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Old October 11, 2006, 11:03 PM   #1
FirstFreedom
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Man, the Gerber brand/company is really on a tear lately

They've got MORE stuff for sale everywhere you look, esp. Academy, BassPro, and Sportsman's Warehouse, in the last year or two, than you can shake a stick at. They have been paying some BIG money for special store displays for their carnivore light, hydration hunting packs, knives, saws, flashlights, multitools, younameit. A lot more product types and variants than they used to have. It's like they just had an extra 50 million lying around and they decided to pump it all into new product development, shelf space, and marketing all of a sudden. I'm sure they're selling a lot of stuff to get that cash back though....the display in Bass Pro hooked me in about an hour ago and I came home with one of these:

http://www.rockynational.com/1849_22...k_MO_Camo.html

Just kinda curious, I thought, to seemingly explode like that... and not the baby food company, the hunting company, so I'm in the right forum, if you were wondering.

I think the quality of their knives and such now is getting suspect however. It's always a red flag when the manufacturer won't tell you the blade steel used, and insted just use some meaninglessly vague term like "surgical steel" or "440" - without specifying 440A, B, or C - BIG difference. And that's what Gerber does now...
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Old October 11, 2006, 11:41 PM   #2
Venison_Jerkey32
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I've bought a couple of knives from them before they started mass producing...everything. What I really like is their axes. Very lightweight and durable, great for cutting down the 1 MILLION ceders on our property!!!!
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Old October 12, 2006, 01:57 AM   #3
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Gerber brand but not the company

It's not the same company it was when Al Mar was working for Pete Gerber Fiskars took it over a long time ago and it's a label not a maker pretty much.

Time was Gerber was a reliable suggestion for somebody who just needed a hunting knife right now - couldn't go wrong. I wouldn't take anything they sell today on faith.

For my money it's diluting not leveraging the brand YMMV.
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Old October 13, 2006, 12:58 PM   #4
guntotin_fool
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I agree, once the Portland USA mark left the knives, they have gone downhill rapidly. The older Excaliber (sword in the stone) stamped blades were top notch, the newer styles are not bad, but are not the high quality that the name once portrayed.
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Old October 13, 2006, 01:22 PM   #5
oldbillthundercheif
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I picked up one of these and it is the nicest dang pocketknife I have ever owned and I have owned a lot of nice knives.
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Old October 13, 2006, 06:24 PM   #6
rem33
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When they first came out with the folding hunter like bucks only thinner I got one. It was about the first year and the steel was made in Germany. It is about half as good at keeping a edge as my old 110 buck with 440C steel and the last time I considered a buying a Gerber.
The locking mechanism failed and cut my hand pretty bad once also.

Good looking knife Bill , hope your experience is better than mine was.
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Old October 13, 2006, 06:35 PM   #7
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I have a few Gerber knives, but my primary hunting knife is a Buck. I do have a Gerber hatchet that I love. It's lightweight, it practicaly swings itself.
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Old October 13, 2006, 06:58 PM   #8
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I have heard that the Fiskars hatchet is the same as the Gerber hatchet other than the color and name. I bought one for less than $20 at Lowes. It came with a cheapo snap in cover which I replaced with a leather one.

I bought a Gerber brush clearer this summer - love it. Keep it strapped on my backpack when running around in the woods - no more getting hung up in the thorns. This thing cuts a quick path with not much effort (it is fun to use even if you are not blaring the highlander music in the background). It did a beautiful job cutting a trail to my favorite fishing spot.
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Old October 14, 2006, 08:12 AM   #9
stevelyn
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Their multi-tools are better than anything else on the market.

Their knives? Better can be had for the money.
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Old October 14, 2006, 10:51 AM   #10
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Agreed. I bought this M.T. a few years back, and it's VERY nice:

http://www.gerberstore.com/index.php...ry_id=multi800

I really like the carbide cutter for cutting barbed wire & such. This tool is kept in my "Gun repair & cleaning" toolbox that I take to the range and on extended hunts. And I grab it out of the toolbox, to take hunting/camping as well.

Their knives aren't really up to snuff; agreed; but some of them have neat features, for the money, like the pretty wood on the one posted above, and the super grippy handle on my Gator II.
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Old October 15, 2006, 08:06 PM   #11
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every blade and multi tool ive purchased in the last year had been a gerber. They've never let me down on quality and depndability.

SW
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Old October 16, 2006, 12:55 AM   #12
nico
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I bought my dad a Gerber skinning knife with a gut hook a few years ago and was very unimpressed. The blade wasn't all that sharp right out of the box and was about as useful as a butter knife after skinning about a quarter of a medium sized doe.
The next season, he bought the Outdoor Edge Kodi-Pak, which we've been very happy with. The saw cuts through bone very quickly and both knives came razor sharp and have remained so after field dressing 4 or 5 deer.
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Old October 16, 2006, 03:16 AM   #13
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I've seen this same thing with Gerber.....their folding knives leave much to be desired, particularly compared to the similarly priced offerings from CRKT (a favorite of mine) and Cold Steel. I do love their multitools, particularly their simple entry-level one.
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Old October 16, 2006, 08:48 AM   #14
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I've bought several Gerbers in the past and they have always been very sharp out of the box and hold a good blade. That being said, my best friend bought me a gerber skinner and it was dull. It wouldn't shave out of the box and I can't seem to get a good edge on it. It's a nice knife, it feels sturdy but it just doesn't have that edge that I expect out of Gerber.
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Old October 16, 2006, 08:53 AM   #15
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Nico

The Seki / Outdoor Edge stuff is some of the best values around on knives, IMO. Cold Steel, Kershaw, Spyderco, and *SOME* CRKTs are good values as well.
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