Gerber Bear Grylls Paracord Fixed Blade Knife
Feb 8, 2015 6:01:43 GMT
Post by Afoo on Feb 8, 2015 6:01:43 GMT
Hello. I usually hang out in the swords section, so reviewing a knife is a whole new thing to me.
Just a bit of background behind my perspective here. I am not a huge knife person. I have a few bayonets, but I count them as part of my sword and militaria collection rather than tools. I usually carry around a frame lock folding knife in the $25-40 range - usually a Smith and Wesson or a Ruko model for everyday use. However, I was never really 100% comfortable with the security of the blade locking mechanism, and started looking around for alternatives. Some of the CRKT knives came with an "autolawks" feature, but I wasn't sold. I started looking for a fixed knife for everyday carry on the internet, but nothing serious.
This afternoon, I went to an outdoors store and this knife caught my eye. I was drawn to its lightweight build and skeleton frame. The bright orange paracord didn't hurt its chances either. The store was closing, and the knife fell within my price range, so I made a snap decision to buy in on the spot.
Affiliations:
I have no connection with either Gerber, Mr Grylls, or the vendor who sold it to me. I paid the full market price ($37.44 CDN) for it.
Overview
This small knife came with some rather outrageously oversized packaging (I neglected to take a picture, so here is a picture from Amazon). Not a huge fan of the excessive material, or the brash marketing. Then again, I bought it for the knife not the box, so I promptly got rid of it. It also came with the "Bear Grylls Priorities of Survival Pocket Guide", which contained a bunch of basic survival tips on making fire etc. Not much of interest here. However, it did start to make me worry that the knife would end up being targeted towards posers, with a greater emphasis on appearance and marketing the Grylls name rather than functionality.
Cheesy packaging and marking bits
These fears were quickly put to rest upon examining the actual knife. As you can see, it looks rather businesslike and quite functional
The Knife.
The knife comes in at 7.75 inches with a 5.25 inch blade - much more substantial than the folding knives which I am used to. However, the skeleton frame keeps the weight under 70 grams (170g including the sheath). The blade is very substantial, measuring in at just under 5mm wide at the spine. As you might expect, it is of full tang construction, with 4ft of paracord wrapped around the handle.
Lightweight knife with slim sheath
And a thick no-nonsense blade
The business end of the knife is well done, with a nice grey finish tapering off to unfinished metal at the edge. The sharpening appears to be very fine, with no sign of a secondary bevel (the unfinished edge sometimes may resemble a bevel, but trust me, its not there). I have not cut anything with it yet, but I am confident that the blade is strong enough for most tasks. Some may lament the lack of serrations, but it does make it easier to sharpen, and likely increases the life of the sheath
Edge of the blade showing the sharpening and other blade features
The thumb ridges and finger indent make it easy to grip and manipulate. The handle is wide enough to allow for both blade-up and blade-down grips. Some people may find that the finger indent makes the blade down grip uncomfortable, but I don't mind. You can hook my pinky into that indent to increase control-ability if needed. Paracord around the handle makes it more comfortable and increases the sense of security when holding onto it.
Blade is comfortable in both blade-up and blade-down grips
So far, so good. No sign of cheap marketing or poser-baiting. However, that changes when we get to the paracord. The orange paracord looks nice and feels good in the hands, but the ends are completely unfinished! I am not a huge survival expert, but I suspect that you would not want to go out into the wild with paracord like this. The frayed ends make tying knots a nightmare, and don't do wonders for the longevity of the cord. It's not a difficult fix - I plan to either melt the ends or replace it, but it does show a lack of foresight on the part of Gerber. This stuff wasn't meant to go outdoors. The paracord is also a bit short for my liking - I would rather have a bit at the end to make a loop or lanyard. While this is just my personal preference, I feel like if Gerber was serious about making an excellent survival knife, they would have given you longer and better cord than this.
See below for image
Note that I un-did some of the loops around the handle in order to lengthen the amount of paracord coming out of the end. As shipped, the knife has less (about 2 in) of paracord out the end, and a tighter wrap around the grip.
The Sheath
Realistically, a knife design like this is hard to mess up. However, the sheath is where things can go wrong. You need it to be comfortable, versatile, yet secure. As with the knife, Gerber gets it right - mostly.
