Gerber Strongarm Heat Treatment

Cold Steel SRK? Apologies if this is off-topic. It’s a 6” blade but weirdly enough, it feels shorter in the hand. Never felt awkward to me.
 
The Grendels said:
The Nomad is a beast. The only recent problem they've had is they made some of the leather sheaths for that monster slightly too small, so the very sharp factory edge cuts through them when they get sheathed. I just bought a large Ottoza leather sheath and it works fine now. If you're doing more than a short hike with a pack, you might want a lighter Joker, like the Ember or Trampero.

ESEE broke their own S35VN knife and wanted to let people know that it's not the same toughness as the 1095 steel. The super steel version is not as durable.

We Broke Our S35V

We broke our S35VN ESEE 3...and you might too if you don't u
www.eseeknives.com www.eseeknives.com

For most of what people actually do, a Morakniv Heavy Duty Companion is more than good enough. I mostly just keep my Moras around for yard work.

I bought my Buck 119 twenty years ago, on the recommendation of a trapper in Northern Ontario who used one for a year and said it was solid. I have no complaints at all about it and still have it. I just like using a lot of my other knives more.
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The Nomad seems to be a out of stock everywhere, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. Looks like a pretty good knife. And convex grinds are always a plus in the outdoors.

ESEE only broke the thinner model 3. Their model 4 is still a really tough blade. However not as tough as the 1095 version of course. But it can handle some ridiculous abuse:

(video is in German)

So what I can deduce from this conversations is that the Strongarm is pretty reliable. It's just overpriced and not the best woods knife.
 
Bushcraft-O-Maniac said:
The Nomad seems to be a out of stock everywhere, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. Looks like a pretty good knife. And convex grinds are always a plus in the outdoors.

ESEE only broke the thinner model 3. Their model 4 is still a really tough blade. However not as tough as the 1095 version of course. But it can handle some ridiculous abuse:

(video is in German)

So what I can deduce from this conversations is that the Strongarm is pretty reliable. It's just overpriced and not the best woods knife.
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Nomads are crazy popular knives. I'm a big fan of Joker fixed blades. You get a lot of knife for the price.

It was refreshing to see Esee put out a knife breaking video like they did. They just wanted to let people know that going full on frat boy with the new steel might not work out as well and to use them a bit more responsibly. I'm not personally a fan of the regular flat Esee handles, but I love my Esee 4HM handle.
 
I’ve used a Strongarm a good deal and for it being 420HC I think it’s been acceptable.
The thing with the Strongarm is that as a package it’s pretty nice. It has an excellent sheath that is very versatile and makes it very handy.
That being said I would like Gerber to offer the Strongarm with an option of maybe 154CM, D2, or maybe s35vn. It’s a good design that deserves to be offered with an upgraded steel.
 
JTC said:
I’ve used a Strongarm a good deal and for it being 420HC I think it’s been acceptable.
The thing with the Strongarm is that as a package it’s pretty nice. It has an excellent sheath that is very versatile and makes it very handy.
That being said I would like Gerber to offer the Strongarm with an option of maybe 154CM, D2, or maybe s35vn. It’s a good design that deserves to be offered with an upgraded steel.
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I agree with all of that. Well, except for the choice of steels; I'd rather AEB-L or 14C28N or even Magnacut, but I digress.

To answer the OP's question directly, the heat treatment seems on the weight of evidence out there to be pretty good. There is an abundance of reviews and info on this knife and you rarely if ever hear of lemons. It's not a "Buck" level heat treatment, but I suspect even Buck knives don't get that level either lol.

It is what it is. It's a tank of a knife that fits the description in the OP pretty well. It's just become a bit questionable value wise since it was released compared to other knives on the market.
 
chalby said:
I agree with all of that. Well, except for the choice of steels; I'd rather AEB-L or 14C28N or even Magnacut, but I digress.

To answer the OP's question directly, the heat treatment seems on the weight of evidence out there to be pretty good. There is an abundance of reviews and info on this knife and you rarely if ever hear of lemons. It's not a "Buck" level heat treatment, but I suspect even Buck knives don't get that level either lol.

It is what it is. It's a tank of a knife that fits the description in the OP pretty well. It's just become a bit questionable value wise since it was released compared to other knives on the market.
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If you don’t mind the Scandi, looks like the stainless Garberg would work well for you. Funny enough, the Strongarm and Garberg are priced about the same in my country.
 
