Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

[Horn Dog]

At last it arrived. My new Gerber Bear Grylls knife. Mine cost $59.95 on pre-order, but you can buy them much cheaper now. This is supposed to be a pure survival knife, designed and tested by Bear himself. It came in this clam pack. I can just see dozens of these hanging at Walmart checkout at Christmas time.

The knife came with a sheath that carries a firestarter and has a diamond shapener on the back.
The knife is larger than the original Bear knife by Bayley, but smaller than the Gerber LMF II Survival knife.

I am not sure why Gerber did this, but the Bear knife is mostly serrated like the LMF II. It can be used to carve and make shavings, but I personally prefer a plain edge.

Here is the new knife alongside some other well-known knives of the type and size. I was initially impressed with the checkered hammer pommel. More on this later.

 

[Horn Dog]

Oh, I forgot to mention it has a little whistle attached to the pommel. It gets even cheezier. The knife fits my hand, and has nice balance. It is lighter than my LMF II, weighing about 8 oz. The blade is "High Carbon Stainless Steel". Best in all China, no doubt. The blade is 4 5/8" long and 3/16" thick. It has a hollow grind. The handle is made from material similar to those plastic Halloween pumpkins they sell at dollar stores with a thin rubber coating for grip. To the bush!

Even with the serrated edge, it is possible to make fuzz sticks, if you have the right wood. This hard dead Bay is not ideal.

To test the firestarter, I cut some dry palm fibers. I was able to get good enough hot sparks to ignite a fire, but since both of my hands were full, I could not photograph it in action.

I used the hammer pommel to smash an acorn. No Hickory nuts were around, but that would be a better test. I removed the whistle for this.

Then I batoned the blade through a hard dead branch. The blade did fine, but the shock of all that pounding on the blade cracked the handle and the pommel went flying off into the bush. I still have not found it.

My advice would be to leave the Chinese Bear knife and get the LMF II if you must have a Gerber Survival knife.

 

[Artfully Martial]

truly the most powerful of all knives. could probably cut my ZT mudd in half

 

[JD Mandrell]

You missed the most important Bear Gryll's test, how did it cut open TV dinners at the hotel?

 

[Horn Dog]

All out of TV dinners, but I bet it can slash through them.

 

[KuRUpTD]

My advice would be to leave the Chinese Bear knife and get the LMF II if you must have a Gerber Survival knife.

I expected as much - thanks for the review.

 

[riz_aaroni]

Kind of saddening. The LMF II seems much better, though I've seen one or two of those snap in half on here. Though it seemed promising until the pic of the pommel missing lol.

 

[kilua]

Thanks for the review...was very interesting and i enjoyed it! I wonder if Bear ever actually tested this knife before giving it his seal of approval???

 

[riz_aaroni]

Thanks for the review...was very interesting and i enjoyed it! I wonder if Bear ever actually tested this knife before giving it his seal of approval???

Kind of doubt it lol. Was probably more like, "Hey bear, can we use your name/picture for a new knife?" "Sure!" And that was the extent of his involvement.

 

[Horn Dog]

Bear supposedly tested this design himself. I have seen him abuse the heck out of various knives on his Man vs Wild show. He had better bring along a sack of these for his next adventure. I have hammered the heck out of my LMF II, and it keeps coming back for more. While it is not my favorite survival knife, I can't fault it. So I know that Gerber can make a good knife. Unfortunately, this ain't it. I only used the pommel once to smash an acorn. I like the feel and balance of the knife, but the sheath looks cheap, and we can see that the plastic handle is not that tough. Just the shock from beating the blade with a baton caused the pommel to fly off.

 

[kilua]

Kind of doubt it lol. Was probably more like, "Hey bear, can we use your name/picture for a new knife?" "Sure!" And that was the extent of his involvement.

no no...i am sure there were some numbers in there... royalties if you will :yawn:

 

[Samael]

Fantastic review. Thanks for telling it like it is.

 

[goldie]

From the way its packaged,it seems more like a toy than a survival knife;just meant to sell to the masses for a profit,almost like a gimmick :barf:

 

[A.L.]

Survival series ultimate knife..
Thanks for the informative review!

 

[ForestRoamer]

Though I would never actually buy this knife I do like the fact that it may turn some more people on to collecting knives (we all bought some stupid knives when we were starting out) that like the show.

 

[Maniacal Pete]

Nice Review, Horn Dog.
Thanks for the Pics.
I, too, purchased an LMF II when I was starting out.
Fortunately, I was able to return it for a refund and pick up a knife (for about the same amount of green) that was more suitable.

Pete

 

[unit]

Though I would never actually buy this knife I do like the fact that it may turn some more people on to collecting knives (we all bought some stupid knives when we were starting out) that like the show.

Great point! It is unfortunate that many of us started out by buying and (shortly thereafter) breaking cheap stuff like this before realizing the VALUE of more expensive knives and tools.

I guess it is a necessary evil though...at that point in my life, I never would have listened to anyone that tried to tell me that the knife I was buying was utter crap. OTOH, it is only after the painful lesson of a knife failing that we learn respect...both for the better knife and the proper use of it.

Thanks for the review. I have mixed emotions on this one...I should not be surprised though.

 

[mykel m]

Nice review HD.
I wonder if Bear has or will see it.
I wouldn't put my name on a plastic handled knife.(not that anybody would want me to,just saying.)
Just goes to show he's another sellout.

 

[Samael]

The price should have been the first clue. Roughly half the cost of an LMF.

 

[Horn Dog]

From the way its packaged,it seems more like a toy than a survival knife;just meant to sell to the masses for a profit,almost like a gimmick :barf:

Unfortunately, I think you may be right. If an old man can break it in his back yard in a few minutes of use, it is really not a very tough knife. A Mora is cheaper and tougher. I just don't want some young person who may be planning a real trip into the wild to get one of these knives, thinking it has been tested and found worthy by a world famous outdoorsman. Get an ESEE, or Busse or Mora or Bark River or even the Gerber LMF II. Just don't waste your hard earned money on this gimmicky knife.