GERBER GEAR Strongarm Camp - Fixed Blade Camping Knife for Controlled Cuts For First Aid Or Cutting Rope Made With 420HC Full Tang Plain Edge Blade And Diamond-Textured Grippy Handle-Made in USA- Gray

I hope the rest of Gerber knives follow this trend. For a while there, I didn't think Gerber would come out with anything good again, but this knife has renewed my faith. :) It may only be 420HC steel, but the heat treatment did the trick. Being from Oregon, this knife was in constatnt contact with moisture. Never once, did I spot any rust or corrosion from its trips to the beach (prying open mussels and oysters) or in the wet forest (hunting for chanterelle mushrooms). I purchased this knife back in January 2017, and it has been on just about every adventure I have gone on since. I wanted to really use and abuse this knife; even use it for some finer tasks. In the end, I found that it loves to be abused. Taking a look at my photographs ten months after I purchased it, the only real noticeable defects now are some scratches on the black ceramic coating around the tip of the blade, and one little notch on the edge. Now, I didn't go stabbing old metal water heaters or practice emergency escapes from a Humvee, but I did a fair amount of batoning, chopping, and prying in the woods. The blade was in contact with wood, rope, concrete, and dirt. The point was never precise to begin with (see pictures), but now it is even more "flat".I love the diamond-texture grip of the handle. Very comfortable and easy to word with. My wife really like the handle too and she has smaller hands than I. The handle itself showed very little signs of wear. The fiberglass-infused plastic hand guard did take a little beating. There are gouges and scratches all over the hand guard -- yet no cracks or broken pieces. The "dull" clip point is actually one of my favorite parts about this knife. It can be hammered upon without worry of dulling, bending, or damaging the tip of the blade, yet it still provides an narrow enough point for excellent stabbing, chiseling, and some bushcraft. The pommel at the end of the handle creates the perfect sized lip for an overhanging finger (or two) so one could extent the reach of the blade.I was also very impressed by the MOLLE-capable hard plastic sheath. It is very durable and just as handy on a backpack as it is on your belt.The real downfalls I saw from the knife were in completing finer tasks. The saber grind and thickness of the blade made food preparation (slicing) more difficult. You could make a decent feather stick, but when carving a wooden spoon from a piece of maple, rounding the end of a spoon was very difficult. That being said, I'm sure if one put a more aggressive edge on the blade, you could get better results. The pictures I have posted show the uneven beveling of the edge.In my opinion, Gerber has finally produced something worth being call "GERBER". And for $50, this knife will outlast many of its competitors.

This is My 2nd Gerber Knife (The Other one is a Gerber Ultimate which I got from my work 1 day before this arrived), My 3rd American Made Fixed Blade Knife, and My 5th American Made Knife in General. My other American Made Knives are an OKC SP1, General Cutlery M7 Bayonet, A Kershaw Switchblade, and a Kershaw Spring Assisted Pocket Knife.All of My Knives are for Opening Boxes and Defensive Knives.Pros:1) Arrived Sharp.2) American Made.3) Size (Not really small and not to big).4) Comfortable Handle.5) Mount it to a Belt Sideways (Horizontally).6) Mount it to anything with Molle.7) Stays in Sheath without Retention Strap.8) Arrived 2 days after I ordered it and at a Great Price.Cons:1) Vertical Belt Mount.2) Unless you are Overweight; Forget about being able to Conceal it if you're Mounting it Horizontally.

Great knife! Great sheath! I don't know why some people talk bad about the sheath. The knife fits very well and there are numerous options for carry without doing too much. The molle mount option works great for a plate carrier. The knife itself it sharp and made from good metal for the purpose of the knife. THE PURPOSE OF THE KNIFE. Some people get silly with their opinions on knife steel because they've read multiple forum posts and articles and think they know what's best for every knife. Sorry, you're not as much of an expert as you think you are. If you want some very specific metal that's going to be 1% superior in some specific circumstance over the life of the knife, go for it. Pay twice as much for your special knife from a boutique company. Get out of here. This is a great knife.That said, BEWARE OF FAKES. The market is flooded with fakes, but there are numerous videos online telling you how to spot the fakes. I got a legit knife from the Gerber store here on Amazon. Don't buy from questionable sources for "50% off deals."

Very impressive knife for the money. I was not a fan of the 420 steel version of this knife, but it is among the least expensive MAGNACUT steel knives available and is now a very good first choice for camping or bushcrafting. Comes sharp. Overall, it is a very useful and reasonably priced knife.

What a great knife. With the option for horizontal carry. This knife is strong and sharp. American made in Oregon, the Strongarm has quality craftsmanship and firm grip. I’d have paid $20 more for it. It’s that good.

You cannot throw sparks from a ferro rod with this knife. The spine has smoothed edges. Which is a great disappointment. Yet, it’s the cheapest full tang Magnacut knife, that comes close to 5”, that I can find in the market. On other knives that I own, I was able to file the spine to get it to spark a ferro rod. But not this knife. The magnacut is too tough and my file hardly scratched the surface.The tip is not perfectly straight. It slightly leans to one side. It did not come super sharp out the box. When I sharpened it, using my sharpening system I got from Amazon for $60, I had to use the 240 grit diamond stone for a long time to reshape the edge, Because from the factory, the tip of the knife was grinded at a different angle from the belly of the blade. I’m glad I got a knife sharpening system that maintains the same angle. Otherwise it would be a lot more challenging to sharpen. It took a while, but I got it razor sharp and slicing through paper like butter. Magnacut has excellent edge retention compared to other knives. And it’s a 7/10 for toughness according to the steel nerds website. So it’s less likely to chip or break while batoning than other steels like D2, 440c or N695. The sheath fits comfortably in my pocket while still attached to my belt and it’s super secure. Not difficult to quickly deploy and stow in the sheath.