Need help,cant tell what steel my gerber prodigy is made of?

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knireguy

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Dec 18, 2015
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Hello guys I recently bought a gerber prodigy and the model number is 22-01221N and it came in a box.

I've read a few comments on the internet stating that 22-01221 is sandvik 12c27 and other comments stating that 22-01221 only means the knife is packaged in a box.

It doesn't say what the steel is on the box so I cant really tell.

Is there any way to find out what kind of steel it's made of?
 
Gerber stopped using 12c27 in the lmf2 and prodigy back around 2011. So the likelyhood of you receiving one made of it is very unlikely in a recent purchase.

That being said the prodigy isn't a bad knife even thou it's made of 420hc. I gave one to my stepson when he turned 10 for his first fixed blade (I don't count the hollow handle flea market knife he wanted when he was 8). He's 13 now and has beat the hell out of the knife and hasn't managed to break it yet. So for $30-40 It's not a bad beater knife regardless of the steel. I also have The strongarm which is basically a prodigy with upgrades made of 420hc and it's also a good budget blade. Mine holds an excellent edge, and gets incredibly sharp quite easy.

I wouldn't want either as my primary knife or as a knife I would bet my life on, but thats just my opinion bc I have better knives I'd take. If it was the only knife I had it would likely serve me well in a survival situation.
 
The nice thing about 420hc is that it sharpens easy. You could find a smooth rock on the ground and get a workable edge on 420 hc. The higher end steels may hold and edge longer, but they take more effort to sharpen. Every knife that I've had has been 1095 or 420hc or whatever Victorinox is made of. To my knowledge, 420hc holds an edge almost as good as 1095 and is probably as tough. Anyway that Prodigy you have not only makes a good beater knife but can also be an only knife. It'll do the job, just need to sharpen it a bit more often.
 
A Prodigy was my first "good" fixed blade. However, until I got into camping a couple years ago, I never needed a fixed blade, so the Prodigy didn't see any use. As it stands, I can't say if the steel was worth a damn, but as I think most BFCers are well aware, the vast majority of consumers aren't going to need - or be able to justify - a more expensive knife simply to get better steel for better edge retention that they might never benefit from. In occasional use, would there be any noticeable difference between 420HC and 12c27 for the average non-enthusiast? Probably not. Certainly not enough to spend significantly more on an older version of the Prodigy when the current one remains a good value for what is - in my initial experience - to be a fine, reasonably priced knife that will do 90% (or more) of what most people would demand of a fixed blade of its style.
 
Thanks for all the replies and I figured that since this knife has a 2013 fiskars trademark on the box it was probably made after 2011.
 
Ironically, people think cheap knives should get premium steel....

Why do people continue to knock Gerber for providing a great budget knife that is made in the USA...

40 dollar knife, well worth it if you ask me, good enough to own, cheap enough to beat the heck out of it!

Nice job Gerber
 
vinnier6 said:
Ironically, people think cheap knives should get premium steel....

Why do people continue to knock Gerber for providing a great budget knife that is made in the USA...

40 dollar knife, well worth it if you ask me, good enough to own, cheap enough to beat the heck out of it!

Nice job Gerber
Click to expand...
They're usa made knives are few and far between compared to the made in China pos knives.I've broken every China made Gerber I owned in the past except the big rock. Their usa made knives are usually pretty good for the price, but even with those they tend to have some qc issues at times.

For less than $50 one could do far worse than a strong arm or prodigy.
 
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