Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2743 in Home Improvement
• Brand: Gerber
• Model: GER06079
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 5.69" h x 1.50" w x 2.81" l, .40 pounds

Features

• Serrated 3.75-inch blade
• Weighs 5 ounces
• Patented Gator grip handles set them apart from the competition
• Surgical stainless steel blade
• Limited lifetime warranty

Amazon.com Product Description
The Gerber Gator Folding Clip Point Serrated Edge Knife features a unique thermo plastic comfort grip handle designed to offer maximum grip in both dry and wet conditions. The knife also features a drop-point blade with a convex curve bending towards the point of the blade that offers an ample amount of effective edge for slicing, making it an ideal choice as a hunting knife. The knife locks open for safety, comes with a limited lifetime warranty, and includes a black Cordura belt sheath.

From the Manufacturer
All Gator Folding knives feature a stainless steel blades and patented Gator grip handles that set them apart fro the competition. Gerber revolutionized knife grip technology when it introduced the Gator in 1991, winning Blade Magazine's "Most Innovative Knife of the Year" award. This combination of thermo plastics delivers comfort and feel, and is designed to offer the maximum grip for dry or wet conditions.

Customer Reviews

Great outdoors knife
Gerber's Gator series of folding knives are famous for their unique handle, it is made of a rubber like polymer that gives you a great slip proof grip, even when wet. This particular model is made famous for the fact that Bear Grylls has used it in several of his Man vs Wild episodes, and is also featured on the cover of the Season 1 DVD.

The combo blade length is long enough to provide a useful serration section. Most other shorter blades compromise too much, meaning you don't have enough serrations in the blade to cut effectively with a back and forth motion.

The only drawbacks are very minor, it uses a lower grade 420HC blade that doesn't stay as sharp as 154CM or S30V which are more expensive, but for the price the 420HC blade on this knife is acceptable. The blade is also not perfectly centered into the handle when closed, again, an acceptable drawback when considering the price.

Overall I'm very pleased with this folder and I'm pleased to have it in my collection.

grippy, incredibly durable knife
I bought a Gerber Gator about 3 years ago. As an oudoors-y engineer, I've used and abused this knife an awful lot and haven't had to sharpen it much. The rubberized handle is great for use in bad weather, and really comfortable for extended periods of time. The gator is a thicker than most folding knives with similar blades, but still fits comfortably into a jean's pocket. It came with a nylon belt sheath, but it wore out quickly (because of increased friction from the rubber knife handle).

This is the one knife I take with me when I know I'll need one.

So far, so good!
Okay, I'll admit it. I was looking for a good knife for "survival situations" and looked for one used by Bear Grylls ("Man vs. Wild"). I'm thinking of doing Christian missionary work outside the States. I helped a missionary build a house once in the Sierra Mardres of Mexico. (Hola Tony F., if you're reading this.) It's pretty raw when you're out of the States and your survival might depend on a good knife if transportation breaks down. You will have to rough it in the middle of nowhere.

Maybe I've fallen for the TV hype, but I figured Bear Grylls probably knows knives. So I Google'd and found he used this one for a season. Even if he doesn't know knives, he used it on the show, so you can see how it held up under use.

The price was right (they want a bazillion dollars for a new Bear Grylls "signature" series now) and the reviews on Amazon were good. How can you go wrong? Kudos to Gerber and Amazon for not gouging.

I got the knife very quickly (even during the December holidays). A nice bonus that I didn't see mentioned on the order page - it came with a scabbard.

It's very sharp out of the box (will cut hair off your arm like a razor). I don't know how long it will stay that way because I haven't used it for anything yet. (That's why only 4 stars, not 5. I don't have any data using it to give it a perfect 5.)

Some reviewers, who know knives better than I do, say there are other alloy blades that stay sharper longer. But they also cost more. (And are maybe harder to hand sharpen in the field?) You can probably buy two of these knives for the price of a fancy alloy one and always have a sharp knife while the other one goes to the factory for sharpening.

In any event, out of the box it's sharper than a Benchmade pocketknife I bought years ago for $70. I've sent my Benchmade to the factory for sharpening and it never came back as sharp as this Gerber.

This knife is very sturdy. You see Bear cutting through trees with knifes on TV... this one might be able to do that. I'm used to flip out pocket knives and have always complained how flimsy the blade is when "locked" open. On pocket knives, the blades almost rattle on their small pivot point and as they bear against a smallish lock mechanism.

Not this knife. The lock is substantial and solid. You press a substantial back bone to release the blade to close it. (Two hands needed.)

Again, since I'm used to pocket knives, I was expecting this knife to have a thumb peg (not a knife person... don't know the technical terms). You know, where you can flick the knife open in one motion with a flick of your thumb. But there isn't one. This knife requires two hands to open. I made a mark on the blade where a rivet could be installed to make a thumb peg and clear the body while swinging, but I'm not sure if a conventional drill will drill through the metal blade. Anyone tried that?

The handle fits my hand perfectly. For reference, I'm 6 feet tall, but not a large man. I had to make a fiberglass extension for the handle on a J frame .38 revolver to get proper extension on my trigger finger if that helps you gt a grip. (A little pun.)

In sum, it seems like a really good knife and appears solid enough for the real world. And again, the price is right. You really can't go wrong. I'm happy with my purchase.