag?

Almost all modern manufacturers cut the stag scales very thick, and then grind off a lot of the bark to blend the scales to the bolsters. Note that the 73LL that Charlie waynorth posted has bark all the way to the bolsters. To cut it correctly you have to start with quality stag, and then cut it thin. If you look at the old knives with stag scales, you will see that they were usually cut correctly. I rarely buy stag handled knives now because it is ridiculous to pay stag prices for a knife that has half of the bark ground off in order to blend thick stag to the bolsters.

This old Utica is another good example of properly cut stag:

Some more recent manufacturers (mostly German, like Puma through the 1990s) cut the scales thicker, but used a very fast transition to the bolsters, so that at least most of the bark is intact. Here is an example:

 

[#23]

Just posted this 2007 model 23 under Stag Saturday but it belongs here too

 

[Alex.Y.]

Turns out I actually do have something to contribute to this thread.

2010 GEC Letter Opener, Red Abalone under ther acrylic looking glass. Kind of engraved it and put an edge on one side to allow some actual desk use (it only had a point originally).


Abalone's layer structure didn't allow me to focus properly, sorry!

 

[#23]

A Sunday family portrait of 2006 23s

 

[waynorth]

A Sunday family portrait of 2006 23s

A nice collection of 23s, #23!!

I have a couple here!!
>Bubinga 2008
>Genuine Stag 2007
>Jigged Bone 2011
>Red Diamondback Bone 2006


Can you tell me what the handle is called on the third (Jigged Bone) knife???
Anyone???


I've lost the reference!!

 

[#23]

A nice collection of 23s, #23!!

I have a couple here!!
>Bubinga 2008
>Genuine Stag 2007
>Jigged Bone 2011
>Red Diamondback Bone 2006

View attachment 2667847
Can you tell me what the handle is called on the third (Jigged Bone) knife???
Anyone???


I've lost the reference!!

That's a tough question for a color blind guy but I bet that nice 2011 model 23 is Autumn Gold Jigged Bone. Whether it's a liner lock or not, it's a rare piece indeed. All four knives are fabulous, especially that sweet stag!

 

[waynorth]

I bet that nice 2011 model 23 is Autumn Gold Jigged Bone. Whether it's a liner lock or not, it's a rare piece indeed. All four knives are fabulous, especially that sweet stag!

Thanks, #23!! And, yes, Stag was sweet back then!!

 

[Hoffmajo89]

A nice collection of 23s, #23!!

I have a couple here!!
>Bubinga 2008
>Genuine Stag 2007
>Jigged Bone 2011
>Red Diamondback Bone 2006

View attachment 2667847
Can you tell me what the handle is called on the third (Jigged Bone) knife???
Anyone???


I've lost the reference!!

Just a guess, but could it be this one? It looks awful “garnet” like.

 

[waynorth]

Just a guess, but could it be this one? It looks awful “garnet” like.
View attachment 2668413

Thanks for looking!!
It is more likely the Autumn Gold below it in your list. Not enough "red" to be called garnet, IMO. I got it in the wrong tube from an estate!!

 

[mrknife]

I've discovered their accounting wasn't as thorough in the early years too. Some models were either just not accounted for or mislabeled and appear in the following year's count.

 

[AusLoX]