The Gerber Mark 2 is back!

[FlashOfLightning]

I am very happy with Gerber for restarting production on their best seller,the Mark 2!,I have two of their new ones and four of their old ones, and let me tell you, they are just as godd or better as they always were, they definitly measure up!,I like the way they went with the true recon look,featuring a ballistic nylon sheath and a black oxide coating,the new serrations work great and are easier to field sharpen, the temper in the steel holds up great and can be turned into a razor quickly,and last but not least, they stayed true to their roots and kept them made here in America!
I carried one for years, and are one of the Greatist fighting/combat knives ever made in my opinion,and was really upset and confused when they stopped production on their best seller(what a horrible decision!!!) But finally after years of absence theyre back and hopefully for good, and I hope to see them on many of soldiers

Anyone know why the hell they stopped making them for so long????

 

[borrowed time]

Anyone know why the hell they stopped making them for so long????

The MK II's were a completely dead-a-cated (cool pun huh?) combat knife only made for killing the enemy in close combat, it had almost no utilitarian use due to the steel, blade type, and low weight.

It was not built to chop or split wood, make shelters, clean game well, etc.

i think that at the time, the speciallized "Survival" Knives came out and combined leathal with functional.

Now we are in, what looks to be, an extended war, using Special Forces and elite troops as the spear-head, and they will need alll the advantage they can get. Plus i think theres been a calling of the public that would like to own one but dont have the $$$ for an original, like me.

Im very happy they brought it back. ------ Eric

 

[FlashOfLightning]

The MK II's were a completely dead-a-cated (cool pun huh?) combat knife only made for killing the enemy in close combat, it had almost no utilitarian use due to the steel, blade type, and low weight.

It was not built to chop or split wood, make shelters, clean game well, etc.

i think that at the time, the speciallized "Survival" Knives came out and combined leathal with functional.

Now we are in, what looks to be, an extended war, using Special Forces and elite troops as the spear-head, and they will need alll the advantage they can get. Plus i think theres been a calling of the public that would like to own one but dont have the $$$ for an original, like me.

Im very happy they brought it back. ------ Eric

Really cool post! my thoughts exactly!!!

 

[trentu]

I wish they would have went with the wasp blade and leather sheath with sharpening stone. They stepped away from it due to drop of sales from the double edge laws everywhere that makes them illegal to carry.

 

[mdauben]

I wish they would have went with the wasp blade and leather sheath with sharpening stone.

I agree, I was excited about the new knife until I read tghat it didn't have the wasp-waisted profile and other features of the original. Makes me kick myself yet again that I didn't pick up one of those cool Cutlery Shop special edition reproductions from a few years back, that had the wasp-waist, 5-degree canted grip, etc. like the original.

They stepped away from it due to drop of sales from the double edge laws everywhere that makes them illegal to carry.

Er...? but the new knife is double edged just like the original one. I think probably consumer taste had as much to do with it as anything. Specialized "Tactical" knives like the MkII probably just were not that popular with the general knife-buying public immediatly post-vietnam as they are today. I'm sure if sales had remained high, they would have kept the original knife in production.

 

[reconranger]

I had a couple in the old days, and it was the most useless knife I ever owned! The dimond shape grind of the blade, makes the edge angle to great, so it can never really be made extremely sharp. It's an old school knife that's good for stabbing, but noting else....

Don't waste you money!

 

[sulsaMatt]

I had a couple in the old days, and it was the most useless knife I ever owned! The dimond shape grind of the blade, makes the edge angle to great, so it can never really be made extremely sharp. It's an old school knife that's good for stabbing, but noting else....

Don't waste you money!

