FINALLY got rid of my crutch! (Gerber LST)

GarageBoy · Jul 25, 2004

Well, I did it, I got rid of my Gerber LST (1st knife I carried and hated it, but loved it) At first, I used it to practice sharpening on. The 420 took an ok edge, but I got obsessed with making it straight razor sharp. By the time I learned the skills to keep it decently sharp, I had ruined the edge geometry (I must have removed a 1/8" off the blade, but I had thinned the edge down. thin edge+thick bevel behind it= shaves after a few passes, but tears paper) Decided to stop the 1/2yr long obsession and tossed it. Got an Opinel to continue my quest to sharpen neatly (without causing multi beveled edges that I convexed to fix) and efficiently.

Blades · Jul 25, 2004

I have a Gerber LST somewhere.

I think it is in my BOB. It was always a good little knife.

Blades

GarageBoy · Jul 25, 2004

Good knife, but I was obsessed with making it do something it can't and destroyed it accordindly

Boink · Jul 25, 2004

I still have an LST that I got in 1987 from Sharper Image catalog and it's in mint condition. Sits in a drawer. I took it out to examine it recently after seeing an article about Gerber knives history.

GarageBoy · Jul 26, 2004

It also went to a good cause. I gave it to a buddy who used cheapies exclusively

GarageBoy · Jul 26, 2004

Boink, what steel was it? (in '87)

Boink · Jul 26, 2004

It's not marked. And at that time, I never knew the difference between different steels. I guess an email to Gerber would reveal the answer.

bob bowie · Jul 26, 2004

The steel would've been 440A.

GarageBoy · Jul 26, 2004

Ahh, they down graded to 420J

spyken · Jul 27, 2004

first knife I sharpened free hand was a SOG seal pup. I used a cheap $5 stone to reprofile the edge, then strop the bevel/edge till it shone up like floodlights. Basically I used the strop to cheat. That knife was hair-popping sharp. 440A/Aus6 is easy to sharpen...but the moral of the story is, use a strop if you don't mind cheating a little.

GarageBoy · Jul 27, 2004

The Gerber responded to stropping by rooling the edge, due to my poor technique and coarse, white rogue

Boink · Jul 27, 2004

Rouge. Rogue is someone with a devil-may-care attitude with a penchant for taking advantage of people. A course white rogue is that and both caucasion and somewhat rough around the edges. And it's rolling the edge, not rooling.

No charge for the spelling lessons ....