Why so down on the paraframe?

B

Bluegrasser12345

Joined
Apr 3, 2007
Messages
26
Why is everyone so down on the Gerber paraframe? I searched it in the archives and there were TONS of negative posts.

I love my paraframe 1, it's my main edc. I prefer mine to a mini grip that I recently sold. I know that it has lower grade blade steel, but it's not that bad. Granted it did come out of the box butter-knife dull, but who does not love to sharpen a knife? It's a rewarding thing to take a raw piece of metal and make it razor sharp. And it is razor sharp. It will cut through newspapers with zero effort and make hairs jump off your arm. It does not hold an edge like 154cm or other really high grade steels, but it stays sharp a very reasonable amount of time, and it is easy to bring back the edge. The lock is very strong, it can take one heck of a spine whack and is easy to operate one handed. The construction is solid and precise enough to work very smooth. The handle design I find fits my hand perfectly. I have a Delica 3 SS that I carry for lighter use but I hate to eat the crap out of it like I do my paraframe.

I love my Paraframe I. It is a great beater, and you don't have to feel bad about doing anything with it. If something does happen, for 20 bucks, you can just go get another.

Just wondered why so many are down on this great little beater.

Thanks for the great forum you run!!!
 
Ever since Gerber was bought by Fiskars their products and QC have gone down the drain. Now they are only looking to make a profit. At least I still have an original(pre-Fiskars) multi-tool!
 
I don't really have anything bad to say about mine aside from it being so dull it barely cuts paper. The lock is strong, the blade just blows. I haven't sharpened it because I don't have a sharpener yet. I use it to open packages that have the sticky packaging tape all over so I don't gunk my 710 up.
 
Bluegrasser12345 said:
Why is everyone so down on the Gerber paraframe? I searched it in the archives and there were TONS of negative posts.

Just wondered why so many are down on this great little beater. QUOTE]

Howdy,
Welcome to blade forums!

Gerber has a generally poor reputation on the forums, especially for their low-end offerings. The quality, fit & finish, and blade steels generally leave much to be desired. The geneneral feeling is that for the same money or a little more, one can get a much better knife, one with better steel and better F&F.

Many of us are also reacting to the drop from where Gerber used to be. Many of us remember in the '70s when Gerber had inovative designs with good quality in the execution. I have a couple of those and was very happy with them. I have a couple of more recent offerings that I am unhappy with because of the poor F&F. While in the '70's 400 series steel was the standard, the standard has risen and Gerber has not kept up.

All that being said, if you like the knife and are happy with it, don't let anybody's comments bother you. Knives are a very individual thing and what rings one person's chimes is a total bummer for someone else.

Welcome aboard!
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I hate to eat the crap out of it like I do my paraframe.


Welcome to the forum BG! But surely you don't eat all that crap that builds up in folders? You should blow it out with some compressed air and then dispose of it in a trash can.:eek: ;) :D
 
I happen to be a "fan" of the Paraframe.
Granted, it is a piece of crap, but it is a great beater knife, a good loaner, and CHEAP. If I have to fly, my first stop is at walmart to grab a paraframe.

Most of the stores have the blisterpack setup for 10-12 bucks, so what if they suck? Better then no knife at all!
 
But when you have the Spyderco Byrd line that is the same amount of money and so much better, it's a little hard to justify.

It is a good beater though.
 
The Silver Knight that I had was a very well made knife, it may have been produced before Fiskars bought Gerber. I received a Paraframe in addition to a trade, and it was a horrible knife. Scraping against the inner handle, hard to close, hard to open etc.
 
Gerbers aren't the worst knives in the world, but they aren't the best. The industry is very competitive, and the psychology of the Bladeforums market generally turned against the company. It's not always a matter of logic.

I've bought a couple of very good Smith & Wesson knives. The problem with these lower-end companies is that the quality control is inconsistent. One model may be fine, another terrible, and there's no way of telling what you're getting until it falls apart in your hand. But if you've got a good knife, enjoy it. :)
 
Mine is a little rough to close now, but only because it needs to be lubricated. Other than that I could flick it up and close with one hand no problem. Still can actually, it just makes a nasty noise when I close it now.
 
I was going to buy my girlfriend one at wal-Mart for her first knife. I knew she wouldn't use it much, and if she did it probably wouldn't be anything too strenuous on the blade. After browsing their knives for awhile she decided she wanted the paraframe. She liked the blade shape, and so do I, a lot. Well the gentleman behind the counter pulled one out and handed it to me for inspection, I opened it, checked for blade play, seemed fine, and then I noticed that the frame lock was not sliding under the exposed blade like it should, so I had him take out another, and another, and another. 4 paraframes later each and every copy in his inventory would open and close without pushing on the frame lock what-so-ever. I took her to a different shop and bought her a benchmade pika. lol

In retrospect, sure it could've been a bad batch, but even for 20.00 I'm not going to buy a piece of crap that might very well cut my girlfriends fingers when I can add 14 more and get a very decent Pika. But hey, if you got a good copy, more power to you! If it works USE IT! With that blade and a different handle and better QC I think it would be a gorgeous knife.
 
DreamHawk said:
I was going to buy my girlfriend one at wal-Mart for her first knife. I knew she wouldn't use it much, and if she did it probably wouldn't be anything too strenuous on the blade. After browsing their knives for awhile she decided she wanted the paraframe. She liked the blade shape, and so do I, a lot. Well the gentleman behind the counter pulled one out and handed it to me for inspection, I opened it, checked for blade play, seemed fine, and then I noticed that the frame lock was not sliding under the exposed blade like it should, so I had him take out another, and another, and another. 4 paraframes later each and every copy in his inventory would open and close without pushing on the frame lock what-so-ever. I took her to a different shop and bought her a benchmade pika. lol

In retrospect, sure it could've been a bad batch, but even for 20.00 I'm not going to buy a piece of crap that might very well cut my girlfriends fingers when I can add 14 more and get a very decent Pika. But hey, if you got a good copy, more power to you! If it works USE IT! With that blade and a different handle and better QC I think it would be a gorgeous knife.
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I would have likely done the same exact thing, but I thought I would mention that a lot of knives are like that, it might take opening and closing it 30 times before it goes all the way over.
 
That level of comment belongs in Whine & Cheese. In the Blade Discussion Forum, it isn't really appropriate.
 
Stick around a while. it will come to you.

We have a few forums here for unrestrained conversation but the open forums, the general knife-related forums, are better off without casual vulgarity.
 
I used to love my paraframe II (thats the big 3.5" bladed version). Then the lock broke right off on my one day. Odd part is, I just flicked it open cut whatever, went to close it and the entire lock arm just broke right out! Yeah, they had great warrenty service and I had a new knife with in a few weeks. Of course, the knife I got back was even more poorly made than the last, with thinner handles (and thus a thinner lock arm), much more verticle blade play and some grinding on the blade that looked like it was supposed to be an edge. But it wasn't. It was about as sharp as a bludgen.
 
I've got one, I got it and the mini-paraframe in a blister pack at home depot for $20.
I like it, it works good for me after I sharpened it.
In fact I do prefer it over a Spyderco I have, yes the Spyderco is a better quality knife however the paraframe fits my hand better so I use it. My favorite folder is my Kershaw min-cyclone, but I don't use it at work.
I am lucky I work in an office environment but everyones knows I am a redneck so no comments when I pull out a folder of that size
 
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