Stainless Survival Knife - Stop a Gerber Purchase

Go to your computer and sort by knife prices on an auction site, or a book selling site, or whereever.... and see what's available for around $65. I guarantee you'll find something else actually worth buying
 
Angus McGunnigle said:
Let him get the Gerber BG Ultimate Pro. $65
It'll work fine and isn't the point to keep the kid excited about doing outdoor stuff ?
It's a decent knife and if he thinks it's cool, he'll be eager to use it.
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Totally!

If the kids wants it, then how could anyone know better!
It is full tang, and a fine edge blade, with all the cool stuff
 
If he was willing to go carbon I would say one of the Becker tweeners would be hard to beat. A 15,16, or 17 would be good.
 
Grayzer86 said:
If he was willing to go carbon I would say one of the Becker tweeners would be hard to beat. A 15,16, or 17 would be good.
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Becker knives, or anything from Ka-Bar is great. he may end up with a BG Gerber for now, but if his interest in knives and the outdoors continues he'll likely end up with a becker. Ka-Bar's 1095cv has pretty good corrosion resistance. I dunked my stripped BK9 in a river wiped it off on the dry part of my shirt and put it in the sheath still somewhat wet. Couple weeks later it had a tiny bit of spotting. I didn't even oil the blade or anything.
 
Totally agree with the posters who say get the kid what he wants. The Gerber is not that bad, and it's what he's jonesing for. It's what pushes his button, so why would you get him what you perceive as a "better" knife? Anything you substitute will be second best in his eyes, and he'll always wonder. Let him get it, and if it does not work out, then a priceless lesson has been learned by a young man. Let him make his own decisions and learn from them. As long as the Gerber works, then you still have an enthusiastic young man who likes to get out in the woods. If it doesn't work out, then maybe he'll ask "Hey Uncle so-and-so, what do you think I should get?"

Then, and only then, do you guide him. In time, your nephew will see BG for the posing moron he is, and he'll move on.
 
untamed said:
Most if not all of the latest reviews of the BG Pro knife seems to unanimously indicate it's a big step up from the previous one. Why not let your nephew have the experience of owning what he wants and learn the lesson/s which may come from the choices he makes?


That being said, there's recent thread about a similar topic HERE. It is going to be a stretch though with your price point + exposed tang + add-on survival extras requirement.
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TheGent said:
If he wants something like that get it for him. If he's a Grylls fan then when he matures he will figure it out on his own. I would make it an experience that he has fun at least learning that there are better knives. Maybe you can sway him to the Stroud version by Cammilus. They are both made overseas, but I have been impressed with the new Cammilus for the price.
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I agree with these guys. If it is what he wants, then anything else (unless it has a lot of some other kind of "cool factor" in his mind) is going to be immediately met with disappointment. That is going to put a negative spin on things right from the start...not conducive to to the direction you are wanting him to go. It's not for everyone to be sure, but from my experiences with it BG U.P.S. so far, it is definitely as well made as any of my earlier knives that I put through hell in early experiments as a teen. Let him learn the benefits of a higher-end knife on his own and it will actually stick and mean something.

That said, if you are determined to stop the BG knife purchase, unless you are coastal and dealing with a salt water environment, I think the smaller Beckers: BKs 15, 16, and 17 may be a good option. Ka-Bars 1095 CroVan from my experiences has a better corrosion resistance than regular 1095, the sheaths have pouches that will hold a few smaller items, and they are well made. If you look around you could find them at a price that puts the knife and a good quality ferro rod in that $100 or less price range.
 
So an update... my nephew is in his mid 20s and just discovering fixed blades along with camping in general.

I showed him a list of a bunch of different knives, including many that have been mentioned here.

I also loaned him my modified Schrade H-15 (flatish sabre grind, drop point, 5" blade) and my Buck 110 (a folder with just under 4" blade, hollow ground) for him to get an idea of the differences in blade length, grind, steel and grinds.

He concluded that he liked the feel of the 5" blade but couldn't see going longer. He liked the flatter grind better than the hollow point and the drop point better than clip point. His current top of the list is some of the Beckers (BK-22 and such) that he's finding for under $100. The Gerber BG is still in the hunt, so to speak.

Anyway, the hunt got me to looking at more knives than I normally look at. Two that caught my interest are the new Kabar Mk II Navy Utility knife and the Utica Drop Point hunter. But that's for me, not him.

Again, thanks for the help and input. He's got choices to make. His choices, not mine.
 
The BK2 (and 22, same knife different sheath) is a 1/4" thick beast. Won't ever have to worry about breaking it but I find the thinner BK10 to be more useful. I also really like the Ontario SP46, about the same size and thickness as the BK10 but a little less expensive. The sheath is terrible though.

The navy MK II is a good blade but the pommel is pretty heavy and the weight is way far back in the handle. I ground it down to lighten it up and I like it much more now.
 
BK 16 or BK 17 Becker Tweeners. They rule.

I am shocked that Gerber has so quickly upgraded the BG knife. I hated the concept when it came out, but I have seen the knives and Gerber seems to give a damn about the construction on some of their newer stuff.
 
How old is he?

BK16 is a great knife, if hes young its basically a mini-BK2. Lot's of ways to mod the knife and sheath as well which really gets people interested and thinking, many ways to make the knife YOURS rather than just get a Bear Grylls knife with all the cheap gizmos put in place already.

EDIT: Just read your update that he was older, he's got to get a BK2 - for the price you pay you get one hell of a knife.
 