The sheath itself has a low profile, making it easy and comfortable to carry around. It is made of hard plastics re-enforced by 6 metal grommets. The grommets are used to hold the belt loop, which can be adjusted and re positioned according to preference. I quite like this system, as it gives you great versatility in term so how you want to mount it. The use of bolts to secure the belt loop in place is not ideal, as it makes it very difficult to adjust how you carry the knife on the go - for example having to move it from one side to the other. However, I have yet to see someone come up with a "quick release" system for doing the job so I will let that one go.
Belt loop attached to the sheath
I do have two more legitimate concerns about the mounting system. When I first saw the knife, I expected there to be two bolts which screw into the sheath. However, this is not the case. The bolts actually screw into a set of small nuts on the opposite end. There is also a rubber washer in the middle to act as a spacer. All told, there are 6 pieces required to mount the belt loop (3 per side) - 4 more than you actually need. In my mind, that's just extra pieces to lose, and for no really good reason.
My other niggle is the fact that, while the four square mounting points line up with the belt loop, the two at the ends do not, limiting the versatility of the mounting system and preventing you from carrying it on the diagonal. Its not a big concern, but there is simply no reason for it - just need to move the holes over a fraction of an inch.
Rubber washers for the mounting system - something else to lose! The nut is not show, but its there, waiting to be eaten by the carpet monster!
The holes at the tip are barely out of reach. The first picture looks like it could almost make it, but it can't. There is enough play within the engineering tolerances so that you can make it fit, but it puts excessive strain on the mounting fixtures if you do.
Alternatively, you could simply lash it to a backpack using the grommets and leave the belt loop at home. The belt-loop is actually thicker than the sheath itself, so that may not be a bad idea - makes it much comfier to carry.
When we move to the business end, we can see that the sheath grips the blade very securely, with no rattle or looseness. However, the "bumps" which holds the blade in place looks liable to be worn down over time, resulting in the blade coming loose. I do not know of an alternate method of securing the blade within this style of sheath, so I will not count that as a minus quite yet - perhaps someone more informed than I can answer that question
One small fault here is that the tabs at the top of the sheath pinch the paracord, which may damage it over the long term. Its a small issue, but a rather silly one to have on a survival knife. Also, the symmetrical nature of the sheath makes it easy to adopt the knife for left or right hand carry, but it also makes it really easy to put it back the wrong way around.
Shoulders on the sheath rub and damage the paracord (problem area circles). Also notes the frayed ends!
Another issue here is that the finger indent is partially obscured by the sheath. As such, your finger will not be fully engaged when you first draw the knife, requiring you to adjust your grip. I carry the knife mainly for utility, but also a bit for self defense, so it is a bit of an issue. However, I have heard that similar problems exist in many other products with this style of sheath, so hard to pass judgement on it.
Finger cannot engage the cut-out upon initially drawing the knife.
One BIG issue I have with the sheath is that it has no drainage holes at the bottom. None at all. Again, its not a huge deal, since I can drill some out myself. However, like the frayed paracord, it does suggest a lack of foresight and intent. I feel like if they were serious about making an excellent survival knife, they would have a drainage hole.
I also do not like the ostentatious Bear Grylls marketing logo
Summary
At the end of the day, this is a reasonable knife. Its functional, comfortable to use and to carry, and has a very secure sheath with a versatile mounting system. However, there are quite a few glaring errors in its design - nothing major, but small, silly things which make you question the intent and dedication of the manufacturer. I don't think its a marketing gimmick as I had feared in the beginning - its a good little knife and will serve my purposes just fine, but I am sure there are many equal or better offerings on the market.
Pros:
- Price (<40 Cdn)
- Lightweight, suitable for everyday wear
- Versatile mounting system
- Sturdy design, construction
Cons:
- Stupid mistakes in the design (paracord, lack of drainage holes)
- Somewhat flashy Bear Grylls marketing
- Longevity of parts of the sheath which grip the blade (??)
- Cheaper steel (??)
