- Joined
- Apr 24, 2009
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- 798
Hey all, I wanted to post a quick review of a knife I picked up basically on impulse/because of a cool commercial. It’s the Gerber Instant, which I picked up for $40 at a local sporting goods chain. Now, it’s no secret that Gerber has fallen quite far in the eyes of many knife enthusiasts. What was a once-great brand has basically been driven to the brink of ruin by Fiskars. My question when purchasing this knife was, is Gerber trying to turn their game around? They’re pushing new technology and a pretty impressive YouTube Commercial, maybe this is their comeback kid? After carrying and using this knife regularly for a week, here’s my take on it.
Handle
Let’s start at the handle. First off, it has a nice deep-carry clip, good tension, and it doesn’t dig into your hand when you hold the knife. BUT…its tip-down right hand carry only. Not good, Gerber. I know it doesn’t bother some people, but I, like many on this forum, prefer tip-up carry.
The G10 texture is nice, slightly grippy, but not at all abrasive. The milled-out area is, surprisingly, not just for decoration. It actually makes it easy to hang on to the knife, with deep cutouts that provide grip but don’t ride up against and shred your pockets. Good job here, nice balance between grip and carry-ability.
The ergos of this knife are great. It’s easily large enough for me to get a full grip on it, and I have medium-large hands. It has a fairly neutral handle profile, which allows you to use a variety of grips very comfortably, yet its shape keeps it firmly locked in your hand, forward and back. It’s decently thick, to provide some comfort when cutting, but not so thick that it makes carry difficult. This is a really good balance of all things required of a handle.
It’s built using stainless liners under the G10, which are skeletonized a bit to lighten it up. It feels nice and solid in your hand, but it’s definitely not as lightweight as it could be. I’m not counting this as a negative, exactly, since it’s not a pocket brick by any extent of the imagination, it’s just something that could be improved a bit.
Blade
OK, let’s get the negative out of the way. The Instant is combo-edged only. I know, I know, I prefer all PE too. That said, these serrations are actually pretty good. They’re pretty shallow, enough so that I tried to use the knife for detail work, to prove to myself how bad they are, and they actually didn’t hinder my work in any way at all. These are very similar to the serrations on the BG Ultimate knife, which many have said work decently well for bushcraft tasks. I do like that the serrations give me small section of the blade to use if I need to cut something really damaging to a blade, like lots of cardboard or a really dirty section of rope. They also don’t take up a full half of the blade, maybe 30%, or about an inch long, leaving me with a little over two inches of plain edge, or about the size of a Spyderco Dragonfly’s blade. Overall, not as bad as it could be, though it really should be offered in a plain-edge variant.
The blade profile is really nice, it’s a basic modified drop point with plenty of belly and a good sharp tip for detail work. The tip isn’t prybar-like, but it’s not overly fragile, either. It’s a very “Goldilocks” shape, that’s not too thick, not too thin, not too pointy, and not too broad. Good job here.
The blade is only available coated in what looks to be a TiNi coating. It’s even and reasonably durable. I’d prefer an uncoated blade, but that’s just me. It has a nice and even hollow grind, and holy hell, it is shaving sharp out of the box. It’s a Gerber. That is legitimately shaving sharp. I actually shaved with it (a patch on my arm). Good job here.
Ok, here comes another point of contention. The blade steel is 7Cr17Mo, or basically Chinese 440A. Before you stop reading in disgust, take a look at how similar that composition is to 8Cr13MoV. It’s pretty close, and after having used it alongside my Kershaw RJ1 and Byrd Meadowlark, it performs pretty much the same to me. I’m sure if you took the time to do a controlled experiment, the Kershaw/Byrd stuff would come out on top, but let’s face it—if you are an enthusiast looking for edge retention, you’re probably not looking at any of these knives. For the average consumer, or for someone whose day-to-day needs do not require fantastic edge retention, this steel performs well. If you really are going to get into abrasive stuff, you have the serrations available. I’m rating this steel as acceptable/appropriate for its intended use, and counting it as a good sign that Gerber has moved away from the “surgical stainless steel” mystery crap.
Deployment and Lock
The Instant uses Gerber’s FAST 2.0 mechanism, which is basically a leaf spring that kicks the blade tang out from between the handles. Benchmade and CRKT use a similar system. It works well, for this type of assist system, but honestly, Kershaw SpeedSafe is the beginning and end of the discussion for me when it comes to AO knives. That’s the benchmark, YMMV. This one is good, as good as it is from Benchmade or CRKT, but it is what it is. One hit I will give it is that it can’t be deactivated, since the spring acts as the detent to keep the blade closed. That’s a big hit for me; I would love a manual version.
The Instant uses a button lock, which was subject to a recall earlier this year. I know what you’re thinking, that Gerber, with its notoriously bad fit and finish, should never do a button lock. Actually, I’ve gotta say, they pulled it off. The button fits precisely, and locks up well and very securely, with no play at all, up and down or side to side. Well done here. I’m not sure how it is rated in terms of strength; I know the lock on the Hogue EX01 is very strong, and I also know that this knife is no Houge
I’m sure its comparable with any well-done liner lock or lockback, and it has remained secure and easy to use during my testing time.
