Fiskars/Gerber BearGrylls Parang RECALL

Troop

Troop

Joined
Oct 26, 2006
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Hey guys, I just received notice that the Bear Grylls Parang is on recall from Gerber. If you have one of these, call 877-314-9130, and they'll send you a pre-paid FedEx box in which to return it to them. Then they're supposed to send you a new one, hopefully without any defects. Some sort of "weakness" in the ricasso area.
 
This one failed in the same place last year against a bit of live apple........................Anyway, to expand: The recalled product is a curved blade machete with an overall length of 19.5 inches and a blade length of 13.5 inches. The handle is a dark gray textured rubber grip with wrist lanyard, orange trim and a stylized "BG" on it. The blade is marked with the "GERBER®" trademark and a stylized Bear Grylls trademark. The machete comes in a black nylon sheath with orange and gray trim. The machetes were sold separately or as one of the products in Gerber's Apocalypse Survival Kit. The model numbers are on the package. Model numbers are: 31-000698, which has "Survival Series" printed on the package; and 31-001507, which was sold only at Walmart. Model number 30-0006010 is for the Apocalypse Survival Kit, which includes a Parang machete among other items in a foldable black cloth case with "GERBER" printed in orange on the inside right. ----Yahoo News
 
Here's the actual recall link, with photos: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12248.html

12248b.jpg
 
that is classic, who would have guessed, they look tough but not actually intended for hard use:thumbup:.

i had no idea they cost almost 50 bucks either.:barf:

glad nobody was hurt, i wonder who would have handled this prob if indeed you did end up in a situation where the apocalypse kit was needed.:eek:

the vid was good showing the handle and the lack of steel, looked like it was made to fail.

tromintina for the win.
 
In the photos it looks like the break perhaps occurred at the hole for the first bolt?
 
I called it when they first came out with it.....

Don't worry, buying a Condor will fix the recall issue.
 
Wow!

Something with Bear Grill's name on it isn't top quality?!?!
 
You guys all seem to have missed the most important question" will Bear Grylls still get paid royalties on the recalled knives???
 
Joezilla said:
I called it when they first came out with it.....

Don't worry, buying a Condor will fix the recall issue.
Click to expand...

You want me to buy a bird to fix a recall of a knife? Sounds like a plan. :p

Seriously though, I expected these to not be good, but to have them recalled? I wasn't expecting that.
 
Gerber Bear Grylls parang is a production knife.
The traditional parang is a handmade knife.

Health Canada posted the reason as "A weakness in the area where the handle meets the blade can cause the handle or the blade to break during use, posing a laceration hazard".

IMVHO most probably the Gerber Bear Grylls parang which is a production knife was actually given a full hardening treatment which is very bad for a parang. Traditionally the tempering of the parang must be done with a zone hardening or differential hardening method whereby only the area of the cutting edge is hardened and the other part of it is left relatively soft.

I don't know much about the type of steel used for that parang. Few websites mentioned that it is made from "Robust High Carbon Steel Blade - Enhances strength, corrosion resistance and easy to sharpen" without specifically quoted the exact type of the steel used for it.

Could it be the steel type is the main problem?

Kindly take note that GBG Parang is built with full tang and it has a rather thick and wide ricasso!
Meaning the problem must be from the type of steel and the heat treatment processes (i.e. including the full hardening issue)!

Again IMVHO if the Gerber Bear Grylls parang failed then the other Gerber products might be having the same problem due to the same tempering processes especially those made from the same type of steel.

mohd
 
I think it's the width of the tang in relation to how large the bolt holes are. It makes for a weak link, as in spite of its width the tang is only as strong as the two spindly bits of steel either side of the bolt holes.
 
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