Gerber vs Mora vs ?

M

Mastalerz

Joined
Aug 7, 2013
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Hey guys, new the forums here and I had some general questions that I was hoping you guys/girls could help me with.

I'm big on camping and hiking, naturally I always carry a knife with me when I go. Basically the northeast United States (new Hampshire/Maine/Vermont) I used to have a Bowie knife but it was always big and bulky, just a field an stream knife I purchased at a sporting store. Never really served many purposes because it was basically too big for anything and I never ran into a bear or Native American tribes trying to kill me. Finally it broke it on and I felt relieved, got a buck pathfinder, nothing special but the tip ended up breaking on that.

So the past few times I've been camping and hiking I got a gerber knife, nice size and holds and edge decently well. But there is always that interest in other knives as which ones are cooler and better. I can't really bring my myself to dropping a lot of money on something that may break or may not get as much use as the price tag would justify. So looking around on these forums I see a lot of you own or have owned mora knives. They seem pretty cheap but from what I've read they are well worth he price. The only hunting I do is fish so that's all I really need to clean or gut.

What's your general thoughts on mora knives vs gerber knives. Or is there another brand out there that I haven't really heard of. My buddy has a Kbar, and that thing is really nice, no dings, holds an edge, can do basically anything. But it's kind of big and looks more like a combat knife than a survival knife. I don't know much about the different steels and which are stronger. Not really even sure of the difference between carbon steel and stainless other than the looks. So what do you guys recommend?
 
I am such a huge fan of Mora knives for the outdoors but I generally recommend pairing them with something more substantial, just in case. They can take a surprising amount of abuse though so no need to worry about it falling apart.

About what size and price range do you have in mind. Based off the post I'd guess about a 5-6" blade and maybe $50-60, am I close?

Condor makes some good value knives. Sounds like the Rodan might be about the size you're looking for. It's not great but for the $25 or so price it's a pretty good option. They also have the bushlore which seems to be pretty popular and a few others in that rough size/price range. If you like the Ka-Bar (Probably the USMC fighting/utility is the one your friend has) they make a smaller version or the Navy MK1 is a good knife with about a 5" blade and is more of a utility design than a fighting knife. Ka-Bar's Becker line is awesome also but they're around the $70 mark, not sure if you want to go that high but if you do the BK10, bk15, BK16, and bk17 are 4.5-5.5" blades. Cold steel bushman is a great blade for about $25. The Ontario Spec-plus line has some blades down around $40-60 too.
 
bigghoss said:
I am such a huge fan of Mora knives for the outdoors but I generally recommend pairing them with something more substantial, just in case. They can take a surprising amount of abuse though so no need to worry about it falling apart.

About what size and price range do you have in mind. Based off the post I'd guess about a 5-6" blade and maybe $50-60, am I close?

Condor makes some good value knives. Sounds like the Rodan might be about the size you're looking for. It's not great but for the $25 or so price it's a pretty good option. They also have the bushlore which seems to be pretty popular and a few others in that rough size/price range. If you like the Ka-Bar (Probably the USMC fighting/utility is the one your friend has) they make a smaller version or the Navy MK1 is a good knife with about a 5" blade and is more of a utility design than a fighting knife. Ka-Bar's Becker line is awesome also but they're around the $70 mark, not sure if you want to go that high but if you do the BK10, bk15, BK16, and bk17 are 4.5-5.5" blades. Cold steel bushman is a great blade for about $25. The Ontario Spec-plus line has some blades down around $40-60 too.
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Thanks for the reply, yeah you had it pegged just right with about a 50 dollar price range and 4-6 inch blade. I went ahead and took at some of the suggestions you gave me. The Ka-bar MK1, with the leather wrapped sheath in particular, really caught my eye. A little more ham I wanted to spend, some of the sites were selling them around 60-70 dollars. But it looked about the size and style I was looking for. My buddy has the marine fighting Ka-bar as well as a Ka-bar machete, the fighting knife is really nice and made me really appreciate he quality Ka-bar produces but like I said was rather big for my taste.

I might go ahead and grab the Mk1 and one of the cheaper moras. Mora knives as far as I can tell seem to have a lot of respect but I see what you mean about getting a heavy duty knife as well. I'd hate to have a knife break on me while I'm backpacking. And the Mora companion for instance seems small enough that I could fit in my bag and have the Mk1 on my belt. The Becker looked really nice too, I'll have to consider which one before I make my purchase. Initially I was looking at the Mora bushcraft survival with the sharpener and fire starter, but that was running around the same price I could get the Becker or MK1.

Thanks for the input exactly what I was looking to know and some good suggestions that fit my preference and needs.
 
I would definitely get a Mora, but as Bigghoss said, you should pair it up with something else, depends though, what exactly will you be using it for? Cutting small branches? Field dressing? Batoning wood?
 
First of all welcome ta this forum, second - have ya looked at the Cold Steel SRK? I've had one for many many years and while I was able ta go Big Game Hunting this kbife was always on my side just behind my 44 Magnum Ruger Redhawk. Reason I say Cold Steel SRK is that a good friend turned me on ta this knife and even let me hokd his SRK. I have recently learned that this is issued ta the U.S. Navy SEALS and this knife has survived everything I've put it through.
I've hekped out skinning out a couple of Deer and a few Cows wirth my friend. I've sharpened it a few times and it will till shave ya.
That's my recomendation for I know the Gerber line for have several and some are even my EDC. My SRK cost me about $59.95 when I purchased this several years ago. I think these knives now run somewhere's about $79 or so, I think. I haven't really checked the current price but this is the knife I'd choose for it is about 5-6 inches long on the blade plus the hilt.
What ever knife ya get I know you'll research it and see if it meets your requirements.
Joseph
 
Check out Condor Knives...they have what you need. :)
Big knives, little knives, axes, machetes, they have it all, at great prices and good quality.

