This past weekend Great Eastern Cutlery held their yearly open house gathering for enthusiasts, which they call the Rendezvous. I always look forward to the Rendezvous with great excitement, and was sorely disappointed that it had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. I was able to attend this year, and I want to share my experience here; there was a lot of what makes me love the Rendezvous that was the same, but there were also some new aspects to this year’s event.
What is the Great Eastern Cutlery Rendezvous?
The Rendezvous has always been the best time for Great Eastern Cutlery enthusiasts to gather and discuss the knives they love, and also an opportunity to obtain some of the more rare and unusual knives by GEC. I have gone to the Rendezvous each year since 2014, and you can read about why you should go to the Rendezvous at this link. I love the Rendezvous because it brings together a wide range of people all with one thing in common – a love and appreciation of the best production traditional knives being made currently, at the place of their manufacture. Everyone is willing and ready to show off their collections, discuss past and future knives, and everything else GEC and traditional knife related. You also get the opportunity to “see behind the curtain”. Bill, William, Joan Mae, and other employees are welcoming and magnanimous with their time. You get the feeling they are proud of the products they make and happy to discuss them with their most loyal customers. Finally, there’s the opportunity to meet and talk with GEC’s dealers. Aside from the people, which are the true draw of the Rendezvous, attendance also gives access to purchase the Rendezvous Special and SFA knives. The Rendezvous Special is a knife made in limited numbers and released in part on each day of the event to commemorate the gathering. I’ve collected them since 2014, and they’re usually rather unique with special cover materials or shield and always an etch signifying the year. SFA stands for Special Factory Assembly, which are knives made from parts from previous runs of knives in unique configurations (formerly called parts knives, which you can read about at this link). These SFAs are some of the lowest production number knives, often falling between 2 and 20 made of each configuration, and therefore highly sought after and honestly just really cool. Both the Rendezvous Special and SFAs are only available during the Rendezvous at the factory store. So there’s a lot to love about the Rendezvous as it’s always been that draws regulars back, and new people out, every year!
The ticket system was a great call by GEC 
Bill showing off the Rendezvous Special
What made the 2021 Rendezvous different?
Being that the last was 2 years ago due to the pandemic, I expected some changes for the 2021 Rendezvous. The first change was in the date of the event. It had always been the first full weekend in August. I believe that was chosen because it coincided both with the Titusville Oil Festival and, more importantly, the Queen Knife Show. However, with Queen out of business since 2018 and the Oil Festival cancelled both in 2020 and 2021, there’s no longer any particular reason to have it then. They moved it to June, the weekend after Blade Show. When I asked why that date was chosen they indicated it was for the nicer weather, which is a pretty solid reason being that much of the event happens outdoors. This year did end up having beautiful weather throughout both days of the event. Another difference was in the line for the event. As crazy as it sounds, people line up outside the factory overnight to get in line early enough to get the Rendezvous Special and best picks of the SFAs. 2014-2016 I didn’t line up, just rolled in and was lucky to get the Rendezvous Specials. However, 2017-2019 I lined up about 2am, 12am, and 10pm respectively and was always well under 10th in line. I drove up after work the day before this year, and on the way saw online that there were over 10 in line already. I expected it to be much busier this year, but not so much earlier than normal. To be honest, I was shocked and concerned I wouldn’t be able to get a Rendezvous Special. Thankfully, not many came after that post before I made it there and I ended up under 20th in line (which gave me a good shot at the Rendezvous Special). As the night progressed more and more came, especially around 4am. The discussion between those waiting overnight is always enjoyable and interesting, but it’s still a long wait. At about 6am, an hour before the store opened, Bill Howard (GEC owner / president) came out and showed the Rendezvous Special knife and described their new system for purchases at the event. For 2019 they had indicated they would use a ticket system to order the factory sales during the Rendezvous, but didn’t end up implementing any system. Although no major issues arose, there was some definite jostling and even I think some position pilfering. So I was happy to hear that they were using a ticket system this year. Each person in line was given a ticket, like those used for lotteries and 50/50s, denoting their place in line. 5 people were allowed in the store at a time, and each time someone left the person with the next sequential ticket was allowed in. As you left the store you were able to take another ticket so that you could go in again, but only after everyone who was there had a chance to go in once (special thanks to Rosie for handling the ticket system all day both days). I think this ticket system worked brilliantly; it allowed attendees to be able to mill around and talk and see the displays rather than holding their place in line, it made the experience in the store less stressful because it wasn’t so crowded that you could barely move (like recent previous years), and it made for a fair system for those who came later to still get a chance to go into the store while allowing those who arrived early to go back in if they desired. Speaking of going back into the store a second time, like in 2019, they enforced a limit of 2 knives per purchase. So if you wanted to buy more than two knives you’d take a second ticket on your way out and then were allowed back into the store once that ticket was called.One other big change for this year was the time of the picnic on Saturday. Previous years the picnic, which is the last portion of the event, was always at lunch time. This year they moved it to 4pm, with the factory store closing at 1pm. I am not sure whether this was a positive or negative change, as it does give some rest time for attendees and preparation time for GEC staff between the show and the picnic, but it also makes for a longer day and some down time. I think this year’s Rendezvous kept much or all of what I’ve always loved about it, but with some changes that made for an overall even better event.
What did I take away from this year’s Rendezvous?
I took away a treasure trove of experiences and lessons from the 2021 GEC Rendezvous, not to mention some incredible knives! I really just thoroughly enjoyed seeing and talking with the Rendezvous regulars. The density of Great Eastern Cutlery and traditional knife knowledge gathered at the Rendezvous can’t be found many places, and certainly isn’t something I have gotten to experience with such a community vibe in any other setting. I also felt that there were a lot more people going around to the table displays at this year’s Rendezvous, and I got to meet a lot of new GEC enthusiasts. I’ll be honest and admit that I greatly appreciated the comments from several people who said that they enjoy Knife Thoughts, and even heard a really touching story about how reading my blog and watching my videos helped a fellow enthusiast through some tough days. A lesson I’m taking from this year’s Rendezvous (that I also took from 2019’s but didn’t implement) is that I need to prepare my Knife Thoughts display better. I should plan, for sure, what knives I want to sell and how much I want to charge for them. I had a box of knives I was considering selling, but ended up deciding not to sell some of them (one of which was after someone had decided to buy it). I also only had a general idea of what I would charge for them, when I should have had a price sheet made ahead of time to reference. I ran out of stickers to give out towards the end of the first day, which I use in place of business cards. In the future I’ll order extra ahead of time, and I also want to get other Knife Thoughts swag to give out. I also meant to have Waynorth Cutlery shirts (available here) for sale, but didn’t order them in time. Having a second person to tag team watching the table would be really helpful, so that each of us could go in the store or walk around and talk without the table being unattended. By the way, huge thanks to Dan and Ben for watching my table some. Finally, I’d like to get a banner to better show that the table is “Knife Thoughts”. I ended up not going to the picnic this year, but next year I’d like to plan my time better so that I can be rested and ready to attend and enjoy the picnic.
I had a great time at the Great Eastern Cutlery 2021 Rendezvous. If you enjoy these knives and it’s feasible for you to come to Titusville, I think you’d be happy you did. I have started a (completely unofficial and unaffiliated with GEC) Facebook group for those who plan to attend the 2022 Rendezvous, which you can find at this link. Make sure to check out the video below where I show and discuss the knives I got at this year’s Rendezvous. I hope to see lots of new faces mingled among the regulars at the next GEC Rendezvous!
