What's Wrong With Gerber?

[chambelona59]

Who "currently own's" the company was not a decision factor in my purchasing the recent U.S.A. made P.E. release of the Strongarm , all the positive online written reviews and the lack of any negative video "Gauntlet" tests were the deciding factor.

People that hate the company for any past or current history will continue to do so, others will have a positive experience when it comes to "recent" releases that have nothing to do with either who own's the company or past history.

I own no other knife made by them other then the one I just purchased and I find nothing wrong with it, that obviously rubs haters the wrong way.

If this thread is meant to be strictly negative about Gerber, then the title perhaps should have stated: "no positive experiences please".

Re: the specific Gerber knife I purchased:
I regard any review by anyone that not only has "never actually owned/used one" or "never actually had one in hand" to be a non review/critique.

 

[Bobby3326]

Like Ive said before Gerber is hit or miss with there Chinese stuff, but there USA made stuff is generally pretty good quality, I've yet to break any of there USA line. I have a Gerber prodigy that I bought years ago, I beat the hell out of the knife, some things I did with it would likely fall under outright abuse. Guess what it never failed me once, and actually just recently gave it to my 13yr old who is continuing to beat on it.

The fact a company wants to put serrations on a knife says nothing to it's quality. They're making it and selling it they can make it however they see fit.

The lmf2 is another good knife when used in its designed environment.people take a knife designed for military use into the woods and complain about it. Guess what that wasn't it's intended use.

The strong arm is another great knife in there USA line up that's so far holding up great. It's actually multi function, it'll serve well in military urban environments, while maintaining the ability to be used in the woods with success.

 

[Nephron44]

Who "currently own's" the company was not a decision factor in my purchasing the recent U.S.A. made P.E. release of the Strongarm , all the positive online written reviews and the lack of any negative video "Gauntlet" tests were the deciding factor.

People that hate the company for any past or current history will continue to do so, others will have a positive experience when it comes to "recent" releases that have nothing to do with either who own's the company or past history.

I own no other knife made by them other then the one I just purchased and I find nothing wrong with it, that obviously rubs haters the wrong way.

If this thread is meant to be strictly negative about Gerber, then the title perhaps should have stated: "no positive experiences please".

Re: the specific Gerber knife I purchased:
I regard any review by anyone that not only has "never actually owned/used one" or "never actually had one in hand" to be a non review/critique.

I created this thread to hear some fair arguments either for or against Gerber. I agree with you that it has become a negative post about Gerber, especially from those that have no experience with their knives. There is no doubt they are not on par with Benchmade, Spycerco, etc, but that wasn't the point of this thread. The point was to take Gerber for what they are and provide real experience with their knives, not to compare them to what else is out there for the money, as the original post stated.

I agree that any review/critique/opinion of anyone that has not actually used a Gerber knife has little to no value.

I personally love Gerber knives because they are cheap, nice looking, and I can use them without fear of breaking the bank if I break or lose one. I have had the same Gerber knives for years without problems. I've had my Paraframe and Mini Paraframe for 7 years now and they perform as if they were new.

 

[Gaston444]

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?

Perhaps instead I'm the only "Mall Ninja" who ever got the nylon Gerber/"Blackie Collins" Sheaths wet enough to know... Hmmmm... If true, wouldn't that be an interesting notion?

Yeah, the source of the information is that, when really wet, the fabric "surface" comes completely loose from the backing, while the sheath structure below dissolves into cardboard mush... Amazing... And then I confirmed this by cutting the fabric open to see what the hell was behaving like that underneath... Then I saw brown crap below peeling away in a sort of layered structure like any old thick cardboard... Wow! And this crap undoubtedly went with some trusting soldiers in missions overseas... Let's hope it wasn't the SEALs...

Let me tell you, budget-minded Mall Ninjas know their stuff!!!

A much more recent example of the cardboard sheath syndrome (around 2001 as opposed to the 1980s) was the sheath of the early iterations of the Walther brand P99 Applegate-style single edge "tactical knife" (the ones that came with a shoulder strap)... The only thing I kept of that was the quite valuable shoulder strap, which I still use with a velcroed 2" wide nylon piece for extra confort...

I guess it shows just how much real-life use cheap tactical knives get, that you can put CARDBOARD SHEATHS on them, hiding under nylon, and no Mall Ninja will notice... So they have contempt for their customer, and the customer in turn demonstrates the contempt is fully justified...

The Gerber Guardians had the exact same kind of nylon sheaths, but in camoed colour (likely in cardboard too, but I can't confirm), and the Blackie Collins style black nylon I can confirm was at least done for the Gerber Mark I and others, but I'm not sure if the Mark II ever had those but I think it did for a while...

