That's a good looking knife, T. Smith! Is that a daily carry?

Fantastic score T. Smith. Good looking, thanks for sharing. 

Thank you very much, Ralph. And Fred Kemp, I'm probably not gonna put this one in daily rotation. May carry on special occasions and the holidays. :) Might change my mind but I already have several I use everyday.

Well I just snagged another Osage Orange GEC knife.  My #81 and my newest #29 Osage Orange knives will look cute together.  

T. Smith, a good looking blade. Very interesting and a good find.

Kennith this Osage Orange knife is just beautiful. Good snag.

Mine coming in , might not be the same one in the picture. Another #29 Osage Orange is for sale using the same picture.  Every Osage Orange wood GEC knife that I have seen lately looks superb.  My latest one has a tiny knot-hole !  Blue Creek Cutlery has #81 and #29 Osage Orange GEC knives to choose from.  Cherry pick the one you want.

Blue Creek Cutlery has three killer Osage Orange NOS knives in stock.  The NOS GEC knives are disappearing quite rapidly , because of the factory shut down.  I just bought a 2017 knife that I had been "pussyfooting" for two years now. This #29 is Krazy !  "You snooze ! - You looze !"  

Very nice find there Kenneth. Definitely a fine example on the Osage Orange. Enjoy it good health!

Hope everyone has a most blessed Easter.

I love it !  Thank You !

I wish they would do these again.  We got each of the posters when they came out and I love them

Pennsylvania Department of Health --- 4/30/2020 --- Crawford County -- (zero deaths) (19 infected)  (687 tested)  

Kenneth,

I take it PA is one of those that is discussing not opening yet

Jan ... PA is going to start open on a county by county basis starting May 8th.  Crawford county, where GEC is located, is one of those counties.  Specifics on what business may re-open and what restrictions will be in place will not be released until May 4th.

I recently ordered three NOS Great Eastern Cutlery knives from two different GEC dealers that support iKnifeCollector !

Great news... best I've heard all week. Thanks Kenneth

   iKCollector supporter --- JSR Sports and More has a batch of GEC#62 F&F black/red micarta pocket carvers right now.

Good evening all! What wonderful news to hear Great Eastern getting back to work. My last one was an old stock 86 from JSR that they didn't remember was still there, lol. I can hardly wait for upcoming drops of the 23 LL's that were in mid process when they had to shutdown abruptly.

I am EXCITED for everyone that GEC is going back to work.  A very small area and greatly effected by Queen last year so putting them back to work is a win all the way around!  Thanks guys for supporting the iKC supporters. 

The GEC collector & users were among the greatest group of old stock buyers of any brand I saw during the shutdown and our dealers were bringing them out to shine in our collections daily!

iKC supporter Blue Creek Cutlery has a few GEC#23 Pioneer Trapper Woodland micarta knives in stock .   

JSR Sports & More has a batch of #23 Pioneer Trappers in Brazilian Cherry wood jigged.  

I have wonderful news.  I was 100% spot on the Northfield GEC#23 Brown jigged bone Pioneer Trapper.  I wrote Bill Howard many letters to bring back this color.  The Northfield GEC#23 Pioneer Trapper is Chocolate Almond Peach-seed jigged bone.   When I see this dark chocolate jigged bone scales before buffing , I know what it is .  This Northfield #23 knife is Chocolate Almond peach-seed jigged bone. GEC did the same thing with the #86 JSR Sports & More SFO knife in 2019.  This is my favorite brown jigged bone color ever.  Bill Howard is crazy on bone color names.  What every he calls it , this knife will be Chocolate Almond jigged bone color.   When these dark brown scales get buffed , these knives will be a whole new animal.  

iKC sponsor JSR Sports & More has a small batch of GEC#23 Pioneer Trapper Beaver gnawed cherry wood two blade knives  in stock.  This is the last batch and these knives won't last long.  The snap sounds like a bear trap.  

Blue Creek Cutlery has a small batch of #23 GEC Beaver gnawed jigged cherry wood Pioneer Trappers in stock.    (iKC supporter)

Just wanted to say thanks Kenneth for keeping us up to date! GEC releases aren't always the easiest to follow lol but you've been a lifesaver here.

Here is my Woodland Micarta 23, an absolute stunner!

TSA Knives has Beaver #23s in stock. 

Thanks Kenneth for the heads up! Just ordered the Beaver #23 from TSA.

I too am looking forward to the 23 Beaver that should be here any day. I'm a big fan of mid/larger size models and this one fits the bill. I'm really hoping to nab a 23LL soon as that's been on my radar for a long while. Thank you guys for keeping us all updated. Those Woodland Micartas turned out better than I ever imagined..

