Is the Gerber LMF worth $60

[razorburn]

My local retailer in Canada has the Gerber LMF for $59.99, half price for the entire week starting Friday. the question is it worth picking one up.I know it's not a full tang knife but it has an awesome sheath,features and accessories.

 

[Hiro-kun]

I think it's a good deal. I paid around $90 for mine several years ago. I also just checked a large Canadian seller of knives on a certain auction site for fixed blades around the $60 price range. At the same price or slightly less, only United Cutlery knives and a Ka-Bar 117 are available. For around $20 more, you start getting into Cold Steel Leathernecks, short Ka-Bars, and a SOG Mini-Pentagon, which is a much different kind of knife.

 

[DocT]

In my opinion there are better knives for that amount of money. The only thing from Gerber that I think is worth buying is the Bear Grylls small hatchet.
Try the Buck Sentry for $51.95 or the Becker BK 17 or 16 for about $69. You'd be better off.

 

[marcinek]

My local retailer in Canada has the Gerber LMF for $59.99, half price for the entire week starting Friday. the question is it worth picking one up.I know it's not a full tang knife but it has an awesome sheath,features and accessories.

If you think it "...has an awesome sheath,features and accessories." then what's the issue? Sounds worth it to you.

To me it has pretty much nothing even sensibly designed, let alone awesome, so it is not worth it, even at half of that half price.

 

[Quiet]

To me personally, the answer is not only no, but HELL no. I don't like anything about it, to be honest.

 

[Hiro-kun]

In my opinion there are better knives for that amount of money. The only thing from Gerber that I think is worth buying is the Bear Grylls small hatchet.
Try the Buck Sentry for $51.95 or the Becker BK 17 or 16 for about $69. You'd be better off.

The best price I found for the Sentry in Canada is $67 CAD shipped. The best price I found in Canada for the BK 16 is $90 CAD shipped. They are also not as readily available as the LMF is in Canada. I know what store the OP is referring to. He can get the LMF today at the price he saw and get superior customer service without having to ship back any problems. Furthermore, these knives don't have the same features as the LMF: rubber grip, electrical insulation, leg-mountable sheath, hammer/glass-breaker pommel. To name these knives as superior alternatives to the LMF in Canada for the price is generous at best.

He could buy these knives from an American dealer, but will have to pay higher shipping costs (to get it and return if there are problems), is still subject to sales taxes, and will have to wait at least a week.

As pure cutting tools, the Sentry and the BKs may be comparable or superior to the LMF, but the OP is asking if the LMF at the named price is a good deal. Considering the prices in Canada, the convenience of obtaining the knife, and the ease of getting customer service, the value of the LMF, in my opinion, is quite good and gives the OP much more bang for the buck than these alternatives.

 

[marcinek]

The best price I found for the Sentry in Canada is $67 CAD shipped. The best price I found in Canada for the BK 16 is $90 CAD shipped. They are also not as readily available as the LMF is in Canada. I know what store the OP is referring to. He can get the LMF today at the price he saw and get superior customer service without having to ship back any problems. Furthermore, these knives don't have the same features as the LMF: rubber grip, electrical insulation, leg-mountable sheath, hammer/glass-breaker pommel. To name these knives as superior alternatives to the LMF in Canada for the price is generous at best....

Considering the prices in Canada, the convenience of obtaining the knife, and the ease of getting customer service, the value of the LMF, in my opinion, is quite good and gives the OP much more bang for the buck than these alternatives.

The Becker is far superior to the LMF at any price, let alone a mere $30 CAD more. Unless one doesn't care about functionality.

If that is the case I would suggest getting a 900g loaf of Veleveeta, which is readily available in Canada, even cheaper than the LMF, and has comparable cutting ability.

 

[moraldilemma666]

Hey I posted some pics of it next to some of my other knives if youd like to see. Its really not a bad knife and 420hc isn't that bad of a steel. it works and is easy enough to put a good edge on. it is what it is and for what its designed for it works well.http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ne-kukri-a-few-I-made?p=13878960#post13878960

 

[craytab]

Wouldn't be worth it for me. Low grade plastic & rubber handle. Low grade steel. Not full tang. Heavy and clunky. I held one in a store and couldn't believe how heavy & off balance it felt. I have a couple Prodigys stored in various go bags as back ups to my back ups that feel much better in hand. And I got them for less than half what they are asking for that LMF2. There are better offerings in that price range from companies like SOG. Further, if you spent a little more something from Becker would be way better.

 

[chiral.grolim]

It works VERY well as intended. The glass-breaker is quite effective, as is the hammer-face, the handle is comfortable and insulating and of superior design to those already mentioned, the edge-geometry is no thicker than comparable knives (including those already mentioned) and the serration-design is quite thin for excellent cutting performance (superior to those mentioned) against rope/vines/roots/etc., it is plenty stout for heavy use, the stick-tang travels nearly the full-length of the handle so it is very close to being a "full-tang" knife but the pommel is deliberately disconnected - that disconnect is the weakest point, many would prefer an integral pommel. As you know already, the sheath design is quite impressive, esp. compared to the crappy sheaths included as an after-thought with beckers and the like, but it hols the knife very tight to double as a handle when using the pommel. A drop of mineral oil makes it easier to draw/re-sheath. It's Made in USA like all good Gerbers. It sharpens easily, stainless, relatively tough...

