Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

[Artfully Martial]

on my EDCs, I loathe serrations, except for on Sebenzas.

But on a survival knife, I'd like a couple inches at the base serrated.

 

[Horn Dog]

I like your review but the result was kind of disappointing. The pommel-construction seems to be very weak.

What knife is above the Gerber LMF?

Scrap Yard Scrapper 5 LE.

 

[coloradowildman]

Guess that's difference between garbage outsourced Chinese stuff vs made in the US quality. The Prodigy and the LMF are both made here, so they must have sent these overseas, too bad......

 

[clintzero]

Good review, Horn Dog. In a sort of ironic way, I think it would be great to take your refund and pick up one of the Chinese knock-off Bayley knives from eBay and do a review of it. I almost guarantee it outperforms the Gerber. If nothing else, it at least has a real full tang.

 

[Horn Dog]

Good review, Horn Dog. In a sort of ironic way, I think it would be great to take your refund and pick up one of the Chinese knock-off Bayley knives from eBay and do a review of it. I almost guarantee it outperforms the Gerber. If nothing else, it at least has a real full tang.

I really hate this for Gerber because it is so unnecessary. But the BG Ultimate knife is what it is. They could have just put Bear's name on a Prodigy, added a firesteel and sharpener, and it would have sold just as well. They could have even pinned a pommel to the tang end if Bear insisted on a "Hammer pommel".

 

[Artfully Martial]

I really hate this for Gerber because it is so unnecessary. But the BG Ultimate knife is what it is. They could have just put Bear's name on a Prodigy, added a firesteel and sharpener, and it would have sold just as well. They could have even pinned a pommel to the tang end if Bear insisted on a "Hammer pommel".

The only reasoning I could think of is that the modify Prodigy wouldn't have hit their desire price point/profit ratio.

It's too bad they didn't market this towards young people looking for an entry level knife, unlikely to be lost in the wilderness for a few days. They generally won't depend on it, and they're probably happier to get a bit of the BG man into their lives, regardless of quality.

Me, I take a Khukuri. So I'm good.

But there are plenty of hikers and campers who know next to nothing about knives, watch BG and might think that this is something they could really depend on in a bad situation...and that's outright dangerous.

 

[knarfeng]

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.

These blades, being 420HC or similar, are doubtless fine blanked out. No CNC required.


Horndog, thanks for the comparison. I know you specialize in survival knives. I see this Gerber can now be had for ~$45. A KaBar can also be had for that amount. How do you think they compare?

 

[Horn Dog]

These blades, being 420HC or similar, are doubtless fine blanked out. No CNC required.


Horndog, thanks for the comparison. I know you specialize in survival knives. I see this Gerber can now be had for ~$45. A KaBar can also be had for that amount. How do you think they compare?

I think the Becker BK-2 from Ka-Bar would be a great choice in a survival knife in the size range of the BG. The military style leather handle ones are not quite as tough, but many folks use them as survival knives.

 

[meako]

MY son Peter loves the Bear-the best part are his hilarious impersonations.
seen here on a recent bush walk with the LMF (dodgy handle tho- I fixed it with supaglue)

Great review.

Cheers.

 

[Burson]

bear should of went to buck instead gerber.

 

[Silverdagger]

I know it may be a risk, but I know I would like to see what happens if you allow Gerber the opportunity to replace or offer a refund. I say this because it is unlikely that a return to Amazon will get much attention back at Gerber. Amazon would probably destroy the knife and just get some sort of chargeback. I am sure a certain percent of the order is expected to do that. Going through customer service may put more pressure on Gerber to actually look at the knife and what is going on. Perhaps this is a running change that could be made.

I am disappointed. I was considering getting this knife for my son for Christmas. The price was a huge factor for me. It is also flashy enough to impress a teenager, and, well, that matters to them. He isn't an outdoor type and I hoped the hype of the knife would encourage him to give the great outdoors a shot.

Bummed. Truly bummed.

Buy him a Buck Vanguard and get over it.

 

[orchunter93]

Yeah not too surprising...gerber tends to make stuff over in china, fixed blades especially tend to be crap. In that early pic tho, you have an esee5 which is a much better choice. you wont have any problems with breaking or impossible sharpening because it doesnt have any serrations!

 

[Kablam]

Interesting comment found here.

Gerber seems to have pulled the emergency brake on that knife.

I'm not sure what "promotional effort" is supposed to mean but i think it must be something like "we have to put it out for xmas sales, no matter what".

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Good to hear that they'll be fixing the design flaw. If they make it more durable it should be one heck of a package. As it is for now, though, it's seriously lackluster.

 

[Planterz]

Seems to me that Gerber has realized the knife isn't up to snuff, and has decided to beef it up. The question is if this was planned all along, or the revisions are in response to reviews such as this. I seriously doubt that it was planned all along. More likely the knife was rushed to be available for the holiday season, and either they already knew the knife wouldn't be up to snuff, or realized it later on, and were banking on the majority of people finding the knife to be satisfactory (since they're probably not going to be doing hardcore bushcraft tasks like batoning), and wouldn't be returning it for a replacement. It seems very unlikely that this "first release" or "beta" or whatever they want to call it would be done so that testers/reviewers could use the knife and maybe find faults with it so they could address those concerns and produce a better, "production" model. There's nothing Horn Dog or anyone else could have done to the knife that Gerber themselves and have found the same problems. All this "beta" stuff smacks of either incompetence or moneygrabbing, or both.

 

[Horn Dog]

Interesting comment found here.

Gerber seems to have pulled the emergency brake on that knife.

I'm not sure what "promotional effort" is supposed to mean but i think it must be something like "we have to put it out for xmas sales, no matter what".

I am very happy to hear that Gerber is correcting the weakness of this knife. When the improved model is available, I'll test it here. Outdoorsmen have depended on Gerbers for years, and I have not given up on them. My very first "expensive" knife was a Gerber Mk II I carried in the Army. Good on Gerber for doing the right thing. They will likely be getting quite a few of the initial BG knives returned, and I have no doubt that they will make it right.

 

[SubaruSTi]

I am very happy to hear that Gerber is correcting the weakness of this knife. When the improved model is available, I'll test it here. Outdoorsmen have depended on Gerbers for years, and I have not given up on them. My very first "expensive" knife was a Gerber Mk II I carried in the Army. Good on Gerber for doing the right thing. They will likely be getting quite a few of the initial BG knives returned, and I have no doubt that they will make it right.

Sounds like you broke a collectors item!

 

[JMAN86]

To the bush!

It's been 3 days since I read this and I'm still laughing.


To the bush!!!!!

 

[johniac7078]

now that is FUNNY!!!!

 

[muddog15]

Thanks for the review, I LMAO @ the picture of the broke handle.