Gerber Chameleon

F

FullerH

Joined
Nov 25, 1998
Messages
12,632
I bought the Gerber Chameleon I, II, & III in plain edge from Mike's fire sale. The design had intrigued me and the lock appeared to be the old Blackie Collins Bolt Action system. When they arrived, I gave them each the spine whack test and all three failed! I took the II to work and messed around with it some during the day, flicking it, etc., and toward evening, tried the test again. It passed. I could not get teh blade to unlock! Do you suppose that the lock had to be seated? I don't know, but this weekend, I am going to work on the other two. I'll keep you posted.

BTW, the lock system does appear to be the bolt action, but, damned if I ever heard of a bolt action ever doing that.

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh Fuller
 
My old bolt action COULDN'T do that.
And, following a post on rec.knives by me (about failures on the part of BOTH my AF folders), a Gerber representative emailed me to say that the "whack test" had been adopted as a part of their quality control testing and all future knives would be built to withstand it.
So much for that !
rolleyes.gif


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BrianWE

I had no shoes and wept...until I met a man who had no feet. Cheapest pair of shoes I ever bought.
 
The latest is that all three Chameleons fail the whack test at rather light whacks. I don't know about you all, but this is most disconcerting for me, as I had always had high respect for the bolt-action lock. I remember Jim March saying that he had once cut one apart and was impressed with how solid it was. Well, I wonder what has happened in the interim to make such a difference. The Chameleon is a great design, but the construction is lousy!

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh Fuller
 
I used to be a great fan of Gerber, but lately looks like their quality has drifted. I'll wait until they get a firmer hold on quality control before I return to their lineup.
 
The bolt action on my gerber pliars is very solid. I wonder what the difference is. Maybe the springs aren't as big in the folders and the locks don't seat right until they are broken in.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
Hummm.... I will check these here and see if they fail as well. If I can I will tweak them before shipping. I have at least one of each left for the sale.

Also since the sale I have been contacted by dealers who want to dump inventory and have tried with no success. So I may buy more inventory from them to help move it along. I will let you know.

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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
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Mike, please understand. I am in no way flaming you! The bone that I am picking is with Gerber. I was once a very big fan of their's, but this has been a real eye-openner.

BTW, I have just emailed Gerber customer service on this. I won't be able to check my emails until Tuesday, but I will be interested to see whether and what they say.

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh Fuller

[This message has been edited by FullerH (edited 01-14-2000).]
 
When was Gerber bought by Fiskars? Was that when their quality started to go downhill? I have a SilverKnight and love for carrying while dressed up for church. I also have a Gator and like the clip point blade but the flexible handle worries me. The new designs just don't seem as well built as the old ones.

I looked at the Chameleon II at K-Mart (shhh. don't tell the pro-gunners
wink.gif
) while shopping and wasn't impressed. Twirling the knife around on one finger was kinda neat though.

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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb
 
Gerber has not answered me, as yet.

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh Fuller
 
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