Gerber mini paraframe blade steel?

[stabman]

You likely had a faulty knife.

I had 2, the full sized and the mini.
They were given to me for free, and I didn't feel they were worth even that much.
The Gerber Gator on the other hand held up very well to repeated use, and left me feeling it was worth the $35 I paid for it way back when.
It wasn't a knife you could impress snobs with, but it worked for everything I needed it for at the time.
I then passed it on to a friend who used the hell out of it for some years. The blade was entirely a different shape from (badly done) sharpening before he lost it at a work site.
That knife was totally worth the cash, even if they didn't say what the steel was.
I'd be interested to find out someday what steel was used for it...they may have changed since then.

 

[edctac]

Finally got a reply, it is made out of 7cr17mov, hardened to 55-57. 7cr17 is equivalent to 440A, and considering it cost me like $9, that is pretty decent. I will have to modify mine, though, to make the lock... lock.

If you say so, but doesn't that last sentance kinda make you think?

 

[TwinStick]

They seem to me to be hit & miss. I have a large & small paraframe. I have issues sharpening them & have been sharpening knives since i was 7 yrs old (now 48). I recently sharpened 2 for a friend. It took me less than 10 minutes each & they would shave hair & paper. Mine suck, but thiers seem to be much better.

I have a Gerber Freeman folder & 2 Metolius fixed blades. They both have a razors edge on them & hold it well. I have had more of an issue with Gerbers micro-small torx screws coming loose on them all, than anything else.

 

[kunchi97]

just depends on how much, and how hard your gonna use it. if it's just a once in a while knife, then gerber's mystery steel is ok, but if it's you everyday edc, then you'llget by, but if your pushing it hard, then have a backup

 

[Cold Kill]

It seems like the more expensive the knife, the better the mystery steel. Their Paraframe "mystery" steel is actually pretty decent, but the heat treat gives a lot to be desired. Even 420J2 can be halfway decent for light everyday use (packages, letters, boxes, etc.) with the right heat treatment.

 

[singularity35]

Finally got a reply, it is made out of 7cr17mov, hardened to 55-57. 7cr17 is equivalent to 440A, and considering it cost me like $9, that is pretty decent. I will have to modify mine, though, to make the lock... lock.

Well, I wonder how much the blade on the knife cost then since they are not leaving much for the lock. I actually agree that the steel is pretty decent since I also have a Meyerco Wharning with 7Cr17 but then again the Wharning is a fixed blade.

 

[Planterz]

You likely had a faulty knife.

I will have to modify mine, though, to make the lock... lock.

I think I am done even trying to debate this. Some people are just too stuck in their ideas to accept anything else.

Too...much...irony...brain...shutting...down...

It seems like the more expensive the knife, the better the mystery steel.

No...a better/more expensive knife won't even have "mystery steel". If you don't know what steel it is, it's because the company is ashamed/afraid to tell you what it really is.

The Gerber Paraframe is perhaps the single worst knife to have a major brand name on it. It's not just a crummy cutting tool, it's unsafe.

 

[Joben]

Ahhh another thread with a lot of hate for the Gerber Paraframe...reminds me of one of my early knife reviews...

[video=youtube;I78PtxIgr74]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I78PtxIgr74[/video]

It really doesn't suck, or at least mine doesn't.

 

[softrockrenegade]

 

[Cold Kill]

Too...much...irony...brain...shutting...down...

No...a better/more expensive knife won't even have "mystery steel". If you don't know what steel it is, it's because the company is ashamed/afraid to tell you what it really is.

The Gerber Paraframe is perhaps the single worst knife to have a major brand name on it. It's not just a crummy cutting tool, it's unsafe.

My Paraframe is actually decent. My lock is just faulty in that slanted part that the lock wedges to needs to be filed down a little. Otherwise the knife is actually good for a mere $10 impulse buy.

 

[singularity35]

My Paraframe is actually decent. My lock is just faulty in that slanted part that the lock wedges to needs to be filed down a little. Otherwise the knife is actually good for a mere $10 impulse buy.

