Gerber Legendary Blades

[ShawnF]

I have owned quite a few of these knives over the years, and have found their products to be hit or miss lately, I bought a multi tool of theirs a couple years ago, (recoil) and after a couple weeks, it fell apart. I sent it back, still waiting to hear back from them, and I have also had trouble with a couple of pocket knives.(steal rolling over on edge, won't take an edge) Any one else finding their products to be a little shoddy as of late?

[billy]

it sounds like if they dont do some quality control they will be legendary alright!
but it wont be a flattering legend!

[jd1911]

in my experience gerber mlti tool are pretty reliable the army issues them i prefer a leatherman but i got a couple gerbers just my 2 cents

[ArkansasHunter]

Buy a BUCK brand knife and live happy ever after...A.H

[andrew cochran]

Ah is right!

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by ShawnF

I have owned quite a few of these knives over the years, and have found their products to be hit or miss lately. Any one else finding their products to be a little shoddy as of late?

What doe you expect? The company was sold, to Wiss I think. It's yet another example of management selling out for a whackin' great pile of money, the beancounters at the purchasing company taking over, and then cutting quality to make their money back before the word gets out it ain't what it used to be. Read Travis McGee's rant on Plymouth Gin sometime for a more precise description of the process.

And people wonder why I shop for knives and such in antique shops and eBay. It's the only way to find the stuff that meant quality once upon a time.

[GlockMeister]

I've had my Gerber pocket knife for about 12 years now. I got a Gerber multi-tool from my bro for X-mas 2 year ago and haven't had any issues with either one.

Now if Cyrano is correct, and I'm sure he is correct, in that the company was sold, then the odds are, whom ever bought it doesn't really care about the product, those who might buy it or if the company lasts. Because if they did, they'd put Quality on the top of the list and make sure what was going out the door of their factories wasn't crappolla.

Cyrano, is Wiss short for something? Who are they, or what else do they own?

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

Cyrano, is Wiss short for something? Who are they, or what else do they own?

They're a Scandinavian company that's been making scissors and knives for the better part of 100 years. I think they're Swedish, but it might be Finnish. They also own the Fiskars brand. Tailors, seamstresses, theatrical costume makers and serious recreationists who make their own outfits have known these brands forever. My knowledge of them comes via my ex-wife, a recreationist costumer who makes custom wedding outfits on the side.

I went to an estate sale two years ago of a seamstress who worked directly with the big name fashion designers, making the outfits the runway models wear. I bought every set of scissors and shears in the place for next to nothing, since the sale operator hadn't a clue about fine steel. Some American, some European, some Japanese, but all absolutely the best of their types. I kept some of them and gave the rest to a costumer friend of mine. It cost me more to mail the ones I gave her down to her than I paid for the entire lot!

Essentially, Wiss bought Gerber to break into the US general market, because Americans know the Gerber name. But I've notices a distinct falling-off in the quality of all three brands when I've seen them in stores over the past year or so. It is not coincidental that most of the stuff you are seeing in stores these days with those names on them is being made in China. I leave the conclusion as an exercise for the reader.

[hawkeye_gunner]

Don't listen to A.H., theres only only 2 Buck worth getting. The nighthawk, or the 110.

Go with a Ka-Bar, Leathermen, or Ontario.

[knightRider]

I like microtechs and SOG ' s

[elmer fudd]

get rid of them and go with Kershaws! LOL

[hawkeye_gunner]

ehhh...

Kershaws don't stand up great with heavy use, and I think thats what Shaun is lookin for.

[jd1911]

kabar nuff said in my opinion the best i owned

[Rave]

Hummmm,lots o knife opinions,hard to beat a 110 Buck folder,or Microtech auto.
Plenty of other good ones on the market and more comeing out every day.
I subscribe to Tactical Knives magazine and every issue is chock full of new stuff on the market,lots of it sounds pretty good.

[elmer fudd]

ya for a pocket knife kershaws are good but for longer uses like to skin a deer and stuff get a old timer

[oldjarhead]

KaBar, Buck, Schrade, or Old Timer; in that order...IMHO.
Never owned a Gerber.

[Cyrano]

Shortly after I graduated and went to sea I bought myself a Gerber Mark I. Thufir Hawat has been a good friend to me in some bad places more than once. Back then, Gerber made some of the best fighting blades the world had ever seen. Regrettably, that is no longer true.

These days, my daily carry knife is an old Schrade Uncle Henry LB-5 that I've carried for many years. I think the Uncle Henrys are still made here in the USA.

