Failed LMF2

H

Hiker1329

Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
16
So two days ago I was doing light "woods work", chopping etc, not even batoning as I know my LMF2 is not full tang. My LMF2 is about 2yrs old and has been used a lot, I love the look and fesign of the knife. After chopping a few small undergrowth trees I noticed my blade giving a popping feel, upon further inspection I could see the plastic piece at the base of the blade had broken and the blade felt as if it were moving in the handle.. I semt it back to Gerber yesterday and actually asked if it could be replaced with the lower priced Strong Arm since it is full tang but I doubt they will do that. Anyway, anyone else had a similar issue? I truly liked the knife, though I will never feel comfortable with it as my primary again, I own a lot of Gerbers so there is no brand hate here. I will once again be putting my BK2 on my belt as my reliable carry..
 
From reading this post, two things jumped out at me.
- You had a Gerber break on you
- You have replaced your Becker BK2 with another knife (the lmf2?) and are now going back to the Becker.

I would take a good long think on grabbing a Becker BK4 and a BK5 before they disappear. You will likely be Very happy having them in hand and they will hold up to what you expect from them.
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Good thing you noticed it and this didn't end as badly as it could have. Good luck on your warranty.
 
Not replaced! Nothing replaces a BK2! Lol. I just liked the feel and design of the LMF2, I like to carry different blade for different days, I guess Im like a kid with toys. It really was a disappointment to have it fail under what I would consider light use conditions though.
 
I see three things wrong here
1) You're using a Gerber
2) You're chopping with a Gerber
3) You're surprised that a Gerber failed
 
The cow said:
I see three things wrong here
1) You're using a Gerber
2) You're chopping with a Gerber
3) You're surprised that a Gerber failed
Click to expand...

Sadly Gerber stopped making knives a long time ago. They where more interested in making money instead.
 
1. I use lots of knives
2. I dont "expect" a knife to fail.
3. Some Gerber products are quality.
I own Boker, CRKT, Ka-Bar, Condor, Gerber, Case, Buck, several customs... I'm no newbie to knives so to point out "you are using a Gerber" is a waste of time for you to type or me to read.. It has no bearing on my post, I dont care how long you've been on the forum.. I am all about Becker and Ka-Bar but I'm not solely a Becker collector.. The Strong arm is a solid knife, maybe they stopped making quality for a while but that is one worth giving a try...
 
Hiker1329 said:
1. I use lots of knives
2. I dont "expect" a knife to fail.
3. Some Gerber products are quality.
I own Boker, CRKT, Ka-Bar, Condor, Gerber, Case, Buck, several customs... I'm no newbie to knives so to point out "you are using a Gerber" is a waste of time for you to type or me to read.. It has no bearing on my post, I dont care how long you've been on the forum.. I am all about Becker and Ka-Bar but I'm not solely a Becker collector.. The Strong arm is a solid knife, maybe they stopped making quality for a while but that is one worth giving a try...
Click to expand...

It didn't bring me joy to give you my opinion of Gerber.

Fact is, they are owned by Fiskars. (See crappy tools for gardening)
They are no longer in the "make great knives business" they are in the "sell lot's of knives business"

I think this is fairly evident if you look at their target market and where they are with materials then it becomes obvious that they have manufactured knives (for the most part) that fit the requirements of Walmart shoppers.

This explains why nobody is surprised that your knife has failed you.
It was never designed to do anything but be cheap to make and to make profit through volume sales.

My first knife was a Gerber, and it was a very good knife.
It's not the same Gerber anymore.
 
Several years ago, I found a brand new Gerber folder in the street. I never forgave whoever lost it to me and I promptly lost it for the next guy.
 
I get you, no offense taken. I've had good experiences with the "forbid I say the name" Bear Grylls paracord fixed and Parang as well as the BG hatchet.. No, not a lot of Gerber products are note worthy as of late but with use and testing of these and hopefully the Strong Arm hard tested soon I think Gerber is giving strong effort to compete again.. Becker level? Hell no.... But WEC compared to UFC, I say maybe so.....
 
UFC fan, so I totally get it.

I really want to find something good to say about Gerber....