Here’s a neat bonus: Gerber’s Venture knife is heavily marketed as a premium knife due to its titanium handles and ball bearing pivot system. Guess what else has a ball bearing pivot, at half the cost, with G10 handles instead of slick Ti and a drop point blade instead of a tantoYep, they’re in there, and they work well; the blade flies out, almost frictionless, its dead-centered in the handle, and when you unlock the blade with the button, the knife drops with the force of gravity alone. Very cool, I’m not sure why it’s not mentioned anywhere, maybe to preserve sales of the venture?
Handle
Let’s start at the handle. First off, it has a nice deep-carry clip, good tension, and it doesn’t dig into your hand when you hold the knife. BUT…its tip-down right hand carry only. Not good, Gerber. I know it doesn’t bother some people, but I, like many on this forum, prefer tip-up carry.
The G10 texture is nice, slightly grippy, but not at all abrasive. The milled-out area is, surprisingly, not just for decoration. It actually makes it easy to hang on to the knife, with deep cutouts that provide grip but don’t ride up against and shred your pockets. Good job here, nice balance between grip and carry-ability.
The ergos of this knife are great. It’s easily large enough for me to get a full grip on it, and I have medium-large hands. It has a fairly neutral handle profile, which allows you to use a variety of grips very comfortably, yet its shape keeps it firmly locked in your hand, forward and back. It’s decently thick, to provide some comfort when cutting, but not so thick that it makes carry difficult. This is a really good balance of all things required of a handle.
It’s built using stainless liners under the G10, which are skeletonized a bit to lighten it up. It feels nice and solid in your hand, but it’s definitely not as lightweight as it could be. I’m not counting this as a negative, exactly, since it’s not a pocket brick by any extent of the imagination, it’s just something that could be improved a bit.
Blade
OK, let’s get the negative out of the way. The Instant is combo-edged only. I know, I know, I prefer all PE too. That said, these serrations are actually pretty good. They’re pretty shallow, enough so that I tried to use the knife for detail work, to prove to myself how bad they are, and they actually didn’t hinder my work in any way at all. These are very similar to the serrations on the BG Ultimate knife, which many have said work decently well for bushcraft tasks. I do like that the serrations give me small section of the blade to use if I need to cut something really damaging to a blade, like lots of cardboard or a really dirty section of rope. They also don’t take up a full half of the blade, maybe 30%, or about an inch long, leaving me with a little over two inches of plain edge, or about the size of a Spyderco Dragonfly’s blade. Overall, not as bad as it could be, though it really should be offered in a plain-edge variant.
The blade profile is really nice, it’s a basic modified drop point with plenty of belly and a good sharp tip for detail work. The tip isn’t prybar-like, but it’s not overly fragile, either. It’s a very “Goldilocks” shape, that’s not too thick, not too thin, not too pointy, and not too broad. Good job here.
The blade is only available coated in what looks to be a TiNi coating. It’s even and reasonably durable. I’d prefer an uncoated blade, but that’s just me. It has a nice and even hollow grind, and holy hell, it is shaving sharp out of the box. It’s a Gerber. That is legitimately shaving sharp. I actually shaved with it (a patch on my arm). Good job here.
Ok, here comes another point of contention. The blade steel is 7Cr17Mo, or basically Chinese 440A. Before you stop reading in disgust, take a look at how similar that composition is to 8Cr13MoV. It’s pretty close, and after having used it alongside my Kershaw RJ1 and Byrd Meadowlark, it performs pretty much the same to me. I’m sure if you took the time to do a controlled experiment, the Kershaw/Byrd stuff would come out on top, but let’s face it—if you are an enthusiast looking for edge retention, you’re probably not looking at any of these knives. For the average consumer, or for someone whose day-to-day needs do not require fantastic edge retention, this steel performs well. If you really are going to get into abrasive stuff, you have the serrations available. I’m rating this steel as acceptable/appropriate for its intended use, and counting it as a good sign that Gerber has moved away from the “surgical stainless steel” mystery crap.
Deployment and Lock
The Instant uses Gerber’s FAST 2.0 mechanism, which is basically a leaf spring that kicks the blade tang out from between the handles. Benchmade and CRKT use a similar system. It works well, for this type of assist system, but honestly, Kershaw SpeedSafe is the beginning and end of the discussion for me when it comes to AO knives. That’s the benchmark, YMMV. This one is good, as good as it is from Benchmade or CRKT, but it is what it is. One hit I will give it is that it can’t be deactivated, since the spring acts as the detent to keep the blade closed. That’s a big hit for me; I would love a manual version.
The Instant uses a button lock, which was subject to a recall earlier this year. I know what you’re thinking, that Gerber, with its notoriously bad fit and finish, should never do a button lock. Actually, I’ve gotta say, they pulled it off. The button fits precisely, and locks up well and very securely, with no play at all, up and down or side to side. Well done here. I’m not sure how it is rated in terms of strength; I know the lock on the Hogue EX01 is very strong, and I also know that this knife is no Houge
I’m sure its comparable with any well-done liner lock or lockback, and it has remained secure and easy to use during my testing time. Here’s a neat bonus: Gerber’s Venture knife is heavily marketed as a premium knife due to its titanium handles and ball bearing pivot system. Guess what else has a ball bearing pivot, at half the cost, with G10 handles instead of slick Ti and a drop point blade instead of a tanto
Yep, they’re in there, and they work well; the blade flies out, almost frictionless, its dead-centered in the handle, and when you unlock the blade with the button, the knife drops with the force of gravity alone. Very cool, I’m not sure why it’s not mentioned anywhere, maybe to preserve sales of the venture?
