Soliciting the voice of experience

[logos et veritas]

Hi guys,

I've never really been a knife guy, but I've been lurking around the site and picking up what I can. I've always owned Gerbers and they always got the job done, but then again I've never really put a knife to the test.

Anyway, my roommate is looking for a good all-around knife for outdoor adventures, and something that would hold up in a survival situation. He's planning on getting the Gerber Bear Grylls knife, and from what I've learned so far on the site, he could do a lot better in the $50-$75 price range.
He likes the fact that it's got a firestarter and sharpener, and thinks that unless you're doing something extraordinary, it doesn't matter whether the blade is 440A, AUS 8, 1095 CroVan, or VG-10.

Help me convince him to get an F1/Becker/whatever instead of the Bear Grylls. I honestly don't know enough about knives to present a compelling case.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

...He's planning on getting the Gerber Bear Grylls knife, and from what I've learned so far on the site, he could do a lot better in the $50-$75 price range.
He likes the fact that it's got a firestarter and sharpener, and thinks that unless you're doing something extraordinary, it doesn't matter whether the blade is 440A, AUS 8, 1095 CroVan, or VG-10.

Help me convince him to get an F1/Becker/whatever instead of the Bear Grylls. I honestly don't know enough about knives to present a compelling case.

Sometimes, the best lessons are the ones learned the hard way. If he's dead-set on the Bear Grylls knife, don't stand in his way. Whatever flaws or issues there may be with that particular knife will reveal themselves to him in time. He'll then be better-equipped to make a more informed decision the next time around. I'm guessing everybody here has made a 'bad' choice (or several) along the way to becoming 'experienced' on the subject. I know I did.

Barring that, you might do him some good by simply pointing him to the threads you've already read on the subject here. Let him read for himself what the pros/cons may be. A 'Registered User' account here is free. Nothing to lose by signing him up and encouraging him to browse around a while, ask questions, etc.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Check out the review section of the forums, here is link to a recent review done by another member:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=790424

 

[GingivitisKahn]

In that price range, he could do a lot better with a Becker BK-2 or something. Just because I'm biased doesn't make me wrong.

---

Beckerhead #42

 

[marcinek]

Well...if he's got a man crush on Grylls there's gonna be no talking him out of the knife.

If that's not the case, let me make a few suggestions.

1) Have him watch Dual Survival...where the one guy uses a 10 buck Mora. It might widen his horizons a bit.

2) Have him come here and read this...."Dude. Grylls knives suck. They are kinda a joke among people in the know. On the other hand, the Becker BK-2 and Fallkniven F1 are almost universally beloved by people who know a LOT more about wilderness living than I do."

 

[knarfeng]

Hi guys,

I've never really been a knife guy, but I've been lurking around the site and picking up what I can. I've always owned Gerbers and they always got the job done, but then again I've never really put a knife to the test.

Anyway, my roommate is looking for a good all-around knife for outdoor adventures, and something that would hold up in a survival situation. He's planning on getting the Gerber Bear Grylls knife, and from what I've learned so far on the site, he could do a lot better in the $50-$75 price range.
He likes the fact that it's got a firestarter and sharpener, and thinks that unless you're doing something extraordinary, it doesn't matter whether the blade is 440A, AUS 8, 1095 CroVan, or VG-10.

Help me convince him to get an F1/Becker/whatever instead of the Bear Grylls. I honestly don't know enough about knives to present a compelling case.

How much of an "outdoorsman" is your roommate? What kind of outdoors adventures is he considering? How serious is he about his outdoors activities? How much of his time does he spend camping and hunting?

If your buddy isn't a full time camper, he'd probably do better with the Gerber Big Rock or a Buck 119 than a high end blade. The Gerber Big Rock is Chinese-made in pseudo 440A and runs about $30, but is much more knife than the Bear knife and costs less. The Buck 119 is a classic that is US-made and runs about $50. Plenty of seasoned hunters and campers find that the Buck 119 is all the knife they ever need.

Either is easy to sharpen, forgiving of lack of cleaning or poor storage conditions, and will hold an edge as at least as well as what the average user would ever need.