Giant mouse GM 5

[abbazaba]

 

[ericlosh]

i love my gm5, its awesome, not a slysz bowie killer, cause i dont think viper can compete with taichung consistency

Gonna get some anno work done to mine

 

[ronin.graves]

I have one and it’s pretty nice. Feels similar to a Kizer in quality so far; But nice materials, good action, tight tolerances.

 

[abbazaba]

Been carrying mine a lot lately. Reminds me of my summer of love with the Slysz Bowie.

 

[ronin.graves]

Been carrying mine a lot lately. Reminds me of my summer of love with the Slysz Bowie.

Love the Slysz too.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

Meant for the comment above about Reate producing them.

I'll take a high quality Chinese made knife over a crappy Italian one.

Ideally though, I'd rather pay a bit more for one made by Millit or another domestic manufacturer.

 

[Nautique]

I'll take a high quality Chinese made knife over a crappy Italian one.

Ideally though, I'd rather pay a bit more for one made by Millit or another domestic manufacturer.

GM5s are crappy?

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

GM5s are crappy?

Apparently. I don't have one, but these 2 pages seem to be more complaints and concessions than praise.

Reate receives almost universal praise by comparison. Complaints about their knives tend to just be due to design rather than execution. Stock thickness and so forth.

 

[Mo2]

GM5s are crappy?

I mean I've never seen a cut test do well with any Viper knife. They always under perform due to poor heat treatment. Previously they were using usa grade ti on lock side and Tc4 show side without disclosing it (unsure if they changed this on newer GM models or not). They as in Viper admitted to this after the GM company was accused of it with proof. Also they have had alot of detent/action issues. Also warranty only applies to the original owner. Plus they are mostly based off of regular Viper models but given a GM twist to the style and charge alot more.

So yea... Lots of issues with the manufacturer. But people like the way they look and collect them. So if none of that bothers you, they look nice if you get one with good action.

 

[Nautique]

Apparently. I don't have one, but these 2 pages seem to be more complaints and concessions than praise.

Reate receives almost universal praise by comparison. Complaints about their knives tend to just be due to design rather than execution. Stock thickness and so forth.

Lol, ok. I see two mentions of weaker than ideal detents.

 

[Sirquest2k]

I have had this one twice. It’s that good.
Like others have stated, it’s very reminiscent of the Slysz Bowie. My only gripes are the jimping location, and that they didn’t make this nice a knife with M390. Other than that mine had perfect centering, nice action, and well tuned detent.

 

[halden.doerge]

For my part I'll just say that I've owned the GM1, GM2, GM3, GM5, GMF1, and the Ace Biblio and haven't yet had one with any major issues in terms of fit and finish, or heat treatment. I used, reprofiled, and took note of the performance on all of them except the GM3, which I didn't hold on to for very long. The M390 on the GM2, GMF1, and Biblio have all performed in line with M390 from other manufacturers and the GM5's Elmax heat treat is, in my opinion, very, very good (that's the GM folder I still have in my collection, BTW). The GM1 has N690co, which obviously has less edge retention than M390, but I found it to perform better in terms of edge retention than VG10, which it's supposed to be comparable to.

Incidentally, I also have owned two Viper Fortis's, another Vox design which shows lots of similarities to the GM line. The fit and finish wasn't as solid as GMs, which I'd expect, given the difference in price (I do think Viper deserves some criticism for spotty fit and finish in their regular production line), but I must say that in that case in particular I really went to town testing the M390 on the Fortis (both models), and it did better than I've ever seen M390 do on other folders I've had. It may be that I just pushed it harder and actually witnessed more of the capacity of the steel, when I hadn't pushed other folders in the same way. In other words, I'm not saying I know it performed better than M390 by other manufacturers, only that I know damn sure it wasn't worse.

Just my experience. Obviously mileage varies, etc. But I do think a lot of the dismissive comments in this thread are based mostly on hearsay and aren't quite warranted. Again, just my 2 cents.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

Lol, ok. I see two mentions of weaker than ideal detents.

The first one I had was just plain bad. The detent was very weak, chip in the edge, asymmetrical secondary, defects in the handle finishing, and the closing action was garbage. I emailed Jim (the CEO) and he offered to refund me or exchange for another. I chose to give it another go because the design is so good, imo. The second one is perfect, except for the weak detent (but not as bad as the first one). Still have it. Great knife.

Yep, I’ve got one. My detent is pretty good. I’d naybe like it slightly stronger, but it’s fine for a non flipper. Everything else on it is perfect fit and finish wise. I think it’s the best GM so far. It’s a keeper for me.

Anso and Vox are a couple of favorites but I wish they’d try out a different manufacturer. While Viper seems to run the entire spectrum of QC, I haven’t seen many praises of the action.

I’d love to see what Reate could do and I’d feel the GM prices would be a bit more in line with the quality expectations, well, mine at least.

I have one. Like others have said, the detent is on the weaker side. On my example, the tip came rounded off from not being sharpened properly. Everything else is quite nice, but I would never say it's worth every penny of $350.

I'd avoid the whole GM line. No warranty to anyone you sell them too. Only original owner. Viper has bad qc. Mostly but not limited to detent. They are way more expensive because they are a limited run, often times but not always there is a Viper knife it's based off of already with subtle differences and they are just way cheaper.

My major issue is the qc with Viper.

If GM went to reate that would be world's better. Like way way way better.

I would suggest the GM line is only for collectors.

