- Joined
- Apr 3, 2008
- Messages
- 369
I am in receipt of a lightly used Gerber LST Magnum (model 600).
The blade is about 3.5 inches long (with a cutting edge of about 3.5 inches), one inch wide, full flat ground, bead blasted 420HC stainless. It has a secondary bevel.
The handle is full-figured, made of black FRN and has a pair of generous finger grooves. The configuration is lockback.
The blade profile is essentially what you would expect of a kitchen knife -- a slicer perhaps -- having a very nearly "normal" point profile, but every so slightly dropped. Technically a drop point, but just barely.
The knife weighs 4.1 oz (postal scale), the same as a Buck 110 EcoLite.
As received, the action was smooth, although it lacked a crisp closing snap. This was partly corrected with light oil.
The lock is tight and solid.
I tested the knife in the kitchen. Although the blade's length is about the same as a paring knife, the one-inch width makes it twice as wide as a normal paring blade, and this affects the agility of the blade in fruits and vegetables.
I reworked the secondary bevel somewhat with a diamond steel and established an acceptable (sharp) edge.
It does well at straight slicing tasks, but was outmaneuvered in paring by a Buck 426 (basically a drop-point version of the Buck 110) even though the Buck's blade stock was a hair thicker. The narrower blade on the 426 made it more agile in fruit-n-veg material.
Overall, I think the LST Magnum will make a good general purpose outdoor knife. The edge seems to hold well, and the blade shape would be suitable for skinning. Blade stock thickness is adequate for most ordinary outdoor work.
It's a very competent slicer, has a good amount of belly, has a handle that's easy to hold and large enough to establish and maintain a solid grip for work requiring force and control.
This piece was made in Portland, Oregon, and retails for under $40. It can be had at auction for under $25 if one shops carefully.
I was pleased with the overall quality of this knife, and found it reminiscent of the quality I remember from Gerber's earlier production.
A note about the secondary bevel: if you pick up one of these things, you will probably want to re-establish the bevel angle to something a bit more acute than what the factory gives it. The relatively steep factory bevel tends to degrade the cutting ability one might expect from a full flat ground wide blade.
I have a bit more work to do on the edge, but I believe the result is going to be quite usable.
It won't become an EDC for me, but could easily ride in the truck or Jeep. I have no problem trusting it in that role.
I would be interested in hearing what anyone else knows about this knife.
(Pix to come later.)
The blade is about 3.5 inches long (with a cutting edge of about 3.5 inches), one inch wide, full flat ground, bead blasted 420HC stainless. It has a secondary bevel.
The handle is full-figured, made of black FRN and has a pair of generous finger grooves. The configuration is lockback.
The blade profile is essentially what you would expect of a kitchen knife -- a slicer perhaps -- having a very nearly "normal" point profile, but every so slightly dropped. Technically a drop point, but just barely.
The knife weighs 4.1 oz (postal scale), the same as a Buck 110 EcoLite.
As received, the action was smooth, although it lacked a crisp closing snap. This was partly corrected with light oil.
The lock is tight and solid.
I tested the knife in the kitchen. Although the blade's length is about the same as a paring knife, the one-inch width makes it twice as wide as a normal paring blade, and this affects the agility of the blade in fruits and vegetables.
I reworked the secondary bevel somewhat with a diamond steel and established an acceptable (sharp) edge.
It does well at straight slicing tasks, but was outmaneuvered in paring by a Buck 426 (basically a drop-point version of the Buck 110) even though the Buck's blade stock was a hair thicker. The narrower blade on the 426 made it more agile in fruit-n-veg material.
Overall, I think the LST Magnum will make a good general purpose outdoor knife. The edge seems to hold well, and the blade shape would be suitable for skinning. Blade stock thickness is adequate for most ordinary outdoor work.
It's a very competent slicer, has a good amount of belly, has a handle that's easy to hold and large enough to establish and maintain a solid grip for work requiring force and control.
This piece was made in Portland, Oregon, and retails for under $40. It can be had at auction for under $25 if one shops carefully.
I was pleased with the overall quality of this knife, and found it reminiscent of the quality I remember from Gerber's earlier production.
A note about the secondary bevel: if you pick up one of these things, you will probably want to re-establish the bevel angle to something a bit more acute than what the factory gives it. The relatively steep factory bevel tends to degrade the cutting ability one might expect from a full flat ground wide blade.
I have a bit more work to do on the edge, but I believe the result is going to be quite usable.
It won't become an EDC for me, but could easily ride in the truck or Jeep. I have no problem trusting it in that role.
I would be interested in hearing what anyone else knows about this knife.
(Pix to come later.)
The thing is lucky, if ever to see oil or to be sharpened. From what I've seen, this knife is rock solid at a cheap price.