How is Gerber doing?

You're all beautiful!

Seriously though, Some of Buck's knives come in a clam shell and are pretty damn good, especially considering the price. So what excuse do other companies have?
 
Lodd said:
You're all beautiful!

Seriously though, Some of Buck's knives come in a clam shell and are pretty damn good, especially considering the price. So what excuse do other companies have?
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Tunnel vision. That is the excuse. That, and wanting to play it safe.
I am sure some greed is also in the mix.

If I was at Gerber, I would be pushing for a line called “Gerber Professional” that offered only American made products with better steel and heat treatment.
As a minimum, I certainly would get rid of their “frosted” bead blasted finish and go to stonewashing or a brushed finish like Leatherman.

I would also drop the Paraframe like a hot potato. It may sell fine but it is still garbage. How many people have purchased that and never considered another Gerber the rest of their life?

I have one. If it was the first Gerber I owned; it would be the only Gerber I owned. Ever.
 
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sabre cat said:
Agreed. My first two Gerbers were an orange LST and a Balance Plus bread knife. The LST is long gone but the bread knife is still around.
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Likewise my little Silver Knight. The rough, checkered scales are worn nearly smooth and The Sword and the Stone emblem button is rubbed down to be just a brass dot. It still locks up tight with no play!

One of my buddies had a Gator from the 80s. I hated it because of the plastic molded handle. I'll be he still has it. I know he used it for 20 years because I was the one that sharpened it. He couldn't kill it!

Robert
 
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I remember handling a Gator at a NRA dinner back in the 1980s.
Super comfortable but, it did nothing for me. Still doesn’t.
 
I guess it might be innovation that could put them back in the game. I never thought too much about the Magnum LST Jr. I had except that I liked it and it was light and sturdy. In hindsight, it turns out to be one of the biggest innovations in pocket knives and some have even called it the beginning of the EDC knife.

I don't know if I'd go that far, but I guess it was a pretty big deal. Pete Gerber had the idea and looked to Blackie Collins to make it a reality. It put them on the map.

So it's easy... they just need to come up with the next big innovation like the Spydie hole or Axis lock. Simple! ;)
 
Some Gerber branded US made models came back over a decade go, there's really no "new" change coming.

Gerber isn't a company, it's a brand owned by a company.

I don't care how Fiskars is doing and I won't applaud nor decry them for whatever their financial situation. I don't buy knives to help the company make profit. I buy knives to satisfy my wants. If they can do fine without me, then I can do fine without them. I fail to see why anyone has to bring up that companies don't need all of us. We don't need all of them, either. That's nothing more or less than parity. Neither side is missing out.
 
The funny thing is that all my Fiskars stuff (axe, kitchen shears, loppers, pole pruner, scissors) are really well made. But most Fiskars era Gerber stuff isn’t.
 
Their Sedulo folder is pretty great. I carry one and just ordered another. Very well made and quality materials
 
When their build quality gets back to that of my old bmf (still have it), I'll consider them again. I'll expect better steel, of course. But the same build quality that's kept that knife as tight as it is, 30ish years later.
 
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