You might find this thread, Gerber Crucial ..... Junk, of interest. There are quite a few similar threads. The Obsidian is alright for what it is, but I still have some nits. Wish the drivers locked Wish the Phillips head was better defined (could be done with a thinner spacer between the drivers). The file is worthless. The bottle opener is probably one of most ineffectual ones I have ever run into. Random thoughts... There's a Gerber Exchange A Blade Saw in the tunnel pocket of my back. Good bang for the buck and surprisingly useful. I have a small hatchet kicking around, never had any problems with it. Bit small for my tastes. However, it's an older model when the sheaths were still stiffen nylon, so quality could have gone through the floor. Actually like their Safety Hook Knife. Nice knife, good retention on the sheath, came with both Malice and Molle Clips. You'll occasionally run into a diamond in the coal mine, but mail order wouldn't be my preferred method for any Gerbers because of that. Who knows.... some of their S30V blades might be nice, but they're all CredReqs.... so I'll never know. ATB, Sam
Here is the deal, the cumulative effects of things has made it pick up manufacturers or shut things down.
Yeah, i had one of these for awhile. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the CRKT models that inspired it. Also, it was really too small to be practical; that handle shape wan't very comfortable shrunk down. It felt too small in the hand, but was actually a pretty chunky knife for it's size. I've had much better small knives. Where Leatherman has made amazing innovations year after year, Gerber's tools have pretty much been swimming in circles and falling behind.I have a number of Gerber multipliers, but the tool I carry every day is a Leatherman Kick. It's a Spartan tool with few functions, but it's lean and light, and it you can feel the quality. The Gerber tools, in comparison, feel clunky, cheap, and needlessly bulky. They're not horrible, just mediocre. You can do better for the money. While I'm not a raving Cold Steel fanboy by any means, I've owned a bunch of their products and I've never had anything that felt cheap or badly engineered like the Gerber stuff does. All my CS stuff has performed admirably. Even the Kudu, which is priced like a junk knife, has been a terrific bargain (in fact, I carry one daily because it's big, light, and rugged). I can think of only two minor problems I've ever had with a Cold Steel product. The zytel pocket clip on my Voyager broke off, and the scabbard for my Finn Bear ripped at the belt loop. I won't hold the broken pocketclip against the Voyager. That was a flaw of all knives with a Zytel clip (including my Spydercos), and it actually lasted far longer than I expected it to. The knife continued to serve me well for several years afterward until it was stolen. Hell, I LOVED that knife, broken clip and all, and I still miss it to this day. And as far as the scabbard on my Finn Bear is concerned, I can't complain about it since the knife only cost me 14 bucks to begin with. It's well worth the money even without the scabbard, and the knife has continued to serve me faithfully. Sure, they could have included a better scabbard, but that would have increased the cost. The cheap scabbard just gave me an excuse to make a better replacement one. Cold Steel has done well by me, but I cannot say the same for Gerber. I consider CS to be at least 5 times the product for about the same money.
I have a Gerber MT from the early 90s as well as a Applegate/Fairbairn from the same timeframe. Never had any problems with either (once I figured out how to keep my fat palms from between the sides). Can't speak to anything more recent.
Gerber will always be a "you get what you pay for" option. People who frequent forums like this know that, and we have also identified plenty of diamonds in the rough that would sell well. I am certain Jon could sell some shards, but they probably wouldn't make him much. The Big Rock, some other stuff... it'd sell because people are on budgets. I would absolutely love a shard with a GITD EDCF stamp on it.
That's an excellent description. Stuff is mostly useable, but of mediocre-to-poor quality, and not worth the cost; designed to look like the kind of gear that a 70s era GI Joe doll would use. I've bitched about bad Gerber gear on here before, and after 25 years of trying their stuff, the only item I've found to be above mediocre is the little GDC products. That little $9 knife is killer. --Al
I remember speaking with the owner of a knife shop in town a few years ago who told me that Gerber was a good company with very good products, until Fiskars bought them. After the buy, everything went downhill - quality, innovation, etc. So he said.
I have a MT I bought in 2000 and I love it. I carried it on the job for 5 years and it never let me down. The pliers were a heavy-use item, so any butterfly-opening MT (basically everything else out there; I've tried LM and Sog) suck in that role. Their fixed blades are pretty decent, IMO: I have a Big Rock and a Gator S30V fixed which was awesome last hunting season. All of that said, I don't own any of their folders as I haven't seen any designs that appeal to me, the Propel Downrange being an exception. I never owned any of their knives from their "glory days", but I could understand how a once great name would be poo'd on for getting cheap.
As a rule, the USA made Gerber stuff isn't bad at all. The MP400 Compact Sport is a solid little tool. So are the LST pocket knives. That said, almost everything else I've bought from Gerber in recent years has been anywhere from mediocre to tragic in terms of quality. The Crucial was simply awful.
That's probably pretty accurate. Kind of a shame. Every time Gerber gets badmouthed, I keep remembering this snippet from their Wikipedia entry: Sadly, sometimes life is change. ATB, Sam
I got my Dad a Gerber Suspension (he doesnt use a MT alot and just wanted something to keep in his pack for emergency but wouldnt buy something for himself) it seems to be good Ill be it not like Leatherman but for what he uses it for it works, I actually want to buy a couple of their OHT pliers due to some quick spots in my favorite show. It just boils down to how hard you intend to use it, they are light to entry medium in my eyes.
Today's Gerber reminds me of Chrysler products from the Iacocca years. Surviving on a reputation they no longer deserve. They do have some interesting designs though. I hope they can get their quality issues resolved! But who am I kidding? They're obviously not motivated to do so or it would have already happened. They're still selling plenty...plenty of junk. I won't say that they don't have a few gems in the mix that are worth having. But I couldn't name any models. P.T. Barnum said it. "There's a sucker born every minute."
I got a MP600 from the late 90's Made in USA, OHO work pretty darn well. But its a BIG Mt no doubt about that. Had it in my car for over 10 years. ... From Northern Sweden
Not used a Gerber Multi-tool as their tool sets have never appealed to me over leatherman/vics however I once bought a Gerber knife. Day one I tried to clip it to my pocket and the pocket clip screws stripped out first try. Day two the locking mechanism failed and the blade became loose in use and unsafe to pocket carry. Day three it did not reach. I binned it on day two. After that I've just avoided the company tbh.
I had one of the Gerber multi pliers I bought in the mid 1990s. At the time, I couldn't afford a leatherman. Gerber were about $25 bucks. Worked great. Since then, I've bought a flik and diesel. Diesel is meh, flik is junk. I also bought an Applegate/Fairbairn auto. What junk. Fell apart. A friend of mine bought a suspension which is embarrassing. And its all overpriced. And I despise Bear Grylls. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Their stuff from the late 90s early 2000s is good stuff. After that it's really gone downhill. I haven't had anything gerber for 4 or 5 years but just looking at it it is not what it used to be.
I was given a Gerber MT back in the 90's and found it to be somewhat useless since the plier jaws would twist when trying to grab something. I remember using them to twist some 12 gauge wire to fix a chain link fence and when using them the jaws would twist a bit that you would not get a good grip. Now when I do something like that with my Leatherman Wave there is no issue they are solid. Since that time I have stayed away from any Gerber products.
