Gerber seems to use 420 on their entry level blades. Something about their heat treat makes it particularly tough to put a good edge on (though as you grind deeper into the blade the steel actually improves).

The better models use a 440A, which is much nicer to work with. It's still fairly soft, so you can expect to sharpen often. But the steel responds quickly and takes a decent edge. I don't mind it for a working blade. YMMV.

One video review I saw noted several failures in the initial version that Gerber has supposedly dealt with in subsequent versions.

The video also mentioned buying one at WalMart for $30.

The price is certainly right.

Yeah ... part of the reason I asked is that if you check Amazon.com you will see that the initial blades had some problems. Also, I am not a big fan of the 440-series stainless steels. But I do understand that Gerber is trying to keep the costs down. They need to offer a blade with a very good thickness - if people are going to try to copy the techniques that Bear uses in his videos.

I took a look at Doug's own survival knife on this forum - I thought he did a pretty good job with the design.

The following knife from Fox knives would also make a really good survival tool - particularly because the steel in the blade is excellent. The only problem that I have with this design is that they put two small holes in the blade near the handle - I can't comprehend why they would weaken the blade by doing that. But since it's a 5mm blade, it's still very strong.

http://www.michiganknives.com/Item_Pages/FOX_Items/Miles.html


Pete #2

Two possibilities:

1) Lashing the blade to a handle for use as a spear

2) It looks cool

I'll put my money on #2

Thats not fair, bringing up Dougs Mk3 fixed blade.

I have Doug's Mk1 and love it. Its an EDC item for me, in my pack.

hikermor ... Ha! Good one mate. Yes, I expect that you're right. Maybe it's intended to be tied on as a spear tip. I'd feel a teensy bit better about that knife from Fox if they had widened the blade where they have the drilled holes. Still like I said ... it's a 5mm blade. That's about as thick as they come.

By the way - the Fox knife uses the same steel that's used in the Extrema Ratio (ER) combat knives from Italy. The ER knives are widely considered to be amongst the world's best. So by choosing a Fox knife, you're effectively getting a top quality blade at a very low price (ER knives are pretty expensive).

All that being said, the Bushman survival knives from Cold Steel are very affordable, and also work well as spear tips.

cheers,
Pete #2

I could be wrong, but I believe the holes are for alignment of the blade during the manufacturing process. The holes fit upon pins in the milling/shaping/grinding/sharpening machine(s) and allow for mass production.

Pete