gerber bear grylls ultimate survival knife

[Waquar Ahmad Afaque]

Could you please clarify the company & model name of the knifes mentioned by you Rolf.
So, It will be helpful to fetch in the 20north site.

Thanks
Waquar Ahmad Afaque

[Rolf]

Hello Waquar, are you interested in a knife just as a trophy or for hard use during camping and treks. If it is for the latter keep the following things in mind before making your purchase.

Blade types (shape): There are four types of blades- Spear point (eg Fairburn Sykes dagger), Tanto (the Japanese style blades), Clip-point (a typical bowie knife) and drop point (eg Gerber Prodigy). Spear point and Tanto are good for stabbing and slashing and hence preferred by commando units, but are unsuitable for camping and trekking purpose. They are prone to breakage. Clip point is fine, Drop point is the ideal choice.

Blade length- Between 4 and 5.5-6 inches. Anything less may not be that useful, anything more than 6 inches will be unwieldy and heavy - they will be unsuitable for fine work around the camp.

Tang - Tang is that part of the blade which extends into the handle. Always go for full tang. Best would be a knife with the tang visible in the middle with two slabs riveted or screwed on either sides to make a comfortable grip.

Thickness- should not be less than 3/16 of an inch (around 0.188 inches) or more than 0.25 inches.

Most important- Don't go for knives with hollow handles (they are not full tang), Rambo or Muela type blades with a serrated saw or edge on the spine, and make sure that the cutting edge is straight and not partially serrated as you find in Gerber Prodigy. They are difficult to sharpen.

My personal choice would be a Becker BK2 (drop point, 5 inches, full tang, thickness .25 inches cost around 60-70 dollars).
Becker Bk 7 (clip point, 7 inches, full tang, thickness 0.188 inches, cost around Rs 5,100 or so on 20 north online.
RAT RC- 4 or RC-5 (drop point, 4 or inch blade length, full tang, thickness 0.188 inches, cost above 100 dollars - bit expensive).
Cold Steel SRK (clip point, 6 inch, full tang (company claimed), thickness 0.188 inches, cost around 70 dollars. But they use AUS A8 steel which is not very robust, or so people claim. Otherwise you can try for Cold Steel SRK San Mai variety, but they are expensive.
Condor Bushcraft or Bushlore will cost around 30 dollars, but grind is not smooth. But they are decent knives and very easy on the pocket. Condor Toloza seems to be a good knife, but I have no experience of it. Have heard it's good, but cannot say for certainly.
Pls ask some of the experts on the forum about the SOG Seal Pup Elite. It's a good knife, But neither my trekking buddies or I have ever used it.
20north online is expensive. Try knifecentre or cutleryshoppe. Knifecenter is better I think.
And yes, If the knife is manufactured in China, even if it's from a reputed company don't go for it, but that's STRICTLY MY PERSONAL OPINION.

[Bruno22]

And yes, If the knife is manufactured in China, even if it's from a reputed company don't go for it, but that's STRICTLY MY PERSONAL OPINION.

Beg to differ with you sir. There are many good manufactures who make 60% to 80% of their knives in China, Taiwan and other asian destinations. The knives are made to their exact specification and under stringent quality control. One 'shining' example is the Spyderco Tenacious.
I do feel its not fair to say that every 'asian' made knife is not good. Also knives made in America are generally more expensive because cost of labour is much higher there. Its not necessary that costlier materials are being used. Often the steels and other materials are the same.

[marksman]

I have to agree there with Bruno 22. China does make some quality steel and some good looking knives under branded names. The quality control is maintained cause Chinese administration being of Communistic nature, can manage it well with strict vigil. Besides, the labour cost out there is pretty controlled and reasonable. They almost captured the gun market in the USA for the same reason by manufacturing copies of Winchester Mod.70 and Browning ATD .22lr rifles, Brno ZKM rifles as well as 1911 pistols and CZ-72 etc under the name Norinco. In fact, when I was in Switzerland, the owner of a reputed gun store insisted these Norinco 1911 pistols were far superior to the Original Colt pistols in workmanship and finish and were preferred by Swiss shooters over the originals. All this being offered at almost half the price of the originals. No wonder America put an embargo on these goods and is entirely spearheading the smear campaign. Never the less the US sporting gun manufacturers saw through this and still have their products made there under their license for a reasonably higher profits..BTW, I don't care for these Chinese people but admire the quality stuff they churn out and rue the fact that India, in spite of not lacking in any of these resources cannot be at par with them only because of dishonesty that is imbibed in our DNA.

Marksman

[Rajat]

Guys!! Keep up the great work!

I agree with most of what you have said. I mean agree with all three of you: Rolf, Bruno & Marksman! A few points are not debatable and are more of a personal view point but all the rest is true.

[Waquar Ahmad Afaque]

Thanks a lot for the valuable information provided by all of you.
Problem to buy with knife center is that I have to take care of custom & as I am from small town of Bihar.
It really impossible for me.
So, only choice is left 20 north who take care of all these things.
If you people have list of another company who look after custom as well then it will be fine for small town people like me.
Will be waiting for valuable suggestion.