But if you want a real American knife these days, you either have to shop at antique shops or get lucky on eBay and know what you are looking at. It's like Stanley Tools. There was a time when the Stanley name meant top quality, made with pride in the United States in Connecticut. Now, 90% of the stuff with the Stanley name on it is made in China and it's utter crap. So it is with knives. Frankly, your best bet is to find an American knifesmith like Romey and commission a piece from him. It will cost more than a bit, but you can be sure what you are getting is the very best and that it's made in America by an American.

[two-70]

i am completly Cold Steel

[Triggerjerk]

Right now I think that the best working pocket knives of traditional design are made by Case, in Bradford, PA. They cost a bit more than some others, but I think that they are worth it. Go to Select Case Knives, Case knives, Case XX, Case, pocketknives, Case collector knives, W.R. Case for Shepard Hills Cutlery. I find that they have a good selection and good prices. This is for slip joint pocket knives like Stockman and Trapper models, not tacticals. I can do just about any chore that I need to with their Jack or Stockman patterns.

[Romey]

I actually starts to write twice on this thread and stopped myself after writing incredibly long posts I’m glad I didn’t post now. I hope and do feel most of you realize am not here to make sales. I don’t need to be on this forum to be as busy as I need to do so. I am here just cause I like the friendly folks or most anyway
But Ill offer some inside info that many probably don’t know. Being in the position with knives that I am and having studied knife metallurgy as in-depth as I have has offered me to see what goes on INSIDE the community. Here is one thing ill share.

MANY of the knives often discussed here and some in this very thread are blanked out, ground and heat treated by the SAME plant in China and then sent to its prospective companies where they are handled packaged and sold as completely different knife manufacturers. That said why does one work better then the next and worse this this that or another? It has almost NOTHING to do with the type of steel if you seen how factories in the US or anywhere else mass heat treat you’d under stand why your cousin Phil is in love with his (place brand name here) and your exact same one sucks.
The inconsistency of factory HT is incredible in fact they are heat treated in the very same way ball bearings are, keep in mind ball bearings don’t have to be sharp or hold a edge!
The blades are run through a furnace on a assembly line , SPRAY heat treated and tempered. Not preheated, not held at temp and not quenched fully to gain full martinsite transformation to stuff what makes a blade hold its edge.

If and when you buy a knife, any knife, go in completely understanding that a advertisement or claims of edge holding like Excalibur is what it is. Knife mages need material to print and just because its in a mag doesn’t mean its worth a dime as a knife. I can tell you exactly how to get into a magazine, have professional photos taken. That’s it, simple as that, spending 1000$ in advertising doesn’t hurt either.

The trouble with a knife is this, my idea of sharpness and yours and the guy down the road all have different opinions, same as edge holding or anything. Once a factory knife is sold, if YOU don’t think it holds a edge, what are the odds sending it back will get you a new knife that’s any different? Even if you do get a different one, one in a box of 100 is a really good one, what are your odds of getting THAT one.

Maybe it does cost more to have a knife made by me or another GOOD custom maker? If you call (place factory brand here) and want to talk to the very guy who made your knife from beginning to end, who hand picked the material and known every intimate detail of your knife, the knife you hold in your hand, think you’d find such a guy even if you did think he would talk on the phone at his expense for a hour at a time? I do this.

Do you get custom sheaths with a factory knife hand made using best materials one can have? Mine do. Do you get a FREE padded knife case, Tuff cloth, AND a custom cap? Mine do.
Not to mention if you don’t like the knife and if there truly is a issue or a problem I give their money back or make them a whole new knife. Allot of custom makers are allot like me. Some are VERY good, some not so much but few custom makers and NO factory knife manufacturers are willing to go head to head cutting against other knives like I do.
Just as a example. EVERY blade I make, when I heat treated it I hold it at shoulder high and drop it tip first onto concrete, IF it breaks from being to brittle or rounds the tip from being to soft, id rather know it THEN , then to send it to a customer, who often become good friends with me and have it happen to them out in the field or worse in combat from my military clients.
Are you willing and confident in your knives to drop it tip first onto concrete? And that’s just ONE test I give EVERY blade.

Every fifth blade I test until it fails, breaks bends or farts. I guess the point is, I don’t really make money making knives I Do it because I was pissed off that how down hill knife quality went and I decided to do something about it. I make these for people like myself, for people like you to have something of high quality that your sons son can have and say Grandpa gave me this some cowhand in Montana made it and its still going strong.

Whats that worth to you? 5 (place your $50 knife brand here) or one custom?