Gerber really disappointed me today

T

TheEdge01

Joined
Apr 3, 2015
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I was at a sporting goods store earlier today and they had some nice looking Gerber auto knives in stock. One was an 06 10th anniversary edition, a large and small Rex Applegate Covert, and the 06 FAST.
Every one of them had blade play plus the 06 fired much slower than expected. The 06 anniversary had blade play in all four directions. When I asked the store employee to let me see the Gerber autos, I had my hopes built up that everything would check out and I could take one home with me. Unfortunately, Gerber must be slipping in the qc dept. They make some really nice products, but they need to start focusing more on quality.
 
NJBillK said:
I don't know what your average carry knife is, but in my book, Gerber is not known for quality...

I often have them hovering with CRKT, S&W, etc.
Click to expand...

The last USA made Gerber I owned was a cheapo 20 dollar folder I carried at work. I must have had high expectations since these were 100 plus dollar American made autos. I know that isn't exactly high dollar by today's standards, but it should be enough to expect better quality than what I witnessed today.
 
I had read an interview with a fella from Gerber.
He outright stated that they were attempting a "face lift" for the company. They are very well aware of the quality issues, and declining sales due to this.

He mentioned the Bear G. knifes being a flop, and inconstant quality coming out of their China based facilities.
The bottom line was this... The 06 is to be their staple example of an affordable knife. All the new designs will be made in the US facility (Oregon I think), and they are looking to re-gain the quality American Made name that they once had.

I'll try to find what I read and post it.
I'm sure I have some of it mixed up...
 
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gonebad395 said:
For the most part gerber has gone down hill. Years ago I had a folder gerber gator that was a great knife but recently they are producing a lot of junk.
Click to expand...

I had one of those about 15 years ago. It seemed to be a pretty good knife. It took an edge easily, I'm not sure what the blade steel was, probably 420hc.
 
TheEdge01 said:
I had one of those about 15 years ago. It seemed to be a pretty good knife. It took an edge easily, I'm not sure what the blade steel was, probably 420hc.
Click to expand...

Yeah I can't remember what the steel was. I had the pe version about 12 years ago. One with Se came up on the exchange a few months ago I bought it. I'll have to look at it I just threw it in the drawer
 
NJBillK said:
I don't know what your average carry knife is, but in my book, Gerber is not known for quality...

I often have them hovering with CRKT, S&W, etc.
Click to expand...

You mentioned crkt. What quality issues do the value folders usually have? I only bought a m16-01s so I wouldn't know. Is it just centering problems usually? What about Gerber? I only had 3 of them and that was forever ago. I don't even remember what they really looked like any more besides the Bear Grylls Fixed Blade
 
C CrazyCaucasian
I wouldn't say that they have brand wide quality issues, or even so far as a particular issue that they struggle with.

What I would say about the brands I stated have in common is that they are all entry level, lower tier knives. They are what folks move up to once they get past flea-market, BudK and gas station knives. Not Tac-Force low, but not Benchmade, ZT, or Spyderco good.
(I am surprised that I actually had to say this for it to be known.)

What I said above would be akin to saying a Toyota isn't a Great car. It is an ok car, it gets you from A to B, but it isn't a Mercedes, Acura, or even a Lincoln... But, it isn't a Kia or Saturn...
 
NJBillK said:
C CrazyCaucasian
I wouldn't say that they have brand wide quality issues, or even so far as a particular issue that they struggle with.

What I would say about the brands I stated have in common is that they are all entry level, lower tier knives. They are what folks move up to once they get past flea-market, BudK and gas station knives. Not Tac-Force low, but not Benchmade, ZT, or Spyderco good.
(I am surprised that I actually had to say this for it to be known.)

What I said above would be akin to saying a Toyota isn't a Great car. It is an ok car, it gets you from A to B, but it isn't a Mercedes, Acura, or even a Lincoln... But, it isn't a Kia or Saturn...
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about CRKT's high end products (If it's still in production) but Gerbers stuff seems to be made with better materials, but still suffers from the same qc issues as their lower end knives.
 
06 autos all fire slower than about every other auto out there. always been that way. designed that way for some reason. autos regardless of brand often have some side to side play due to the design and tolerances. some do and some dont. i have 4- 06s. 1 has play cant be taken out completely. 3 dont. i also have a couple Applegate autos. none of the gerber autos i own have any up and down play.

how many examples did they have and let ya play with...just one of each knife or did ya get to see more?
 
NJBillK said:
I don't know what your average carry knife is, but in my book, Gerber is not known for quality...

I often have them hovering with CRKT, S&W, etc.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily a fanboy, but I have a number of CRKT knives and find them all to be very well made and functional, and have never had a problem with any of them. Yeah they're made in China and don't use the latest super steels, but nonetheless the quality is very good and in many cases excellent. Comparing them to Benchmade, Spyderco, etc. is like comparing apples to oranges, or Toyotas to Mercedes. If they all serve their intended purpose, and serve it well, then there's no need to bash them. Just sayin'.
 
jbmonkey said:
06 autos all fire slower than about every other auto out there. always been that way. designed that way for some reason. autos regardless of brand often have some side to side play due to the design and tolerances. some do and some dont. i have 4- 06s. 1 has play cant be taken out completely. 3 dont. i also have a couple Applegate autos. none of the gerber autos i own have any up and down play.

how many examples did they have and let ya play with...just one of each knife or did ya get to see more?
Click to expand...

All I seen was what they had on display, one of each.
 
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I bought a Gerber Large Evo Tanto on sale for twenty bucks, and had it for 24 hours before returning it to the store. Had horrible blade play, so off centered that it scrubbed the side of the blade, and the lock bar was all the way over to the far side. I tried to loosen the clip screws to get at the pivot screw and whatever they used to tighten them in with was nothing short of cement so I stripped one of them. Back it went and never looked at Gerber again.

Interestingly, I bought a BG compact scout knife several years ago ($8) and it wasn't too awful bad.
 
gonebad395 said:
For the most part gerber has gone down hill. Years ago I had a folder gerber gator that was a great knife but recently they are producing a lot of junk.
Click to expand...

TheEdge01 said:
I had one of those about 15 years ago. It seemed to be a pretty good knife. It took an edge easily, I'm not sure what the blade steel was, probably 420hc.
Click to expand...

gonebad395 said:
Yeah I can't remember what the steel was. I had the pe version about 12 years ago. One with Se came up on the exchange a few months ago I bought it. I'll have to look at it I just threw it in the drawer
Click to expand...

the gators were (are!) excellent, and their 420HC excellent in taking an edge and withstanding prying, bending and twisting

TP0GrO9.jpg


gotta love them
 
When I got my Wicked Edge I used my Gerber knives to practice on.

I was actually pretty surprised how sharp they got. (440C I believe) I keep one in my car for emergencies now.
 
NJBillK said:
C CrazyCaucasian
I wouldn't say that they have brand wide quality issues, or even so far as a particular issue that they struggle with.

What I would say about the brands I stated have in common is that they are all entry level, lower tier knives. They are what folks move up to once they get past flea-market, BudK and gas station knives. Not Tac-Force low, but not Benchmade, ZT, or Spyderco good.
(I am surprised that I actually had to say this for it to be known.)

What I said above would be akin to saying a Toyota isn't a Great car. It is an ok car, it gets you from A to B, but it isn't a Mercedes, Acura, or even a Lincoln... But, it isn't a Kia or Saturn...
Click to expand...
Whoa whoa whoa. Toyotas are reliable and run forever. They're like the low to mid tier Spydies. Even low end ZT. Sure, they're no CRK or MKT or Midtech, but they can definitely be great cars.
 
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