Gerber Bear Grylls Compact Parang

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Hello people and sorry for my bad English. I would like to ask you about "Gerber Bear Grylls Compact Parang" . I found this knife or machete in knife shop at half price and thinking about buying it. Normally it costs 55$ but right now only 25$.

I know that its not a knife that anyone from here would buy, but i need it only for camping with friends , it just needs to be decent for all that camp stuff ,anyone experienced that knife ? Or maybe u know something about 1055 ? I never had that steel, only 1070 and 1095.

Also not sure if 3mm blade thickness will be enought, afraid of it braking while camping and does it rust as easy as 1095 ? What about geometry ? I never used knife with such geometry. Is it worth to buy at all for random camping stuff ?

Material
Material handle plastic
Type of steel 1055 carbon steel
Dimensions & weight

Weight 335 grams
Blade height 5.5 cm
Blade length 23.7 cm
Length 38.8 cm
Blade thickness 3.1 mm

gerb31-002072$01-gerber-bear-grylls-compact-parang-gerb31-002072-d1.jpg
 
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They were famous for breaking at the screw near the guard. Under heavy use, certainly, but still. This is an impact tool, after all. I'd rather buy a Parang by Condor. And... 1055 is a rather soft steel, tough, but not very good at holding an edge. If you avoid splitting logs, this Gerber can still make for a good camp kitchen knife.
 
1055 steel @ ~56 HRC is also what is used in the Cold Steel/Lasher Tools line of machetes, and once thoroughly reprofiled & resharpened it will take & hold a surprisingly good edge.
I know this because i have quite a bit of experience with using, sharpening & modifying several of these (and other) machetes, and would definitely recommend any of the CS models over any current Gerber product.
The heavily modified Heavy Duty machete in this thread for instance would still still slice copypaper after a 2-week camping holiday filled with hiking & trail clearing, this with a high convex edge, apex ~30 degrees inclusive and no resharpening/touch-up until after i got home again.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/modding-a-heavy-duty-machete.1564991/

A Condor parang is also a very good suggestion, i have the Bushcraft Parang myself:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finetuning-a-couple-of-condors.1662592/#post-19129053
 
You do not need a thick blade for toughness but for versatility. A 4 or 5 mm thick blade can be used for chopping and splitting wood, it will still make short work of unwanted brush or greenery on the campsite and yes, you can cut up meat and vegetables for the stew. This is my Duku machete (it's a Parang pattern) by Condor (not my picture). It's a satisfying "jack of all trades" kind of knife. The dimensions are quite similar (it's a bit longer overall, seems to me) to the Gerber you are considering. Steel is 1075 (in 4 mm stock) which, to me, delivers an excellent blend of toughness, hardness and ease of sharpening. It chops, it cuts, it slices (sort of). Keep it clean and dry, no rust problem.
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For a camp knife, my short answer would be: Skrama. But the Gerber has two things going for it: it’s only 25 bucks, and it’s right there in front of you. Unfortunately, that is all it has going for it. Because it is a Gerber product, I would be really concerned about breakage or bending. If you are pressed for time, and it’s your only option, it might get you by. But there are better parangs, better camp knives, and better ways to spend 25 bucks.
 
herisson said:
You do not need a thick blade for toughness but for versatility. A 4 or 5 mm thick blade can be used for chopping and splitting wood, it will still make short work of unwanted brush or greenery on the campsite and yes, you can cut up meat and vegetables for the stew. This is my Duku machete (it's a Parang pattern) by Condor (not my picture). It's a satisfying "jack of all trades" kind of knife. The dimensions are quite similar (it's a bit longer overall, seems to me) to the Gerber you are considering. Steel is 1075 (in 4 mm stock) which, to me, delivers an excellent blend of toughness, hardness and ease of sharpening. It chops, it cuts, it slices (sort of). Keep it clean and dry, no rust problem.
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By thickness i was talking about Tramontina machete, that nobody mentions him maybe because of his small thickness of 2mm ?
 
2 mm is plenty thick enough for cutting greenery, small saplings and it will be a great cutter for cooking. If that's your intended use, an Old Hickory butcher knife would also be perfect (and very affordable). The biggest has a 14" blade. That's machete territory. Can't speak for Tramontina, never used one.
 
herisson said:
You do not need a thick blade for toughness but for versatility. A 4 or 5 mm thick blade can be used for chopping and splitting wood, it will still make short work of unwanted brush or greenery on the campsite and yes, you can cut up meat and vegetables for the stew. This is my Duku machete (it's a Parang pattern) by Condor (not my picture). It's a satisfying "jack of all trades" kind of knife. The dimensions are quite similar (it's a bit longer overall, seems to me) to the Gerber you are considering. Steel is 1075 (in 4 mm stock) which, to me, delivers an excellent blend of toughness, hardness and ease of sharpening. It chops, it cuts, it slices (sort of). Keep it clean and dry, no rust problem.
qiPo5Z3.jpg
Click to expand...
I like the Duku model and the smaller version. But I have not purchased either as I have the Village Parang and the Pack Golok that I use for cutting and splitting. A saw usually works faster on the bigger stuff, but sometimes you do stuff just for fun and to use the tool.
 
That thing is really small. The usable blade on it is only like 7 inches or so.

The Cold Steel Bushman has more usable blade, really.

At $55 that piece would be a complete ripoff, and at $25 I can say there are far better choices out there for the money.

If you are okay with 1055, (and I am for this intended use), look at Cold Steel's offerings.
 
Should you buy it? It depends on what other choices you have and how much you are willing to spend.

It might help if we knew where you live. Are you limited to buying at the local shop only?

I can only speculate until I get more info but for around $25 USD, I'd prefer a Schrade SCHF36.
 
it can be max 50$ if its more value for the price, i do not want to pay more than 50 because i do not want another 5, 6 people to rape expensive machere or knive ))) Only expensive machete that i would't worry about, it's Kukri since its so thick that only tank can destroy it, but Kukri is too heavy , i need something that is arround 500g or 1.1 LB
 
Beastchopper said:
Condor eco parang, Ontario marine raider, CRKT chanceinhell, Kershaw camp 10 or 12
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Marine raider may be a little heavy for you. The Ontario sp-5 would be a lighter option than that. It's worth noting that one of my all time favorite choppers is the Ontario sp-53 which you can get for just over $40 like the rest of the blades I suggested. I took some meat off the edge and convexed mine. Check out Condor's eco parang or golok first though. 1 lb of awesome. I followed the kwakster's lead and took a rasp to my plastic Condor handle because they do come a bit round.
 
Cold Steel Latin Machete would be good option, and price difference isn't drastic.
Bushman isn't bad option either.
And also, SK-5 version of SRK if you need more of a knife than machete.
 
What part of the world are you in OP? Are we talking $25 us?

Cold Steel and Ontario Knife co both make inexpensive machetes in your price range that are solid.
 
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