Gerber Yari review request

And some first hand specs. Blade thickness wieght and so on. Inquiring minds want to know??

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Alex
This way to my Knife page

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I ordered 2 new yari`s from Roger at Bayou knifeworks today. It looks like a winner to me. You can find all the specs on gerbers home page except for the thickness. I called gerber yesterday and they told me the blade was .135 inch thick. The nimravus is .125 thick so its between the nimravus and the camillis CQB1 in blade thickness. I like the sheath with the plastic clip on it. There are no screws anywhere on the knife to come loose. Does anyone else have any input on the yari? Thanks, Roger
 
I forgot to mention that the yari is not from gerbers international series but it is made in the USA. Roger
 
I saw this knife for the first time at a gun/knife show this past weekend. Very nicely made, fit and finish is excellent. Grinds are even. Edge quality is very good. Handle feels quite comfy.

The sheath looks like it might be made of injection molded Zytel, I could be wrong. It's very Blade-Tech-ish in a good way. A large Zytel clip fastens the knife to the belt.

I asked Bob Scudder, Product Line Manager at Gerber Legendary Blades about who/what a "Yari" is and here's what he had to say:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">The Yari is a design that came from in-house. The meaning of "Yari" is something to the effect of a broken sword (Samurai) that has been reground to make it into a useful cutting instrument. I'll try to get a better definition for you but that is fairly accurate.</font>
Click to expand...

Interesting. Overall, great looking knife and well made. I'd like to read comments from those who have put one to use as well.



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Proud member of AKTI, NCCKG, NCKK, and SCAK

In memory of James K. Mattis
 
Dex, to expand. Yari is also a term used by Japanese martial artists to mean spear/spear blade aka cut down sword or what have you.

IMO, the look of the Yari is nice but has stiff competition from the SOG Recondo.

[This message has been edited by Smoke (edited 12-18-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Smoke (edited 12-20-2000).]
 
Dexter, You must have gone to the Winston Salem gun show this past weekend. Now I wish I would have gone. I went to the Charlotte show the week before and they didn`t have any Yari`s. By the way, the Gerber home page says the Yari has a sheath made of concealex. Can`t wait to get mine. Later, Roger
 
I got my yari`s today and I was very impressed with them. I do believe that gerber is back in the knife business again. I`ve got the nimravus and the CQB1 and this yari fits perfect in between. I could not find any flaws in it. It`s the perfect size for a personal defense knife. It has a thicker blade than the nimravus and the sheath is absolutely perfect. The knife will not come out of the sheath no matter how hard you try to bounce it out. That was one of my problems with the nimravus. The grind lines are perfect and it feels so good in the hands. The blade has a unique coating that is exceptional. I do believe these knives will sell like hotcakes. Very impressed. Roger.
 
The Yari looks like a nice knife. But from the photographs I saw it has a sheath with the molded in belt clip. That really turns me off. If you dont use it, its just out there catching on everything. If you do use it, those type do not stay on your belt. Nobody that carries a gun would use a holster with that style belt clip. Some do and the holster comes off when you draw sooner or later.
Even the large flat metal spring clips used on sheaths like TOPS makes for their products are suspect at times. But much better. A knife needs to be locked positively to a belt. But its a free country and if you like that type of sheath....go for it. Nice knife in need of a different sheath.
 
Mike, I have a concealed carry permit and I do carry a gun My gun holsters are all made by bladetech and they are paddle holsters and they work on the same principle and this knife clip. They stay in your pants period unless you take them out. This clip on sheath is my favorite kind mostly because you can carry it in your pants without a belt on and the sheath will not come out. I used them extensively made by bladetech and you would be surprised how well they stay in your pants. Just my humble opinion of course. Later, Roger
 
I didn't know what one was until yesterday. I went to a new local gunshop and one was laying on the counter. When I first saw it I honestly thought it was a new Newt Livesay knife because of the Micarta handle and the dark blade finish. It feels really good and would probably be a good defensive blade. I didn't care for the sheath. It looked too cheap to go with the knife. I'm not a fan of clips. I'm not sure what one costs but it compares favorably to the CQB-1.Just my thoughts, Regards, Clayton
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Smoke:
Dex, to expand. Yari is also a term used by Japanese martial artists to mean spear/spear blade aka cut down sword or what have you.
</font>
Click to expand...

To expand even further, and perhaps to correct misconceptions, a yari is a steel-tipped spear. The yari traditionally has a straight blade (usually double edged), or can be of a straight blade with forks (somewhat trident-like). It would be extremely rare to see a broken sword blade cut down into a spear because Japanese swords are single edged, not double, and have curved blades due to the differential heat treat.

Since steel was rare in old Japan, it would not be unusual to see a broken weapon reforged into another style of weapon. But I am not aware of historically significant numbers of spears made from cut-down ends of broken swords.

There is a type of sword called a naginata-naoshi where the blade of a single-edged, curved-blade naginata polearm was made into a wakizashi or katana. So far as I know, the naginatanaoshi and the use of broken swords to make tanto and wakizashi are the only common examples of "recycling" blades that does not involve reforging the steel--which is basically making a new weapon from scratch.

All of which begs the question: where did Gerber get their info?

[This message has been edited by Kenshi (edited 12-21-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Kenshi (edited 12-21-2000).]
 
W (roger), Blade Tech paddle holsters clip works on the same principal yes, but paddle holsters have a hook that snags your pants from the inside as well, not just over the belt on the outside. Look at an uncle mikes Inside the waistband cheapie 10 buck holster. Look at the clip......same as this knife's sheath. Also those clips are made to be clipped vertical. Otherwise the edge is only gripping with a tiny fraction of its surface. A knife should be canted more forward, especially one this size. If its straight up and down, Its going to be much harder to hide.

And for the record, you may not have had any problems, but paddle holster in general with their design have a nasty habit of falling out or pulling out with the pistol on the draw.
I just think something along the lines of the sheath camillus used on the CQB 1-2 with TEK-Lok is better. Ironically Bladetech did that one too. -mike
 
Mike, you make some good points there. And yes you are right, I havn`t had and problems at all with them. I have 4 of bladetech paddle holsters and my only problem with them is they are to hard to take off your pants.By the way I also own 2 CQB1`s with the tek-lok. and I had one of the tek-loc`s out seeing if it would match the holes in the yari`s holster and they did match perfectly so like you said the holster must be made by bladetech. Only problem is like you mentioned before is that the clip will be sticking out on the outside. But my favorite carry for any fixed blade is a crossdraw with the handle canted forward and with the clip even though it is a horizontal setup, I just clip it in for the crossdraw and cant it forward and it stays that way . Ain`t it great having these forums to hash things over about knives? Later, Roger
 
Mike, In above post I meant to say vertical setup instead of horizontal setup. Roger
 
My plain edge Yari arrived today. Just like the sample I examined at last weekend's gun and knife show, this one came out of the box razor sharp with excellent fit and finish. Since I have a few days off with the upcoming holiday, I hope to put the Yari through its paces. I'll post comments afterwards.

Between the Yari and the Air Frame, looks like Gerber is putting themselves on the map for high end knives.

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Proud member of AKTI, NCCKG, NCKK, and SCAK

In memory of James K. Mattis
 
I had stated in an above post that the Yari didn`t have any screws on the knife to come loose but after playing with mine for several days now I noticed that the handles are held on by allen head screws. I believe it`s a 3/32 allen head wrench. At 53 my eyes just aren`t what they used be. I haven`t really used the knife for anything yet but just playing with it, it really grows on you. Roger
 
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