But I find it strange they don't really care about the qc issues from this MFG. Doesnt go in line with quality of a collectors items that they expect. If you know what I mean.

i love my gm5, its awesome, not a slysz bowie killer, cause i dont think viper can compete with taichung consistency

Gonna get some anno work done to mine

All with something negative to say about either GM, the GM5 specifically or Viper.

I have no skin in the game. I didn't design or make the knife, but you're delusional if you think Reate isn't functioning on a higher level.

There's no dice roll when you buy one of their knives. No hoping the detent isn't weak.

Don't get me wrong. If they could find some domestic alternative to manufacture them I'd be all for it. Even at a cost increase, but I'm always going to prioritize quality over location.(Barring some sort of IP theft or other douchefoolery.)

 

[Nautique]

Never once mentioned the quality of Reate.

 

[ronin.graves]

All with something negative to say about either GM, the GM5 specifically or Viper.

I have no skin in the game. I didn't design or make the knife, but you're delusional if you think Reate isn't functioning on a higher level.

There's no dice roll when you buy one of their knives. No hoping the detent isn't weak.

Don't get me wrong. If they could find some domestic alternative to manufacture them I'd be all for it. Even at a cost increase, but I'm always going to prioritize quality over location.(Barring some sort of IP theft or other douchefoolery.)

In all fairness, many of the reviews seem honest, pointing out the good and the bad. They don’t seem to categorize them as mostly bad. Also, detent is often a question of preference and can certainly be subjective. The person who actually had the worst first-hand experience of significant problems then notes that the replacement knife was “perfect”. Heck, two folks use the term “perfect” and only two comments seem negative to me. Most of the folks point out some things they like and would prefer to be better, mostly in the detent. The rest are speaking in general about Viper’s QC and seem accurate to me.

Ideally, everyone would have 100% perfect knives that meet 100% of their preferences. I just recently got a GM5 myself and at this point, I’d put it in the “perfect but expensive” category. So yes, that’s riskier than others. I definitely agree that Reate would do a better, more consistent job. With that said, I love mine and adding that to the list, I think that makes:

- 2 negative
- 2 good with possible improvements
- 3 “perfects”

The knive beings me joy and to me, was worth the money. But the bottom line is if you’re gonna shell out $300-400 for anything, getting it in-hand is always best; And you should be able to expect quality without undue risk. $400 should bring you what you see as a “perfect” or “near perfect” knife.

By the way, “douchefoolery” is now one my favorite words.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

By the way, “douchefoolery” is now one my favorite words.

You're welcome! I stole it from someone else, I forget who. Maybe @brancron or @palonej?

 

[ericlosh]

All with something negative to say about either GM, the GM5 specifically or Viper.

I have no skin in the game. I didn't design or make the knife, but you're delusional if you think Reate isn't functioning on a higher level.

There's no dice roll when you buy one of their knives. No hoping the detent isn't weak.

Don't get me wrong. If they could find some domestic alternative to manufacture them I'd be all for it. Even at a cost increase, but I'm always going to prioritize quality over location.(Barring some sort of IP theft or other douchefoolery.)

but I also stated that the gm5 is awesome. Being a slysz bowie "killer" was from my experience of having both knives. I dont really see that opinion as all that negative. Also i question the merit of hype going into "x model killer" which isnt why the gm5 was made anyway. A great knife is great on its own merits.

I thought i wouldn't like it for the weight and it carried better than anticipated. The detent being more medium was great, you can flick it open fast or open it slowly with ease. I had a WE 609 and it had a hard detent which would be great if it was a flipper, but it is a thumbstud only knife. One thing i like about non flippers is being able to open slowly and controlled. The WE 609 couldnt do that and it was an unexpected letdown. Exceptional in every other way. The GM5 is so much fun to play with, excellent action and the right kind of action for a non flipper knife.

 

[vanadium]

Previously they were using usa grade ti on lock side and Tc4 show side without disclosing it (unsure if they changed this on newer GM models or not). They as in Viper admitted to this after the GM company was accused of it with proof.

That's fascinating. Is this documented somewhere?

My personal take is that Viper/Tecnocut is a bit junky. I handled some in pre-GM days and was unimpressed. Funny how the exact same chintzy action is now deemed "unique" and becomes sought after, once the price goes from $140 to $350 and the tagline goes from "Made in Italy" to "Danish Design, American Ingenuity". Still trying to figure out what part of GM has anything to do with America besides the marketing and investment.

I also happen to know that GM isn't abiding by its "limited edition" numbers. Once the editions are sold out, overruns continue to be sold under the table.

 

[Mo2]

That's fascinating. Is this documented somewhere?

Unless they deleted it, it should still be on one of the ig pages. I forget if it was on GM, vox or the other guys. Too many posts to look through, but good luck. I may have linked it on the forum when it happened but not sure.

 

[ronin.graves]

That's fascinating. Is this documented somewhere?

My personal take is that Viper/Tecnocut is a bit junky. I handled some in pre-GM days and was unimpressed. Funny how the exact same chintzy action is now deemed "unique" and becomes sought after, once the price goes from $140 to $350 and the tagline goes from "Made in Italy" to "Danish Design, American Ingenuity". Still trying to figure out what part of GM has anything to do with America besides the marketing and investment.

I also happen to know that GM isn't abiding by its "limited edition" numbers. Once the editions are sold out, overruns continue to be sold under the table.

There’s nothing chinzy about the GM5. Have you handled one?