Bear Grylls Survival Knife...

Anyone seen this?

Bear's new knife

I like that it has a built in fire starter, but I still won't buy it.

The sturdy tip should be handy for prying open the mini-bar in tough hotel survival situations.

It looks like an LMF 2 (or prodigy) with mods. As for the BG jokes, he's entertaining, having fun, and laughing all the way to the bank.

So is the current POTUS. Still doesn't make it right.

Heres more info. Gerber

Lee

I am willing to give it a shot. Fact is I would rather take a $60 knife and beat the hell out of it, find its breaking point to know what my limits are with it and quickly replace it locally when I need to, (give me an hour and I'd find a shop selling Gerber nearby) than buy a $150, $250+ knife that looks great, never use it cause its a XYZ brand or "I don't want to mare it" and then when I lose it or snap it, have to order it online and wait a week to get it.

How does the old saying go, "the best knife for survival is the one you have with you"? I do not see myself using this for every day carry. I have carried some sort of knife for the past 40 years, Boy Scout knife, Swiss Army Huntsman or Compact, and now as a contractor in Afghanistan the Leatherman Skeletool (basic all stainless) it is the most practical knife/multitool I have ever owned. When traveling in country I also carry a Benchmade AFO II attached to my IBA (individual body armor). I used an SOG for a while when I first got to Iraq but it was too big, too heavy, and too hard to open and finally sent home. Most multitools lack sufficient strength to do anything heavy and once you bugger a blade you’re screwed, for the heavy stuff you need the correct tool from your bag.

Cheers,
W-W

He's got a lot of belly laughs to go to match the last POTUS. And for those defenders of Bear, Britney Spears & LiLO, remember- I'm not laughing at them, I'm laughing with them...they're just not laughing because they don't get it yet.

I think I'd be very glad to have this in an emergency kit if I find myself ina tight sport - regardless of your opinion on BG I think it is a decent tool, even if those of us that spend too much time thinking about this stuff have different opinions

Sorry, but I would never buy anything even remotely connected to Bear Grylls.

To those who thinks he is X-special forces is way off mark. He was in the territorial army 21:st SAS, but that is not the S.A.S, Special Forces proper, which is the 22:nd.

Just what the world needs, another survival knife!

I suppose it can slice bagels about as well as any other knife costing the same or more, but why the initials? Oh, wait, they aren't initials - they are an acronym - Blatantly Gaudy.

Blatant, utterly shameless marketing. But that's what makes the world go 'round, baby.

The knife and kit are probably not bad. Provided you could sand off the silly BG -- that's just embarrassing.

Thing is, I'd never have a big honking paperweight like that with me on a trip, or in most of the survival situations I could imagine. So it's more of a fun toy to play with around the firepit.

WW,

How do you carry your Skeletool? Do you hang it, carry it in a a belt, or in pocket?

I like my Leatherman Charge Ti but find it a handful (heavy and a tad large) to carry. I should compare the weights of the Seletool to the Charge Ti.

I tend to carry my Mk1 in pocket and then carry the Charge and my Mk3 in my daypack.

About the BG knife, I guess its waaayyyyy better to have any knife than no knife at all.

I have $15 Moras and the $100+ Mk3, and use them all for different purposes and at different times, but I don't abuse any of them - I just don't, nor am I overprotective. They all have their place.

Regarding Gerber ... they've made some great knives.

I used to be a big Buck knife fan, but I found them hard to sharpen. Then I became a big fan of Gerber knives - they sharpened real nicely.

I never found any fixed blade knives I liked. I didn't like the Bucks or the Gerbers. Almost 30 years ago I bought a cheap Mora knife at a Pamida in NW Iowa to use to dig/cut plants out of the ground during a botany class. I was shocked by how tough the knife was and how much abuse it stood up to (OK, I did abuse that knife, but I was much younger back then). It really wasn't until maybe 3-5 years ago, after finding Equipped.com, that I realized it was a Mora knife. That was actually my favorite fixed blade through many years. Sharp and tough.

I bought a Becker BK10, but found it just too heavy to carry around. Tough, but heavy.

Then Equipped.com introduced me to Doug's Benchmade knives and things have never been the same.

The part timers bring other specialist skills to the regiment.

For example there has been many a Super Army Soldier team (22nd) entered into the OMM and have been left trailing down in the list with the also rans against the civilians.

Same with the USN SEALs - there are middle aged men around such as Frank Chalmers, who would easily beat many a SEAL in a long distance swimming race.



Apparentlty Frank dreams of swimming the Tay river estuary on New Years day making the same crossing he used to when he was a teenager (did teenagers exist when Frank was one?) in the summer months

Whether any of us "like" Bear or Gerber (who doesn't like Discovery Channel?), can't lose sight of fact that all three are, first and foremost, commercial endeavors designed to appeal to a segment of viewers ... and make money along the way. Towards that goal, they've been successful.

