ASEK - Gerber vs. Ontario

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trekkie5690

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Jan 24, 2019
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I'm looking to purchase a MILSPEC Aircrew Survival Egress knife, and I saw that there are two different MILSPEC ASEK's out there, one by Gerber, and one by Ontario. Which one is better?
 
Well I can tell you the one made by Ontario is the same unchanged design that was introduced in 1958(although it is only recently that Ontario started making it from what I understand). Many years ago I watched it being deatroyed in one of those knife destruction tests that were very popular. I forgot the name of the dude who used to make those. But, I remember it did take a lot of abuse. It is, apparently very heavy knife for it's length(almost 10 oz for a 9 inch knife). It is very inexpensive too and US made. From what I know it is also the official pilot survival knife for the US airforce. Gerber made a "ASEK compliant" model but I think ultimately they failed the bid. I read all this a long time ago so I don't really remember.
 
Legendary_Jarl said:
Well I can tell you the one made by Ontario is the same unchanged design that was introduced in 1958(although it is only recently that Ontario started making it from what I understand). Many years ago I watched it being deatroyed in one of those knife destruction tests that were very popular. I forgot the name of the dude who used to make those. But, I remember it did take a lot of abuse. It is, apparently very heavy knife for it's length(almost 10 oz for a 9 inch knife). It is very inexpensive too and US made. From what I know it is also the official pilot survival knife for the US airforce. Gerber made a "ASEK compliant" model but I think ultimately they failed the bid. I read all this a long time ago so I don't really remember.
Click to expand...

The basic Ontario style pilot's survivial knife was in use when I was in the service and has been made by numerous manufacturers, including Marbles. I want to say Camillus and Ontario, both were both issued but I can not be sure.

Oh, some early versions had a blade that was about an inch longer than what you normally come across and are very highly sought after. The location and style of blade markings have also changed some over the years and so has the sheath. Some sheaths come without the pouch for the stone. Others have been designed to be sewn onto the pilot's vest. I have seen sheaths with and without the metal re-enforcement on the bottom or back.

A friend of mine buys and sells these at gun shows all the time and claims they were also issued to the US Navy. One time, I told him that I had given away one made by Marbles. When I described the overall condition, he grabbed a book and informed me that I had just given away a $150 dollar knife! At that time, I thought a $150 knife was crazy expensive.

The rest of the story is even better. My wife had been bugging me to scale back my knife collecting. When I told here the pilots I had given away a few days earlier was valued at one-hundred and fifty clams, she just looked at me and said, "What? What are you doing? Stop it! Why would you do that? She pretty much stopped asking me to cut down my collection after that.

I can only tell you first hand that they were issued to Army flight crews. What other services issued and carried I have no personal experience with but, you could have a blast searching and collecting all of the variations made over the years and supplied to the different services and branches. What fun!
 
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As many would have noticed,
the ontario ASEK model is pretty much
an upgrade of the generic stack leather handle US jet pilot's survival knife.
And one has to pay a fair bit more
for its modernized features...
https://www.tactical-life.com/gear/knives/the-battle-for-the-next-pilot-survival-knife/
Downed aviators have the luxury of being
located and airlifted within hours,
so a small knife might suit this temporary situation until such time of a rescue.
Between the two, the gerber and its asek spin-offs
http://www.seafishinghowto.com/boats/knives/gerber-lmf-ii-infantry-survival-and-asek-knives.html
might serve better for an extended period of time
Especially to someone who prefers spending more time
with no need for rescue, and firmly stuck on terra firma :)
 
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I personally wouldn't buy anything made by Gerber. I had one of their multi tools given to me as a gift and I recently gave it to my non-knife carrying wife. She asked for a spare knife to have in the glove compartment and I was happy to oblige. Lack of quality control and rather flimsy design are big turn-offs for me. There are better options.
I have an Ontario fixed blade knife. It is nothing fancy but it is sturdy and workmanlike.
 
foxdoublegunner said:
I personally wouldn't buy anything made by Gerber. I had one of their multi tools given to me as a gift and I recently gave it to my non-knife carrying wife. She asked for a spare knife to have in the glove compartment and I was happy to oblige. Lack of quality control and rather flimsy design are big turn-offs for me. There are better options.
I have an Ontario fixed blade knife. It is nothing fancy but it is sturdy and workmanlike.
Click to expand...

Sometime ago I had a gerber multitool with piler jaws that slid out, broke the jaw of the pliers while using it within a few days and the rest of the tool failed shortly after. Been looking at the Gerber 06 Auto and that experience almost deterred me but I ended up buying it. I got the 06 and blade deployment was really slow ( Slower than its known for ) but after playing with it for a few hours it now opens as it should. The auto is U.S. made and multitool I had was not, the newer sliding-jaw multitool ( Centerdrive?) is also U.S. made but haven't tried it yet. I really like the 06 and glad I bought it.
 
Legendary_Jarl said:
Well I can tell you the one made by Ontario is the same unchanged design that was introduced in 1958(although it is only recently that Ontario started making it from what I understand).
Click to expand...
Not unless 33 years ago is considered recently.
Ontario%2520Jet%2520Pilot%2520Survival%2520Knife%2520Pommel.JPG
 
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