Gerber vs Lone Wolf Paul

Beasty Bunny

Beasty Bunny

Joined
Jul 26, 2012
Messages
11
I am interested in purchasing a Paul design knife. Pardon my ignorance, but does anyone know what the difference is between a Gerber Paul and a Lone Wolf Paul? I understand that Gerber no longer manufactures the Paul design, but the “Made in USA” means a lot to me. Currently I own mostly tactical folders and it will be the first such knife in my collection.
 
Unless "lone wolf paul" makes crappy knives in fancy wrappers with MASSIVELY hyped advertising, it's going to be better than gerber
 
I have never had/held a gerber I liked exept my brothers china made 06 with a tanto blade. But my rat 1 is alot nicer and better made and cost half the gerber. All the other ones are just bad, IMO they have crappy grinds and a mystery steel that is 3x harder to sharpen then d2 but loses its edge after cutting butter....
 
The obvious difference is the manufacturer...Gerber vs. Lone Wolf...the locking mechanism is mostly the same. At the time Gerber made the Paul series, they were "pre-Fiskars" and doing good work. Lone Wolf revived the Paul lock and made a few small changes, the most significant of which is that some models have an adjustable stop pin, which allows you to remove blade play in the open position...of course anything adjustable will eventually need adjustment, so there's a downside too. Lone Wolf used some better blade steels, and made many more models than Gerber did, but both the Gerbers and the Lone Wolfs are good knives. Be aware that most of the Paul knives are what I would call "gentleman's folders", knives of a scale that would fit well in a pocket. If you are looking for a larger knife, look at the Lone Wolf Prankster, Defender, or Protector.
 
Doug Ritter has done the heavy lifting: http://www.dougritter.com/Paul_Poehlmann.htm

TL: DR: Gerber manufactured 1977-1986; Peterson Precision Engineering manufactured (and Gerber slapped logo on) 1996-1997 in California. So unless there's something I'm missing, no Gerber Paul blade should have been manufactured in China. High production costs led to discontinuing the knife, so it would seem like build quality is high.

Zero
 
Thanks for all the input, guys. The "China" remark was posted because I had never heard of Lone Wolf before. I had no idea who they were or how good a manufacturer they are. I now realize, thanks to Mahoney, that they took a great design and actually made it better (better steel and adjustable stop). I also tend to prefer a wood grip to the mother of pearl and stone surfaces that they offer. Other than a Leatherman Micra, this will be the smallest knife I own.
 
I've got about 15 Lone Wolf Pauls. 6 Defenders, 3 Pranksters, Perfecto's and a Pocket, oh and a Executive and a Protector. I collected Lone Wolf exclusively for a while. When new they are tight, they develop blade play when used. I figured out how to tighten them, it's a pain but doable. I love My Defenders, then the rest as listed. I have them more for collecting than users, I've never carried any of them. The Executive would be good enough for opening packages and letters and such. I would never even consider any hard use. The Defender would be a good stabber for "Defense".
 
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