Gerber Gear StrongArm - Fixed-Blade Camping & Hunting Knife with Striking Pommel & Sheath - Premium Survival Gear - Black, Plain Edge

I received this knife as a Father's Day gift, and all I can say is WOW!I normally don't expect very much from Gerber ever since they came out with all the lousy Bear Grylls knives that virtually break if you breath on them too hard! But after watching all of the very positive YouTube reviews on this knife, I decided I would add it to my wish list and see what all the hype was about. I must say, after using this knife for a while, I'm very pleasantly surprised! I think my opinion of Gerber may finally be changing!The knife:This knife is extremely solid in the hand! I would put it up against my ESEE4 and ESEE6 everyday of the week as far as durability goes! The diamond textured rubber overmolded grip is fantastic! Wet or dry, there is no way this knife is slipping out of your hands! The pommel of the knife sports a nice glass-breaker/attitude adjuster, that can be used for a multitude of tasks and is a handy feature to have. The black ceramic blade coating is not overly rough like the Becker and ESEE knives, which is a plus in my book! The blade looks as though it's about 3/16" thick, but Gerber did a very nice job with the saber grind and as a result, this knife cuts like a beast! Despite what some people have said in their YouTube reviews, this knife is PERFECTLY capable of making some beautiful feather sticks (as you can see by my pictures!). The grip shape is very neutral and extremely comfortable in the hand! It easily allows for a multitude of grip options which is awesome! Just a very well thought out grip! Nice job Gerber! The blade is constructed from 420HC stainless steel and holds a great edge! Gerber did an excellent job with the heat treat. The blade also came from the factory with a beautifully, symmetrically ground and very sharp edge! I'm also really happy to see that this knife was made right here in Oregon, USA! The folks over at Gerber did a very nice job finishing and sharpening this knife!The drop point blade does have an unsharpened swedge for combat and piercing applications. Sure, it will be a bit harder on your baton for bushcrafting purposes, but by no means a deal-breaker! Besides, it's nice to know that I have a knife that can handle combat and self defense roles as well! You never know when you might have to fend off a wild animal. The spine of the blade also comes ground to a very nice 90 degree angle suitable for striking a ferro rod! Another welcomed bonus! Finally, and probably the most awesome feature about the knife....NO SERRATIONS!!! FINALLY! It's about time Gerber finally produce an outdoor fixed blade knife without serrations! So enjoy this one folks because it may be a while before Gerber makes anymore plain edged knives! LolThe sheath:This sheath is probably one of the most well thought out and well executed sheaths I've ever received on a production knife! I definitely prefer this sheath to the over-praised ESEE sheaths! The sheath is constructed from a high quality thermo-plastic with plenty of rivets and lashing points for molle and paracord lashing options. The sheath also sports a detachable clip for scout-carry and can also be adjusted for another molle type carry on the back side of the sheath using a removable clip. If this weren't enough, the sheath also comes standard with high quality and well finished, thick nylon webbing for standard drop-leg belt carry options. The button snaps are very strong and quality made! I don't see this sheath having any issues whatsoever, but in the event that you ever do, Gerber has a sterling reputation as far as their customer service and warranty goes, so I don't think you'll have any worries! And for the lefties out there, this sheath is also designed to allow the user to insert the knife into the sheath in either left or right handed orientation. Great job Gerber! It's excellent to see a company finally showing us lefties some attention!Bottom line:Buy this knife! I'd certainly buy this knife again in a heart beat! This knife is certainly worth it's exceptional price point of $47 as of June, 2016. For that price, I would pick up two and put one away as a backup! I'm a strong believer of the "two is one, and one is none" motto! Highly recommended! Hopefully this knife will change a lot of people's minds about Gerber!

This is a tremendous value and a great product. Gerber did their homework on this one and came up with a very well designed and executed knife and sheath package. Mine came with a razor sharp edge, even ceramic coating and a straight and accurate grind. This knife is a workhorse with obvious quality from the moment you un-box it.The 420 steel is a downside to some, but I was able to use and abuse this knife with no chips or damaged edges on this knife. It holds an edge amazing well and I saw no need to polish or re-profile the edge grind. The blade is 3/16" thick at the spine. The spine is a square edge which works well with my firesteel to create a flood of sparks. To restore this knife to a razor edge was easy and quick.In the past week, this knife saw service in cutting 14 boxes, eight feather sticks, a ton of batoning firewood, field kitchen tasks, limb work for building firewood shelters, punching through some cans, cutting 9mm rope, tarps and various small lines. It needed a quick edge dressing when I got back - a few strokes on a medium stone, a few strokes on a fine stone and honed on a leather strop. It's back to razor sharp with an even and strong edge.The knife is well balanced. The balance point is just at the top of the handle almost at the choil. The grip is superb, even with wet and muddy hands. The striker at the pommel, although pointed, is not uncomfortable when pushing on it with your palm to sheath the knife. The sheath is probably a love it or not affair. I thought it well designed to provide versatile attachment options easily and securely. I like it.Bottom line, I highly recommend this knife. It's an absolute bargain with very little or no compromise over knifes costing two to four times as much. Where I would have hesitated on some tasks to use a 154 CM or S30V blade (a bit more work to bring back the edge), I had no problem using this knife. The 420 steel on the Strongarm did a fine job of holding an edge and was quick to re-sharpen. It's a strong knife and Gerber did a heck of a job. You won't be disappointed with the USA engineering or the manufacturing quality of this product.

I didn’t want to like this knife, but couldn’t deny the following it has. It’s a very good knife, wish I bought one when they were a little less expensive, but I’m not disappointed.The sheath is durable and without any rattling, the handle is thin and contoured it feels nice. The size is very good not a small or a big knife, but feels very appropriate. The grind was very well done and even coming to a nearly perfectly symmetrical tip (I don’t see this often even in high end knives). The blade is sharp but not screaming sharp (it can definitely use a strop or a couple passes on a ceramic rod), no complaints as the grind is very well done. I sat on the strong arm fence forever. A very high quality knife with good utility.