Downsides: the weak-point mentioned, it is also very heavy due to the massive pommel, and the serrations are not ideal if your primary use is slicing paper/cardboard or carving wood. This is a rather specialized tool. If you do not want that hammer-pommel, you'd do well looking at another model like the Gerber Prodigy... can you get that as well or for less? If you do not want the serrations, again there are other models you'd do well to consider.

If the above are not downsides for you, then YES it is worth $60 and then some.

 

[bladeaddict1990]

My personal opinion is don't do it...Gerber isn't really a great brand as far as buying something that will last a couple decades, I would consider going with a company like cold steel. There are other options but they have a lot of bang for your buck with better steels and a lot more durability than Gerbers do. Now if your buying a fixed blade to use a couple times while camping or hunting go for it...gerbers customer base generally is for people that need budget knives that won't be a hard use knife. It's really a "you get what you pay for situation". So for me I stay away from them but for you it may suit your needs.

 

[GhostAlpha0]

I have an LMF II, Prodigy, and LHR but I bought them all when I really knew nothing about knives. Now that I know so much more about materials, steel, everything knife related I would certainly never buy any of these again. There are just too many better options with so many companies paying more attention to quality materials and steel. Especially with the steels they use, Gerber always seems to use the lowest quality steels. With some models they don't even really disclose details of the steels they use (or it's at least not easily accessible).

I use the LMF and Prodigy as my beaters or when I want to experiment with something. I'll probably unload the LHR eventually, that one is still unused and I really have no use for it.

 

[Hiro-kun]

If you do not want that hammer-pommel, you'd do well looking at another model like the Gerber Prodigy... can you get that as well or for less? If you do not want the serrations, again there are other models you'd do well to consider.

If the above are not downsides for you, then YES it is worth $60 and then some.

The store in question does not stock the Prodigy, nor is it as readily available. I checked a popular online retailer with a Canadian site for it and they're selling it for the same price as the current sale price of the LMF. It's up to the OP to decide if giving up some LMF features for a lighter, smaller package is worth paying the same amount.

 

[Bigfatts]

The Becker is far superior to the LMF at any price, let alone a mere $30 CAD more. Unless one doesn't care about functionality.

If that is the case I would suggest getting a 900g loaf of Veleveeta, which is readily available in Canada, even cheaper than the LMF, and has comparable cutting ability.

This just made me choke on my red beans and rice!

 

[razorburn]

Just picked one up last night,they only had black,held the display knife and found it to be a bit too wide beside that picked one up.For this retailer,I was able to do an exact stock check with exactly how many in a location, on my computer beforehand.Another plus,this large coast to coast Canadian retailer offers a one years exchange warranty as a convenience,and anything beyond can still be shipped back to gerber's factory in Oregon.

Things,I liked that the nylon strapping had bands of rubber stitching for traction,with the knife strapped to my leg drawing the knife was not hard as the sheath was firmly in place,the knife handle felt very solid and not something that will break easily, the 420HC blade once touched up on ceramic stone was easily able to cut paper into ribbons which was a surprise,the serrations were able to slice paper fairly cleanly,lashing holes in the handle for use as a spear are convenient,the sheath has a integrated v-style pull though blade sharpener is a nice touch for times when nothing else is around,and the sheath also offer multiple carry options.

Cons: The edge was not what I would call exactly razor sharp where it would cut clean then begin to tear paper.Use of the pull through sharpener requires removal from the nylon portion of the sheath system.

As for better options,I kind of wanted to see what gerber had to offer with this knife as it is used by the US military after extensive testing.As for better,knives I do have many from the large cutlery companies like a CS Trailmaster,Kobun, various CS neckers.Laredo,Recon Scout,BK9,BK2,BK7,BK11,Gyphon M11 ATS-34,etc. Just to name a few.Before this the only gerber was a Manual '06 in S30V and a small LED Firecracker flashlight.

 

[Inazone]

I bought an LMF II after first buying a Prodigy. Having admittedly not put either knife to any quantifiable amount of use thus far, my only opinion is that the Prodigy is the more practical of the two in terms of size and ergonomics. However, I would be just as likely to bring the LMF II with me on any sort of "adventure" as I would the Prodigy, a Ka-Bar, any one of the various Ontario knives I own, or a number of other fixed blade knives of a similar size. In fact, more likely in some cases, mainly because I like to have a pommel capable of hammering if absolutely necessary.

Gerber's reputation has suffered under Fiskar's ownership and especially due to an overabundance of low-quality Chinese products, but I still consider their US-made knives and multi-tools to be a good value for what you get.

 

[Tasmaniac]

My LMF II, which I bought when I first started really getting into knife collecting, is sitting in a drawer and I never even think about taking it out. Now that I think about it I should just give it away because selling it for anything close to what I paid for it probably isn't going to be a viable option.

If I had only done a tiny bit of research I would have bought a BK2 instead, but I was a green bean and I had no clue.