Gerber Gator - good/bad/neutral?

Warthog

Warthog

Joined
Oct 6, 2000
Messages
567
Checked this knife out at Wal-mart today ($30):
http://store.knifecenter.com/pgi-ProductSpec?GB6079

I liked the feel of the handle, etc. and the price, but I have some concerns:
- Think the handle will wear out over time (like, many years of use)? It is *just* rubber, after all?
- What is the blade steel? I wouldn't think it could be anything real special for just $30.

Also, why do many not like the partially serrated blades? I've never owned one, but don't want to get myself into a mess by buying one:)
Thanks,
Warthog
 
I have a gerber gator. I got it for use to gut deer because the grips are really really antislip. for that use i like it a lot simply because even though my hands are bloody and such i'm still pretty confident that the knife ist going to slip. I 'm new to the knife world but it seems to me that mine is pretty soild it opens easily and does the job i want it to. hope i helped some
 
had a few over the years good knife for the money.and the handles will last you forever.i have been in plastics all my life and i know how it will wear.it will last longer than you.
 
I used to own a Gerber Gator partially
serrated/partially straight edge. My eventual
opinion was similar to many other people, but of
course, opinions are only opinions...

Having said that, the serrated part of the
blade always seemed to get stuck when I
was sawing with it (and it wasn't long enough
to do the job), and the straight edge was
also not long enough to do the job I had
in mind. The worst of both worlds. Ideally,
perhaps one carries a full size blade of each
type, so that either type of blade is available,
depending on the task at hand.

I didn't have any problems with the fact that
it was a Gerber...just with the blade configuration.
I kind of liked the grippy rubbery handle. It didn't
seem like it would ever slip. So I'd say that
I would certainly consider Gerber, but I wouldn't
consider a combo edged knife...
 
I think that the blade steel for most Gerber blades with unspecified steel was 440A, but I could be wrong. The website doesn't say.

The Gator that I've handled looked alright. I think you can do better with $30 though.
 
Get the ATS-34 model. Full height flat ground and a thin edge that gets incredibly sharp. The Gator series have the best ergonomic grip of any folding knife I've ever handled. If they could get a clip on one, it'd find it's way into my daily rotation.
Really, for a belt pouch folder, the drop point ATS-34 model is the best of the Gerber Gator bunch IMO.
 
I had a ATS34 Gator till I lost it. Great knife for skinning. No slip grip. Only thing was that one day it folded up on me. Luckily fingers were out of the way. No real concern during skinning chores though, I had the knife in pry bar mode at the time . ;p
 
The ATS-34 Gator is a good knife for the money.

If you know how to sharpen, you can get the efficiency of the serrated part of the blade without loosing the utility of the long straight edge for normal cutting chores.

Once I learned to sharpen a knife properly, I never bought another combo edge blade - to much wasted edge.
 
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