Gerber LMF II

[M.Link]

I haven't seen much about the LMF II on here. Why doesn't it get much love? I had one a few years ago, loved it, and it got stolen. I'm looking for a new all around fixed blade, and I'm thinking about one again. I didn't have one complaint about mine, even has an awesome sheath. For $66 you can't really go wrong. I was surprised to see none for sale on here.

What do you guys think about them?

 

[Lost Cosmonaut]

For $66 you can do a lot better, particularly when a few bucks more gets you something like a Becker BK2 which is actually full tang and virtually impossible to destroy.

 

[Inazone]

If you had one before and loved it, I think it's worth the $66. Generally speaking, Gerber isn't held in very high regard on this forum, due in no small part to the dubious quality of their imported products, as well as the number of other manufacturers' excellent alternatives to their USA line. I have several USA Gerbers and like them just fine, including an LMF II, but I bought them with no particular attachment to any brand, Gerber or otherwise. I visit various other forums where people seem quite happy with the LMF II, albeit not as collectors or even knife "enthusiasts" as you would find here on BFC. I do think that it's a bit clunky for most purposes, and sort of falls into the survival knife niche as determined by a marketing firm, and maybe stresses that aesthetic a bit much vs. useful features. Personally, I like the Prodigy better as Gerber products go, and the similarly priced Buck Nighthawk more than either the Prodigy or LMF II, with it's comparable steel (420HC) and arguably superior handle.

Anyway, for $66, I'd go for it if you know you like the knife. Yes, there are other knives out there for around the same price that might be better depending on what you're after, but sometimes it's worth it to go with what you know.

 

[Hiro-kun]

The LMF II was designed for a specific military need that few civilians, even those who are knife enthusiasts, will have. It's great if you need a single knife to cut and smash your way out of aircraft wreckage and live electrical wires and getting along in the wilderness until rescue arrives. These features are what make the knife as a whole less desirable as a pure outdoors-man's cutting tool than comparably priced knives.

 

[chiral.grolim]

The LMF II was designed for a specific military need that few civilians, even those who are knife enthusiasts, will have. It's great if you need a single knife to cut and smash your way out of aircraft wreckage and live electrical wires and getting along in the wilderness until rescue arrives. These features are what make the knife as a whole less desirable as a pure outdoors-man's cutting tool than comparably priced knives.

^This.
I still have one, bought when they first came out, and it makes a good "truck-knife" - I've used the hammer for pounding nails and pegs and loosening bolts, the spike for crushing/chipping ice, the edge for cutting lots of rope and batonning wood and some limited wood-carving (not whittling), and it did all these very well. But it is a bulky, heavy, unbalanced knife that doesn't generally suit my needs as well as other knives. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others looking for such a multitool, but there are a lot of options out there to meet a wide variety of preferences, so get what works for you :thumbup:

 

[collim1]

It's thick and heavy and in my opinion has poor blade geometry for normal cutting tasks. It also only comes in a partially serrated blade which I do not prefer.

 

[EDCanAdamas]

I have one back in 2007 when I thought Gerber was the coolest thing out there.The LMF2 isn't terrible, and it's actually USA-made, I just wish it wasn't serrated. I also purchased a Prodigy back in 2010.

Does anyone here know what the Prodigy's country of origin is. I thought it was made in the Portland Oregon factory but I might be wrong.

 

[chris97]

I like the LMF2. I consider it the perfect "urban" survival knife, and one lives in my EDC/GHB and hope I don't need it!

 

[chiral.grolim]

I have one back in 2007 when I thought Gerber was the coolest thing out there.The LMF2 isn't terrible, and it's actually USA-made, I just wish it wasn't serrated. I also purchased a Prodigy back in 2010.

Does anyone here know what the Prodigy's country of origin is. I thought it was made in the Portland Oregon factory but I might be wrong.

Prodigy is made at the factory in Portland, OR, as is the LMFII and the successor of those, the new StrongArm:

 

[razorburn]

The pommel buttcap on the LMF is all business.Tried it out on the bottoms of aluminium drink can, produced a large hole through with little effort.Some serious window piercer/smasher for sure.

 

[HappyDaddy]

I keep one in my car. It struck me as a relatively cheap option to have available for a wide variety of potential emergency uses. It wouldn't be my first choice for any single task, but if there's another $60 knife that can be effectively called into service for an equal range of emergencies, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

 

[Silvanus]

I owned an LMFII a few years back and just had too many things I didn't like about it to keep it. Like what was said before about it, it's made for a very specific group of individuals and I am not one of those individuals. I never liked the partial serrations and found the butt cap threw the balance off. In the end I sold it off but the quality of the knife was never an issue for me. People may hate Gerber but the knife was made well, albeit a little pricy for what it is.