Northwoods Harrison Bay

[singin46]

Greg, those would’ve been the ones I would’ve chosen too!

[Cletus Awreetus]

I do like this pattern but all these NWs are just flat out flipable. I doubt a person would ever have a problem making money off a NW or not find it to be desirable as trade-bait. At any rate, I keep coming back. on that note; I've heard all the horror stories about the impossibility of getting an order in in time, etc. For the record and it completely surprised the heck out of me, I scored a Kudu on my phone..on the side of the highway about a mile north of Lampasas, Tx. I figured I'd give it a quick shot and I probably needed a breather from driving anyway. I really wanted red jigged bone but didn't even see one listed, all Kudus even though I was refreshing the page as they popped up. Anyhow, got one on my second attempt and I was back on the road in a matter of 5 mns, turnkey.

[robbobus]

Cletus, I wonder if your sort order is set for hughest price to lowest at ksf? I'm set lowest to highest and the first 4boxes were the micartas, then red bone and then 4 pages of kudo bone.

I checked and my order confirmation, came at 1 minute past the hour and the red was gone a short minute later.

[Cletus Awreetus]

Rob, you're probably right about that. I just can't say as navigating the process on the phone (my first time) vs a pc is a whole different animal. For all I know the Reds were gone before I ever got logged in. I did scroll as quickly as I could thru 5 pages, all Kudus. At that point I just added to cart and went to the credit card which as we all know is much quicker than paypal. By the way, do you have the count for each finish? Surely they released many more in Kudu than the others..?

[Cletus Awreetus]

ta da! the Kudu Bone on this one is much prettier, imo, than the Bear Lake I received. I'm sure it was just mine but it wasn't like there's a lot of time to critique each knife during the frenzy. I really like this one!

[gsmith7158]

That's a nice one Cletus! Very pretty color.

[Cletus Awreetus]

thx Greg. yeah, the kudu's growing on me but I'm with you on the red jigged bone. I really wanted that one but no complaints. tell you what, ain't seen one pop up on ebay yet so we're not alone...

[gsmith7158]

thx Greg. yeah, the kudu's growing on me but I'm with you on the red jigged bone. I really wanted that one but no complaints. tell you what, ain't seen one pop up on ebay yet so we're not alone...

I saw one on there starting at $300 . I wonder if the number of each handle material is the same or if one is rarer than another. They sure got gone quick.I see mine have been delivered but I'm no where close to home so I'll have to wait a while to check mine out.

[RalphAlsip]

Several Harrison Bays were listed today 10/9/2018 on eBay. This was probably the day they got delivered to the buyers. My unscientific estimate is that at least 25% of the Northwoods knives sold by KSF are bought by flippers vs collectors.

[kootenay joe]

What was the KSF price ? If i look at a 'flipper' i want to know how much he is wanting for himself.
kj
Edit to ask: is the blade full saber grind ?

[gsmith7158]

What was the KSF price ? If i look at a 'flipper' i want to know how much he is wanting for himself.
kj
Edit to ask: is the blade full saber grind ?

Smooth micarta $129, Orange curacao $139 jogged bone ?, kudu $199. I haven't seen mine yet but hopefully it's a full grind spear point.

[robbobus]

Red jigged was also $139.

[Cletus Awreetus]

Rob, have you seen the count for each finish made? thx

and speaking of "flippers", there's a guy on ebay right now with 3 HBs listed. one each in Red Bone, Blue Denim and Kudu. oh well, that's Capitalism...
fwiw, his prices aren't as bad as what we've typically seen..

**in the time it took me to post he's already sold the Kudu.**

[robbobus]

We the masses won't know the totals until GEC publishes them next summer. Usually 500 total in the shipment give or take.

[robbobus]

My latest Bay arrived yesterday. What's the deal wiith all the Bay's? Nice bone and i really like how its lighter around the edges, dark in the middle.
Here's a shot with a 16 spear. And a final showing the blade alignment when open, a hair underbladed compared with the prior model. Perfectly fine mind you, just not perfect.
Can see the thicker grind right to the tip as well.

