All About Pocket Knives

This knife is listed as used but the owner claims it has never been used and only carried to take pictures. He makes it sound like it’s in mint condition but as you can see from the photo’s there is something seriously wrong here. The bolster looks awful and I have never seen GEC send out a TC Barlow with the pin showing like this, not to mention the obvious damage and or corrosion on the bolster. No pictures of the blades either. Buyer beware.
Here is the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/GEC-15-Ancient ... Swsc5dbHFn

The "Ancient" series was intentionally made to look older...

Ha...kinda like buying the brand new pre-ripped and pre-faded jeans in my opinion...

That's how they were made, Charlie C has had 2 runs of ancients made, they were intentionally left with a rough finish. There were also 20 made in unfinished white bone, pic shows the white bone with same rough bolster finish.

I learned something. Thank you.

313 Mike wrote:Ha...kinda like buying the brand new pre-ripped and pre-faded jeans in my opinion...

That's exactly what I thought. I do like them; but, kind of a strange concept...that people will be putting these in the safe...to keep them minty

Even the old Kutmaster Barlow I have with steel bolsters doesn't look that bad! And it's a work beater. Looks to me like the bolsters have been exposed to acid. If I buy a knife that looks "well-used", I'll buy a used one. Why would I pay extra for a knife that is distressed to look used and beat-up?!

cody6268 wrote:Even the old Kutmaster Barlow I have with steel bolsters doesn't look that bad! And it's a work beater. Looks to me like the bolsters have been exposed to acid. If I buy a knife that looks "well-used", I'll buy a used one. Why would I pay extra for a knife that is distressed to look used and beat-up?!

Interesting. I learned something too. Didn’t know they came like this. I agree with you Cody, why would you want one that looks like this? This one does look acid exposed. This kind of “distressed” look doesn’t appeal to me at all. I wonder what the blade looks like on this one? That he didn’t include pics of the open blades or the tang stamp made me suspicious as well.
Thanks for the information all.

Aww come on guys. If you're gonna be hip ya gotta have the newest old thing out there.

Sharpnshinyknives wrote:

cody6268 wrote:Even the old Kutmaster Barlow I have with steel bolsters doesn't look that bad! And it's a work beater. Looks to me like the bolsters have been exposed to acid. If I buy a knife that looks "well-used", I'll buy a used one. Why would I pay extra for a knife that is distressed to look used and beat-up?!

Interesting. I learned something too. Didn’t know they came like this. I agree with you Cody, why would you want one that looks like this? This one does look acid exposed. This kind of “distressed” look doesn’t appeal to me at all. I wonder what the blade looks like on this one? That he didn’t include pics of the open blades or the tang stamp made me suspicious as well.
Thanks for the information all.

The blade looks like the white one I posted.

Charlie had these made to emulate somewhat the very old Barlow company knife that is shown in the center of John’s picture. Whenever you see these old knives they all seem to look this way. Enos Furness And Sons made Barlow’s back in Sheffield during the 1800’s.

Russell.

I own numerous TC's and this "ancient" version by Charlie Campagna is one of my favorites. In fact I bought a second one just for EDC. While it looks distressed, once in your hand you know immediately it's a new knife. Charlie gave an interview at the Rendezvous a couple years ago and told a story of how one customer tried to clean it up at which point he immediately chuckled at the thought. I think he was feeling "mission accomplished".

There are several out there where the owner has finished the bolsters and polished up the blade. They look good, but I like them as the barlow preservationist/artist intended.

robbobus wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2019 10:08 pm There are several out there where the owner has finished the bolsters and polished up the blade. They look good, but I like them as the barlow preservationist/artist intended.

I wholeheartedly agree.....Since my last post on this subject a month ago I've come to appreciate my Ancient even more than I already did. It's very unique and stands out among all it's brethren in my display cabinet. Most of my collection are typical shiny GEC's in varying patterns and the "Ancient" always catches my eye whenever I walk by and it's the least shiny of all........I still haven't used the 2nd one I bought for EDC, although I do carry it in a leather pouch just in case I need it. However, it will have to be something serious like life or death for me to actually use it! lol

To each his own! I for one would not be interested in paying the GEC price for a predistressed knife. The Case “pocket worn” is about as predistressed as I could stand in a brand new pocket.
Treefarmer

treefarmer wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2019 10:37 pm To each his own! I for one would not be interested in paying the GEC price for a predistressed knife. The Case “pocket worn” is about as predistressed as I could stand in a brand new pocket.
Treefarmer

Oh yeah, I've always been partial to those Case Pocket Worn knives, always some of my favorites. Especially the Sod Buster, Jr in brown and red bone. Great EDC knives....They (pocket knives) all look different when in your hand versus a picture and the Ancient doesn't photograph well, that's a fact! But I still love it!