That clears up some things, but I'm still in the shade on some other issues. I hope no one is reading me wrong, that's the thing about forums, it's not face to face conversation and I'm trying to word things where I'm not sounding like a prick. It's just that I still don't understand why people are having so many problems with Gerber and I'm not. I've never had a problem with any 440.
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Buck over Gerber
- Thread starter segaman22
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Sorry, I pressed the post button by mistake. As I was saying. I have had some problems with Gerber, but very few, such as pocket clips coming off (had that problem with Buck too) I have even had problems with SOG. My problems have never been with the blade itself. Maybe I'm lucky. I can take fifteen minutes and sharpen a Gerber and be able to shave with it again. I'm not at all saying that Gerber is better than Buck. I use Buck a lot and would have to agree that they surpass Gerber. Can people clarify please what they were doing to the blades when you used your Gerbers that made them so bad? Saying that they don't hold an edge doesn't say a lot to me. One guy said his Gerber didn't hold an edge. I asked him what he was doing with it. You don't want to know. So, I'm wondering if dull Gerbers are from misuse?
If people are heavily using and/or abusing knives or don't know how to sharpen them why would these complaints all congregate around Gerber and not evenly across all or most makers? Gerber is drawing loads of complaints, about the best anyone seems to say about them is "well, they USED to be good". The thing the complainers have in common is GERBER. There are bound to be a few malcontents about any product (not too long ago someone was complaining about the lack of durability in a HI Kukri blade for crissakes!) but for better products they are a distinct minority.
Personally I remember holding a friend's Gerber "boot knife" in the 80's (supposedly their heyday) and I thought it was pretty junky. Dull (even at the point) and poorly balanced.
There are loads of knife makers of good to very good to excellent quality out there, why take a chance with a company with a lousy reputation?
Personally I remember holding a friend's Gerber "boot knife" in the 80's (supposedly their heyday) and I thought it was pretty junky. Dull (even at the point) and poorly balanced.
There are loads of knife makers of good to very good to excellent quality out there, why take a chance with a company with a lousy reputation?
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- Aug 2, 2006
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Apparently you've never used either. I've owned and used at least a half dozen of each. Gerbers aren't much, compared to high quality knves, but every Buck I've owned has been FAR lower quality.
And NONE of the Bucks that I've owned over the years would hold an edge worth a crap. That's why I haven't bought either a
Buck or a Gerber for 20 years!:grumpy:
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2007
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- 122
I have field tested many of each during the boy scouts and while I was teaching wilderness survival. In my opinion, I believe the Buck knives to be of better value than the Gerber knives. In addition, I have had quite a few Leatherman tools and compared them to Gerber Multi-tools, and almost every Gerber snapped the screwdriver or Knife blade (the two tools I use the most), but the Leatherman tools kinda bent, allowing me to bend the tool back(until it snaps). Now I just carry a SAK tinker.
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- Oct 25, 2007
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- 6
Here's a nice objective point against Gerber:
I just recently acquired a Gerber Gator Fixed XDP (drop point, fine edge) to take out on the road with me. Did a fair bit of research (mostly on manufacturer's sites, comparing features... After finding this place I wish I'd looked on sites like this
) and decided it was the ideal knife for my needs and budget.
got the knife, and was initially impressed. It's now just two days later, and I'm already a little pissed at Gerber. Let me tell you why -
I plan to use this knife for some food preparation, so naturally I wanted to wash the nasty Chinese factory residue off, which I did, using some mild Dr. Bronner's soap, and rinsed/dried it very thoroughly. About an hour later, I was just messing with the knife a bit, getting a feel for it and its movement, and I happened to notice some water on the blade. "Huh?" I said to myself, and just figured some water had splashed onto it from a glass sitting on the nightstand, or something else. But it didn't seem quite right.
Unfazed, I wiped the blade down completely, and continued to put the knife through its virtual paces - nothing too serious, mind you, really just having fun with a new "toy."
