The #77 Northfield Yankee Barlow is one of GEC’s most perennially popular patterns, for good reason. The #77 Northfield Barlow is done exclusively, through a gentleman’s agreement, as a Special Factory Order for Mike Latham of CollectorKnives.net (although GEC does make other knives on the #77 frame). The first #77 Barlows were made in 2014 and simply called the “Northfield Barlow” but on this run the nomenclature has been updated to the “Yankee Barlow”. No matter the name, the #77 Barlow is a classic and highly sought after knife, and in this article I’ll tell you why!
So, what is this knife anyway? It is a swell end shaped jack barlow, meaning it is wider and rounded at the butt end and squared at the blade end with straight sides. Being a barlow, it has an elongated bolster. Like many traditional barlows, the bolster is stamped with an identifying mark. On this knife it is a script “NF” for NorthField. It has a classic long straight spear point blade with cut swedges after a match strike long pull. As a GEC made knife, it is a slipjoint with pin construction. Mine has African Blackwood handles, but this run also had handles in Amber Sawcut Bone, Red Sawcut Bone (which Mike often includes on his SFOs), Natural Linen Micarta, and just a few in Snakewood. All the knives in this run were the same spear point blade shape as mine, and each handle material is reported to have been produced at about 125 knives (except the Snakewood with only ~15). So although it is not as rare as the early runs, it is still a low production run considering GEC’s current output. That, along with the consistent appeal of barlows, make it a highly sought after knife.
So, how does one purchase a CollectorKnives GEC #77 Yankee Barlow? Well, unfortunately, if you haven’t already purchased one of this run directly from CollectorKnives, you’ll have to find one on the secondary market. Mike uses an early reserve system, which you can find at this link, rather than a “drop” system where the knives are posted for sale on his site all at once at a specified date and time. Over the last year or two Mike has put a lot of work into finding the right system to notify people of when knives go up for reserve. As of now, he has landed on using an app called Telegram, which you can find at this link. On that app you’ll need to follow CollectorKnives and allow notifications, so that you know when he posts knives for reserve. This run of Yankee Barlows actually went up for reserve in July of this year I believe, at a time when I wasn’t buying knives, so I missed the reserves. However, Mike had a few knives available and gave some interested people the option to request either African Blackwood, Linen Micarta, or Snakewood. He said that the Snakewood had little character, so although Snakewood was the rarest of the bunch I put African Blackwood as my top pick, and that’s what I got! I really appreciated the opportunity to get one, despite missing the reserves. However, if you missed the reserves that doesn’t mean you will necessarily have to buy one at the much inflated eBay pricing. I suggest checking out the BladeForums Exchange, where people tend to sell at more reasonable prices than on ebay (and are sometimes open to trades), linked here. Secondarily, you could check FaceBook groups like Great Eastern Cutlery, Great Eastern Cutlery Club, etc. You might still have to pay a bit of a premium, over the dealer price of ~$125, but if you keep your eyes peeled I’m sure you can find one at a good value… the Yankee Barlow is worth it!
Case Trapper, Yankee Barlow, Victorinox Alox Farmer 
Ontario Rat 1, Yankee Barlow, Spyderco Native 5
So what makes the Yankee Barlow special? Well, naturally, it is built with the attention to detail and high quality that has skyrocketed GEC to popularity. It has great fit and finish (mine did have a very small patina spot on the pile side bolster), with flush transitions, no gaps, a perfectly centered blade, and great grinds. The action is extremely satisfying with about a 5.5 out of 10 pull, smooth and snappy with great walk and talk and a half stop, even with no blade play. The edge came more thinly ground than most I’ve gotten from GEC, although like many it was thicker at the belly, so I did re-apex it. One thing that seems to bother some is the “CK” CollectorKnives etch. This addition is not something that Mike wanted or requested; Great Eastern Cutlery recently instituted a policy that all SFOs must have an etch identifying the ordering dealer. It’s a perplexing policy that doesn’t seem to help anyone, but I don’t want to say too much one way or the other until I know the reasoning behind the policy. I did call GEC, but Joan Mae (their new sales manager) didn’t know the reason for the policy. I then emailed Bill directly, but I haven’t heard back from him as of this writing. Mike made the good call of having the etch put on the pile side, and used a very minimalist version of his logo. The only downside of it to me is that the knife that makes the “K” in the logo is a modern knife, but that is a tiny very petty nitpick, and the etch will eventually wear off with use and polishing.
However, any negatives with the etch are far outshined by the classic beauty and practicality of the knife. It just looks great. The stamped elongated bolsters and dark African Blackwood scales, with some streaks of brown and nice chatoyance underneath, give it the look of a classy refined barlow. The long straight spear point would fit in great next to the vintage knives it is based upon, especially with the matchstrike pull and cut swedges. Beyond its good looks, the Yankee Barlow will also make a great user. Because it’s a little larger than the GEC #15 frame, it’s easier to get a full four finger grip and bear down in use. You also get about 3″ of blade, which is a solid length for an easily carryable pocket knife. The spear point offers a generous amount of straight edge, but enough belly to be useful and a tip that should work for most piercing tasks. Although it’s not a cheap knife, it will make a great user, and it will sure look handsome while in use!
Overall, as you have probably inferred, I am very happy to have gotten this Great Eastern Cutlery made Northfield #77 CollectorKnives Yankee Barlow in African Blackwood. Not only is it a great knife, but I received it upon coming home from a Meniscectomy, so it was quite a good cheer me up! Don’t forget to subscribe here via email for updates when I post new articles, check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel, like my FaceBook page, and follow my instagram feed.
