I know this thread is over 6 months from the last post, but, I felt this was better to respond here than make a new thread. I received this folder along with the larger "ultimate" fixed blade model for Christmas from my brother today.
I own a becker bk2, a kabar fighter, a buck 119, and assorted other fixed blades. I also own benchmade, spyderco, and other folders. I am not a snob about knives, but, I think I know about quality. I wasn't interested in the Les Stroud knives until I received it...I had to act excited. But, after playing with it, I was pleasantly surprised in both Camilus knives.
My wife wanted to get into knives a while back, so I got her a Bear Grylls "ultimate" knife. Comparing the two, I prefer the Camilus for a couple reasons.
The sharpening out the box was much better on the Camilus. The Gerber had nicks in the blade as new. I sharpened it, but. It wasn't half as sharp as the Camilus from the factory.
The Camilus also feels better in my hand. It's more robust, the yellow portion is grippy, as is the back strap. I haven't cut down a tree or chopped a log with either (and I don't plan to, I have an axe, and a hatchet, not to mention...a chain saw. I get it, You can possibly do such task with a fixed blade. But I wont), but holding and using the Camilus makes you feel more confident in it. Neither made me feel nervous about slipping and cutting myself. The gerber didn't feel the same, it's thinner, not as tacky rubber. I also have smaller hands, but. I still liked the Camilus grip better on both the folder and the fixed blade than the Gerber.
That's about as far as the folder got. Its nice, but, it's in the drawer with all my other knives. I mainly played with the fixed blade Gerber and Camilus most of the day.
I don't think I'll use the flashlight on the Camilus, it does work though. The whistle as well, not anything I would think would help in a real situation...it sounds like a seal pup dying. The signaling mirror will signal, the paracord works. I replaced it with a matching gray 550 paracord, might as well match instead of the Hunter green stuff they had on it. ...I hadn't used the sharpener myself, but, it seems useable to me, I have other touch up sharpeners like it.
The Gerber whistle actually works, and seems to be of higher decibel. My dogs noticed it didn't sound like death. I used the sharpener. It will get an edge back on the knife.
The fire sticks amount of spark is something I did notice a huge difference in. The Gerber one, is well thought out. With the exposed blade steel. It makes it pretty explanitory to know where to strike the stick. After scratching the stick, it gives good spark. Using my mother who has no sense of survival, & my wife who is fairly self sufficient in most scenarios as a test bait. It took a while to get them to figure out how to use the whole package to make flames, and they both used the Gerber to start a kindling fire, both took a couple tries, but, it got the job done.
The Camilus isn't as plug and play for newcomers. The notch doesn't have a little flame emblem to let them know where to strike the stick. They both had to be shown where to strike. It also takes more angle to get it right...but the amount of spark it throws when you angle it right is almost double. To me, and my two testers....it seemed to just work better. I didn't even notice the folder had a flint stick until reading this thread. I'll say it also strikes. Not as much spark, but, I think, compared to the Gerber, it's as good.
I asked my wife and mother, given the accessories and features of both fixed blades, if they had to rely on one of them, which, and why.
My wife knows Bear Grylls. She likes his show, he is British and cute she said. She likes that knife. I gave it to her. She doesn't understand how to use the sharpener, she won't try to use it. But, I'm fairly confident she could start a fire with it the set up, and cut kindling, and use the whistle. Given instructions, she will learn how to actually sharpen the knife.
My mom on the other hand surprised me. She said she liked the look and feel of the Camilus. She knows of neither Bear or Les. She said if she needed to sharpen a knife, it would be easier for her to use the Camilus sharpener. She liked it had "rope" on it. And she liked it had a flashlight, as she pointed out, that little light was better than none, until she got her fire lit. She even lit kindling in her fire pit, after we were done with the Camilus. I was impressed. She hasn't ever relied on any thing more than a cellphone to make reservations for hotels and food. But, she seems to understand what she would need to survive. Even if for a short period.
I guess the only reason I wrote this was to share my real world review, of two people who really have never known anything about high end steel, or high quality control standards could both use either one of these knives as they are intended. To survive, all be it, for a small amount of time.
I like the Camilus. More than the Gerber. I base that on handling both knives. I know who both men are, I don't watch either show. It won't replace my regular carry fixed blade, my bk2. But, it has a place. And my mom now has that Camilus in her car, just as the Gerber is in my wife's. I hope they never have to actually use either