I was definitely impressed with the feel and the balance of the blade. But after a couple minutes, I took a look and again, there was this seeming miracle of water appearing on the blade!
At this point I started to worry a bit, as I'm not anything like a normal "religious type," and even if I were, I'd reckon this would be a funny start to a relationship with a higher power. So I wiped the blade down again, and in doing so, immediately realized what was happening - there was water trapped inside the handle of the knife, between it and the tang!
It seems that Gerber has cut corners to such a degree that they don't even bother sealing the tang at the top of the handle anymore (if they ever did...), and now these little crevices surrounded by the rubber of the Gator handle make a perfect little spot for moisture to set up camp and hibernate for a while!
At this, I was absolutely appalled. It's just so obviously negligent on the part of the manufacturer, and an unbelievable liability for rust and corrosion that could easily compromise the entire knife - and you wouldn't even know it until the tang snapped right off, since it's hidden under the handle! I damn near wanted to fly to China that instant and start telling their workers about the wonders of labor unions...
So I shook the hell out of the thing for the next hour, and managed to get as much water out as I could by hand, then propped the knife into my air conditioner vent so that the air was blowing right into the crevices in question, to dry it. I then got out the ol' 3-in-one and started dumping it down into the handle, and I was a bit curious just how bad a problem this was, and how much liquid could get stuck down there...it just kept pouring, and pouring, and pouring... I swear, they must've built a reservoir into the damn thing!
Anyway, in the two days I've had the thing, I've also now used to do just a couple basic knifey things, but nothing at all too strenuous, and already the edge is going. I can now definitively see at least some of what ya'll have against Gerber, and I reckon this will be the last one I buy.
I just recently acquired a Gerber Gator Fixed XDP (drop point, fine edge) to take out on the road with me. Did a fair bit of research (mostly on manufacturer's sites, comparing features... After finding this place I wish I'd looked on sites like this
) and decided it was the ideal knife for my needs and budget.got the knife, and was initially impressed. It's now just two days later, and I'm already a little pissed at Gerber. Let me tell you why -
I plan to use this knife for some food preparation, so naturally I wanted to wash the nasty Chinese factory residue off, which I did, using some mild Dr. Bronner's soap, and rinsed/dried it very thoroughly. About an hour later, I was just messing with the knife a bit, getting a feel for it and its movement, and I happened to notice some water on the blade. "Huh?" I said to myself, and just figured some water had splashed onto it from a glass sitting on the nightstand, or something else. But it didn't seem quite right.
Unfazed, I wiped the blade down completely, and continued to put the knife through its virtual paces - nothing too serious, mind you, really just having fun with a new "toy."
I was definitely impressed with the feel and the balance of the blade. But after a couple minutes, I took a look and again, there was this seeming miracle of water appearing on the blade!At this point I started to worry a bit, as I'm not anything like a normal "religious type," and even if I were, I'd reckon this would be a funny start to a relationship with a higher power. So I wiped the blade down again, and in doing so, immediately realized what was happening - there was water trapped inside the handle of the knife, between it and the tang!
It seems that Gerber has cut corners to such a degree that they don't even bother sealing the tang at the top of the handle anymore (if they ever did...), and now these little crevices surrounded by the rubber of the Gator handle make a perfect little spot for moisture to set up camp and hibernate for a while!
At this, I was absolutely appalled. It's just so obviously negligent on the part of the manufacturer, and an unbelievable liability for rust and corrosion that could easily compromise the entire knife - and you wouldn't even know it until the tang snapped right off, since it's hidden under the handle! I damn near wanted to fly to China that instant and start telling their workers about the wonders of labor unions...
So I shook the hell out of the thing for the next hour, and managed to get as much water out as I could by hand, then propped the knife into my air conditioner vent so that the air was blowing right into the crevices in question, to dry it. I then got out the ol' 3-in-one and started dumping it down into the handle, and I was a bit curious just how bad a problem this was, and how much liquid could get stuck down there...it just kept pouring, and pouring, and pouring... I swear, they must've built a reservoir into the damn thing!