A couple of rebuttals:
1. A SEAL buddy of mine carried one in Vietnam and it saw plenty of use
he now collects them and can bring them to a RAZOR sharp edge.
I've filled paper w/ his

2. I agree w/ the stabbing ability esp. w/ the wasp-waist. penetration with this style is second to none.

3. Great fighting dagger. Anyone w/ any knife combat experience would agree

4. As far as wasting money... I sold my '79 to a collector who appreciated such a beautiful design.

over all a great dagger, but it's very purpose built and seves only one real function. I also own a SOG Desert Dagger, and for all intents and puposes it's the same knife. Personally I'm steering away from this stylr knife as it serves only one function, which means I'd have to carry a survival knife, a fighting dagger, a machete/kukri, a skinner, etc. personally I think every tool should have more than one use. Carry less, have more.

 

[Loosearrow]

Had one in the Marines 1970, gray handle black tip very fine serrated teeth, canted blade. I thought it was hard to sharpen and not a worker like the Kbar. Foolishly sold it to a knife dealer with some history. There went my youth, one of the few things I held on to then sold too cheap. I didn't have any use for it anymore. Just a poker. Miss my old friend. Now I have a Kukri. Loosearrow

 

[GIRLYmann]

"...Anyone know why the hell they stopped making them for so long????..."
-FlashOfLightning

Plain Economics.
(Fixed blades as a rule of thumb, just weren't doing as well as tactical folders before the Mark 2 was discontinued).
Translated that meant generally poor sales figures; and in the cause of time, given the axe.
(You can thank AFRAQ, circumstances of which made it ripe and attractive just such a knife. Plainly put, "the war on terror" blew new life into the market for full fledge fixed blade combat knives/tactical knives.

 

[reconranger]

A couple of rebuttals:
1. A SEAL buddy of mine carried one in Vietnam and it saw plenty of use
he now collects them and can bring them to a RAZOR sharp edge.
I've filled paper w/ his

2. I agree w/ the stabbing ability esp. w/ the wasp-waist. penetration with this style is second to none.

3. Great fighting dagger. Anyone w/ any knife combat experience would agree

4. As far as wasting money... I sold my '79 to a collector who appreciated such a beautiful design.

I had mine back in the Vietnam days as well (I was just an ignorant kid).....but today's attitudes and the level of sophistication and knife technology, just didn't exist back then!

It is a great daggar, but what is the only thing daggars are good for...stabbing. The angle on that blade is so shallow, it makes a miserable slasher....so yes it is a great stabbing tool, but it is a highly specialized tool that only does one thing well. If God forbid I have to fight someone with a knife, I want a knife that will do everything....not just one thing. A better choice would be something like the Benchmade Presidio or Emerson Kandahar (if you could ever find one), that has a great stabbing blade, but also a thin edged slashing blade.

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=155

http://www.emersonknives.com/ECA/Knives.htm

As for mine, I gave it to the son of an ex-girlfriend. Hope he had the good sense to sell it and pocket the $$$, and he isn't running around Iraq carrying that useless thing!!!

 

[James Y]

There is a book out called Enter the Past Tense: My Secret Life as a CIA Assassin by Roland W. Haas. In it he mentions his Gerber Mark II and his use of it in at least one situation (I'm halfway through the book). The particular incident occurred in 1973.
Jim

 

[K Williams]

Makes me kick myself yet again that I didn't pick up one of those cool Cutlery Shop special edition reproductions from a few years back, that had the wasp-waist, 5-degree canted grip, etc. like the original.

You're not the only one that wants to kick themselves. Trust me on that! Have you seen the cost of the new limited edition Mark II? Essentially the same model that was sold in the Cutlery Shoppe catalog in the early 1990s...

 

[vjb.knife]

I have a few old ones and have seen the new one and I am sorry but the new one does not measure up.

Also I have to say that a factory edge or a properly sharpened Mark II is extremely sharp although I agree that it would not be my first chose in a combat or field knife. I would also rather have my Randall or Terzuola Battleguard as a fighter.

The old ones made from L6 are the best 1972 and earlier. You can gun blue them and they look great compared to the new one with black painted 420 stainless.

 

[Hammer27]

I'm happy they brought it back but I'd have preferred no serrations at the least and a wasp waist would make it perfect IMHO. Making the sheath in Vietnam is just bad taste too IMO.

 

[K Williams]

Damn, that's a nice collection!