DangerZone98 said:
If you don’t mind the Scandi, looks like the stainless Garberg would work well for you. Funny enough, the Strongarm and Garberg are priced about the same in my country.
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Yeah, they are priced around the same here as well.

I don't actually think they should be compared though. The Garberg is a serious bushcraft knife that is built better and has better steel than a Mora Companion HD. It is a much better bushcraft knife than the Strongarm. The strength of the Strongarm over knives like the Garberg is the extra length and heft that gives it a better ability for example as a light chopper and the extra meat that allows it to be abused a bit more, but it is not that much bigger that it is impossible to do what a Garberg can do just not as comfortably.

I see the Strongarm in this comparison as being the jack of all trades but master of none. There are tasks I would have no hesitation in using the Strongarm, but there are plenty of situations where the Garberg and other knives like it would be much better choices though.
 
chalby said:
Yeah, they are priced around the same here as well.

I don't actually think they should be compared though. The Garberg is a serious bushcraft knife that is built better and has better steel than a Mora Companion HD. It is a much better bushcraft knife than the Strongarm. The strength of the Strongarm over knives like the Garberg is the extra length and heft that gives it a better ability for example as a light chopper and the extra meat that allows it to be abused a bit more, but it is not that much bigger that it is impossible to do what a Garberg can do just not as comfortably.

I see the Strongarm in this comparison as being the jack of all trades but master of none. There are tasks I would have no hesitation in using the Strongarm, but there are plenty of situations where the Garberg and other knives like it would be much better choices though.
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I agree. The Strongarm has a cool sheath though. That’s about it.

I haven’t read the whole thing, but I wonder if the OP would consider other Strongarm-sized knives. I love the Bushcraft Black, although I don’t use it for bushcraft stuff lol.
 
chalby said:
I agree with all of that. Well, except for the choice of steels; I'd rather AEB-L or 14C28N or even Magnacut, but I digress.

To answer the OP's question directly, the heat treatment seems on the weight of evidence out there to be pretty good. There is an abundance of reviews and info on this knife and you rarely if ever hear of lemons. It's not a "Buck" level heat treatment, but I suspect even Buck knives don't get that level either lol.

It is what it is. It's a tank of a knife that fits the description in the OP pretty well. It's just become a bit questionable value wise since it was released compared to other knives on the market.
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sure some might slip through the cracks, but I'd say from my experience as a Buck knife collector and user...the majority do get the proper heat treat.
 
I only have the Strongarm's slow-witted cousin, the Prodidy, for comparison, but it's okay for what it is. I wouldn't choose it for my normal knife tasks, but for something that might be called into service to do anything because it's all you've got, it's not a bad choice. It will pry, dig, scrape, etc. without failing and if you need the edge, you can restore it without too much effort.
 
The Garberg is a great knife, but I would not want to use it as a backup blade which you may have to pass over to another person. That might be too dangerous due to the lack of a handguard. Most of my friends rarley use outdoor knives. That's also one of the reasons why I want a stainless blade. Carbon steel knives will develope rust ten times faster in the hands of an unexperienced user. I guess it's a chemical reaction with their fear sweat during the time in the woods. :p

My father actually owns a bushcraft black and I also have several carbon Moras. They are awesome tools indeed. I'm just not sure if I should use the stainless versions for potential heavier tasks. At least the Garberg should handle it just fine.

Don't get me wrong, I usually don't abuse my knives. It's just that I want my backup blade to be slightly overbuilt. Better safe than sorry.
 
Bushcraft-O-Maniac said:
The Garberg is a great knife, but I would not want to use it as a backup blade which you may have to pass over to another person. That might be too dangerous due to the lack of a handguard. Most of my friends rarley use outdoor knives. That's also one of the reasons why I want a stainless blade. Carbon steel knives will develope rust ten times faster in the hands of an unexperienced user. I guess it's a chemical reaction with their fear sweat during the time in the woods. :p

My father actually owns a bushcraft black and I also have several carbon Moras. They are awesome tools indeed. I'm just not sure if I should use the stainless versions for potential heavier tasks. At least the Garberg should handle it just fine.

Don't get me wrong, I usually don't abuse my knives. It's just that I want my backup blade to be slightly overbuilt. Better safe than sorry.
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I like the Morakniv Garberg and own one myself, but I find that at that price it puts itself in competition against a lot of other good knives.
 
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