I wish Condor was around when I was a teen getting into knives; I would have saved a lot of cash and got better stuff.
 
Well when I go backpacking I like to pack light naturally, so I try and forgo a lot other things I would normally bring when I go tent camping. Mostly I use it for gutting fish, chopping onions, cutting meat, rope, branches, kindling, and just about anything you would need a knife for out in the woods. The only thing I don't do is hunt, but I've seen multiple friends with gerbers have theirs break while splitting kindling. Not something I'm worried about if I'm at a campground, but if I'm relying on a knife for multiple purposes while being deeper into the woods or out backpacking it would suck to have it break on me. My gerber I own currently even had some dings I had to sharpen out from splitting wood and making shavings o start the fire.

If I may ask what is it about moras that make it highly recommended? Even to pair with a heavier knife?
 
Mostly I use it for gutting fish, chopping onions, cutting meat, rope, branches, kindling, and just about anything you would need a knife for out in the woods.
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If you're on a budget, how about the Cold Steel Outdoorsman Lite? Around 25 dollars on Amazon, 4116 Krupp Steel. Good curvature on the blade for multiple uses. I wasn't very familiar with the steel but the edge holds up just fine. Although in my opinion I believe this should be kept as a back up in your pack. Maybe you can go with the above suggestions, (Condor, SRK, BK2) and pitch in another 20 bucks for this nice backup! :thumbup:
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Mastalerz said:
If I may ask what is it about moras that make it highly recommended? Even to pair with a heavier knife?
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They're probably the best value-for-dollar knife on the market. Low cost and incredibly high quality; those are a couple qualities that are rarely seen together.
 
If I may ask what is it about moras that make it highly recommended? Even to pair with a heavier knife?
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They have good steel, nice thin blade shape, very good handle ergonomics. It's a very comfortable and form-fitting knife to use...oh yea and they're cheap
 
Mastalerz said:
If I may ask what is it about moras that make it highly recommended? Even to pair with a heavier knife?
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As mentioned they are inexpensive but an amazing value, very good quality. Also the scandi grind make them awesome for carving and whittling but they still hold a good edge. I use mine a lot for making shavings for tinder to get the fires started. For the price you can get one for every vehicle, kit, pack, canoe, whatever
 
Moras are pretty much the entry level standard of bushcraft and all around crafting blades... Cheap with an above money value performance. The carbon steel moras take a mean stupid sharp edge easily and maintain it for a decent amount of time, and they are easily resharpened. Moras have very good ergos too, comfort wise you are able to really put out on the blade and use it for an extended time (with or without gloves) with zero hot spots, this is my mileage. They are super light weight too, so there is no worry about it bogging you down. I EDC'd one of these blades for quite some time and it got to the point where I would forget it was there and it performed well at any task I asked it to. They are not magical or anything, they are just no nonsense type cutting tools that work very well at an extremely good price. Is there hype on the interwebz? Sure, but this goes for about any blade, but I will give you the skinny, if you want a simple, easy, cheap, easily maintained and sharpened, no frills, high value cutting tool then get you a mora or two. If you want something a bit fancier KA-BAR makes some great blades like the Becker line (Highest Recommendation), Condor makes some good products, Esee makes some good knives, etc etc etc.... But I think everyone that likes or uses blades should have a mora.
 
Mora is quality, nice grind and comfortable in hand. All for under $15, hard to beat that.

Pared with something bigger, as others have said, Ka-bar/Becker, Condor, Esee, Cold Steel...lotta options out there, no matter what your budget.
 
Consider the Marttiini Condor series of rubber gripped knives. They are superior to Moras, both knife and sheath, and cost around $20-25. Also look at the Light My Fire knife. It's an excellent Mora knife with a firesteel in the grip for under $30.

Joe
 
Mora makes some bigger ones too, they aren't all under 4.25".
I hadn't heard of the Martiinii Condors- must have a look.
 
This is going to be blunt.

Do not buy a Gerber. Their quality has taken a huge dive since they stopped being about knives and started being about selling knives, if you understand the difference. They used to be up there with the big name production knives, but as of late, they have been looking at $$$ more than they have been looking at the quality of product that they are selling.

I was a huge gerber fan when I was a kid. Had a BMF that I used hunting and that thing was SWEET. There is no way that the company today could put out a knife that well made, even if they wanted to.

OTOH, Mora is a solid knife. They are no frills, but for what you pay there isn't another option that is of the same quality (Maybe Marttinii, I have no experience though).

TL;DR: Gerber junk, Mora good.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, after reading what you guys had to say an doing a little bit of research based on your recommendations and opinions I've decided to go with he Becker Companion from Ka-bar and grab a Mora companion as well. These two together should do the trick for what I need. Also saw some cool stuff on modding the Becker BK2 and it's sheath. So I should have some fun with it once it gets here. Thanks again!
 
Mastalerz said:
Thanks for the replies everyone, after reading what you guys had to say an doing a little bit of research based on your recommendations and opinions I've decided to go with he Becker Companion from Ka-bar and grab a Mora companion as well. These two together should do the trick for what I need. Also saw some cool stuff on modding the Becker BK2 and it's sheath. So I should have some fun with it once it gets here. Thanks again!
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Very cool. A lot of guys get the BK2 and it leads to more and more Beckers. Check out the Becker sub-forum for ideas for mods and such.
 
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