Gerber Gators?

Rsmith_77

Rsmith_77

Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
4,186
So, does anyone like the gerber gators? About 10 years ago i was a military cop and i picked up a partially serrated gerber gator folder. I didnt really need it for much in the way of heavy duty use, but it did everything i needed a knife for (cutting 550 cord, opening boxes, killing camel spiders that came too close).

Now 10 years later and i am considering a plain bladed version and i never see anyone talk about the gators and the talk about gerber is well...not very complimentary.

so does anyone have any experience with them in hard use (cutting/chopping, skinning etc) and are your experiences good or bad
 
For a cheap production knife they take quite a beating.. I actually found one last deployment and had one of my engineer buddies grind the blade out and, i used it the rest of the deployment untill i broke the blade by prying a nail out of the wall..(not what it was intended for)
 
Good knife.

Gerber was taken over by Fiskars a while ago. Fiskars is a good company in its own right, but it doesn't seem to have taken Gerber knives as seriously as it might. (They went for the cheap end of the market.) Still, the older models like the Gator seem to have kept up a reasonable level of quality.
 
I had a small plain edge gator in the 1980s. Like all my Gerber knives, the edge gets dull very easily. Now I stick with Spyderco, Benchmade, SOG and Cold Steel. I also had a Gerber multitool that broke after about 5 years of very light use.
 
It's a fine knife indeed, one of only a couple Gerbers that will not fall apart within a month of daily use.
 
Bladeviewer said:
I had a small plain edge gator in the 1980s. Like all my Gerber knives, the edge gets dull very easily. Now I stick with Spyderco, Benchmade, SOG and Cold Steel. I also had a Gerber multitool that broke after about 5 years of very light use.
Click to expand...

heh i have a gerber compact sport multi-tool i had bought about the same time and its still going strong (these were bought in 2000 or 2001).

I cant really complain with the quality of either of these tools, but i had heard some rumors that gerber stopped making them out of portland, but i am not sure if that was true or rumor. If its true that i worry about quality control

so basically asking around seeing if folks have more up to date experience and what the experience is.
 
I have several because they are inexpensive but decent knives to keep in my hunting packs. I can tell you that my first gator is over 10 years old and is much better made than the new ones I have. Still a decent knife, but I can tell the difference blind folded between the original one and the newer ones. Older one, more solid feel, tighter lockup, no blade play, a bit heavier/sturdier feeling.
 
Very good and robust knife. Ive worked mine real hard, and its still in great condition with excellent lockup. I have no ide what the steel is but it takes a great edge and holds it too.

3393927387_4a108ffa3f.jpg
 
I had a dim view of them from the past. People spoke highly of them 10 or more years ago so I bought one. I learned quickly they had issues. I thought maybe I had a bad example so I purchased a different model. Same results, the blade heat treat was so bad they would not hold an edge. Granted I was comparing them to Buck's heat treat, but still.

Every so often I give companies a second (or third) chance. Last month I purchased two Gerbers to play with and test. One of the knives was I bought was an EVO and I'll have to say I'm impressed so far. I've done 100 times more with this knife so far then I was able to do with the old Gerbers. The blade is still razer sharp and still cuts hair. There is no way the old Gerber blade would have held up to what this one has. Not bad for a $25 knife, if you ask me.

As a side note, I purchase a CRKT M16 to put this knife up against. I do like the second blade lock on the M16, but...The Gerber EVO is a much better knife. It has better steel and no plastic spacers. The gerber locks tight, uses AUS8, and metal spacers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top