Gerber LMF II

I have one. It's a well made knife and seems very sturdy. Good blade size and feels comfortable in the hand. On the down side I dropped it the first day I had it and the soft handle material (rubber?) cut. I repaired it with some superglue but I'm a little disappointed that it cut/tore so easily. If I had it to do over I'd probably get a Rat RC 4 instead.
 
I've heard it's a pretty good knife, but i wouldn't get it for a couple of reasons. First is simply that i will not buy any gerber products againm. i've had a couple of their knives and in my experience, theyre no good. Second is the steel. Im not sure what theyre using right now but I believe its 440c or 440a. Again, in my experience, this is a bad steel to use especially in an outdoor/survival knife. also, half of the blade is serrated which may be good for some but not me. finall it doesn't have a full tang which in reality, is a bad thing. For the price, you can get a better all around knife.

of course, this is just my opinion.
 
I looked closely at them awhile back, and the more I learned, the less I liked.

My advise? Get a Becker or a RAT. Both are tougher than snot, with good steel, made by good companies here in the USA.
 
I had one a while ago. I wasn't a fan of the serrations or the soft handle so I sold it. I'd also suggest looking at RAT Cutlery. You might spend a couple more bucks but it's well worth it in my opinion.
 
I had one, didn't like the serrations. Plus the sheath system was kind of a pain.

lmfII.jpg


I sold it awhile ago and bought this Rat RC-5 to replace it.

RC-5.jpg
 
i bought one not to long ago and i returned it. i had heard nothing but goog things about it but i thought it was not good to wear on a belt. it was to big and flopped around a lot. i would never have worn it in the outdoors so i returned it. im thinking i would have been better off with something from RAT definetly
 
First, I'm pretty clueless about knives. I know more about hand plane irons and chisels, and certainly my sharpening technique is better at sharpening such things.

Be that as it may, I just bought a Gerber LMF II. It seems tough enough, seems to hold its edge ok. But what keeps it from being outstanding for me are these things:

I can't get a keen edge on it. Decently sharp but not keen. This is the biggest detraction for me.

Stainless steel. Because of the reason above.

Not crazy about the serrations. I understand why they are on a knife of this type though. On the plus side the serrations do make short work of cutting nylon rope. Which is necessary as you won't get a razor edge on the rest of the blade to do it with.

The sheath and nylon strapping are over-engineered and a little too 'tactical' for me. On the plus side I can't say it doesn't secure the knife, and the built in sharpener will do a decent job of sharpening the non-serrated edge.

Furthermore I rather like the shape of the knife, the general blade profile and the heft, and I for one like the handle. It's very grippy. Fits nice in my hand.

But if I had a do over I'd do this:

Read more of these forums! I just started reading last week and I've got a lot to learn.

But really, it seems buying a knife still comes down to a kind of crap shoot. Unless you can rent a knife for a weekend you aren't really going to know if me or the other guy or Joe Blow are off-base or full of it. You may just love the LMF II. It's a personal thing. No way to know if you really like something so personal as a knife until you hold it in your hand and use it for a while.

That said, I don't think you'll go wrong with the LMF but I think (to echo other commenters) it's a 40 dollar knife. I did pay 60 for it, and if I did it over again, I'd go spend another 40 or 60 and get something outstanding that I am tickled pink with. I could have put that 60 toward a hundred twenty dollar knife I'll love.

I hear the RAT knives are the sauce, they look great, and, for me a huge plus, they are high carbon (read non-stainless) steel. Uncomplicated low key sheaths too. Maybe next year...and unfortunately I won't know until I hold it in my hand and use it.
 
There are lots of things with the LMF II thats says "great survival knife" but with a little more scrutiny the whole thing comes apart.
Serrations, huge sheath, the huge pommel, mysterious steel, the two part tang etc.

I give the same answer to you as I give to other people asking for a "good survival knife".

You can pick anyone from below and get a great knife that will be of satisfaction. You just have to learn how to sharpen convex blades :)

Fallkniven F1, S1, H1
RAT Cutlery RC3, 4, 5, 6
Bark River of your choice
Mora 2000 (not macho but cuts like a laser sword)
Swedish EKA knives like H8 and W11

If I could only pick one of them I would take the Fallkniven F1.
 
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