The BG Survival Knife is available preorder for $60 here

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003R0L...ASIN=B003R0LSMO

If it's specced similarly to the Gerber LMF II i.e. same 12C27 Stainless steel (I have tried to find out if its 12C27 but with little success) then it looks like reasonably good value for money for $60 considering the all the little additions such as the firesteel, microwhistle etc. The BG symbology may even push the price down further to $40. That would be a whole lotta of Knife if someone somewhere marked it down to $40. Might be worth book marking the Amazon page and checking back in a couple of months considering that its only available for pre order in November.

Ok I'll admit it I've got some BG monikered long sleeve shirts made by Craghoppers (basically identical to Nosiquito Range). I picked them up for £15 each. The same shirt without the moniker usually retails for £35-40. I've found another use for Duct Tape.

A person could probably do a lot worse than the "Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife" for the same price.

I'm not a big fan of the partially serrated blade, but you get a fire starter, whistle, diamond sharpener and sheath with it. Granted I don't know the specs of the blade steel or other included items, but they would start to add up in the price of any similar kit.

With that said, of course you could always do better as well, but I don't think a beginner putting together their first survival kit could go too far wrong with the BG knife.

We all started somewhere, and I know my first knife, fire steel, sharpener and whistle cost more than $60 and those pieces aren't even what I carry now.

$49.95 + $6.95 shipping from Rocky National.

I also noticed they have listings for a Compact Scout Knife, Folding Sheath Knife, Parang Machete and Scout Knife as well as the Ultimate Knife that all bear the Bear Grylls and Gerber name, so it looks like they're trying to hit multiple price ranges.

*Disclaimer* I have no connection to Rocky National, Gerber or Bear Grylls, I just quickly looked up the knife in a search for specs and saw they had a price that was lower than the MSRP.

Regarding the blade steel, only a few of the early runs of the LMF II were actually made of 12c27, and were afterwards eventually switched to 420HC, with a few runs of other steels in between. Gerber said the change was due to supply issues with the sandvik steel (they probably thought the supply was too expensive).

I wouldn't count on getting anything better out of this knife.

KenK,

My Skeletool rides in the left front magazine pocket of my 5.11 Cargo Pants.

Cheers,
W-W

I was always under the impression that BG was considered a Walter Mitty at best and a danger to himself at the worsted . That being the case would any sane person depend on any thing that he has designed/endorsed.

For your information: "At the end of the war the British Government saw no further need for the force and disbanded it on 8 October 1945.[2] However, the following year it was decided there was a need for a long term deep penetration commando unit, and a new SAS regiment was to be raised as part of the Territorial Army.[22] Ultimately, the Artists Rifles, raised in 1860 and headquartered at Dukes Road, Euston, took on the SAS mantle as 21st SAS Regiment (V) on 1 January 1947"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_air_service

If you bother to read the article through you will note that the selection process for 21 SAS is the same as for 22 SAS.

You might not like Bear, which is fine and your privilege, but he passed selection.

Sane people do not necessarily have the level of education to judge the show moderated by BG correctly. Many watch it just for entertainment. BG is widely known and popular. That´s enough for marketing. People with proper education can judge the tool. If it performs and has a reasonable price why not buy it?
Face it:
People like BG because the show has spectacular stunts. They talk about it so more people get to know him. People like Les Stroud or Doug Ritter are almost unknown on my side of the pond. Their information may help to survive but "play it save" is pretty lame if you want some entertainment.

Precisely. Real survival situations are actually rather boring (for onlookers, at least) about 90% of the time. But BG goes way beyond any acceptable limits, demonstrating absolutely improbable, unrealistic, and dangerous stunts.

I don't want to join in on the pi..ing contest on who knows most about the selection and so on, but (according to the wiki you linked to) "The Territorial Army Special Air Service (reserve) Regiments undergo the same selection process, but as a part-time programme over a longer period:"

Which is not the same thing as doing it in a single stretch, any sane person knows that. And to quote Chris Ryan "-he hasn't served in the same S.A.S as I have."

And then you go on to say that he (Grylls) passed selection, according to whom?

I suggest that you read some proper literature on the topic.
I can recommend, for starters, Ghost Force, The secret history of the SAS, by Ken Connor. 1998.
I will end here.

Doug isn't about entertainment , he is about education. Stroud still manages to be entertaining as well as educational.

I thought this thread was about a knife and not another "let's bash Bear" thread that has been discussed ad nauseam here in this fine forum several times and many other lesser forums as well.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have never seen the TV show and main character, thusly it would be inappropriate for me to comment or pass judgement one way or the other on the man or show.

Can we talk about a knife or knives for survival purposes...I believe that is why most here frequent this forum.

Chris Ryan certainly seems to have led Ross Kemp up the garden path.

