I find Gerber's quality control quite hit-or-miss. For the saws, the blades are always a little too thin for my taste. (The Coghlans sierra saws are actually better IMO.)

The supposed "fail" here looks more like operator error though.

This is a pull-stroke saw. Very thin blade with very sharp teeth, especially new. When using them, you use very little force on the pull stroke and let the teeth do the work, and use zero force on the return stroke.

I have to train users on the correct technique -- otherwise the blade ends up bent up like a pretzel. Guys who are impatient and accustomed to regular hand saws (push stroke) often break them.

Note that the saw was still functional after it was damaged. And, they had a spare blade in the sheath.