Big News!

[Drukai]

GEC will be stopping production of SFO knives! Thoughts on this no Charlie TC’s, NF 77 Barlow’s, Northwoods, Smith n Sons suppose to be last of SFO production. Terrible or great idea lots of thoughts on this...I’m bummed about it..

[cody6268]

Bad idea. They've got to be a huge chunk of GECs sold and produced.

[bestgear]

Wonder what will become of AAPK’s annual forum knife

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Where did you read this? I don’t see any announcement on their website about this.

[bestgear]

Where did you read this? I don’t see any announcement on their website about this.

kinda sounds like a BF “joke”, I couldn’t find a press release or anything public, maybe they informed prior SFO buyers of the change, time will tell.

[Beavertail]

Wonder what will become of AAPK’s annual forum knife

Maybe AAPK can get Rough Ryder to make it so everybody can afford one.

[Rotten]

Wonder what will become of AAPK’s annual forum knife

According to this page they are still open to making club knives.

[Onearmbladejunkie]

Great idea for GEC ! I support this decision 100%. Go look at the production numbers on the GEC web-sight. The biggest GEC dealers are the biggest pigs and take advantage of the SFO program. I have no problem with a dealer ordering 100 SFO GEC knives a year. Protecting the smaller dealers is very important. The bigger dealers are ordering 150+ to 1000 SFO knives a year. We have one selfish GEC dealer that corners the GEC Barlow market every year. This needs to stop now. The SFO knives are getting the best blade shapes , sawcut jigging , best bone colors , and the best woods , This needs to stop ,now. The dealers are really taking a hit in 2020. Everybody needs more knives that they can sell quickly. Some dealers are getting stuck with too many NOS knives. Bill Howard knows what he is doing. Better knives , better scales choices for everybody , without over producing is key to GEC survival . STOP BUYING SECONDARY GEC KNIVES. WE NEED TO SUPPORT ALL GEC DEALERS AND THE FACTORY. Why support Evil-bay flippers at crazy prices , crazy shipping , and state taxes. The best patterns , bone colors , better woods , saw cuts , are yet to come. Bill Howard is fighting for his company's life. We need to be there for him and the 32 GEC employees that make our dream knives come true. Go buy a CASE XX knife too. "BUY AMERICAN OR STARVE !"

[ea42]

GEC will be stopping production of SFO knives! Thoughts on this no Charlie TC’s, NF 77 Barlow’s, Northwoods, Smith n Sons suppose to be last of SFO production. Terrible or great idea lots of thoughts on this...I’m bummed about it..

Drukai, where does this information come from? I've seen no mention of it anywhere else on the web.

Eric

[Rotten]

GEC will be stopping production of SFO knives! Thoughts on this no Charlie TC’s, NF 77 Barlow’s, Northwoods, Smith n Sons suppose to be last of SFO production. Terrible or great idea lots of thoughts on this...I’m bummed about it..

Drukai, where does this information come from? I've seen no mention of it anywhere else on the web.

Eric

From Mike Latham of CollectorKnives who has posted about it over on the other forums traditional subforum. Having dealt with Mike repeatedly I trust what he has to say on the matter.

[ea42]

Thanks Trace! Yep I know Mike myself, definitely a straight shooter. Wow that's something, I wonder if it was cutting too much into their regular production.

Eric

[Sharpnshinyknives]

As much as I like getting the TC Barlows, the Northwoods and the other Barlow’s that Mike has, I am a little relieved that I won’t have to go fight to get a knife. It’s no fun and I find it stressful.
I do wonder what the logic behind this is? I wonder also if they will be doing some shorter runs that go through their regular dealers?

[kootenay joe]

The most important aspect of a knife is the design. You can have perfect workmanship but if the design is poor, no one will want the knife. Charlie C. is particularly good at tweaking basic GEC patterns into immediately appealing knives. (e.g. Lambsfoot #93)
Many of the SFO's have great design.
If no more SFO's we likely will loose some of this design expertise. This i see as the main drawback to doing no more SFO's.
On the positive side GEC should be able to make a little more profit per knife, which they deserve.
kj

[Greenman]

Screenshot taken from one of GEC’s websites:

https://www.greateasterncutlery.com/spe ... te-orders/