Info on the Gerber Gator

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Mialum

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Hey all! I just got my hands on a Gerber Gator 650, and I can't find much if any info about it. I'm curious if anyone has a source of info on it, such as between what years it was made, what the materials were, any type of history, etc. Thanks!!
 
I know the Gerber gator was first introduced in 1991. Not sure what the current catalog offerings are, but there was a plain edge and a partially serrated edge and a smaller version called the GatorMate. All of the Gator line was assigned a NSN number for military/government purchase however I do not know how many if any were actually purchased by the government as there isn't any recent purchase history that I can find online.
They are all made in the US and from my experience are pretty nice budget knives. The main selling point is the grippy handle which makes them good for hunting and such where your hands may get wet.
I think they offer some fixed blade versions also but I do not have any experience with them.
 
I have a Harley Davidson branded one my old man bought me for my 18th birthday in '99. Basically a stock Gator with a HD shield pressed into the side of the handle and a $40 mark up 😂 Nice gift, dumb branding. Mines the partially serrated version. Honestly, I like the Gator. I always wanted to get one as a work knife simply because it was so trippy and lightweight for its size. I kinda grew out of it though.

It's a very no nonsense hard working clip point.
 
A Gator was the knife I carried through most of my Scouting days. I have since picked up a few more, both in clip point and drop point. They're good knives and came in various steels. I have a couple in ATS-55 and one in 154CM (iirc). Very comfortable knives, though like most things, I haven't carried or used one in years and years. I just like 'em.
 
Mialum said:
Hey all! I just got my hands on a Gerber Gator 650, and I can't find much if any info about it. I'm curious if anyone has a source of info on it, such as between what years it was made, what the materials were, any type of history, etc. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
The Gerber Gator came out in 91, and won the award for "most innovative knife" at Blade that year. It is still in production, and I do not believe the materials of construction have changed. The standard Gerber Gator has a 3.75" hollow ground clip blade. The blade steel is/was 420HC blade steel and the handle is/was Kraton rubber. I don't believe Gerber ever outsourced the Gator model to China. The originals were made in the US. So are the current knives.

As for the "650", I believe Gerber has changed their model number system. These days they use a 4 digit number. I do not know when the numbering system changed, but it's been four digits for a while. You might contact Gerber and ask.

Here's a picture of a "650" that I pulled from an antiques web site. It is plainly marked "650".
4d127e7c-8405-5757-875d-e53b09331e98__11629.1528876562.jpg


Here's a picture of a current Gerber Gator that I pulled from a current knife shop site. Same knife.
GB6069_1.jpg


I don't think anyone attaches any significance to whether a Gerber Gator was made in the 20th or 21st century. They've been in continuous production for so long that I can't imagine anyone collects them. But they are a good user knife, for sure. Enjoy!
 
There's actually not much out there on the Gator history wise. It was an in house design by Doug Hutchens (production manager), Brad Parrish (design guy), and George Sessions (engineer), who were there during some of Gerber's best years. The 1991 award was for the Gator Serrater (it rhymes!), the 30% serrated version of the knife. Partially serrated knives were big back then. The big selling point was the comfy handle, it just fits the hand well.

Originally, they thought it would sell 30,000 knives a year, because it didn't have a clip, was kinda bulky, etc.... Well it proved to be one of it's hottest sellers for them, doing around 500,000 sales a year for most of the 90s.

With huge production numbers, most aren't that collectible, but there are a few collectors of the special steel runs. There's also an all black Gerber Gatorrnate that's kinda hard to find. It's a neat looking version.
 
I have 2 in my collection. One belonged to my brother-in-law, and my sister gifted it to me after he passed because she knew I always liked the model. The other was my brother’s, who more than likely packed it around Mogadishu with the 10th Mountain. (He doesn’t talk about it much, and I don’t ask…) He also gifted me the Gatormate to match.

They all belong in those “Knife you’ll never get rid of” threads. Can confirm the flickability of the full size ones, although these all just sit in a drawer - except for the occasional cleaning session.
 
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