Gerber made in the US?

neverdie36 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL1TRg7OzZE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Did anyone see the new Gerber line? They use 154CM and S30V and are made in the US. The parts all sound good, but the knives didn't look too high of quality. I did kind of like that small fixed blade though.


Are they really trying to make a comeback or is it just a marketing ploy?
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From what I've heard, Gerber is headed the right direction. I've read good things about the "instant" too.
 
I might give at least one of those a shot. If Gerber wants to step their game up, I'll give them some encouragement.
 
Made in USA Gerbers... really? I hope that's true, but I have my doubts. Several years ago I used to think most Gerbers were USA made until I found out otherwise. Hopefully these knives won't be produced and then marked "credentials only" by Gerber. I still don't get why you need "credentials" to buy the USA version of Gerber's multitool (According to Gerber's website).

Somehow I think profit margins have something to do with it, and why Gerber isn't making much USA stuff although they certainly could. Think about it, a $80 made in USA folder might only net Gerber $10 in profit while a $40 made in China folder might net them a $25 profit. Follow the money.
 
EDCanAdamas said:
Somehow I think profit margins have something to do with it, and why Gerber isn't making much USA stuff although they certainly could. Think about it, a $80 made in USA folder might only net Gerber $10 in profit while a $40 made in China folder might net them a $25 profit. Follow the money.
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So true, and besides, the market is much bigger for those cheaper knives. Gerber may offer a few decent products but the fact remains that they're primarily a profit first, satisfaction later corporation. I think that there are better options compared to all of their products anyway.
 
So far, all three of those folders look a lot better than most of the other folders they have offered.

I did pick up recently one of the Big Rock fixed blades because it was a Bill Harsey design.

I am interested in the new Decree folder. I just have to find out what the exact specifications on it are.

The pricepoints are pretty good on these too.
 
Gerber still has knives and multitools that are made in usa and the quality of those are just as good as the old stuff they use to make. And yes i have vintage gerbers to compare them to. The products that are on their website that says credintials required are military products and autos. You can still buy those products on other sites though
 
That's awesome! I have always liked Gerber but had to stop supporting them because of their Made in China

and did y'all see the LACK OF SERRATIONS!?!?!?

this is really great news, I'll definitely be supporting their decision for more Made in USA products
 
The best Gerber knives were made in Japan. :p
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/862952-Gerber-Silver-Knight

Made in USA Gerbers... really? I hope that's true, but I have my doubts. Several years ago I used to think most Gerbers were USA made until I found out otherwise.
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Weren't the Gerber Gator knives always made in the USA? Those are nice knives, and very popular. The EZ-Out too are made in the USA, and so are their multi-tools (at least the nice ones).
 
Gators and ez outs have always been made in the usa as well as the mp 600 multitools, mp400, and a few others. The instant is a good knife too and its made in china. The one i have is the newer model after they fixed the lock problem.
 
I hope they do make a comeback with high quality and entirely ALL MADE IN USA knives! Check out Knife Center they are selling the Gerber Legend 4 for 499.00 down from 750.00! Now I don't see how they can expect people to pay that much when they are trying to make a "comeback" even at 500.00 for that blade when you can take that money and buy a custom Busse, Treeman, Winkler for the same or less. I do like the look of it though. Perhaps they are at least attempting a move back to where Gerber belongs, in the USA. We can hope!
 
I would like to see Gerber become a knife company that I can respect for their products. Currently I have an extremely low opinion of the knives they are selling, because they use junk steel and cheap plastic. The Bear Grylls line is an absolute joke, that IMO has brought Gerber's reputation down even further.

Now that they have stepped up the materials used in some products they seem to be moving in the right direction at least. I would like to see them become an actual competitor to companies like Kershaw/ZT, and even Spyderco and Benchmade in terms of the quality that they produce. They have a few new designs that look good and use S30V but, Gerber has a strange love of partially serrated blades and they put them on nearly everything they make. I won't buy partially serrated blades.

The $900 Legend knife is really nice and exactly the direction I would like Gerber to continue in. But the price???? Are Gerber execs on crack? Who do they think they are? To leap from being known as the company selling crappy orange Bear Grylls "toys" to a $900 knife is sort of absurd. Nearly everyone willing to pay $900 for any knife is a knife snob like myself and will want to spend that money for a great knife from a company they can be proud of. Gerber is not that company....not yet anyway. Plus the production AND custom knife choices you have at $900 are enormous.

I hope they continue in the direction of improved quality, and hopefully they can carve themselves out a place in the quality knife market. More knives of "Legend" quality will help to change their reputation if they can find a way to price them realistically (....seriously...I'd pay $400 at this point..maybe...not $900). For now, I still don't want what they are selling, but I will be watching and hoping they succeed in changing my mind.

Keep up the progress Gerber!
 
TheGearGuy said:
I would like to see Gerber become a knife company that I can respect for their products. Currently I have an extremely low opinion of the knives they are selling, because they use junk steel and cheap plastic. The Bear Grylls line is an absolute joke, that IMO has brought Gerber's reputation down even further.

