a crappy knife vs another crappy knife.

williamsld8

williamsld8

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Sep 19, 2010
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often here we see the staple of comparine one great knife to another in the never ending argument of which is best. We also see some brands getting all the bashing. Two great examples that come to mind are gerber and any gun company (winchester, smith and wesson). So lets combine the two. Say you're in a self defense scenario, or following some terrible event find yourself in a life or death position, and the ONLY thing knife around to help is a gerber or a smith and wesson, both folders, from their average line up. Which one would you trust Your Life to?
 
williamsld8 said:
often here we see the staple of comparine one great knife to another in the never ending argument of which is best. We also see some brands getting all the bashing. Two great examples that come to mind are gerber and any gun company (winchester, smith and wesson). So lets combine the two. Say you're in a self defense scenario, or following some terrible event find yourself in a life or death position, and the ONLY thing knife around to help is a gerber or a smith and wesson, both folders, from their average line up. Which one would you trust Your Life to?
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I would find a hammer/rock/any blunt object rather than to use a knife. I think I would rather use my bare hands for self defense than use a folding knife.

ETA: If I did have to pick one of the knives, I guess it would be Gerber. Winchesters are mostly made by a sub-company of Gerber, but crappier. S&W knives that I have owned were really cheaply made (thin liner locks, etc.), so I would not pick them.
 
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I dunno about using a knife for sd...

out of your choices; I have never used a gerber brand knife, so I cannot comment on those. However, I have used a couple of winchester's and some smith's. Out of those two, I think I would go with the Smith & Wesson. They seem to be better quality (for the most part) than winchester's. They hold a better edge, and longer. Their locks hold up better, and longer.
 
I have no clue as to why people are so snobbish about gerber stuff. Sure their steel isn't fantastic but don't you guys sharpen your knives? Don't you have a spyderco sharpmaker that the fact it's not a $400 strider that the price difference you pay is about 15 seconds with your sharpmaker touching up your blade?

Honestly have you ever encountered a regular everyday situation that your blade got dull before your task was ever finished with a gerber blade?

Gerber blades like the Steadfast the Profile and Gator series are solidly built and can take a good amount of abuse before breaking. Blades like the LMF and the LHR are built like tanks and will keep coming back for more and come with an excellent sheath.

Their folders are not bad either looking at it from a mainstream perspective and really a basic objective level. Do they lock up tight have decent fit and finish and come well constructed with good materials? Yes they do. Most if not all of the Gerber folding blades have very little play or the play is only side to side. The Icon has a strong liner lock that locks up like a bank vault and the handles are completely stainless steel. For a 20 dollar blade and Gerber steel I think it's a fantastic beater knife and very solidly built for the price.

Like many people say, you don't NEED a super steel, very few people do need steels like zdp-189, s30v or even 440c. I personally prefer these higher quality steels but I really don't need it for my EDC use.
 
I have several Gerber Gators (folders and fixed) and a folding saw. While I now (thanks to BF), use my premium steel knives for hunting, these tools served me well before I "knew" better. I also have an LMF II and a Silver Trident. I would have to say that the Silver Trident would be a fantastic self defense knife, as that what Harsey and Watson designed it for. In fact, during archery season when I can't carry a sidearm, I'll carry the Silver Trident with my BM 710 in the accessory pouch.
 
If I had to choose, I would take a Gerber before any gun-brand knife. While low on the totem pole, at least Gerber makes knives. The gun-brand knives are just toys.
 
Cutting gasket material. Cutting card board, maybe a 10 foot cut. These are everyday uses for me. I don't need super steel, I don't even care for it since it tends to chip on me. But the steel that gerber uses on some of it's knives is worthless. I have 440A blades that hold an edge much longer.
 
axtalan0 said:
If I had to choose, I would take a Gerber before any gun-brand knife. While low on the totem pole, at least Gerber makes knives. The gun-brand knives are just toys.
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I see that each person has had different experiences with these brands of knives. I've had a S&W folding knife fall apart in my pocket. I own a Gerber that will not hold an edge. I've also handled some very nice folders made by either company.
I think that both Gerber and S&W put out a line of products that range between extremely poor and quite decent.

MoreToasties said:
Cutting wires. Dulls and chips a bad steel quite easily.
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Dulls and chips most steels quite easily. Metal on metal is a bad thing.
 
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I push cut one piece of coax cable with a VG-10 browning ice storm the other day and ended up with a 1/8" chip out of the edge. :( That'll learn me
 
I've not dulled a gerber since I don't have any. But I've dulled a BM with equivalent steel to the better gerbers in everyday tasks at work. Cutting clothes up for work. And since I can't really stop setup my sharpmaker and take a time out from working to sharpen my blade I usually carry a zdp blade 95% of the time, a gerber would probably need to be sharpened 4 to 5 times to get through the task I would need it too, which is why I've become a bit of a steel snob, won't usually buy something with something less than 154cm edge retention, I really liked everything about my BM vex besides the steel.
 
honestly, in a situation that bad.... i'd grab whichever was the closest.

i've used Gerber folders and my friend had a Smith & Wesson SWAT. both were sharp and pointy and could've been used to hurt someone, if the situation called for it.
 
Not all Gerbers are crap. Most of the knives made in Portland, and Finland are great.

Gerber LMFII, Clip point Gator, Gerber Saw, Gerber Camp axe.
Great set.
 
the winchesters marketed by blue grass cutlery are certainly fine products. however it seems the entire discussion is limited to tacticals. more people have probably been maimed & killed by traditional patterns. this was because in earlier times tacts were'nt around & knives were the more common assault tool. nowadays the gun is the main weapon. not to sidetrack the thread but just an observation.
dennis
 
DennisStrickland said:
the winchesters marketed by blue grass cutlery are certainly fine products. however it seems the entire discussion is limited to tacticals. more people have probably been maimed & killed by traditional patterns. this was because in earlier times tacts were'nt around & knives were the more common assault tool. nowadays the gun is the main weapon. not to sidetrack the thread but just an observation.
dennis
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This is still true, even now. The common tool/weapon, is the one that gets used most.

This doesn't mean there weren't "tactical" knives two hundred or more years ago. Folks cut eachother up with Barlows and Green Rivers because that is what they had in their pocket or on their hip.


The dagger has been around for several millenia. In the beginning it was a tactical knife, and still is today.
Pugio_175_aC.jpg
 
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