Two decent gerbers?

The CFB is new. The Yari has been around for years and is now discontinued.
They have a few USA made knives that do use better steel.
06 Auto and Manual
DPSF
Covert
Gator fixed blade
DMF
Ez-out
 
joeyza said:
Are these new? I never knew gerber made knives in 154cm and s30v!!
what do ppl think of these?
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The original Gerber Gator was 154CM, as is the Silver Trident, Longbow, Combat Applegate-Fairbairn ... some others too.

There are quite a few S30V Gerber knives including the Yari, Freeman, Command, EZ-out, 06, Propel-downrange ...

Not that their USA-made 12C27 and 420HC models are bad.

The Gerber Magnum Hunter (long discontinued) sports M2 steel, may have been the first production knife to use it...

Gerber had been quite innovative in its prime, and many of us hope that Fiskars will work to restore that greatness.


As to the knives mentioned, the CFB replaces the Yari (nearly identical knives) - I'd personally wait for the drop-point version to come out (there is one for the Yari II). The handle design is very good but a little thin, the guard & thumb-ramp are well implemented and reminiscent of Bob Dozier's designs, the knife is very light (only 1/8" stock) and nimble in hand, and it comes as a great package with the included sheath. However the 154CM was left soft, ~56Rc, to prevent chipping during hard use but I am skeptical of how much lateral stress and prying will be done with a 1/8" thick knife...

Actually, this is a pretty decent run through of some of the knife's aspects:

[video=youtube;MhZ8_0ijYrw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhZ8_0ijYrw[/video]
 
chiral.grolim said:
The original Gerber Gator was 154CM, as is the Silver Trident, Longbow, Combat Applegate-Fairbairn ... some others too.

The Gerber Gator shown at the link in your post is not the original. The clip point came first. I bought a clip point Gator in the mid-90s (the kraton handle still has some dirt in it from my first trip to Bosnia in'96) and the blade is 420HC, I believe. The drop point in 154CM came later.
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chiral.grolim said:
.
Gerber had been quite innovative in its prime, and many of us hope that Fiskars will work to restore that greatness.
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There are plenty of examples of poor Gerber knives, and I have owned a few of them. But on the other hand I remember when Gerber made fine knives under the aegis of Pete Gerber that were better made than most of their competitors. I too, would love to see Gerber restored to their former glory.

And on top of that, I would really like to see an American company (regardless of where some of their knives are made) get back in the mix. I have several friends in the military that have Gerber knives that were available to them that are not available to the general public, and these are fine, hard working knives.

I think getting into better steels and better designs are a great start.

BTW, I think Smith and Wesson is moving in this direction, too. I saw more power and best wishes to both.

Robert
 
midnight flyer said:
There are plenty of examples of poor Gerber knives, and I have owned a few of them. But on the other hand I remember when Gerber made fine knives under the aegis of Pete Gerber that were better made than most of their competitors. I too, would love to see Gerber restored to their former glory.

And on top of that, I would really like to see an American company (regardless of where some of their knives are made) get back in the mix. I have several friends in the military that have Gerber knives that were available to them that are not available to the general public, and these are fine, hard working knives.

I think getting into better steels and better designs are a great start.

BTW, I think Smith and Wesson is moving in this direction, too. I saw more power and best wishes to both.

Robert
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Gerber is no longer an american company. They are owned by Fiskars.

Smith & Wesson doesn't make knives, they just sold the rights to the name to Taylor cutlery or some other shady importer of bad knives.
 
There Gerber Gator folder in 154CM is a very good knife as I used to carry one and still have a new one in the box.!**
But that is when Pete was around and tried to listen to what his customers said.* No more though as those days are gone.
 
chiral.grolim said:
Gerber had been quite innovative in its prime, and many of us hope that Fiskars will work to restore that greatness.
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I don't see it happening too soon. Have you seen the new Gerber sub-brand, Guardian? It's a budget "tactical" line with pretty cool looks and low build quality. Seems like Fiskars is just using Gerber to chase the money. On the optimistic side of things, perhaps they'll use Guardian for the cheap knives (assuming they sell well, of course) and eventually push Gerber as a premium brand by actually putting out great knives. One can only hope.
 
The Yari 2 is better than a poke in the eye to be sure. I had one of the Tanto versions for a while and it was quite a good knife. The sheath and mounting system is especially well made if you're looking to strap it onto your gear.
 
