What's Wrong With Gerber?

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Nephron44

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I see A LOT of hatred for Gerber knives. For a budget knife company and their target audience, what is really wrong with them? Sure they don't stand up to companies like Benchmade, Zero Tolerance, and Spyderco, but for what they are, are they really that bad?

I have a few Gerber knives that I've had for almost seven years and have had no problems. I also use their tactical pen while on duty and I LOVE it.

Taking it for what it is and not what someone could better spend their money on, what is really wrong with a Gerber knife as a low cost working knife?
 
Beside the legitimate low quality gripes a lot of people don't like how Gerber used to make great quality, American made production knives and then Fiskars bought them, dropped the quality, moved most of their production to China and basically smeared the brand name.
 
In 99 to 2000 I carried a Gerber gator loved that knife well made in the usa
 
For a low cost working knife, $ for $, over the past few years and then some, many of Kershaw's china line, Buck's lowend, and even every china made Schrade and CRKT has blown Gerber out of the water in every category; form, fit, and function... I wanted Gerber to be better, I really did, but even with a biased opinion I had to concede they just weren't worth the money spent when I have always found something that works better for the same cheap price...

Couple that with my biggest pet peeve of them not telling you what type of steel is even used in most if their lower end Knives, I just can't bring myself around to ever buying another one. Especially a low end china made one, when a china made Schrade, Kilimanjaro, even S&W are every bit as functional, and often lower cost, and every one I've owned over the past 5-10 years has held an edge better then the last 3 budget Gerber's I've had. Plus I know what steel I'm getting, so I know what to expect.

Why pay $20-30 for a Gerber when my (8cr) Kili Vertice I paid just over $10 for, or my (9cr) Schrade I paid $15 for, both cut circles around budget Gerbers, with better overall fit and finish... Just because they paid Bear Grylls to put his name on some packaging and he wants his check?
*edited to add - and respectively if I pay just a little bit more for a $30-40 china made Kershaw its not even a fair comparison, the two aren't even in the same ballpark!

I don't mind paying for a name, if I feel a name is worth the price, but it seems ever since Fiskars bought the Gerber name, they became the corporate step child and overall quality tanked and a name was all that was left in the price tag. Because the poorly heat treated "stainless steel" (5cr or 7cr I'm guessing) that would dull way too easy, certainly didn't justify it.

That's my experience... Sure Gerber is an American co., but they're made in china, CRKT is too, as is Taylor Brands, and Kilimanjaro, all employ offices and such here in the states, but production is done overseas, so why pay for Gerber's if they've let me down numerous times while others have not?

Maybe they're mid-higher end Knives are better? I'll never know though, because if I can't trust you with $20, I'm certainly not going to trust you with $100, because again, $ for $ I can get something else I have WAY more confidence in.
 
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They still make some of their higher end knives in Oregon, but most aren't. And the ones made in Oregon seem to be awful looking or just not as nice as similar options from say Benchmade and spyderco, imo
 
I wouldn't call it hatred in most cases, more like apathy. They're just not that great, they have a few pretty good cheap knives, a couple of really bad knives, and a bunch of mediocre knives. You can definitely get worse for the price, but you can also get much better so they're usually just overlooked.
 
I think alongside apathy is just disappointment, knowing what Gerber once was, and seeing what they've become.
 
Goosey said:
Beside the legitimate low quality gripes a lot of people don't like how Gerber used to make great quality, American made production knives and then Fiskars bought them, dropped the quality, moved most of their production to China and basically smeared the brand name.
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I don't think the Bear Grylls association has done them any favors in the knife knut community, either.

strategy9 said:
I think alongside apathy is just disappointment, knowing what Gerber once was, and seeing what they've become.
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I'll go along with this (although I think the LSTs are still great "bang for your buck" knives).
 
Disapointment, as mentioned. They went from top rung to bottom rung.
They don't seem to be travelling in the right direction. In the old days, Gerber would get a great designer, like Blackie Collins, to design some knives. Much like Spyderco does now.
These days, they get Bear to endorse a horrible line up. One of the choppers had to be recalled.
 
