Gerber Fast Draw

[6Den]

I just bought two of these knives from Amazon. The steel could be better, but overall a nice knife with a cool design and good features for the price. I was disappointed, however, that they seem to have a flipper without a window to access it. I've seen pictures and videos with them having this. Anyone know if they make two versions of the larger Fast Draw with and without flipper?

 

[alucard0822]

There are a ton of manual/AO Gerber knives available, or originally designed in an Auto version, some have odd shapes and mounting holes for the auto hardware, might be the case with the fast. Gerber tends to be dissaponting for me, everyone knows their steel sucks, even their "premium" 154CM, but they do have a lot of cool designs. Problem is the folders and multi-tools I have bought from them in the last 10 years or so just don't hold up. Had an older Applegate folder and multi-tool that were fine, but even then they had a lot of gimmicky crap, now it seems that is most of their products.

 

[6Den]

I want to like Gerbers. I have a MkII, a Gator, and a hunter/skinner from the 80s that I still use often. They are very utilitarian. But like you mentioned, it seems they sold out and really compromised quality.

 

[NickZac]

I agree many of the manual/assisted Gerbers are modified automatics from the 'Golden' years of Gerber back when they had the Applegate in ATS-34, which was arguably one of the finest folders of its time. Since then, there's been good innovation but not good execution in terms of the final product. The makers they use for production, and materials they use, just lack.

I had a friend who asked me to sharpen a very similar Gerber as he was having trouble getting it sharp. I could not put a 20 degree angle on the knife without the edge flopping. It was a nightmare to get a decent edge on. When I sharpen, I like to shred at least 2 pieces of paper totaling probably 60-ish inches of cuts throughout the process. Just this process alone was enough to deform the edge enough to compromise its sharpness. Something like copper wire would deform the edge beyond any real cutting ability leaving an edge that is duller than even a basic working utility edge.

I would like to like their designs as well, as it is a company that has historically been incredibly innovative and producing top-notch quality at a good price...but today's Gerber just isn't there anymore. With the Spyderco and Kershaw $20-40 lines using steels in the near-440C/AUS8 class, I agree the quality of Gerber is compromised and inferior to decent quality folders in the same price-point with better opening mechanisms, stronger/more reliable locking mechanisms, better ergonomics, superior blade design/geometrics, and much better steel. And moving up to the $50 class of knives sporting good VG-10 or 154CM is a dramatic jump in terms of performance (ex: Spyderco Delica).

Once someone goes for a folder in good 440C/VG-10/154/etc., there's no going back...