Gerber Bowie

wyrm · Mar 18, 2001

I know this is a brand specific question but there is not a Gerber Forum here. Is that a bad sign?
Anyway, a local store has a NIB Gerber Bowie on clearance for $150.00 CDN, which is about $100.00 USD. I really like the feel of it, but have heard some rumours of the handle material not being very durable. This is also a discontinued model, another bad sign?
Does anyone have one of these? I would like everyone's opinion on the reliability and performance of this knife.

Thanks, Dale.

MarkCid84 · Mar 18, 2001

Wore one rapelling, rope burned all the way through the handle... too soft rubber. Still a great chopper though.

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Mark, Isiah 40:31 They that wait on the LORD shall mount up with wings as eagles...

The General · Mar 19, 2001

The blade steel is 425 modified. Now while not a terrible steel...

Lets just say a basic 7 from Busse or a D2 Ka Bar can be had for very little more, well the Busse is a little more but I have seen the Ka Bar for around $120 ish.

Both are in a whole new area of performance over the Gerber Bowie. Gerber made a fatal flaw IMHO. Big knife middle price and poor steel. Bad combo. We caught on and sales did not.

W.A.

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mikekc130 · Mar 19, 2001

Run away, fast.

About 12-14 years ago I worked out a good deal on some for my whole platoon. From our reading we thought it would be a great improvement on the Kabars.

I replaced my Ruana with one as did the rest of my platoon. They didn't last through the first field exercize (7-10 days). The blades chipped while stripping comm wire let alone trying to cut the other folks. They chipped cutting camo and clearing fields of fire. I don't remember anyone having the confidence to try and dig with them. The handles seemed to self-destruct far worse than I've seen with the Cold Steel rubber.

Called up the Gerber POC and explained what happened. Obviously my Marines and I abused the knives past any reasonable point! I reminded him his promises that they would far out perform other knives. Bottom line is we got stuck with a POS!

A. G. Russell · Mar 20, 2001

Too bad you did not buy them from us. We would have taken them back and Gerber would have replaced them for us. I don't know who you talked to at Gerber, it was obviously the wrong person. The people in charge then were first class and I simply cannot understand how that could have happened. I am sorry that it did. http://agrussell.com A. G.

wyrm · Mar 20, 2001

I think I'll pass on buying this knife and keep my cash for the CKG show in 2 weeks.

Thanks for your input guys.

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Dale C. Tipert aka 'wyrm'
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Danbo · Mar 20, 2001

A wise move, Grasshopper. For $100, and some careful shopping, you can find a rubber handled Cold Steel Trailmaster on the aftermarket. It might be very, very slightly used, but hey, that's what you are going to do with it anyway!

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo

mikekc130 · Mar 22, 2001

Mr. Russell,

I don't remember who I talked to anymore and I can't locate any of the paperwork.

Most of the Marines ended up selling them off for a price close to the purchase price, the sea stories they gave with the sales pitches were entertaining

.

I wnt back to either one of my Ruanas, a Project I (#132) or a cold steel recon scout (for a "disposable") knife.

The Ruanas are my favorites and most "usable".

The Project I factory sheath is not field worthy (too loose and the knife comes out under moderate usage) and the maker wasn't the most receptive to criticism. The same people who believe their is no reason for autos. Thanks to the unnamed moderator (I'll gladly give you credit here but hadn't thought to ask prior to typing this) for helping to get the Benchmades. I have other opinions far different from those on that forum so have remained silent. The Project chops well, holds a good edge, easy to keep the edge decent, the indexing is usable with either aviator or heavy leather shells, the "clip" chops comm wire w/o damage, and the checkering doesn't abrade the hand with moderate use. Heavy chopping using the lanyard will relatively quickly eat through a pair of leather shells and it would be nice if the cap indexed so the lanyard hole was perpendicular to the cutting plane for both safety and efficiency. Overall a good knife.

The Cold Steel Recon Scout and Trailmaster are good working blades. The SRKs, early - mid 90s, had too thick of an edge. The sheaths (synthetic)have a tendency to get abrasion damage easily though 100 mph tape works and Cold Steel was always good on warranty work. The rubber handles aren't as durable as the rest of the knives, especially when using chemicals (DEET, POL, etc.).