Thoughts on GEC knives.

jakemex

jakemex

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I have some: a 2013 BF knife;a #23;a #25;a #76. All great knives. I’ve had a personal moratorium on knife purchases for a couple of years, mainly because I have been given several other brand knives as well and don’t feel the need for anything new.

The GEC brand has become more of a collectible than working knife. I prefer to use and work with Case brand be it Tru-Sharp or CV, although GEC knives are very durable and capable. The programmed scarcity and perceived worth of these knives both on the regular and secondary market make them not worth the hassle to me to obtain. I was rather relieved that this year’s BF knife is going to be a Buck just to have the usual GEC buying frenzy abated for a time. That was very refreshing, I might add. There are always a few up and coming GEC SFO’s in the mix here on the forum to fill the anxiety fix for the rest here. It’s getting kinda old... or maybe it’s just me getting old n cranky. ROFL

And my parting shot: Will the GEC brand knives be the “bitcoin” of the decade? :confused:
 
I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at.Will GEC be just a fad and fade away shortly? To this I say absolutely not. The most recent knives are a PITA to snag but past that you can still find to deals and older stuff. If you are into using them, which I do because they are durable and easy on the eyes, then you can get great deals on used knives.

Bitcoins of the decade? Are you wondering if they will become currency? If so I would respond with they already are. People trade them for other items entirely tools and such on many forms of media. Quality holds it's value.

I wish quantities were often higher but I think they'd be less special and definitely less quality. I'm not at any point where I want to use a custom and I only use what I have so not in the market for customs. I appreciate character, craftsmanship and quality. to find that in Case I feel I have to look at old Case- collector realm and out of my price for what I want to use it on.

Just my 2 cents.
 
I would use GEC’s more at work if they offered more stainless knives.
As it is I carry mine after work and weekends mostly now.

I don’t even bother chasing SFO’s any more.
There are plenty of great GEC’s that are available right now from plenty of dealers.
 
jakemex said:
I have some: a 2013 BF knife;a #23;a #25;a #76. All great knives. I’ve had a personal moratorium on knife purchases for a couple of years, mainly because I have been given several other brand knives as well and don’t feel the need for anything new.

The GEC brand has become more of a collectible than working knife. I prefer to use and work with Case brand be it Tru-Sharp or CV, although GEC knives are very durable and capable. The programmed scarcity and perceived worth of these knives both on the regular and secondary market make them not worth the hassle to me to obtain. I was rather relieved that this year’s BF knife is going to be a Buck just to have the usual GEC buying frenzy abated for a time. That was very refreshing, I might add. There are always a few up and coming GEC SFO’s in the mix here on the forum to fill the anxiety fix for the rest here. It’s getting kinda old... or maybe it’s just me getting old n cranky. ROFL

And my parting shot: Will the GEC brand knives be the “bitcoin” of the decade? :confused:
Click to expand...

Not sure you should blanket these opinions across all GEC knives. There are definitely models in high demand that can be a "hassle" to acquire (Northwoods, 77s, etc.) and might end up in more display cases than being put to work. There are also models (recently, 35s, 78s, 71s, 43s, etc.) that can be easily purchased and are extremely high quality and usable knives.
 
I feel like i have to be gentle with my gec knives. maybe because the ones I have put to work have developed blade play rather quickly. And they arent as pretty after a few whacks with the ball peen hammer. And I refuse to send another to the factory for repair.
 
GECs make excellent users. They're built extremely well, and were meant to take a beating.

Consumers decided to make GECs collectibles (myself included). That doesn't change the fact that they are built to be used.

When GEC starts etching "Git R Done" on the blades, or makes a zombie outbreak series...then I'll be worried that they have truly become a collectibles company.
 
