Traditionals, You can have 'em.

I can sympathize. Earlier this year I purchased a couple of knives that I was disappointed with. The dealer took the return without a complaint, but like you I felt that I had been dismissed by his response to my initial questions. I haven't bought another knife from him, but enough time has passed that I have been perusing his sight again. I think that eventually I'll give him a call and give him another chance. In the meantime I've found several other dealers that I've been very happy with, Mike being one of them. The great thing is that there are plenty of options out there. If you aren't happy with Mike or GEC there are enough other dealers and manufacturers that you can find somebody to make you happy.

I have carried a 23 more days than not for the last couple of years, and have been very happy with mine. In all likelihood you just had the doubly bad luck of getting a rare lemon and catching Mike on the rare bad day that we all have.

Just so that this thread isn't completely void of pictures, here's a shot of my 23:



This picture was taken this last summer after the 23 had ridden in my pocket every single day for a year straight.
 
Cory Hess...that is a very nice looking #23 and deserves more pocket time in the future for sure.

At least if I'm looking for a 23 and I look at CK site, I can ask about condition and Mike will give me a answer on it. He is frequently my go-to dealer. And Traditionals> I'm in
glad you like your 73...
 
Don't let one bad experience sway your opinion- GEC makes great knives even though you might have gotten a lemon.
 
Great looking 23 Cory. Stag is funny stuff and mismatched scales seem to be fairly common. I have a 53 with stag scales, one side is what i would call perfect. The other side actually curves in a little at the center of the scale. That funny scale really bothered me at first but after a while i relized that it wasnt hurting anything and only added charecter to my knife.
The other problems the OP mentioned are of course manufacturers defects and not many of us would accept them. Every company lets a few bad ones out the door. The good companys will make it right when given the opportunity. I have every reason to believe that GEC would make things right given the opportunity.



Jim
 
As far as blade play and whatnot, GEC is really pretty good about addressing those types of issues. They have addressed a few issues for me, but in general, a GEC doesn't need correcting. Still they are a production knife company and not a custom shop, they aren't going to be perfect every time. That's okay.

As far as stag handles..... stag is what it is. They can match as best as they can, but that can't always be done. They can sand away the bark to get a uniform fit, but that would get rid of of the bark that people like. Personally, I just don't care for stag.... I like good jigged bone.
 
Thanks for the kind words everybody.

I think Woodrow hit it on the head. There are a lot more stag handles that I don't like than ones I do like. Buying stag online is a risky proposition at best. I'm a lot more comfortable sticking with bone or wood covers when I'm buying without being able to inspect the knife first.
 
Cory Hess said:
I think Woodrow hit it on the head. There are a lot more stag handles that I don't like than ones I do like. Buying stag online is a risky proposition at best.
Click to expand...

Well said, and amen. I won't buy a knife with stag covers without at least four photos: mark, pile, top, and bottom. Even when those four look good to me, if they don't look great I pass.
 
Do you have any pictures of the stag 23 ?
I would love to see what 'pathetic' ,'shameful' and 'worst you've ever seen' look like.
 
Bob put it best for me when he told me "If you're OCD, don't order stag unless you inspect it yourself".

It's a gamble unless you get the thickeness of the slabs..and both sides documented for viewing before purchase.
 
Interesting, seems to me the Mike @ CKN has been going out of his way to show multiple shots of the GEC stag he's offering. I was able to pick at least 2 different stag handled GECs from him in the last year with no surprises when they arrived, and I'm pretty picky when it comes to stag.

~Jim
 
He's done a great job with adding pictures in the past year or so. A few years back he didn't have individual knives pictured. He also includes more information than he used to. I don't think he's updated all the old listings though. He's my go to dealer.
 
Theres much better ways of handling this, you came out showing much disrespect to a great firm without giving them a chance to fix it ( because you thought you knew better), heres hoping you dont get anymore Traditionals.
 
Well played by Cory Hess :thumbup:

Sorry to hear you had a disappointing experience with that particular 23. This is by far the exception, not the rule with both GEC and Mike at CK. I've had 20+ GECs in the past 2.5 yrs and they've all been outstanding in quality/fit/finish. Stag is unique in it's varying thicknesses, so if anything is likely to be difficult it would be stag handles. I only own one stag pocket knife (a 54 Big Jack) and it's got fairly symmetrical scales and is very well done. I wouldn't like a knife with scales that are wildly different in thickness, so I would return it if I got one like that. Most of us here are at the least pretty darned particular (some bordering on fanatical) about our pocket knives, so there's no way GEC or any of it's vendors would last long with this crowd if they didn't put out high quality knives.

Don't throw in the towel, the GEC's are great knives for their price range.

For the visual needs of the readers...
6A283F7C-592B-4C17-8329-9B530B470C1E_zpshbvyqm8f.jpg
 
The variation in texture and thickness is the reason I don't favor stag scales. I really like my knives to be symmetrical from side to side and as viewed from the top, so I just stay away from stag. I prefer wood scales, or sometimes bone. That being said, everyone has different tastes in knives, which is what makes traditionals so fascinating and fun to acquire. I have several GEC's, and have never had a problem. I've also had great transactions with many of the vendors frequented by others here as well. Most of the folks here are far more knowledgeable than I and coming on in a strong, kind of negative manner will turn folks off rather quickly. Be nice, learn, and ask questions. I have yet to find anyone on this forum who wasn't willing and enthusiastic about answering a question or helping a new guy. That's been my experience here.
 
I went into CK's site 2 times in probably 5 minutes prior to replying to this thread and it was there but not the second. After looking at your picture again , I can see why you could be unhappy about the mis-matched Stag. Reasonably thick on the one side and pretty thin on the other. I know some people don't like that , but it does not matter that much to me as long as the stag has a lot of texture. The mark side of that knife looked pretty good , but I could never see the other side. The very un-centered blade and looseness of it would have been a real problem for me too. This year alone I have bought 7 Stag handled knives from GEC through CK and Mike and am very happy with all of them. It will be a shame if you are turned off now by them. Good luck to you on someday buying a very gnarly stag in the future.

Harry
 
Your right engineer, it is down. If it was sent back to GEC, then I apologize for my harshness. But if it was sold again?
 
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