Thanks & Regards
Waquar Ahmad Afaque

[Rajat]

Ebay.in and their Global Easy Buy Division

OR

Seller cart2indiaonline (better option as global easy buy does not list a lot of knives) at ebay.in

If they decide to ship it you get your stuff in the committed time period or your money back

[Siddharth91]

How much did u get it for?
It's nicee

[Waquar Ahmad Afaque]

Hello Waquar, are you interested in a knife just as a trophy or for hard use during camping and treks. If it is for the latter keep the following things in mind before making your purchase.

Blade types (shape): There are four types of blades- Spear point (eg Fairburn Sykes dagger), Tanto (the Japanese style blades), Clip-point (a typical bowie knife) and drop point (eg Gerber Prodigy). Spear point and Tanto are good for stabbing and slashing and hence preferred by commando units, but are unsuitable for camping and trekking purpose. They are prone to breakage. Clip point is fine, Drop point is the ideal choice.

Blade length- Between 4 and 5.5-6 inches. Anything less may not be that useful, anything more than 6 inches will be unwieldy and heavy - they will be unsuitable for fine work around the camp.

Tang - Tang is that part of the blade which extends into the handle. Always go for full tang. Best would be a knife with the tang visible in the middle with two slabs riveted or screwed on either sides to make a comfortable grip.

Thickness- should not be less than 3/16 of an inch (around 0.188 inches) or more than 0.25 inches.

Most important- Don't go for knives with hollow handles (they are not full tang), Rambo or Muela type blades with a serrated saw or edge on the spine, and make sure that the cutting edge is straight and not partially serrated as you find in Gerber Prodigy. They are difficult to sharpen.

My personal choice would be a Becker BK2 (drop point, 5 inches, full tang, thickness .25 inches cost around 60-70 dollars).
Becker Bk 7 (clip point, 7 inches, full tang, thickness 0.188 inches, cost around Rs 5,100 or so on 20 north online.
RAT RC- 4 or RC-5 (drop point, 4 or inch blade length, full tang, thickness 0.188 inches, cost above 100 dollars - bit expensive).
Cold Steel SRK (clip point, 6 inch, full tang (company claimed), thickness 0.188 inches, cost around 70 dollars. But they use AUS A8 steel which is not very robust, or so people claim. Otherwise you can try for Cold Steel SRK San Mai variety, but they are expensive.
Condor Bushcraft or Bushlore will cost around 30 dollars, but grind is not smooth. But they are decent knives and very easy on the pocket. Condor Toloza seems to be a good knife, but I have no experience of it. Have heard it's good, but cannot say for certainly.
Pls ask some of the experts on the forum about the SOG Seal Pup Elite. It's a good knife, But neither my trekking buddies or I have ever used it.
20north online is expensive. Try knifecentre or cutleryshoppe. Knifecenter is better I think.
And yes, If the knife is manufactured in China, even if it's from a reputed company don't go for it, but that's STRICTLY MY PERSONAL OPINION.

Thanks for the information provided. It will be benefited for me as well as other who exactly don't know much about these things.
But I want to ask something as you suggested me to buy from "knife center". I have gone through the site & they have quoted they can't care of customs of another country.
As I am from small town of Bihar how is it possible for me clear the custom. In this span of time it's impossible. And as for me only two options left one is 20north and second one is base camp but base camp don't have range. So, please tell me if you know some companies as 20north who clear the customs too. You don't have to care for that. It will be very helpful for me as well as others who belongs to small towns but want to keep good quality knifes.
Will be waiting for your response.

Thanks & Regards
Waquar Ahmad Afaque

[ashok32bareta]

I am also fan of Bear and loves Man Vs Wild. Howeve,r if u closely watch some of the episodes the logs chopped by him for various activities couldn't be accomplished by the knife he carries. The cut mark and clean chopping lines on the logs clearly shows that some bigger tool or machette was used.Moreover if some one is really looking for practical and tough working knives, look in the tribal belts of Northeast. These are master pieces and evolved as per the needs and requirements of the particular tribes which is influenced by gyo-physical conditions. I have collection of few and will share soon.
regds

[Rolf]

This was the knife developed by Rob Bailey and Bear Grylls for the previous season of Man Vs Wild. It's called the S4 Survival series knife - very similar to the Raven series designed by Bailey. It seems to be much sturdy and handy than the Gerber Prodigy model being marketed now. But as of August, Bailey was selling it for 450 GBP. Too expensive.

http://www.bayleyknife.com/site/s4.aspx

[Rajat]

Great design indeed and for those who do not care about the price here is what the manufacturer had to say in August 2010:

"August 2010: "I'm afraid I now have to close my order book as a 7 year lead time has been reached. If you would like to know when my work becomes available to order again, please click here and enter your name and email address. I will then email you as soon as the waiting list has been reduced.""

WOW!A busy man indeed.

[rraju2805]

nice knife.