Gerber/Fiskars buisness practices may leave a bit to be desired, and they do purloin knife deigns. But, think about something. Fiskars sissors and knives are very good. Fiskars has been in buisness in Finland since the 1600's making fishing knives, puuko's and sissors. The Finns are'nt idiots who don't know what a good knife is.
Years ago, somebody gave me a Gerber LST. I used it as a carry knife at work in the machine shop where conditions were abusive to good knives and I did not want to tear up one of my good traditional pocket knives. The little LST proved to be a good tough knife that held up well. The steel was 440A, the same steel that Kershaw used at the time, and was accepted by the Kershaw crowd as good. I find it funny that if 440A was used on Kershaws it was okay, but if Gerber used it then it was junk.
The bad rep that Gerber gets is over the made in china or taiwan junk. The knives made in Portland like the LST, the Gator series, are good knives. They will hold a decent edge, are easy to sharpen, and if it walks off, its easy to replace. I know alot of people who are not knife nuts that get very good service from the Gerber LST's, Gators, multipliers, and ax's.
Alot of anti gerber stuff comes from knife snobs.
Another thing to think about for all the "I remember when Gerber made great knives like the FS-1" bunch. Al Mar and Pete Kershaw both quit Gerber because Pete Gerber was a stick in the mud and would not even think of bringing out any new designs, and would not modernize. Pete Gerber ran the company into the ground of financial unstability that made it possable for Fiskars to come over here and buy them out.
As for Fiskars being a bad knife company, you don't have a 400 year reputation all over Europe by making junk. And ask any woman who sews about thier Fiskars sissors.