Now that they have stepped up the materials used in some products they seem to be moving in the right direction at least. I would like to see them become an actual competitor to companies like Kershaw/ZT, and even Spyderco and Benchmade in terms of the quality that they produce. They have a few new designs that look good and use S30V but, Gerber has a strange love of partially serrated blades and they put them on nearly everything they make. I won't buy partially serrated blades.

The $900 Legend knife is really nice and exactly the direction I would like Gerber to continue in. But the price???? Are Gerber execs on crack? Who do they think they are? To leap from being known as the company selling crappy orange Bear Grylls "toys" to a $900 knife is sort of absurd. Nearly everyone willing to pay $900 for any knife is a knife snob like myself and will want to spend that money for a great knife from a company they can be proud of. Gerber is not that company....not yet anyway. Plus the production AND custom knife choices you have at $900 are enormous.

I hope they continue in the direction of improved quality, and hopefully they can carve themselves out a place in the quality knife market. More knives of "Legend" quality will help to change their reputation if they can find a way to price them realistically (....seriously...I'd pay $400 at this point..maybe...not $900). For now, I still don't want what they are selling, but I will be watching and hoping they succeed in changing my mind.
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$900 is the MSRP for the Legend, a price one should almost never pay unless buying directly from the manufacturer. Typical street prices are closer to $700 and as mentioned previously, can be found on sale for $500.

Also, is comparing this knife to similarly priced customs that valid? Can you get a comparably-featured custom knife with the same or superior steel and sheath within days of placing your order for the same price?
 
Hiro-kun said:
$900 is the MSRP for the Legend, a price one should almost never pay unless buying directly from the manufacturer. Typical street prices are closer to $700 and as mentioned previously, can be found on sale for $500.

Also, is comparing this knife to similarly priced customs that valid? Can you get a comparably-featured custom knife with the same or superior steel and sheath within days of placing your order for the same price?
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That's a fair question. :) My answer is yes, absolutely it's a valid comparison. Because yes, there are a lot of custom fixed-blade knives made from S35VN or better with beautiful custom sheaths available for even the $500 "sale" price. By the way, for a fixed blade S35VN is very good if you want stainless, but not necessarily best depending on the application. There are plenty of knives that have the same qualities that are in stock and available at knife stores right now. However, for that price and type of knife I don't think delivery time is important at all. Knowing I'm paying big $$ for a knife that will potentially last a lifetime, I have no problem with waiting for it to arrive if I have to. A $500+ knife (custom or not) is not an impulse buy for me.

So, by pricing a knife this high it is going to be compared with knives of the same or better quality with nearly all of them having a better reputation. Hopefully some people will choose the Gerber. But, I'm just saying the competition in that price category is tough. Check out Arizona Custom Knives. You'll see great customs in the $500 range available right now from Bob Terzuola, Randal Made, Busse, R.L. Dozier, Fiddleback Forge and a bunch of others with long reputations for producing high quality.

I may have sounded harsh in my comments about Gerber, but the bottom line is I DO want them to succeed and I DO want them to make more knives like the Legend that will improve their reputation. They will however, have to figure out how to work themselves into a section of the market that they have not been a part of in the past, and the delicate balance between quality and pricing will make or break their success in this area. I think they're headed in the right direction and I hope they succeed.

Keep the progress going Gerber! You can do it! :thumbup:
 
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poolhustler said:
http://www.katu.com/news/local/1600...recalled-after-accidental-cuts-305075771.html
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Here's the CPSC record on this recall.

To put this recall into perspective:
  1. The Cohort is not a US-made Gerber. Bringing up this recall in a discussion about US Gerbers is hardly relevant except as an attempt to induce a "horns effect" on other's opinions of Gerber.
  2. The recall was done on the basis of six reports of lacerations, out of a total of 150,000 knives manufactured.
  3. Recalls are decided on users' self-reporting, so it's certainly possible the users were being idiots.
  4. The wide availability of this knife means that a lot of people have this knife, probably far more so than most models favoured here in BladeForums.
  5. The Cohort isn't a knife marketed to knife enthusiasts. It's marketed to people who need a knife and don't have particularly strong opinions about brands.
  6. A large number of owners who don't expect much from a knife except that it doesn't hurt them means more reports of defects are likely to be made.
  7. The Spyderco Tenacious caused a laceration to a well-known YouTube reviewer due to loose retention. No one brings this up whenever Spyderco is discussed.
  8. Knife enthusiasts generally have strong opinions about brands. This means when a failure or accident occurs, they may give the benefit of the doubt to brands they like by blaming their own clumsiness and not report them. Nutnfancy did not appear to report the problem directly to Spyderco.
  9. This means less popular knives would naturally have fewer reports and thus fewer recalls.
 
Hiro, I think the 9 points you make are valid. Particularly point #1. I think the fact that it was posted in this thread is indicative of the opinion many knife nuts have of Gerber which is exactly the challenge I'm saying Gerber is faced with, but you're rebuttal is valid nonetheless.

9 points...hmmm...now I'm curious...do you work for Gerber?
 
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