Well to be fair his signature is on the blade and his ititials are emblazoned in orange block letters on the handle! He & Gerber are capitalizing on his fame/notoriety to move the product, so that same fame and notoriety are bound to be called into question. For my own part I've only seen a few clips of his, and while he seems like a clown it's not skin off my nose.

I haven't used the knife but I have zero use for serrations, especially in the section of the knife I'd be using to whittle or baton.

Id rather spend my 60$ on a PSP And Buck 119 even if it wasnt associated with bear grills.....I hate him...

You are right. That is why I bought some items that were reviewed and recommended on Doug´s site (thanks for the good advice). For play-it-save equipment this site is excellent.
I saw some episodes with Les Stroud and found some useful information but you notice that he avoids to take too much risk. So his tools may be worth considering if you need a new tool.
However with the BG knife it is different for some people. They buy the spirit of adventure and get a free knife with it. That is an advantage in marketing as it offers access to more customers.

I'm not inclined to carry another person's initials on my knife and I flatly refuse to put an edge on another "out of the box" Gerber!

Personally I'll give my money to DR

Thanks
Mike

Thought I'd fire this thread back up. I was gifted a BG knife last week and did some modest testing on it.

First, the knife itself is nicer than I expected. The handle is grippy when wet or wearing slick gloves, I was at a lake to test this. The blade is very similar to the Gerber LMF2 or Prodigy, darkened with a couple inches of serration at the bottom that easily cut through some cordage I needed. The pommel has a hammer that I only pounded against some river rocks and it did not cave in the checkers, nor jump out of my hand.

Some light wood cutting with the blade only showed it does what its intended purpose is. Same with some hard salami and block of cheese. And the aforementioned cordage with the serrations. I didn't try cutting a tomato or punching through a garbage can.

Accessories. The whistle is corded to the bottom lash point of the handle. Two other lash points are at the top of the handle. Its quite small but my daughter was able to make is go off loud enough that we asked her to stop. I blew it at the lake and a friend 500 yards away heard it quite easily. Its good.

Firestarter. A ferro rod is built into the sheath. It takes a modest pull w/ two fingers on the orange and black triangular handle to pull it from the its attachment point. Of course more testing/use will determine if the seal stays strong. To scrape the rod you use the backside of the knife blade. There is a 1/4" rough spot above the handle that has been left shiny so you can see where to scrap in order to produce spark. After a few scrapes to remove the protective coat I was able to light dry grass I collected nearby in a couple minutes. I have started three fires this week using this product. All comparable in time, effort as my Light My Fire FireSteel.

Sheath/Sharpener. The sheath is nothing special, cordura over a hard plastic insert, (I suppose). It is not bulky, wide or thick which is nice. There is four carry loops on the back, 2 vertical, 2 horizontal, to carry as you wish. A velcro strap secures the pommel to the sheath. The scabbard has a tight seat with the knife so that they mate tight and a slight pull is needed to remove the blade. The scabbard attaches to the sheath at the bottom with velcro and a velcro strap mid way up. When you unhook the mid level velcro the scabbard peels away from the sheath and a knife sharpener has been embedded on the back of the scabbard. I have not used this yet, but by touch its very rough.

Stitched onto the back of the sheath is weatherproof guide to universal rescue signals. Included in the box is a large weatherized paper fold out designed by Bear also giving simple instructions and icons for survival. Not something I would probably carry with me, but I haven't thrown it away yet either.

Overall impression. I own more expensive knives that do less than this. I suppose if someone were looking at buying a fixed blade they could do much worse on the cost and weight. The whistle and fire starter should be factored into the return on investment of as they are in my opinion as good as any individual similar product on the shelf and not mere window dressing.

What's the blade thickness on the commercial BG knife, and did they happen to say which steel alloy they are using?

And by the way, if Bear Grylls made it thru' the normal SAS selection process (which apparently he did), then that's good enough for me. He may have trained with different skills compared to other SAS units, but their general selection process is a b*****. I also think he did a pretty good job of getting thru' the selection for the French Foreign Legion - another TV show he did later.

Pete #2

Someone please tell me that's not his real name.

I've never seen his show as I don't have cable or sat.

His birth name was Edward Grylls. It was explained that Bear was the nickname he was given as a child, and was pretty much what he was called through-out his life. He has since legally changed his name to Bear Grylls.

There are certainly true knife experts on here so if one of them can provide a more detailed answer, I defer my response to them.

There are no marking on the blade to discern the type of alloy/metal it is. A website states only that it is, "High Carbon Stainless Steel"

I measured blade thickness right above the grip handle, and below the fire starter striking area on the spine. It measured 1/8 inch.

Hope that answers your question.

It's most likely 420HC steel, same as what Gerber uses for the Prodigy and LMF II.

It's also worth noting that this knife is Made in China to keep cost down. The LMF II ASEK, on the other hand, is made in Portland, Oregon.

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