Ken... I love those slabs !

        I talked to Mr. Frank , these Exotic India bone knives are sold out and 32 buyers wanted two.  I wanted an extra one to remove the main blade for EDC.  Everybody gets only one.  I bought the last Northfield #Pioneer Trapper Antique Autumn natural bone and I am going to have the main blade removed.  The secondary phat beefy spey blade is wonderful for chores.   iCK forum supporter : "JSR Sports & More" has the first three #23s in stock right now at the best release date prices.  Woodland micarta , Beaver gnawed jigged cherry wood , and Northfield #23 Antique autumn natural bone two blade Jumbo Trappers   !

I just received my invoice on the GEC#23 SFO .  Mr. Frank picked me out the darkest , thickest , and winter-bottom style jigging in the bunch. 

NO MORE SFO's !

No more GEC , SFO , Northwoods , Club or Forum SFO knives.  The bigger dealers are hogging up the best bone color , saw cut , and wood choices.   GEC needs to offer better choices , not more choices.  Dealers need to sell out in weeks after release .  Bill Howard knows what he is doing .   I am supporting GEC the best I can in the future.  Please support our iKC dealers.  

Beautiful knives for sure.

Kenneth,

I agree.  If we go back to the first years of GEC, the handle materials were distinct to that company.  No one else was offering Primitive Bone, Bubbinga wood with a Beaver shield, snakewood, the looking glass materials.  All of those in 2010 meant Great Eastern, Northfield and Tidioute.  So yes, better choices not more grew them, it should be able to sustain them

Makes total sense to me. I mean the SFO's are certainly a cool collector aspect but that stuff has to be a logistics nightmare from a production standpoint and if it's watering down/ hindering the GEC brand itself by consuming material priorities then that's definitely a potential marketing issue in the long run.

Here's my 23's so far. I was on the list at Frank's, but didn't make the cut.

Yes, Richard, they are double bladed. You bring up some great points. It does seem to be difficult right now to get these great knives. I think limits of production is most of the cause for availability. (However, in pre-Covid times I have had trouble securing a particular GEC pattern just because they were so popular.) It is hard to preorder a knife under the conditions you mentioned, but most of us are familiar enough with the pattern and the past quality to not hesitate. I too am eager for the single, liner lock 23's to arrive, hopefully the scales on some will be of different materials.

UPDATE! At approx. 5:30pm CST, Frank's sent me a purchase invoice for the GEC 235220 Exotic India Jigged Bone Trapper SFO, which I immediately paid for. (ALLLL RIGGHHHTTT!!!!!!!) Since my post 1 hour ago, I had given up on this knife.

Hello 2 AllI considered myself lucky to start collecting knives a few years after Great Eastern got rolling. The history of pocket knives and all the great American manufactures of days past, holding one of your knives ya knew you where holding a quality knife. I had difficult time choosing a paticular pattern. But the whittler is a knife I like, the handle material ebony wood & Ivory cherished. I've stopped collecting it's been years since I've bought a knife but here are a couple that I think are fine examples of Great Eastern's work. Thanks to the men and women responsible for producing two knives that to me are a art form to create.

The CKs SFO #23LL Mesquite wood pre-orders sold out in 10 minutes.  You can buy one from an Evil-bay flipper for $200 to $300 if you like being a sucker.  Why do that when you can  buy 2 to almost 3 knives for the same money.  The GEC#23LL single blade liner locks in Beaver gnawed jigged cherry-wood , Antique Autumn natural bone , and the #23LL red-tail (sierra red-brown)jigged bone Bullet Trapper are so superb. Don't get hooked on what you can't have.  I  am on GEC FaceBook about ten  times a day listing available knives and what dealers have them in stock..  I can help you find new released GEC knives.  GEC releases a first batch and it is crazy to obtain a knife. 2nd batch and sometimes a third batch is released.  Things do slow down a bit.  Single blades always sell out faster than multiple blades.   "GEC knife collecting is war !"  I do try to buy from dealers that support iKC.  

Mr Frank is sending me the darkest , thickest ,most Winterbottom looking #23 in the bunch .  My knife is half way to me now.  I also bought a #23 two blade natural bone and it will be sent to Darren Orrell.  Darren will remove the main blade and easy up that bear trap snap.  I have one arm.  I hold my #23s with my feet and open them up left handed with a CASE XX blade pick.  Go buy yourself a CASE XX blade pick for the #23 knives.  They are nail breakers.  Most dealers hate to cherry pick knives for me.  It is not about looks , thicker scales work better for one arm me.