Cardboard seemed particularly ubiquitous in any sheath in nylon with a combined "Gerber/Blackie Collins" association... To their credit, Cold Steel has had similar nylon sheaths for years, just thinner and cheaper-looking, but at least those were always made with solid plastic panels under the nylon... In fact the Gerber cardboard sheaths always looked to be much better quality because they always were so much thicker-looking than Cold Steel's... I guess you shouldn't try to tell a book by its cover!

Gaston

 

[Nellem]

If only Gerber owners can have valid opinions on Gerber knives then all Gerber discussions will have to take place on dedicated Gerber owner forums. With the Internet one can learn a heck of a lot about things without actually owning any of it. Our world is filled with information. So, if the question get asked "What's wrong with Gerber?" the questioner should expect responses from all over the spectrum - from owners and non-owners (past and present) - and should not get upset when negative comments outweigh positive ones. On forums like these people say what they believe and it is up to the reader to decide what he/she wants to take from the responses. One can quickly and easily discover what the general market sentiment is for any product and it is no secret that Gerber lost the plot in a big way. It is entirely up to Gerber to fix this and it's not rocket science to know how to do that ... but are they taking any of it serious enough to really care about fixing the problem? Maybe it's better for their bottom line to sell knives like soap instead of returning to a business model that sells knives to last a life-time?

 

[okto]

My impression is that Gerber used to make competitive products, but did not keep up with the state of the art and is still making knives that would have been cutting-edge tech (no way to avoid that pun) in 1995.

Also their QC is in the crapper these days. I bought one of their multitools (I guess it would have been a 600) about seven years ago and the finish was so bad I actually cut myself on the edge of the handles. Turned around and returned it before I even made it to the car. Ponied up for a Leatherman Wave instead and have been carrying the same one ever since.

 

[craytab]

I created this thread to hear some fair arguments either for or against Gerber. I agree with you that it has become a negative post about Gerber, especially from those that have no experience with their knives. There is no doubt they are not on par with Benchmade, Spycerco, etc, but that wasn't the point of this thread. The point was to take Gerber for what they are and provide real experience with their knives, not to compare them to what else is out there for the money, as the original post stated.

I agree that any review/critique/opinion of anyone that has not actually used a Gerber knife has little to no value.

I personally love Gerber knives because they are cheap, nice looking, and I can use them without fear of breaking the bank if I break or lose one. I have had the same Gerber knives for years without problems. I've had my Paraframe and Mini Paraframe for 7 years now and they perform as if they were new.

Okay guys, I want to hear your opinion but only they way I want to hear it. Ready, set, go!

 

[HappyDaddy]

Craytab - The OP was quite clear on what he was asking. He wasn't asking how he might better spend his money. He wasn't asking what people who have never owned a Gerber thought of Gerber. Your characterization of his comment is off base.

 

[EricV]

Caritas - The OP was quite clear on what he was asking. He wasn't asking how he might better spend his money. He wasn't asking what people who have never owned a Gerber thought of Gerber. Your characterization of his comment is off base.

I find it extremely unlikely that the majority of poster's have never owned a Gerber knife. The OP asked whats wrong with Gerber and certainly got back exactly what is wrong with them.

 

[HappyDaddy]

I find it extremely unlikely that the majority of poster's have never owned a Gerber knife. The OP asked whats wrong with Gerber and certainly got back exactly what is wrong with them.

Who said anything about "a majority of posters?" I haven't seen anyone complaining about negative comments unless it was from people who acknowledged never owning a Gerber.

 

[craytab]

Craytab - The OP was quite clear on what he was asking. He wasn't asking how he might better spend his money. He wasn't asking what people who have never owned a Gerber thought of Gerber. Your characterization of his comment is off base.

The OP doesn't really understand how the internet works. You can't tell it what to do. Once you start a thread, it is no longer yours.

Oh, and congrats on making a post about me without calling me names :thumbup:

I find it extremely unlikely that the majority of poster's have never owned a Gerber knife. The OP asked whats wrong with Gerber and certainly got back exactly what is wrong with them.

Yup!

"I want to know what is wrong with gerber but only the things I want to hear, things I can easily counter as this is a big freaking straw man set up because I love gerber".

 

[HappyDaddy]

If the shoe fits, make the assumption. The OP is just as free to reiterate the parameters he wanted to set as others are to ignore them, and you are to, in typical fashion, lecture on them.

 

[ThePeacent]

I have had unpleasant experiences with their cheaper, chinese stuff. That being said, I have had really good experiences with Fiskars' products and have put many of their tools through hell, all but one held up to the abuse and kept asking for more.

My current camping saw is a Fiskars retractable saw and I've had a Gerber folding saw that worked perfectly, and performed just as good. USA Gerber = good stuff, in my limited experience.

My go-to MT for camping chores is the Gerber MP and it is a brilliant, tough tool that eats what I am afraid of putting my LM Wave through.

 

[calc]

I regard any review by anyone that not only has "never actually owned/used one" or "never actually had one in hand" to be a non review/critique.