[kootenay joe]

Rob, what is the "16 spear" ?
A 2016 pattern #15, 3 1/2" ?
kj

[Railsplitter]

15394547352787208004639800401539.jpg What's the deal wiith all the Bay's?

I'm not sure about now since KSF has moved from Escanaba to Tennessee but this map hints at where the Little Bay and Big Bay names came from. It probably has something to do with that. Maybe they scheduled the Harrison Bays before the plans to move were finalized. Must be a Harrison Bay near Escanaba too.

[robbobus]

Rob, what is the "16 spear" ?
A 2016 pattern #15, 3 1/2" ?
kj

I was referring to the 2016 model GEC 14 spear blade pictured along the NW HB. Haven't received any of the new clip blade 14s yet.

[Drukai]

I think Harrison Bay is something a long the lines of Native land in Tennessee, I have always liked the idea around how they name their knives. I think the Freemont is a famous St. In Portland. Lincoln Jack. KSF when in Michigan was located on Lincoln Hwy.

[Railsplitter]

I think Harrison Bay is something a long the lines of Native land in Tennessee, I have always liked the idea around how they name their knives. I think the Freemont is a famous St. In Portland. Lincoln Jack. KSF when in Michigan was located on Lincoln Hwy.

I believe you are correct. I looked it up on Google Maps and the current KSF location is about 15 miles from Harrison Bay State Park. There is also a Harrison Bay Road between the Park and KSF.

Thanks for the info.

[kootenay joe]

With the Northwoods Harrison Bay in one hand and a # 14 GEC in the other hand, is there a noticeable difference in feel, real or imagined ?
I want the Northwoods brand to be special but it seems to be headed in the opposite direction by being more similar to regular run GEC's.
kj

[robbobus]

I would say they do have their own flavour. The Northwoods seems more rugged, owing to less swaging and the heat treat scale. The GEC branded knife is more refined. I like them both, I have a couple of the GEC 14s as users and quite like them, particularly the 2 blade. Can't wait for Lyle's version.

[kootenay joe]

Well after numerous posts about the Harrison Bay being rather plain and ordinary for a brand intending to be 'upscale',
i bid on a Kudu bone version on ebay. It had 32 watchers and i put in a 'low ball' snipe just in case the 32 decided to not bid.
"Low ball" because i don't mind paying a little over the original price of $199 but i will not bid high enough to 'feed the flipper'.
And, i won at $220 and it looks like very nice kudu. After ebay & PP fees, i think the seller broke even.
The internet speed in my area is slow enough that i cannot score in the KSF scramble so the secondary market is my only option and this time it worked out just fine (assuming i get the knife).
kj

[kootenay joe]

I now have this Northwoods H.Bay knife. The kudu is translucent and looks more like an acrylic than bone.
This knife originally sold for $200 which is $100 more than the regular run #14's. It is not worth it. The knife is no better than the regular GEC #14.
I got sucked in by the Northwoods past history of being a step up from regular GEC's. I feel annoyed at KSF for charging such an excessive price.
Northwoods is becoming more of a scam money grab than a knife worthy of it's price.
If the next Northwoods offering is also just a tweaked regular GEC for double the money then this brand will truly be dead as an upscale knife.
Note: there is nothing wrong with my kudu Harrison Bay. It is on par with the regular #14's which are excellent and cost half of the Harrison Bay.
I am disappointed.
kj
edit to add: i also just received my 2 blade #14 ($100) and i love it. Excellent deal.

[kootenay joe]

Here are my pictures of this Harrison Bay with "Kudu bone" handles. The kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. And we all know what "bone" is.
In the last 2-3 years we have seen giraffe bone & camel bone knife handles so bone from another African animal is not too surprising. But "Kudu bone" is a surprise because it is not bone. SURPRISE: it is acrylic !
I did not see anything on the KSF Northwoods pages that says anything about kudu bone not being bone. This is deceptive marketing and up to this point i have always seen KSF as being a most honest & honorable business so i am shocked and disappointed. I also feel cheated because the price was $200, $60 more than the other handles. I would not have spent this amount of money had i known that the handles are 100% synthetic.
The surface of the handles on this knife has scratches and a few small pits. Is this typical for acrylic handles ?
I got this one on ebay so it is not returnable to KSF.
kj