When I was a kid getting a Gerber was a BIG deal. They were well known knives and I remember wanting a Gerber real bad to augment my Leatherman and Victorinox, which I considered kid's knives.

Seeing them go downhill has been tough, but there is little denying that they have trashed their reputation over the years.
 
Indeed the bear grylls endorsement may have done them little favors in the knife knut community, but it's certainly done them some good in the larger (and knife ignorant) general public community, who those orange packages in big box stores like Walmart... Shoot, I bought one some years back myself as I was still all too ignorant, and much as it sucked it was my primary beater work blade up until recently... Meanwhile the general public would say, "blackie who?" (Gasp! The horror :o)

Same with the Kershaw Duck Commander line, easily among the worst Knives in the Kershaw lineup, made with 3cr13 steel (aka 420j2), I wouldn't even consider a legitimate knife steel in today's market, but cheap, and from a marketing standpoint, where "Duck Dynasty" is a big deal, the general public eats them up...

That's something I have to hand to CRKT, while many gripe about their quality too, for a knife in the same price range, $ for $ next to a Gerber, they don't have "Paul Bunyun" endorsements, but rather have done a bunch of interesting design collaborations with many actual top knife designers.
 
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Isn't that the same 1980s Blackie Collins brand name whose Gerber nylon sheaths they would make out of cardboard? Yes I do mean that: CARDBOARD SIDE PANELS... Get them wet and the nylon would go completely frumpy, forever... Yes, for real...

Personally I never found them that great, though I never got their old BMF or LMF, which I still would be curious to see (were the sheaths cardboard too?!)... They were dull knives, and even the Gerber Mark IIs had center grinds that wandered all over the place...: They could do them real sharp, with near zero edges, on the "Cutlery Shoppe Special" Mk IIs, but deliberately made them dull on their regular Mk IIs... Funny crap-peddling attitude...

Gaston
 
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When it comes to value for money they just don't seem to have it. Combining that with their use of "mystery steel" etc it's just hard to take them seriously.
I have no issue with Bear Grylls' endorsement but I do have an issue with a knife being marketed as a survival knife when it can't be depended on to perform.
Having said that Gerber seems to be listening and the latest BG knife (Pro series?) has full tang construction, a big improvement in steel (19cr something...oops 9cr19mov ) and overall better quality. I haven't seen much in the way of reviews yet and am wondering if theyve burned any serious customers with years of poor standards. Ireally hope this one is up to standard because I would love to see them redeem themselves and do well.
 
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IIRC the LSTs are still made here. But the overall low quality, mystery steels, poor fit and finish, association with urine drinker Bear Grylls (he had to have been in the special needs division of the SAS), and--for me--the fetish about making damn near every one of their knives serrated kills them. There are Moras, Hultafors, Bucks, Byrds, and Kershaws that are vastly better and cost less. From what I've heard the Sanrenmus and Ganzos are also vastly better and cheaper, but I can't say that from my own experience. IMO, CRKT is right down there with Gerber.
 
Strategy9 you really hit the nail on the head, very good explanation. IMO gerber is nothing more than living on the name and wide brand recognition. Business speaking they are all about marketing and aim for the niche market that is the general public whom more than likely do not have a hold on the quality aspect in the knife world. Not to mention they paired with the toolshed that is Bear Grylls, At least Camilus was respectable and went with Les Stroud haha.
Cheers,
MRuss
 
Gaston444 said:
Isn't that the same 1980s Blackie Collins brand name whose Gerber nylon sheaths they would make out of cardboard? Yes I do mean that: CARDBOARD SIDE PANELS... Get them wet and the nylon would go completely frumpy, forever... Yes, for real....

Gaston
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I have never heard about the cardboard sheaths. What's the info source on this? Can anyone else corroborate it? Am I the only one who doesn't know about it?
 
I have no "issue" with celebrity endorsements, but they are just that, you pay a celebrity, and they endorse your product...
I do have issue with quality lacking though, and having an extreme survivalist endorsement on "survival" Knives that are sub par is fraudulent at best... Who actually thinks bear grylls carries a bear grylls Gerber out in the middle of no where trying to survive (without camera crews and medivac on standby?) Seriously...
 
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