Anyway, in the two days I've had the thing, I've also now used to do just a couple basic knifey things, but nothing at all too strenuous, and already the edge is going. I can now definitively see at least some of what ya'll have against Gerber, and I reckon this will be the last one I buy.
vwb563
Gold Member
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- Jun 29, 2007
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- 3,079
Wow you must the unluckiest person in the whole USA to be getting buck knives that are lower in quality than Gerbers! I have been using Gerbers and Bucks for over 25 yrs and i have learned over this time span that Bucks are MOST DEFINATELY better in quality and edge holding than Gerbers. Bucks are highly noted for their outstanding edge holding abilities. That is amazing that you have never owned a good edge holding Buck knife.
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Ben,
I was going to reply to your first post and say that, certainly, you must have been joking and being sarcastic. After reading your second post, I realize you were serious.
Buck is making some very fine quality knives. I'm guessing you've maybe borrowed and used a couple in the last several years and that's how you've come to your conclusion.....BUT....if you're basing your opinion on knives they were making twenty years ago (I owned them then, and they were as fine as today), you might try some of their latest manufacturings. Buck, in no way, compares to a Gerber.... they couldn;t be so poorly made even if they were trying to do so.
Gerber's taken a dive in the last 7 to 10 years, and they'll continue to sub their work out oversees as long as they can continue to sell cheaply-priced knives. I say good for them. I won;t ever own one, even if they improve their quality, just because they've done what they've done. It's like when Pepsi was going to start use the rapper Ludicris to advertise for them. They didn;t, in the end, but because they were scum enough to think this was what they needed, I'll never buy Pepsi again (and it was my favorite over Coke!). Same with Gerber....they're now history in my book.
Yes, it definitely seems there are 2 very different types of Gerber.
The first type: a very good - even excellent - USA-made product.
The LMF II is one example.
The second type: Knives made in China and possibly elsewhere that are simply not very good at all.
The only difference between models sold at Wal Mart and other stores would be the Sheath all of our knives are identical whoever gets them. the only way a 119 at Wal Mart would be different to one at Bass Pro would be to compair one at Wal Mart with Phoenolic handles and Alumiminum butt and one at Bass with Wood Handles and a Brass butt. There is a 3 oz difference between the two one ways 7.5 oz and the Cocobola 10.5
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- Dec 7, 2005
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I find it hard to believe that you have had that much bad luck with Buck knives over that long of a time span. Spend $30 on a Buck 110 and you'll not need another knife for the next 20 - 30 years if not longer. Unless you lose it, or just plain try to destroy it, you will have a quality tool that will hold an edge and do whatever you would ask of any pocket knife or smaller fixed blade knife.
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It really doesn't matter to me what good knives it produces; I, for one, have lost trust in them. They began using junk steel with no notice whatsoever. All of a sudden, people were reporting that they weren't sharpening and weren't cutting. Only when people began checking the small print in Gerber's catalogs did the truth dawn on them.
Both Gerber and CRKT also made no discernable distinctions between the previous modes with good steel and the pathetic trash that replaced them. People now bidding on eBay have no way of knowing if the blades they're buying are AUS6 or AUS4. Only the honesty of the seller is to be trusted.
CRKT began shipping their knives out with AutoLAWKS. I bought three of their knives recently and the little mini-catalogs that came with them had all their linerlock knives sporting AutoLAWKS labels. But all of mine were the older models with standard LAWKS. This was not an issue for me, though all of these knife companies use the notifications of their specs, meaning that they can change at any time and with no warning.
How far does this corner cutting extend? Who knows? CRKT is teetering along the edge and it's still too early to see which way they'll go. Cold Steel may have its critics, but I've never been disappointed by a CS knife. They've always been as advertised. (Okay, so the Triple Action is an exception, it hardly represents a trend.) Their knives are sharp out of the box and they do cut, which is more than I can say for many of the recent Gerbers I've tried.
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