Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

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Gambrinus said:
The Big Rock would have been a good basis for a survival knife.
I liked mine, just the grip was too flat for my paws.
Apart from that, it was a very good knife. No need to look further, in my mind.

Let´s see if Gerber responds, pulling this flawed "hollowed" TV design from the market (in a few years;)).
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My thoughts exactly. Well, not exactly, I am comfortable with the slim grips on the Big Rock.

I really like the firesteel/whistle/sharpener on the sheath. Good concept(except the serrations), but clearly not "heavy duty" construction as marketed. Dissappointing for sure.

Horn Dog, it looked like a small diamond hone sharpener. Tell me, would it be capable of sharpening the serrations?
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
My big head-scratcher is why half the blade of this "survival knife" is serrated. :confused:
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Bear Grylls personally likes partially serrated knives. The Gerber Gator he used in many episodes is partially serrated, other knives he used were partially serrated, and even the custom Rob Bayley was partially serrated. So naturally, the Gerber that bears his name, as well as the folders that are not yet available, are partially serrated.

I don't disagree that a serrated knife can be useful in the field. But I certainly agree that a knife that is expected to be able to be batoned with, but has serrations, is a contradiction. Each serration is a stress riser waiting for a catastrophic failure to happen. If somehow the blade cracks before the obviously cheap handle does, the serrations are probably where it will happen. Unless there's something else iffy going on with the tang underneath the handle.
 
Planterz said:
Bear Grylls personally likes partially serrated knives. The Gerber Gator he used in many episodes is partially serrated, other knives he used were partially serrated, and even the custom Rob Bayley was partially serrated. So naturally, the Gerber that bears his name, as well as the folders that are not yet available, are partially serrated.

I don't disagree that a serrated knife can be useful in the field. But I certainly agree that a knife that is expected to be able to be batoned with, but has serrations, is a contradiction. Each serration is a stress riser waiting for a catastrophic failure to happen. If somehow the blade cracks before the obviously cheap handle does, the serrations are probably where it will happen. Unless there's something else iffy going on with the tang underneath the handle.
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Exactly. I also question the inclusion of serrations because of their difficulty to field sharpen without special equipment, and the included sharpener looks to be incapable of it.
 
As I said in my review, I prefer a plain edge to a serrated one, but Bear and others like the serrated edges, so I cannot fault Gerber for that. I have batoned wood with my LMF II and the serrated edge was not a problem. As for sharpening, one could use the diamond hone to sharpen the serrations from the opposite side they are ground on. It usually take quite a bit of use to dull a serrated edge. I don't consider the serrated edge a defect in any way. It's the weak handle material and the method of attaching the pommel that are my main concerns with the BG knife. The blade cut and was not damaged. The firesteel worked. The sheath is cheaply made, but it holds the knife.
 
Bear Claw Chris Lappe said:
You missed the most important Bear Gryll's test, how did it cut open TV dinners at the hotel?
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Ya know I had a long response planned but this ^^^^ pretty much covers it.

So where is the compass? Maybe now that the handle broke you can stuff a kit in it like the old rambo knife {end/sarcasm} :eek::D
 
I certainly hope that whoever wrote the post for "Gerber Blades" (certainly not Pete Gerber, and probably not Jeff Freeman either) reads all of the posts here, and not just the review. It's apparent to me that there are still a lot of us out here who remember Gerber's glory days, and would love to see them return.
 
It is injustice to say anything about the serrations here in this context. No one experienced seems to like them, but that should be another discussion altogether.

Actually, we only have pictures of one failure in one test of one sample of the knife that seems to be related to the way this handle is built. A real full tang knife should not have suffered from this failure, that can be assumed.

The question could be why Mr. BG wanted to include a hammer surface on the rear end of the knife and how Gerber wanted to solve this problem without going to an integral construction that can have this in a satisfying way but would be extremely expensive to manufacture. I am not a rocket engineer, but there seems to be a basic contradiction here unless you screw or pin heavy plates to threaded end tangs. That happened with the KaBar, generally.

Take a look at the german Eickhorn GEK 2000 if you want a "ready for eternity" knife, but you should accept a handle that is a bit "uncomfy". That blade could be the way to go if you wish to spend some time on the proverbial "lost" island.
 
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If this were a strong, high quality knife and sheath, I could go for it, even with the necessarily higher price tag. As it is now, forget it. I don't like the serration but would see them as a plus if they were on the point end of the blade. And I like the concept of multiple features.
Too bad it's such a POS.
 
Serrations . . . ugh. I think both 42Blades and Horndog have hit the nail on the head there. They're great while they stay sharp. And they maintain a useful amount of sharpness far longer than a plain edge. But once they go dull, you're pretty much SOL.
 
Serrations are easy to sharpen. A good quality sheath could contain a diamond rod. That being said, a plain edge blade is fine.
 
"Easy." Well, that's a relative thing. I think S30V and D2 are "easy" to sharpen too, but not everybody would agree with me. You've got to realize that you're kinda dealing with the lowest common denominator with an "entry-level" knife like this.
 
Gambrinus said:
I

The question could be why Mr. BG wanted to include a hammer surface on the rear end of the knife and how Gerber wanted to solve this problem without going to an integral construction that can have this in a satisfying way but would be extremely expensive to manufacture.
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In these days of CMC machines, I don't think it would be that hard to set up a pattern that would cut a blade with an integral pommel.

The tricky part would be heat-treating so that it would not become brittle and fail under the stress of hammering.
 
As I already said, I would like to see a knife of this concept made of strong, high quality materials with a necessarily higher price tag. It would then no longer be an entry level knife,
 
Sure, great. I'm all for that. It's why I own a slew of Randalls. Most people won't pay $400-$600 for a "pull out all the stops" knife, though. Where do you draw the line? That's the real trick.
 
Vorpal Blade said:
Serrations are easy to sharpen. A good quality sheath could contain a diamond rod. That being said, a plain edge blade is fine.
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They are for us knife knuts, sure, but even then you need a rod-styled sharpener, or at least a traditional rectangular stone (use the the edge of the stone for serrations, recurves etc.) but the average individual is going to have a hell of a time with it, especially with the provided sharpener. :o
 
Damn shame, the whole kit looks very appealing at first glance (which is why it will probably be a big christmas hit).

I think one of the best deals Gerber has for a fixed blade is the Big Rock. I have and use mine when I get the chance and it has carved a holiday turkey or two before as well (sharpest thing in the kitchen :)).

If I find one on sale at the local Academy I might grab one just to keep all the little gizmos and stick a different blade in the sheath :D
 
I'm not a fan of BG, serrations, or the majority of Gerber's modern, Chinese made fare (although I love the original Brush Thinner and their Axes...all Finnish made). I do admit, however, that I hope the BG Parang Machete turns out to be a winner. I love its blade shape and overall design. We'll see, I guess.;)
 
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Yeah, I'll pass on the knife. But, I'm probably going to try out the Parang Machete when it drops.
 
I like your review but the result was kind of disappointing. The pommel-construction seems to be very weak.
Horn Dog said:
Bearknife011.jpg
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What knife is above the Gerber LMF? :)
 
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