I respectfully ask how much knife experience and what knives you have used extensively to be able to make that judgement. It's just that I would tend to trust the opinion of someone who has a lot of experience with a wide range of knives and knife use.

 

[HoosierQ]

Sorry to pile on but one thing I didn't like about my paraframe was the fact that the skeleton frame doesn't cover the tip very well. At the time it was quite new and at least factory sharp and cut the dickens out of my finger reaching for it. After that, I never gave the thing the chance to get dull.

I have had pretty good luck with the EZ-outs.

I have an LMFII that I cannot for the life of me get a decent edge on. I recently convexed it with sandpaper and a mousepad. It is my toolbox knife. Some are supposedly made of 12c27 Sandvik but I seriously doubt this one is...I have several knives in that steel and all are excellent.

Gerber used to make rather quirky but very sharp and very hard tool steel knives with aluminum handles. I was a "Gerber Man" because they seemed nice, were attractive and available. I had pretty good luck with the Gator series too. But life is too short. I have sold all but a my EZ-Outs and the LMF and I am all in with Spyderco and ESEE and Mora these days...as well as Buck...Buck did a period of the same slide but they arrested that slide and Buck is doing some very good metalurgy right now and are up-front about the steel they use...when they use 420HC the say so...and they heat treat it well. They also use CPM S30V and of course they are going to be up front about that.

If a knife company cannot own up to the steel they use, I suggest that their integrity as a cutler has got to be questioned.

 

[ikelo]

the only positive thing i can say about the gerber paraframe is that it led me to better knives. i bought one and it was such an incredible piece of crap, i realized there had to be better items on the market. i then sought out reviews of better knives. if it wasn't such a piece of crap, i wouldn't even know about this website.

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

My Paraframe is actually decent. My lock is just faulty in that slanted part that the lock wedges to needs to be filed down a little. Otherwise the knife is actually good for a mere $10 impulse buy.

You don't understand.

You said that one poster above "likely had a faulty knife." Then you say that the knife is actually a really decent knife, except that yours has a faulty lock.

Insert irony rhetoric here.

 

[singularity35]

You don't understand.

You said that one poster above "likely had a faulty knife." Then you say that the knife is actually a really decent knife, except that yours has a faulty lock.

Insert irony rhetoric here.

To make things clearer, a locking knife that has a faulty lock is defective, ergo is not decent.

 

[Tyronethepro]

My paraframe took a 25° edge slowly, but got very sharp and has held it pretty well. You have to factor in the price with the materials, and a 440A cognate on a knife that can be had for less than $10 is pretty good.
Also note that CRKT uses 7cr17 and other cheap Chinese steels on their knives that sell for upwards of $40, many of them at a low hardness. If you give Gerber flak, then the more expensive (by far) company with the same materials also deserves the flak.

CRKT may use cheap Chinese steels on many of their knives, but I've found that at least they're heat treated correctly and can take/hold an edge. Which my Gerber EVO and Remix were incapable of. Also at least CRKT tells you that they're using Chinese steel, unlike Gerber.

 

[Tsujigiri]

My Paraframe is actually decent. My lock is just faulty in that slanted part that the lock wedges to needs to be filed down a little. Otherwise the knife is actually good for a mere $10 impulse buy.

Not so sure about that... there are plenty of $10 SRM, Enlan, etc knives that aren't faulty. And I recently bought a used Delica 2 for $15 shipped lol. Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's a good value.

 

[The Mastiff]

It seems like I remember it being sold as "400 series" in a spec listing at a online knife store. Not that it would be any more or less accurate than anywhere else. If it is 420hc it's sure a lot different than Buck's, which I like. The Paraframe is IMO the worst knife I've purchased. It doesn't do anything really well except burr and roll over.


The Gator I have in 154cm is a nice knife. Sort of rough finished but it cuts good.

A far cry from the old days of Gerber where they brought us L-6, Vascowear, M2 HSS, etc. The standard steel then was a good 440C. A pre steel junkies knife company.

Joe