What's Wrong With Gerber?

marcinek said:
One could say they decided to appeal to a different demographic.

It's working great for them (and them demographic), just not for us knife junkies. We are no longer their demographic.
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I agree with this. They still make some good basic cutting tools.
LMF II is a heckuva knife.
I think the Fixed Gator is a great knife.
The LST is nice small pocket knife.
I have an Instant that seems to work fine.
The BIg Rock got many great reviews, some reluctantly given, IMO.
The hatchets are still good.
There are many knives out there that are better, but Gerber does a good job of making some of their stuff.A basic, simple knife, when they focus on just that...the basic simple knife.
But as marcinek said, it must be working for them financially right now to not focus on the knife junkies too much. We are a very critical bunch.
 
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Once again.
It's the China Syndrome!
As a Professional knife sharpener and proveyor of knives your older New Balance from Gerber were an excellent steel with great craftsmanship made here in the USA. I may not be 100% correct on this but the only Gerber knives I know of that are still made in the USA are their Auto's made mostly for Military and police etc..

The rest of their stuff from bear Grylls knives to all of their culinary knives are now made of lesser desirable steels with poor craftsmanship from china to sell to entry level buyers around the world.
 
marcinek said:
One could say they decided to appeal to a different demographic.

It's working great for them (and them demographic), just not for us knife junkies. We are no longer their demographic.
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This is, I think, the real truth of the matter here. Legions of people are going to big box stores and buy Gerber's and cutting with them. GI's by the thousand are carrying them. Unless one fails on somebody, most folks won't know the difference.

People that frequent this forum do know the difference. I have a Gerber LMF. It is kind of a neat design. I can't get it sharp to suite me. I have Benchmade, Spyderco, ESEE, Becker, Mora, Roselli, Buck...all sharp. This thing? No. It's the steel. Would it cut? I expect so. For most people, that's what they care about. I choose to care about a little more.
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
Once again.
It's the China Syndrome!
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Almost agree with you...but not quite. Gerber decided that there is more money in making crappy knives. And they got "China" to make them the crappy knives they wanted. "China" will make you just about whatever you want, it seems. You want cheapo? They are more than happy to make it for you.

I don't blame China, and I can't blame Gerber. Both parties made (and continue to make) money on the deal, which was what they are supposed to do.

But back in the day, Gerber was the real deal. "Designer" stuff.
 
Wanimator said:
If their stuff works for somebody, good. But it doesn't work for me.
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That's really the bottom line. Their stuff is fine. Its not going to explode on you or give you ebola. They will cut stuff. They're fine.

But we are all here because we like our knives to be better than "fine."
 
I had a few Gerbers way back when they were good. I currently own a 3" Evo I found in the street which I sometimes use as a boot knife. It's pretty much a piece of crap.

When the brand you see most on the pawn shop shelf is Gerber, it's hard to want to BUY one. Bear Grylls knew better.
 
I'm not ashamed to say I own an LMF II. Is it my favorite knife? Absolutely not. Does it serve its purpose reasonably well? Yeah, I'd say so.

Having said that, I can't imagine buying another Gerber anytime soon.
 
I absolutely love Gerber...their vanilla custard pudding is the best I've ever had, and my kids adored snack time back in the day, when I broke out the Gerber Vanilla Custard.
 
marcinek said:
And made a truckload of money doing it.
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And their poster child Bear Grylls. I was at Bass Pro last week and they have an entire isle dedicated to Gerber products and Bear's Mug Shot on the packaging. I believe some folks associate quality with Gerber because BPS is carrying their line. I was lucky enough to own many Gerber Knives in the early 70's including their carving and steak knives in walnut boxes.
 
marcinek said:
That's really the bottom line. Their stuff is fine. Its not going to explode on you or give you ebola. They will cut stuff. They're fine.

But we are all here because we like our knives to be better than "fine."
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If I am brutally honest with myself, I bet I could go through my life as "knife guy" with a couple Gerbers and do just fine, although then I guess I wouldn't be much a knife guy. I bet if I had to, my Gator would serve just fine 99% of the time.

But having said all of that, I just don't want to.

I don't usually care about "Brand name" and brand recognition in almost every other aspect of my life, ironically, and in aspects that a lot more people will notice, a lot quicker than what knife I have. But despite this, I am even reluctant to carry my Gator (which honestly, at least as far as mine goes, is a perfectly serviceable one) precisely because of brand and what it is now.

In my daily life it is unlikely I'll run into other knife guys, in fact way more likely I'll run into people who think Gerber is awesome. Sadly it just isn't something I want.
 
Alnamvet68 said:
I absolutely love Gerber...their vanilla custard pudding is the best I've ever had, and my kids adored snack time back in the day, when I broke out the Gerber Vanilla Custard.
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Ever try the Turkey and Vegetables or the tapioca?
 
I have a handful of USA Gerbers - a Prodigy, LMF II, Yari II, Gator and Covert - and even if most aren't made from the latest "sexy" steel (although the Yari II and Gator are S30V) they are still solidly built knives that I feel confident would serve their intended purposes. On the other hand, I have a few imported Gerber knives that are mediocre at best and downright garbage in some cases. As others have pointed out, Kershaw has proven quite capable of producing quality knives in Chinese factories. Meanwhile, although someone stated that Camillus and Schrade knives are even worse than Gerber, I would argue that Schrade is making at least a few nice Chinese knives, and Camillus now has a US-made line again, of which I've bought one and would buy others if they suited my needs.

I can't really rule out buying another Gerber in the future, but it won't be one made in China. Even if the workmanship is solid, they use lesser materials.
 
They weren’t just a good company. They were a great company. Good quality, good designs, innovative, stood behind their stuff.

That’s what makes the Fiskars buyout a tragedy.
 
Knives I wont buy; Gerber, SOG, Camillus, Schrade

Companies that I am cautious about buying from; Boker & Kershaw
 
Pretty much all you need to know is, most of the time unknown and sketchy steel, shotty quality control and just over all cheap construction, causing many fails.
 
TheDandyLion said:
4; Bear Grylls (sp?). Gerber has chosen one of the most bogus survivalists to be their poster boy. He's not much of a survivor, just a showman looking for an excuse to drink his own piss on camera, that says something for the brands integrity
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I think you underestimate Bear a little, he has some credentials noth taking lightly IMO.
What have you achieved on his age (just an example)
And I want his Robert Bayley...
If I was him, I would gone for the (gerber) money to :D
 
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