Bear Grylls Gerber knife

This knife isnt really that bad. Its butt ugly with the BG logos etc, however if it didnt have anything to do with BG I bet some people would praise it. Some people hate because it has his name on it and thats it. If a skookum had BG on it, some would hate.
 
baldtaco-II said:
I'd speculate the reason is military minded training as opposed to Neo-bushcraft inclinations. If the goal is just to cut stuff serrations can afford a considerable advantage when it comes to tough stuff.
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I'd say that is probably spot on. Bushcraft is an element of survival, but the same does not hold true for the reverse. When the goal is simply to cut and cut quickly with the aesthetics of the cut not being a factor...such as quickly cutting through hide, cartilage, and ligaments and getting one's self to a safer location... serrations can come in very handy. Same with quickly cutting through synthetic materials.
 
TheGent said:
I think it's very innovative. The add-ons are not much different from what some carry in the front pouch of their knife sheath.
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ok, the add-ons are fine... no argument with them.

a pouch big enough to hold an altiods tin/psk would be nice too.

my complaint is how the knife and the clothing and other gear are marketed.. and the big BG on the grip.

serrations are a personal preference thing, but they're harder to sharpen, and the sharpener on the sheath won't do it. personally, i'd rather have a sharp knife that was easy to keep sharp.

i like orange, i like the overall lines of the knife, i like the accessories,,,, but the sheath has room for improvement. it's just the marketing hype that's not appealing.

no clue what the price is on this, but an ESSE 4 with orange scales is about $100, with or without serrations and you can mount their $20 pouch for their larger knives to the sheath and have room for more kit. if you don't like orange they offer it in other colors.
 
The knife looks like a more useful "Survival Knife" than some I have seen. Having Bear's name on it will surely help sales. I doubt if any of the hardcore bushcraft folks on this forum will buy one, but I bet Gerber sells a bunch of them.
 
If I wanted that style of knife I'd get a Gerber Prodigy. All the branding on the bear knife would be an embarrassment.
 
It's a marketting gimmick-that's all there is to it. Just like the rest of the crap you can find in the Bear Grylls magazine that I get spammed with all the time. Discovery Channel is one big commercial for their franchised crap. Market market market, try to convince chronic TV watchers that they need this to be cool. Trek fell for it too with all the cheap chinese made aluminum road bikes they put out, trying to sell walmart grade bicycles with Team Discovery logos to those who didn't know any better...
 
Looks ok to me, as long as it gets the job done I couldn't care less what names, initials or colours are on it !
 
I like some Gerber knives. My LMF II is tough. I have hammered it through oak. But the knife itself seems......clunky. My old Gerber Utility Bowie is nice. As for steel, Gerber usually uses a decent stainless, like 440A, 420HC, or Sandvik 12c27. Not great high end stuff, but fairly tough and affordable. I do have an older Gerber Gator in 154CM. I have read some negative posts about Gerbers recently, but mine have served me well.
 
fixer said:
in 10 years a NIB one will go for ten times that price on ebay!
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Especially if Bear falls into a volcano or something. I used to watch the Crocodile hunter with my kids. I'd tell them to never do what Steve was doing. It was just asking for trouble. I feel the same way about Bear. But the knife is probably ok.
 
I kind of like the knife. I like the knife itself, and especially like it with the orange (I've become quite the fan of orange handled knives lately), but the big BG I'm not a fan of, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker. The deal breaker is the fact that I don't need a survival knife, as I already have one, and the fact that I don't have the cash for it anyway.
 
The bigger question is..."Why Gerber?" Its a chinese knife with their mystery chinese junk steel. That knife wouldnt last 30 minutes into a survival bushcraft situation, unless its 154cm....but I doubt it at 60 bucks. Id take my Mini Canadian into the woods over that knife in a heartbeat. 60 bucks for a survival/military blade in 420 and probably not even full tang? No thanks, ill buy another KBar heavy bowie in 1095, actually get my money's worth and save 15 bucks. And before this post wrinkles your panties, yes, ive owned and used gerber knives. Like everyone else is saying, its marketing. The knife is a joke, as is bear himself. Probably gerber because no other reputable knife company wants to be associated with this goob. Go on youtube and watch his knife sharpening video and you'll understand, its hilarious. Ok, im done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bosp4-pyTM
 
I haven't actually handled the knife but all of the other Gerber models of similar pattern have been US made. Do you actually know this one is Chinese made? And give me a break about having to be 154CM to last 30 minutes in a survival bush-craft situation. Most of the folks left on the globe that are doing this for real life are using something like 420J stainless for their knives.
 
I have ka-bars in 1095, Busses in INFI, and other high end knives. I also have a cheap Colt Jungle Commander in 420 with a rubber handle that I have used for years. It chops like cazy and has not broken. It's made in China, too. It is supposed to be junk, but I know for a fact that it makes a heck of a survival knife. I have split oak and maple with it, chopped, thrown it, pried with it, and generally abused it in every way. The edge retention is not fantastic, but it sharpens easily. Toughness rules in a survival knife. The only way to know for sure is to test them, not judge them on some irrational brand name hatred or envy. Apparently, somebody got the heat treat right on that old Colt. Whether or not the Gerber is any good or is Chinese made, I don't know for sure. But I bet it will hold up pretty well, since it is similar to the LMF II.

I dug up this old Colt. I have the Gerber LMF some place. Point is, performance is all that matters to me, not brand names.

Colt001.jpg
 
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Looks like a tweaked LMF II with a flat grind and firesteel. If I remember the LMF got some pretty positive reviews. I have no first hand experience.

Grylls probably went with Gerber because they are owned by Fiskars and have a worldwide presence and are carried in a lot of big box stores worldwide
 
Horn Dog said:
I have ka-bars in 1095, Busses in INFI, and other high end knives. I also have a cheap Colt Jungle Commander in 420 with a rubber handle that I have used for years. It chops like cazy and has not broken. It's made in China, too. It is supposed to be junk, but I know for a fact that it makes a heck of a survival knife. I have split oak and maple with it, chopped, thrown it, pried with it, and generally abused it in every way. The edge retention is not fantastic, but it sharpens easily. Toughness rules in a survival knife. The only way to know for sure is to test them, not judge them on some irrational brand name hatred or envy. Apparently, somebody got the heat treat right on that old Colt. Whether or not the Gerber is any good or is Chinese made, I don't know for sure. But I bet it will hold up pretty well, since it is similar to the LMF II.

I dug up this old Colt. I have the Gerber LMF some place. Point is, performance is all that matters to me, not brand names.
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I can also attest to the COLT knife name. Mine is a survival knife, that came with a "survival kit" (fishing line, couple hooks, bandaid, 4 matches in a little plastic thing). Mine is made of 8CR14 steel. From what I have read, 8CR14 is very close to if not the same thing as AUS8. It too is made in China, but its a dang good knife. Have yet to have to sharpen it since I bought it last year.
 
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