Postlapsaria said:
Not sure you should blanket these opinions across all GEC knives. There are definitely models in high demand that can be a "hassle" to acquire (Northwoods, 77s, etc.) and might end up in more display cases than being put to work. There are also models (recently, 35s, 78s, 71s, 43s, etc.) that can be easily purchased and are extremely high quality and usable knives.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

Most patterns could have been purchased for at least weeks, and then as the following grew the demand for the pattern outpaced the production. So, because the pattern has garnered a following - now it is a hassle not worth the time. And it has made the brand all display pieces. The upcoming Gunstock model has been available for reservation for months. And will be available at most dealers once produced. But if they are a hot ticket item - will we need to be aggravated because they will be harder to acquire the next time?
 
come on. seriously. old and cranky is the tip of the iceberg for sure - LMAO and ROFL...
go over to the Buck thread and cry them a river on how you lost the joy of owning and collecting GEC - they will love to hear from you - LMAO again!

Why do we always have to take to the bait?
 
I love my GEC knives and honestly I don't buy a whole lot of anything else. I carry and use mine everyday. I have NEVER had any blade play develope but I also have never used a ballpeen hammer on any of them ccsavage ccsavage . They are very tough dependable knives and a joy to own. If a person don't like the process of buying them then don't buy them....simple enough I think. I've bought around 30 gec knives in the last 4 years and I pick and choose which ones I buy because I can't afford to buy every model that comes out....but if I had the means I would because they're the best knives I've ever bought! Buy what you like but don't grip about it.
 
What with one dealer selling direct to the big auction site and another dealer posting that he thought that was ok because he could make more money doing it that way, how long will it be before the selling chain for GEC knives goes from GEC, to Dealer, to retail sales -- to GEC, to dealer, to great suction site?
 
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The biggest factor that limits my usage of my GEC knives is that so few of them are readily available in stainless, and I much prefer stainless to carbon. I really wish they'd done the Churchill in 440C. Otherwise GECs seem like great using knives.
 
Someone in the first thread about the 2018 BF knife, that has since been locked, actually said that anyone who didn't vote for GEC over Buck should hang their head in shame. I thought that was a bit extreme. I'm glad we're getting a break from GEC this year in favor of a Buck
 
GEC knives are, as a rule, well made knives. Just look at some of the threads I've done in the past about some of the knives I've had and used. Knife on a hot tin roof for 43-days comes to mind as do the tar pit, muriatic acid knives known as the "Three Amigos" and now living with pertinux. Then there's the one that fell off my tractor's tire and went through a brush hog - ok that one was ground up but so would you be if you were run over by a brush hog.
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Other that that one they've all been hardy knives.
 
Affirmative. Shame on you for voting for a Buck knife over GEC. There's a lot of cheap Chinese junk out there crowding the market and/or parts made in China. But GEC is made in the US, not in the "custom shop" for US made Buck knives.
 
Modoc ED said:
What with one dealer selling direct to the big auction site and another dealer posting that he thought that was ok because he could make more money doing it that way, how long will it be before the selling chain for GEC knives goes from GEC, to Dealer, to retail sales -- to GEC, to dealer, to great suction site?
Click to expand...

Theoretically, if that happens, what's the point of having the dealer anymore? GEC would do better to list them themselves, and not have to give out a 40% discount to dealers. That savings would more than pay for a guy to box and ship knives all day.
 
The older and larger GEC dealers have been with GEC for a long time now and will not change the selling process. Over the years GEC can and has taken action to correct issues in the selling process.

Suggestions that GEC will do this, that or the next thing is conjecture by people who want to stir some shit.
 
Let’s imagine a world without GEC. Buck and Case and a few other makers dominate with joe - average production knives.

Now postulate what you would ask for if you wanted a new company to start making American traditional knives using traditional methods (and you were being realistic about the costs of doing that and the pressures to stave off Chinese competition!).

What would you come up with? Would it be all that different to what we have? Would you not want that company to produce small runs and generate excitement over special knives?

The point I am making is that for all these complaints about GEC price and availability, I am not convinced there is anything to actually complain about that isn’t simply a commercial reality of this type of business.
 
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