With the new Reserve line, Gerber is aiming for a higher-end market than its usual products, with higher prices and better materials on designs only sold through its online site (All Reserve products are small batch production runs made in Gerber’s domestic plant in Portland, Oregon.
Gerber automatic knife skin#
These knives fire hard and fast, and people at church aren’t going to be amused, but this is designed to take a beating in the desert, not skin an apple at a picnic. To prevent accidental deployment, there’s a secondary safety on the handle which keeps the blade locked closed- but also serves as a secondary lock to keep the blade open after it’s deployed. The blade is a classic drop point shape with a false swedge, cut from 0.13” thick CPM-S30V stainless powdered steel for long wear and a tough edge.ĭeployment is aggressive, via a coiled spring and a plunge lock/release button. The handles are 0.59” thick(!) and quite tall, with upper and lower finger guards at the leading edge to ensure a solid grip in use. Heavy-duty isn’t an understatement: this knife weighs in at a considerable 7.15 ounces, so make sure your belt is tight! A quick look around the knife and you’ll see why it’s so heavy: everything is super beefy. The 06 Auto is a modern day classic, one of the definitive heavy-duty automatic knives favored by military users.
The Asada has more of a straight profile to the sharpened edge than the Flatiron, and it’s a good bit lighter – 4.8 ounces versus 5.6 when comparing aluminum versions. The blade itself is shorter, 3” to the tip, with a 2.5” cutting edge owing to the large forward finger choil. It also uses a stainless framelock to secure the blade, like the Flatiron, with what Gerber calls an “anti-pinch plate” which serves as a lockbar overtravel stop to prevent metal fatigue on the lock, as well as preventing your finger from pressing on the lock bar and increasing detent tension accidentally. The Asada uses a caged ball bearing pivot – like the Fastball – and a flipper tab for fast, snappy deployment. The big difference is deployment and size. All the blades on the Micarta are stonewashed, so they don’t show wear and they look cool. You have your choice of 7Cr17MoV and aluminum handles – in either drab red or onyx black – or canvas micarta with an upgraded D2 tool steel blade.
Gerber automatic knife full#
Like the Flatiron, its main calling card is the dramatic cleaver blade shape, here with a full flat grind all the way to the spine. How cool!īuilding on the success of the Flatiron is the recent Asada, which is also a folding cleaver blade pocket knife. But, these are very cool knives for very little cash! You can even pimp out your Flatiron with aftermarket scales from Flytanium that cost more than the knife itself does – just like in the old days with the Spyderco Tenacious. It’s not a light knife, owing to its size and full stainless framelock, at 5.35 ounces. The cleaver blade has a lot of belly to it so it’s great for roll cuts and food prep, which makes sense. Opening is via an oval shaped thumb hole, and there’s a very pronounced forward finger choil to choke up on when you’re cutting. Speaking of clips, the Flatiron has a very wide, very short pocket clip – like a billfold almost – which anchors the knife very low in the pocket. You have your choice of materials – a less expensive version with 7Cr17MoVsteel and aluminum or tan G-10 handles, or a newer variant with Micarta scales and tougher D2 tool steel, as well as a polished clip and frame lock overtravel plate. I can see why they sell a lot of these: they’re inexpensive and they’re super cool looking. Now a lot of people make folding cleavers, and Gerber lead the charge on this strange concept. For Gerber’s first salvo into more expensive “enthusiast grade” EDC gear, I was blown away – as were a lot of people I showed it to.īoy, the Flatiron just came out of nowhere didn’t it? Five years ago, no one made folding cleavers.
The Fastball always seemed like a reimagined Kershaw Leekto me, but with no assisted open and better steel. It’s a fairly light knife at 2.8 ounces, so it won’t weigh your pockets down. The clip on the Fastball is a three way- right hand tip up or down, or left hand tip up. It has a well-balanced detent and a reliable steel liner lock and has a fairly high “fidget” factor, if you’re into that. bearings (Balls Of Stainless Steel, seriously) give this knife a surprisingly good deployment considering this was Gerber’s first attempt at a bearing flipper. It’s a pretty compelling option for a day-to-day EDC knife, with aluminum handles and a premium CPM S30V blade that’s a modified drop point/wharncliffe combo for a balance of cutting performance and toughness. We reviewed the Fastball last year, and were pleasantly surprised by the good bones even if some of the details could be better.
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