I apologize for not being able to.

I also don't mean to detract from anyone's good experience with their knives, It's just that with so much good stuff available to us, I don't even really consider them a "knife" company anymore.
 
I get what you are saying.. I guess at 37yrs old and growing up with Gerber I just have that hope that they will become legit again.. They still come out with nice designs I just wish they would put the quality with it.. Gerber... Not Fiskars... Another thing that would be great to see, seperation of garden tools from survival knives... I carry the BK2 because I know I can trust it, I carried the LMF2 because I wanted to be able to trust it...
 
Years ago I Had an lmf2, years ago i broke an lmf2 in similar fashion...gave the strongarm a try..first one had a bent blade, the second had an edge so thick it'd make an ax look acute... Won't buy a Gerber again
 
Good info to pay attention to regarding the Strongarm, Ill keep those things in mind when I test one, thanks.
 
I recently got a vintage mint Gerber Guardian II, the one with nice "period" camo... Knife is around 1987-1990.

It is a sobering reminder of just how very far a maker can fall...

Centered and straight grinding that even some of my Al Mar Shadow IVs cannot match...

Despite the extremely unfavourable geometry of the design, the edges were sharp because they were nearly zero-edged, with barely a subtle touch-up to remove the blade's black paint off the edge...: My Seki-City Al Mars were butter dull in comparison (Until RazorEdgeKnives did its trick on them)...

The paint itself is extremely tough all over, with no signs of marring or chipping that even much more expensive knives tend to display easily, even after dropping the handle's sharp pommel-corner pommel-first on a tiled floor(!).

The sheath is superb. Retention outstanding.

Seeing what they have become, it's just utterly shocking to consider what Gerber used to be...

Keep in mind Gerber now have the worst Consumer ratings of any major knife maker, with an astounding number of recalls for grave and injury-causing basic design faults: I think something like an 8 to one ratio of consumer warnings to their closest worst competitor...

The Chinese steel might hold an edge, but it is likely mostly untempered, and will shatter at the first unexpected hard impact.

It is best to think of Gerber as the equivalent of gas-station items, but with a premium price...

Gaston
 
Hiker1329 said:
Good info to pay attention to regarding the Strongarm, Ill keep those things in mind when I test one, thanks.
Click to expand...
Yea it's a well designed blade, execution is just all over the board...first one was ground good enough, but then discovered the blade hooked to the left near the tip...sent it in and got it replaced...came dull no biggie went to sharpen it only to discover it had an edge close to 80° inclusive....sharpened it 25° per side and had a bevel a ¼"wide...
 
Well all the Gerber hate aside, the LMF 2 gets some praise for what it is. Has a nice cushioned handle and stuff. You were using it like a hatchet and found out hard it's only a knife. I know with the big idea of batoning these days that a lot of mfrs are producing knives intended to be strong enough to be mistaken for knife shaped hatchets, the StrongArm being one. However the LMF 2 was intended for use as a knife with the end cap of the handle useable to pound or break things, hence the not quite full tang and cushioning so you don't jar your wrist when you cave a skull in with the butt cap.You broke a plastic piece that apparently braced the blade in the handle, no pics but is it possible you hit that piece directly while chopping a back yard redwood? Knowing there is a hunk of plastic might've aroused a few brain cells into considering that possibility. I'd recommend acquiring a hatchet for your future chopping duties but then you might not know what to do with your knife so I'd say whatever you get make sure it has a full handle sized tang, not a rattail tang like the original KaBar USMC, but a tang which you can see or atleast feel,in the case of the Strong Arm, and chop to your hearts content until the blade breaks. Then you can complain how it must be a faulty hatchet.
 
Of course I have hatchets... Ohh ohh I even have an axe.... Guess what though, I dont always carry every piece of equipment I own when I go out.. As I said I knew, being a partial tang, it was not for baton use or for being beat on.. With a hefty build like it has along with the thick blade to think it would hold up when chopping a few small sapplings doesn't seem far fetched to me.. Thanks for that indepth knowledge packed post, Ill be sure to only use it to escape from planes and helicoptors since it is designed tough enough for that but not for use on under brush..
 
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