Recommendation? Gerber knife which one?

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Agreed, ever since Fiskars bought Gerber, their quality has been sketchy at best.

Also, if you are in a country where access is limited, both those Gerber models fetch a new price between $50 (prodigy) to $65/$70 (strongarm) to $75/$80 (lmf II) here in the US, as an attemp to reintroduce US made knives to the brandname to save it after plummeting sales due to quality issues and marketing gimmicks. So if you are finding them new any cheaper then that price range, imported to a country with limited access, then you also have to question their authenticity or if they aren't cheap chinese knockoffs...

If they are in that price range, then you might want to consider what other options are available in your country at $80+? Shoot, even the Esee 4 is priced about the same as an LMF... way better knife!

Buck
Morakniv
Kabar
Real Steel
Fox knives
Ontario
Condor
Cold Steel
Ruike
Kizlyar Sumpreme
Tops
Steel Will

All brands, (when authentic), that I would trust to make a much better knife then Gerber at this juncture, even if I had to replace the sheath...


If you're really stuck on Gerber though, I'd go Strongarm or LMF II.
 
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wolfson10 said:
Idk, I didn't find at least
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Dustar knives are manufactured in Israel I believe, but they're a little pricey for what you get.

After some quick searching I didn't find much... The Strongarm from Gerber may very well be your best bet with what's readily available. If you can spend a bit more I'd look at an Essee 4 or 6, but the Strongarm really isn't a bad knife.
 
chiral.grolim said:
I have the LMFII ASEK as well as the Strongarm. I typically steer people away from the LMFII unless they have a specific need for its features. The LMFII is very pommel-heavy due to the integrated hammer - while a hammer on the back of a pommel is handy (I have used it appropriately) it is no where near as useful as a regular hammer, and the design is such that it can fracture the handle if used too heavily (it isn't actually part of the tang but separately attached to the fiberglass handle material that is beneath the rubber overmold). The LMFII handle is beefy and comfortable but not nearly as agile, especially with the excess weight and the wide blade.

The Strongarm is more compact but very stout, no hammer but a lot lighter and easier to use. It is every bit the sharpened pry-bar that the LMFII is but is generally a more useful knife.

I have the serrated Strongarm as well, and the scallops are equally aggressive on the LMFII and Strongarm models - very well done if you are cutting a lot of fibrous material such as rope or roots. Beyond those things, however, a plain-edge may be more useful.

Neither knife is thinly ground, i.e. both suck at slicing most material, but they are built to take a beating and can be thinned out by the end-user if desired.

Here's a shot of the LMFII and Strongarm along with some similarly sized knives:

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**Can you please tell me what the second and fourth knives from the top are?
 
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Neither.
I've owned one Gerber knife. Cutting warm butter dulled it. I suspect they "forgot" to heat treat the blade.
I wound up sending it to the landfill in parts, over 3 or 4 months. I didn't want to take a chance that someone would try to "rescue" it.

A mystery steel from Pakistan or India FROST/Mil Tec/Tac Force/United Cutlery knife shaped object would be better than any Gerber.
 
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afishhunter said:
Neither.
I've owned one Gerber knife. Cutting warm butter dulled it. I suspect they "forgot" to heat treat the blade.
I wound up sending it to the landfill in parts, over 3 or 4 months. I didn't want to take a chance that someone would try to "rescue" it.

A mystery steel from Pakistan or India FROST/Mil Tec/Tac Force/United Cutlery knife shaped object would be better than any Gerber.
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Sounds like you might of got a knockoff. Gerber's name is still is one of the most recognized brands of knives only behind Buck. Lots of counterfitters target name brand knives to sell on flebay, etc.
 
Found a bunch of Gerbers, CRKT, Buck, Cold Steel and SOG knives on clearance at 50% off. Bought several including the Gerber Strongarm to add to my collection. A well made stout knife imo, better than the overweight LMF II for most combat or survival operations.

I carried my modern Kabar combat knife that was a bit smaller and much lighter than the original Kabar, similar to the Becker. I found it about 20 years ago on clearance at Gander Mountain and do not believe they were made for very long.

People ask what is the best knife to carry? A sharp knife...🤯
 
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