EDIT: I was looking up some information, and I believe that this knife is made using 5Cr15MoV steel. According to Gerber's own documentation, this type of stainless steel is on the softer (and cheaper - their words not mine) end of the spectrum. Again, undermined a bit of the credibility of this knife. Then again, for under $40 Canadian ($32 US), you can only get so much
Source material here - see page 3. finnszerszam.hu/gerberacelinfo.pdf
finnszerszam.hu/gerberacelinfo.pdf
Just a bit of background behind my perspective here. I am not a huge knife person. I have a few bayonets, but I count them as part of my sword and militaria collection rather than tools. I usually carry around a frame lock folding knife in the $25-40 range - usually a Smith and Wesson or a Ruko model for everyday use. However, I was never really 100% comfortable with the security of the blade locking mechanism, and started looking around for alternatives. Some of the CRKT knives came with an "autolawks" feature, but I wasn't sold. I started looking for a fixed knife for everyday carry on the internet, but nothing serious.
This afternoon, I went to an outdoors store and this knife caught my eye. I was drawn to its lightweight build and skeleton frame. The bright orange paracord didn't hurt its chances either. The store was closing, and the knife fell within my price range, so I made a snap decision to buy in on the spot.
Affiliations:
I have no connection with either Gerber, Mr Grylls, or the vendor who sold it to me. I paid the full market price ($37.44 CDN) for it.
Overview
This small knife came with some rather outrageously oversized packaging (I neglected to take a picture, so here is a picture from Amazon). Not a huge fan of the excessive material, or the brash marketing. Then again, I bought it for the knife not the box, so I promptly got rid of it. It also came with the "Bear Grylls Priorities of Survival Pocket Guide", which contained a bunch of basic survival tips on making fire etc. Not much of interest here. However, it did start to make me worry that the knife would end up being targeted towards posers, with a greater emphasis on appearance and marketing the Grylls name rather than functionality.
Cheesy packaging and marking bits
These fears were quickly put to rest upon examining the actual knife. As you can see, it looks rather businesslike and quite functional
The Knife.
The knife comes in at 7.75 inches with a 5.25 inch blade - much more substantial than the folding knives which I am used to. However, the skeleton frame keeps the weight under 70 grams (170g including the sheath). The blade is very substantial, measuring in at just under 5mm wide at the spine. As you might expect, it is of full tang construction, with 4ft of paracord wrapped around the handle.
Lightweight knife with slim sheath
And a thick no-nonsense blade
The business end of the knife is well done, with a nice grey finish tapering off to unfinished metal at the edge. The sharpening appears to be very fine, with no sign of a secondary bevel (the unfinished edge sometimes may resemble a bevel, but trust me, its not there). I have not cut anything with it yet, but I am confident that the blade is strong enough for most tasks. Some may lament the lack of serrations, but it does make it easier to sharpen, and likely increases the life of the sheath
Edge of the blade showing the sharpening and other blade features
The thumb ridges and finger indent make it easy to grip and manipulate. The handle is wide enough to allow for both blade-up and blade-down grips. Some people may find that the finger indent makes the blade down grip uncomfortable, but I don't mind. You can hook my pinky into that indent to increase control-ability if needed. Paracord around the handle makes it more comfortable and increases the sense of security when holding onto it.
Blade is comfortable in both blade-up and blade-down grips
So far, so good. No sign of cheap marketing or poser-baiting. However, that changes when we get to the paracord. The orange paracord looks nice and feels good in the hands, but the ends are completely unfinished! I am not a huge survival expert, but I suspect that you would not want to go out into the wild with paracord like this. The frayed ends make tying knots a nightmare, and don't do wonders for the longevity of the cord. It's not a difficult fix - I plan to either melt the ends or replace it, but it does show a lack of foresight on the part of Gerber. This stuff wasn't meant to go outdoors. The paracord is also a bit short for my liking - I would rather have a bit at the end to make a loop or lanyard. While this is just my personal preference, I feel like if Gerber was serious about making an excellent survival knife, they would have given you longer and better cord than this.
See below for image
Note that I un-did some of the loops around the handle in order to lengthen the amount of paracord coming out of the end. As shipped, the knife has less (about 2 in) of paracord out the end, and a tighter wrap around the grip.
The Sheath
Realistically, a knife design like this is hard to mess up. However, the sheath is where things can go wrong. You need it to be comfortable, versatile, yet secure. As with the knife, Gerber gets it right - mostly.