For the price, they make good knives and they have some hidden gems as well. The Gator line, the AF Combat, The Yari, The Silver Trident, the LMF II and Prodigy, the Guardian, etc etc. They are geared at the mass market, and have their share of cheap stuff, but for the average Joe who doesn't care about fancy steel, grind angles, blah, blah, blah, they do what they are made for. They cut fine.
 
DougB2 said:
The Gerber Gator shown at the link in your post is not the original. The clip point came first. I bought a clip point Gator in the mid-90s (the kraton handle still has some dirt in it from my first trip to Bosnia in'96) and the blade is 420HC, I believe. The drop point in 154CM came later.
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Hmm... Well, I wasn't as aware of the knife-scene back then, but I thought the line came out all around the same time, early 90's...

Anyway, I don't think that they still make the 154CM version, or do they?
 
chiral.grolim said:
Hmm... Well, I wasn't as aware of the knife-scene back then, but I thought the line came out all around the same time, early 90's...

Anyway, I don't think that they still make the 154CM version, or do they?
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Yep, they do. The Drop point version is still 154cm.
 
thanks for the great responses!
I always wanted an lmf before I really got into knives, i just recently considered getting one but then did some research and did not like the tang construction of it at all..for me in a fixed it has to be absouluty full tang or nothin..is the lmf pictured below considered full tang tho?

lmf-ii-tang.png_fulljpg_1.jpg
 
joeyza said:
thanks for the great responses!
I always wanted an lmf before I really got into knives, i just recently considered getting one but then did some research and did not like the tang construction of it at all..for me in a fixed it has to be absouluty full tang or nothin..is the lmf pictured below considered full tang tho?

lmf-ii-tang.png_fulljpg_1.jpg
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Look up the info about the LMF II and you'll understand the purpose for the tang and butt separation. It's a beast of a knife, and mine has held up extremely well.
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
Gerber is no longer an american company. They are owned by Fiskars.

Smith & Wesson doesn't make knives, they just sold the rights to the name to Taylor cutlery or some other shady importer of bad knives.
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You are right about Gerber, it is wholly owned by a Fiskars (can't remember the whole title) company, which is no more than a holding company for its many brands.

On the other hand, I thought I had read that Gerber was trying to undergo a renaissance, and that they were still producing knives here, and that was something I liked. Americans, making American built knives and keeping American jobs.

Turns out it is more than that. Yes, I know they could be fibbing, but maybe not.

http://www.gerbergear.com/Meet-Gerber/About-us/Who-We-Are

Their website "claims" (I put that in quotes for those that may know better than me!) that ALL Gerber products are still designed in Portland OR, and that many of the Gerber designed products are made there.

Keeping jobs for designers, engineers, knife makers, factory workers, distribution lines, etc., that provide American jobs and wages was what I was concerned about in my post.

Thanks for pointing that out. It made me take a minute to look that up. Made me feel better knowing Gerber was actually making knives here as I didn't know they did it anymore.

Robert
 
a decent gerber?? let alone 2!?!?!


ya not in my experience. cant say whether or not they are worth buying
 
I picked up an AF Covert a while back, and I like it (and I'm not normally big on the dagger-like look). Also made in the USA and uses 154CM blade steel.
 
joeyza said:
Decent Gerber
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Thats an oxymoron right there.

Sadly Gerber turns out mostly 'carp' these days.

Its not that I dislike Gerber per se. Im a huge fan of the quality products, that Gerber used the make. The imperative word is 'used' to.

It pains me to see, that Gerber has come to this, but I guess that tat, horrrible knives (not least that BG abomination) sells well to the Sheeple.


midnight flyer said:
.....................................................................

I think getting into better steels and better designs are a great start.

BTW, I think Smith and Wesson is moving in this direction, too. I saw more power and best wishes to both.

Robert
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You are kidding, right?:D

S&W knives are mostly cheap tat.
 
jimh0220 said:
Look up the info about the LMF II and you'll understand the purpose for the tang and butt separation. It's a beast of a knife, and mine has held up extremely well.
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Yeah. It's insulated so that if you hit a hot wire hacking through some drywall or whatever you won't get zapped. Seeing the Xray I would tend to believe that. It would seem to have been easier to make that tang connect to that pommel even if it were two pieces bolted or welded together...I'd think.

I have one which is very cool knife but whether it's geometry or steel, it has always been a challenge to get sharp.
 
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