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New birthday EDC knife!
- Thread starter Mecha
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I was gifted a new EDC knife for my birthday, a replacement for one I used to have! It's the Gerber STL, or "strong, thin & light" knife.
My original dropped out of my pocket while fixing a broken down car, and being in Eugene, of course a tweaker skittered out of the woodwork like a cockroach and scooped it up the second I drove away from the parking lot.
The other one was used when bought, so this is the first time I've seen the package this knife comes in.
Really, Gerber? It's not a liner lock, it's a frame lock. It even says so on the back of the package!
As you can also see, it has a Titanium-Coated stainless steel handle. Apparently that's a fancy way of saying "black paint."Really, it's a cool little knife, why can't they just tell it like it is? Coated in titanium? That is just utterly ridiculous.
What it really needs is a custom titanium alloy replacement blade, on some bronze washers to replace the plastic ones. That would really make it a super special little knife. And it's really not bad at all, check out that centering:
It has a good detent, too. And the styling is awesome, like a '90s car:
Now to accent that styling with a '90s wallet chain -status ultra long kevlar cord and bronze Predator bead, of the Predator holding a trophy skull.
Yeah that's right, I even snuck a skull in there.
Damn good birthday knife. It really does deserve a little custom blade upgrade in Russian Spetznaz ballistic armor titanium alloy 5Al 2Mo 4.5V 1Cr 0.7Fe, and bronze washers.
Happy Birthday, here’s some humour for you.
Atleast they aren’t trying to claim like Camillus that their titanium paint makes the blade 10x stronger than steel. I no longer see their carbonitride titanium coating makes knife 10x stronger all over their website so they probably got called out for it at some
point.
Or how about this Camillus knife, apparently it has a “titanium bonded” blade.
Either way that is actually a really cool Gerber knife. I can’t wait to see what you put in there.
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Thanks for the happy B-days, everyone. If the knife gets a blade upgrade I'll post it up for sure.
Not sure. It just seems to go dull right away like most cheap knives. The knife was around 10 bucks, but the handle is so cool I think it does deserve a better blade. Is 7cr13mov steel considered really bad?
Not sure. It just seems to go dull right away like most cheap knives. The knife was around 10 bucks, but the handle is so cool I think it does deserve a better blade. Is 7cr13mov steel considered really bad?
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Thanks for the happy B-days, everyone. If the knife gets a blade upgrade I'll post it up for sure.
Not sure. It just seems to go dull right away like most cheap knives. The knife was around 10 bucks, but the handle is so cool I think it does deserve a better blade. Is 7cr13mov steel considered really bad?
This is just judging by its composition but it probably isnsomewhere between 440a and 420hc. So in the world of knaifbros pretty weak on performance. In the rest of the world decent enough. Idk what Gerber’s heat treatment is like but I doubt they make this steel work as hard as Bucks heat treatment does to 420hc.
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Well I'm looking at the knife and among the many things done right about it is that they really stuffed every mm of blade length one could get into the handle. HOWEVER I can make one that is still bigger: more belly, and wider, like those cutlass-looking traditional slipjoint blades. The plot thickens...
Don't be so sure of that statement...Thanks for the happy B-days, everyone. If the knife gets a blade upgrade I'll post it up for sure.
Not sure. It just seems to go dull right away like most cheap knives. The knife was around 10 bucks, but the handle is so cool I think it does deserve a better blade. Is 7cr13mov steel considered really bad?
This guy did a test of Gerber's 7Cr17MoV on a clean surface.I'd say Happy Birthday but you talk like a spoiled 10-year old brat.
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happy belated birthday. nice someone cared enough to get ya a gift even if a Chinese gerber. it was engineered in Oregon so that counts some towards American doesnt it?
yep upgrade the blade.
yep upgrade the blade.
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I liked this knife a lot and that's why my loved one specifically went out of her way to get me this exact knife, brand-new, which might not even be getting made anymore. I'm so excited about it that it's getting a custom-made blade upgrade and I intend to use it forever.
I don't know anything about the steel used, and what I wrote was in response to someone else saying Gerber could have used better steel. All I know is that most if not all of the cheap stainless steel knives I've owned seemed to go dull quickly, probably because I'm not easy on tools. The upgraded blade is going to be better, way better - it's already been forged.
Last edited:
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Here we have three pieces of titanium alloy:
One piece, and forged:
Being shaped into the blade. Can you see the layers? It's titanium san mai! If the project is successful, it will be the first san mai titanium knife blade. A core of Russian BT23 alloy, with Russian 6al4v sides.
You seent it first, right here on Bladeforums.
One piece, and forged:
Being shaped into the blade. Can you see the layers? It's titanium san mai! If the project is successful, it will be the first san mai titanium knife blade. A core of Russian BT23 alloy, with Russian 6al4v sides.
You seent it first, right here on Bladeforums.
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The guy is genuinely excited about a knife he received for his birthday. He gave his honest opinion of it before he *magically* upgrades the blade to freaking San mai titanium, and you say he talks like a spoiled 10 year old brat... Lmao!
Stop all that lip flappin' and watch where this goes.
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73 cuts from Schrade and 100 from Gerber. Higher end steels routinely go 290+. Maxamet goes 500+. You DO get performance for your money with super steels.
Also, can we please stop saying "heat treat"? We're connoisseurs here, it's called tempering.
It's like an alleged car guy referring to his (gasoline) engine as a "motor."
Also, can we please stop saying "heat treat"? We're connoisseurs here, it's called tempering.
It's like an alleged car guy referring to his (gasoline) engine as a "motor."
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By *magically* I mean by ways us mere mortals who only understand steel can never understand how he does these things with titanium! I'll never understand it, but the guy does stuff with titanium that I thought was only possible with steel.
It's magic. He's a Ti wizard. This is a thread to watch! This is going to be EPIC.
It's magic. He's a Ti wizard. This is a thread to watch! This is going to be EPIC.
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Tempering is only one part of the total heat treatment.
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By *magically* I mean by ways us mere mortals who only understand steel can never understand how he does these things with titanium! I'll never understand it, but the guy does stuff with titanium that I thought was only possible with steel.
It's magic. He's a Ti wizard. This is a thread to watch! This is going to be EPIC.
Oh it's really just basic stuff. First you gotta [CLASSIFIED] while being sure to [REDACTED], and then you [TOP SECRET]. Viola!
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Tempering is what decides how hard/brittle it is. Quench too quickly and it ends up brittle. Too slowly and it's soft.
They like to make it sound very technical, but I think it is more about QC than anything.