The sheath itself has a low profile, making it easy and comfortable to carry around. It is made of hard plastics re-enforced by 6 metal grommets. The grommets are used to hold the belt loop, which can be adjusted and re positioned according to preference. I quite like this system, as it gives you great versatility in term so how you want to mount it. The use of bolts to secure the belt loop in place is not ideal, as it makes it very difficult to adjust how you carry the knife on the go - for example having to move it from one side to the other. However, I have yet to see someone come up with a "quick release" system for doing the job so I will let that one go.
Belt loop attached to the sheath
I do have two more legitimate concerns about the mounting system. When I first saw the knife, I expected there to be two bolts which screw into the sheath. However, this is not the case. The bolts actually screw into a set of small nuts on the opposite end. There is also a rubber washer in the middle to act as a spacer. All told, there are 6 pieces required to mount the belt loop (3 per side) - 4 more than you actually need. In my mind, that's just extra pieces to lose, and for no really good reason.
My other niggle is the fact that, while the four square mounting points line up with the belt loop, the two at the ends do not, limiting the versatility of the mounting system and preventing you from carrying it on the diagonal. Its not a big concern, but there is simply no reason for it - just need to move the holes over a fraction of an inch.
Rubber washers for the mounting system - something else to lose! The nut is not show, but its there, waiting to be eaten by the carpet monster!
The holes at the tip are barely out of reach. The first picture looks like it could almost make it, but it can't. There is enough play within the engineering tolerances so that you can make it fit, but it puts excessive strain on the mounting fixtures if you do.
Alternatively, you could simply lash it to a backpack using the grommets and leave the belt loop at home. The belt-loop is actually thicker than the sheath itself, so that may not be a bad idea - makes it much comfier to carry.
When we move to the business end, we can see that the sheath grips the blade very securely, with no rattle or looseness. However, the "bumps" which holds the blade in place looks liable to be worn down over time, resulting in the blade coming loose. I do not know of an alternate method of securing the blade within this style of sheath, so I will not count that as a minus quite yet - perhaps someone more informed than I can answer that question
One small fault here is that the tabs at the top of the sheath pinch the paracord, which may damage it over the long term. Its a small issue, but a rather silly one to have on a survival knife. Also, the symmetrical nature of the sheath makes it easy to adopt the knife for left or right hand carry, but it also makes it really easy to put it back the wrong way around.
Shoulders on the sheath rub and damage the paracord (problem area circles). Also notes the frayed ends!
Another issue here is that the finger indent is partially obscured by the sheath. As such, your finger will not be fully engaged when you first draw the knife, requiring you to adjust your grip. I carry the knife mainly for utility, but also a bit for self defense, so it is a bit of an issue. However, I have heard that similar problems exist in many other products with this style of sheath, so hard to pass judgement on it.
Finger cannot engage the cut-out upon initially drawing the knife.
One BIG issue I have with the sheath is that it has no drainage holes at the bottom. None at all. Again, its not a huge deal, since I can drill some out myself. However, like the frayed paracord, it does suggest a lack of foresight and intent. I feel like if they were serious about making an excellent survival knife, they would have a drainage hole.
I also do not like the ostentatious Bear Grylls marketing logo
Summary
At the end of the day, this is a reasonable knife. Its functional, comfortable to use and to carry, and has a very secure sheath with a versatile mounting system. However, there are quite a few glaring errors in its design - nothing major, but small, silly things which make you question the intent and dedication of the manufacturer. I don't think its a marketing gimmick as I had feared in the beginning - its a good little knife and will serve my purposes just fine, but I am sure there are many equal or better offerings on the market.
Pros:
- Price (<40 Cdn)
- Lightweight, suitable for everyday wear
- Versatile mounting system
- Sturdy design, construction
Cons:
- Stupid mistakes in the design (paracord, lack of drainage holes)
- Somewhat flashy Bear Grylls marketing
- Longevity of parts of the sheath which grip the blade (??)
- Cheaper steel (??)
EDIT: I was looking up some information, and I believe that this knife is made using 5Cr15MoV steel. According to Gerber's own documentation, this type of stainless steel is on the softer (and cheaper - their words not mine) end of the spectrum. Again, undermined a bit of the credibility of this knife. Then again, for under $40 Canadian ($32 US), you can only get so much
Source material here - see page 3. finnszerszam.hu/gerberacelinfo.pdf
finnszerszam.hu/gerberacelinfo.pdf