Angus McGunnigle said:
Let him get the Gerber BG Ultimate Pro. $65
It'll work fine and isn't the point to keep the kid excited about doing outdoor stuff ?
It's a decent knife and if he thinks it's cool, he'll be eager to use it.
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Exactly. It'll handle all the abuse he'll give it, he'll be proud to show it off, and, though I'm going to catch hell for saying this, it's not a bad knife. If you're wanting him to get a better knife, have him get the Gerber LMFII or Prodigy Drop Point. Both great knives for the money. A tad more money, but less cheese, more build. I can see why a kid would want the BG though. Leave him be, and show him how to handle and care for it well, and you'll do the best thing for him!
 
If you want a stainless option that's a great knife for the money, check out the Schrade (yeah, Schrade) Extreme Survival lineup. Very reasonably priced, decent quality (modeled, legitimately, after CRK models), and many of them are stainless. A few around $40 on a site by a big river, so for the dough, he could try out a larger and smaller one, and get used to what different types of knives are best at. Even the Hollow Handle models (though high carbon) are great blades. I love mine. It has the Rambo cool factor from when I was a kid 2000 yrs ago.
 
jackknife said:
Then, and only then, do you guide him. In time, your nephew will see BG for the posing moron he is, and he'll move on.
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pinnah said:
So an update... my nephew is in his mid 20s and just discovering fixed blades along with camping in general.
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I was going to say that they may not grow out of it and then you posted his age.:D Wife's friend's husband was decked out in BG cutting tools last time we went hiking and thought he was the S and he is in his mid thirties. This guy even thought it was a good idea to run down steep switchbacks and I'm just thankful I didn't have to carry ANOTHER dumbass out that decided to run down a steep hill. Been there. Oh and he couldn't even read a map and I'm not talking a topo, I'm talking one of those trail maps posted on the trail that aren't much harder then reading a map of the food court in your local mall. Some people just have different approaches to survival. Some take it serious, others watch the Discovery channel.

I wonder what your nephew said when you told him to get an Opinel.
 
Most of the honest-to-goodness outdoors-folk I know (hunters, fisherman, serious backcountry campers) carry a Gerber of some sort or a SAK. A knife is just something they use to cut stuff....they aren't knife knuts. So I'm another vote for: let him get what he wants.
 
ChrisB507 said:
Most of the honest-to-goodness outdoors-folk I know (hunters, fisherman, serious backcountry campers) carry a Gerber of some sort or a SAK. A knife is just something they use to cut stuff....they aren't knife knuts. So I'm another vote for: let him get what he wants.
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True, but there are much better tools out there for the same price or just a little more. Certain knives dominate he market because of their marketing, not because of the quality. You can buy a 20 dollar cheap tool and have it not work effectively or break on you. I guess it depends on him how much value you put into your tools. There are people here that are knifeaholics but there are also many people that use their knives a lot for various things and work them hard an don't want a crappy tool.

The new BG knife is supposed to be better than the 1st gen. But I would still get a Becker. Plus K-Bar and Becker Knife & Tool are great American companies with amazing customer service and value their customers - if supporting that thing means anything to you.
 
I dunno. Anyone who thinks this one is a chincy marketing scam and not a competitive option for other stuff in the price range hasn't watched this review yet.

[video=youtube;Kw8JxaDQ9ZY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw8JxaDQ9ZY[/video]
 
GrinderMcgee said:
I dunno. Anyone who thinks this one is a chincy marketing scam and not a competitive option for other stuff in the price range hasn't watched this review yet.

[video=youtube;Kw8JxaDQ9ZY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw8JxaDQ9ZY[/video]
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Like I said the new one isn't bad, but I can think of a lot of other companies I choose to support and who care about their customers than Gerber.

Further more, if Gerber has a knock against then or a presumed bias for them producing crappy knives it's their own fault. You don't have to be a knife snob. I knew literally nothing about knives before I came here. All I knew was I had a few gerbers which sucked and some other brands that sucked and wanted people to direct me to something that was worth my money. I believe the first gen BG knives were the number one selling knives in the country, and they sucked, and people realized it which is why Gerber has tried to redeem themselves with this knife but he damage is already done.

On the other hand you have a company like Ka-Bar and Becker knife and Tool, who produce great products for reasonable dollars and people are so satisfied with the product they buy more even though they don't really need them or become loyal to that brand.
 
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baldtaco-II said:
The Magnum Knives Camp Bowie has always looked a good cheap beater. It's a 440ER [pretty sure I'd peg that like 440A] jobbie in a familiar Becker design. Along with their Machete [there's some great youtube of that beating a lot of the familiar choppers on a cross grain comparison chop off], I've seen quite a few very satisfied comments. Apparently it's a pretty good all round knife. In fact, to quote one comment “almost rude not to at that price”. Seems a solid entry level platform to play about with.

Here's a quote from British Blades on the similarity between it and the Becker BK2 -

"They're actually pretty much the same knife, with a different grind. The handles are apparently interchangeable.
BK&T were originally owned by Camillus. Camillus went bust and KA-Bar acquired the name and are producing the current line.
The Boker Magnum Camp Bowie preceded the Ka-Bar acquisition of the Becker name, Jason Becker allowed Boker to produce the knife after BK&T went down, but without his name attached."
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Jason Becker the musician, as opposed to Ethan Becker the knife designer?

ESEE might as well be stainless with how they're coated.
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The part you should care about the most is the edge - the totally uncoated edge.
 
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