You don't need to have owned any of their knives to not like their advertising, their poor QC, their lack of transparency into material choices... these are are easily judged by eyesight and critical thinking alone. I know I wouldn't like to drive a school bus to work every day instead of a compact car, and I don't need to have owned a school bus to know this.

That being said, I have indeed used a few of their models, and all they did was confirm my suspicions. It's not like I was going to pick up a Paraframe with mystery steel and a lock that already traveled all the way to the other side and be surprised at it not being a decent knife.

 

[Sunyata]

You don't need to have owned any of their knives to not like their advertising, their poor QC, their lack of transparency into material choices... these are are easily judged by eyesight and critical thinking alone. I know I wouldn't like to drive a school bus to work every day instead of a compact car, and I don't need to have owned a school bus to know this.

That being said, I have indeed used a few of their models, and all they did was confirm my suspicions. It's not like I was going to pick up a Paraframe with mystery steel and a lock that already traveled all the way to the other side and be surprised at it not being a decent knife.

My paraframe did the same thing and still had blade play

 

[Danke42]

I have had unpleasant experiences with their cheaper, chinese stuff. That being said, I have had really good experiences with Fiskars' products and have put many of their tools through hell, all but one held up to the abuse and kept asking for more.

My current camping saw is a Fiskars retractable saw and I've had a Gerber folding saw that worked perfectly, and performed just as good. USA Gerber = good stuff, in my limited experience.

My go-to MT for camping chores is the Gerber MP and it is a brilliant, tough tool that eats what I am afraid of putting my LM Wave through.

I've had that same multi tool for over a decade and it's outlasted several Leatherman tools. I get lured away, wreck the new one and come back to the Gerber.

 

[chambelona59]

You don't need to have owned any of their knives to not like their advertising, their poor QC, their lack of transparency into material choices... these are are easily judged by eyesight and critical thinking alone. I know I wouldn't like to drive a school bus to work every day instead of a compact car, and I don't need to have owned a school bus to know this.

That being said, I have indeed used a few of their models, and all they did was confirm my suspicions. It's not like I was going to pick up a Paraframe with mystery steel and a lock that already traveled all the way to the other side and be surprised at it not being a decent knife.

"easily judged by eyesight" / "you don"t have to own any" / you just have to "not like their advertising".

A commonly encountered hater philosophy.

"their lack of transparency into material choices"

Several of the latest models are U.S.A. made, not made with "mystery steel" and carry a 100% lifetime warranty.

If some want to hate on/focus on "the years the company went down the tubes" that's fine, there's no doubt it did, but if someone shows to be clearly uninformed as to the "newer current releases" being made by Gerber in the U.S.A. with full disclosure as to steel type/s (CPM-S30V and others) then the hating get's boring fast.

 

[Bollingern]

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?

Utilizing these parameters that you outline and understanding the limitations of a Gerber.....nothing really. The problem with comparing affordable vs. high end knives is one of expectations.

 

[craytab]

Craytab - The OP was quite clear on what he was asking. He wasn't asking how he might better spend his money. He wasn't asking what people who have never owned a Gerber thought of Gerber. Your characterization of his comment is off base.

A commonly encountered hater philosophy.


Several of the latest models are U.S.A. made, not made with "mystery steel" and carry a 100% lifetime warranty.

If some want to hate on/focus on "the years the company went down the tubes" that's fine, there's no doubt it did, but if someone shows to be clearly uninformed as to the "newer current releases" being made by Gerber in the U.S.A. with full disclosure as to steel type/s (CPM-S30V and others) then the hating get's boring fast.

You sir are exhibiting a common "fan boy" Philosophy.

These new "current releases" made in the USA by gerber are few and far between. To think other wise would be uninformed and ignorant. Most of their stuff is still made in China and the company is still being run into the ground. The exceptions you praise prove the rule.

Does that mean the strongarm is a bad knife? Not at all. Defending an entire company based on that knife is suspect at beast though.

 

[chambelona59]

You sir are exhibiting a common "fan boy" Philosophy.

These new "current releases" made in the USA by gerber are few and far between. To think other wise would be uninformed and ignorant. Most of their stuff is still made in China and the company is still being run into the ground. The exceptions you praise prove the rule.

Does that mean the strongarm is a bad knife? Not at all. Defending an entire company based on that knife is suspect at beast though.

"Does that mean the strongarm is a bad knife? Not at all."

Glad you totally agree.

Btw, I could care less who owns or bought the company, I'm a fan of the Strongarm I recently purchased, made in the U.S.A. (not China) no "mystery" steel.
Would I depend on it to save my life during another hurricane Katrina or Sandy or if I had to evacuate due to a large flood or typical west coast massive fire.... absolutely I would.

Other alternate points of views:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1293782-Gerber-Strongarm-The-return-of-Gerber

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1222043-Gerber-Strongarm-the-fine-edged-Prodigy-that-you-have-been-waiting-for