Just got this because I kind of like its looks......
No... the pictures are not distorted - that's why this time I also included a ruler at right angles as well as the grid paper background.
I like the very broad blade - Gerber does not seem to spec the steel - Gerber's page on the Fatty - I have read elsewhere it's 440A.
It is also thicker than most would expect -
It is a pretty chubby knife - actually much more substantial -
The handle material has a kind of hard rubbery feel - Gerber calls the material "SoftGrip" - and it does feels nice in the hand.
The knife feels much bigger in the hand and clipped to the pocket than the pictures might suggest.
The grippy/tacky aspect does present a slight problem for me -
the clip becomes harder to use -
I have tried adjusting the tension of the clip - but it's the handle material that tends to grip to the pocket making it harder to insert easily. I have to hold the edge of my pocket so that I can clip the knife without danger of ripping my pocket.
Withdrawal requires a bit of conscious effort too.
The obvious point of interest for me was the very broad "fat" blade
this makes the knife pretty substantial and tough.
Mine came with a very slight chip in the blade at the red arrow - it hardly shows in the photo which is already 1.56x life-size.
I have read elsewhere some people felt the blade was not very sharp out of the box - I can assure that my sample of one was really sharp - slicing paper really well.
I have since touched it up using fine-grain crock-sticks to minimize the chip (it's still barely there) and am impressed with the cutting ability.......
I think it's probably due to the flat ground, wide (fat) blade -
seems to cut through corrugated cardboard real well.
The action on mine is good - the lock up is about as good as I'd expect from a lockback - there is no side-to-side play - there is only just a perceptible movement up-down in-line with the opening/closing of the blade - which is pretty good for a lockback.
There is no mid-dent on the tang which Gerber used to be famous for - and because Gerber have maximized the cutting edge of the short 2.28" blade for the Fatty - there is no separate heel/tang on the blade - I needed more care closing one-handed. I normally hold the knife so the blade can fall under gravity when unlatched - however this means the edge will swing toward my middle finger that's across the opening - whereas other lockbacks the heel will contact my finger.....
So now I hold the knife blade face horizontal (ie: so the blade cannot fall under gravity) and use my index finger to nudge the blade when it's unlatched - then change hand position (getting fingers out of the way) to fully close the knife.....
I didn't pay that much for the knife - including shipping it was $13.98 ..... from here - I have also seen it elsewhere on eBay for as low as $12.99 shipped.
--
Vincent
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2006
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2005
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2004
http://clik.to/UnknownVincent
No... the pictures are not distorted - that's why this time I also included a ruler at right angles as well as the grid paper background.
I like the very broad blade - Gerber does not seem to spec the steel - Gerber's page on the Fatty - I have read elsewhere it's 440A.
It is also thicker than most would expect -
It is a pretty chubby knife - actually much more substantial -
The handle material has a kind of hard rubbery feel - Gerber calls the material "SoftGrip" - and it does feels nice in the hand.
The knife feels much bigger in the hand and clipped to the pocket than the pictures might suggest.
The grippy/tacky aspect does present a slight problem for me -
the clip becomes harder to use -
I have tried adjusting the tension of the clip - but it's the handle material that tends to grip to the pocket making it harder to insert easily. I have to hold the edge of my pocket so that I can clip the knife without danger of ripping my pocket.
Withdrawal requires a bit of conscious effort too.
The obvious point of interest for me was the very broad "fat" blade
this makes the knife pretty substantial and tough.
Mine came with a very slight chip in the blade at the red arrow - it hardly shows in the photo which is already 1.56x life-size.
I have read elsewhere some people felt the blade was not very sharp out of the box - I can assure that my sample of one was really sharp - slicing paper really well.
I have since touched it up using fine-grain crock-sticks to minimize the chip (it's still barely there) and am impressed with the cutting ability.......
I think it's probably due to the flat ground, wide (fat) blade -
seems to cut through corrugated cardboard real well.
The action on mine is good - the lock up is about as good as I'd expect from a lockback - there is no side-to-side play - there is only just a perceptible movement up-down in-line with the opening/closing of the blade - which is pretty good for a lockback.
There is no mid-dent on the tang which Gerber used to be famous for - and because Gerber have maximized the cutting edge of the short 2.28" blade for the Fatty - there is no separate heel/tang on the blade - I needed more care closing one-handed. I normally hold the knife so the blade can fall under gravity when unlatched - however this means the edge will swing toward my middle finger that's across the opening - whereas other lockbacks the heel will contact my finger.....
So now I hold the knife blade face horizontal (ie: so the blade cannot fall under gravity) and use my index finger to nudge the blade when it's unlatched - then change hand position (getting fingers out of the way) to fully close the knife.....
I didn't pay that much for the knife - including shipping it was $13.98 ..... from here - I have also seen it elsewhere on eBay for as low as $12.99 shipped.
--
Vincent
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2006
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2005
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2004
http://clik.to/UnknownVincent
) 
