Opinions on Great Eastern?

[awa54]

Anyone have a Great Eastern Cutlery knife? What is fit-n-finish like, how is the steel? Also is there a big difference between early and more recent production?

TIA!

[paladin]

Good stuff if you're into traditional slippys... :)

Plus Charlie Campagna is a class act, just like Sal ( don't you find most knifefolk are the salt of the earth? )

Excellent F&F for production knives... :D

Handle materials are unrivaled in the present-day, limited production, American-made, slipjoint market...

I'm partial to the Barlows-- the Whittlers are nice also! :D

On the hunt for a TC Ancient Barlow...they're works of art...I like the scratted parchment bone... :cool:

Also on the hunt for a soup bone Barlow...lots of visual interest there...

Blades are typical carbon steel, mostly 1095...performs as you would expect, nothing special...just reliable...

of course subject to patina, pepper spots, and outright rust...even the orange stuff if you're careless... :eek:

some folks would say such conditioning "ruins" a blade-- still others say it "adds character"...you be the judge

But be warned they are addictive, just like Spyders! :spyder:

[yablanowitz]

I have quite a few GEC knives. Fit and finish run very good to excellent on mine. All but one of mine are also 1095 carbon steel, with the heat treat being pretty close to the old Schrade blades like my 8OT I've carried for 40 years. I've heard of a couple of the early models that had nail-breaker pull, but that seems to have been taken care of now.

[The Mastiff]

GEC makes very nice knives. For a while they even had a line of "farmer" knives in O-1 steel that I liked better than their 1095 but they ran out and later batches went to 1095 like the regular line. The 1095 does very well also and though I don't have experience with it I haven't heard anything bad about their stainless models in 440C.

They have a better selection of wood like Cocobolo, beautiful Ebony and Kingswood, and even the occasional reclaimed chestnut from an old barn. They do use Micarta too.

My favorites are the Model is the model 42 Lockback "missouri trader" in Ebony or Cocobolo, or the Lock Back Model 65 "Ben Hogan" in Ebony as well. I also have Model 99 and 83 lockbacks in Ebony and they are a beautiful set.

They make a beautiful red bone that comes somewhere between scarlet and Crimson and is stunning. It makes the very nice red bone Case knives look washed out.

They make very nice slippies and a few lock backs, some liner locks and a "bull lock". With all brands especially ones with such a large selection of small runs it's best to try to hand pick, or have a dealer who will do it for you. I'm not that OC about them and have yet to be dissatisfied and I have about 7-8. Typically a little better fit and finish than Queen, more comparable to Schatt & Morgan.

good luck.

joe

[awa54]

Thanks for the opinions Gents... looks like I'm gonna have to save some pennies and grab one of the small lock backs.

...sadly I can see this becoming a slippery slope, just like Spyderco :eek:

[MadMaximus]

I agree with all of the above. I carry a #71 Bullnose, or a single blade spear point #15 DAILY. And it most certainly is a slippery slope. The only lock back that I have of theirs is a Tidioute #83 in green micarta. It is a great knife! Good luck in your quest into a new land! Let us know what you think when you pull the trigger.