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Last Updated on August 22, 2024 by Paul Clayton
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Gerber StrongArm Knife with Cutting Edge Features
You will need a strongarm knife if you plan a camping trip on your next vacation. And we are here to help you pick the best one among them. We will review one of the most popular knives today- the Gerber Strong Arm! Read on for the rest of the Gerber Strong Arm Review.
Key Takeaways:
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- Versatile Survival Tool: The Gerber StrongArm Knife is designed for survival and combat. It can cut wood, dress fish, prepare food, and even process games. It excels in outdoor tasks like cutting ropes and slicing cardboard.
- Durability and Construction: The full-tang blade is made of 420 HC stainless steel and ceramic-coated for corrosion resistance. The knife and sheath are durable, made in the USA, and suitable for harsh environments.
- Sheath and Portability: The modular sheath system offers multiple carry options—horizontally, vertically, or mounted on MOLLE gear—making it convenient for outdoor carry. The knife’s ambidextrous design also caters to left-handed users.
- Comfort and Ergonomics: The rubber-coated handle provides a good grip, even in wet conditions, though some users with larger hands may find the handle slightly small.
- Customer Satisfaction: The knife has earned a 4.7-star rating and impressed users with its performance, versatility, and value for money, though some minor issues exist with the handle size and clip grind.
Gerber StrongArm Review
Team Gerber seemed very hopeful about their product during the launch and suggested to the customers that it would be a great choice for their trips. It would help you cut the wood, prepare your food, and even dress the fish! It is solid in the hand, specifically designed for survival and combat situations, and is versatile in its functionalities.
The multitude of features that it offers will make you go crazy over it. If you carry the StrongArm, you can enjoy your trip to the fullest; it is a must on your packing list.
So let us discuss what this Knife can offer you:
Sheath: The knife comes encased in a Modular Sheath System, a Gerber Specialty. The sheath uses high-quality thermoplastic and has several lashing points and rivets to provide paracord and molle lashing options.
Depending on your purpose, it can be clipped inside the sheath and carried in various ways. If you want to carry it on your belt, use the nylon straps to attach the snaps to the plastic.
You can also use the straps to mount the sheath to MOLLE gear. This allows the knife to be carried vertically along the hip. However, this feature may not prove helpful if you do not have MOLLE attachments in your fish pack.
Lastly, you can also carry the knife horizontally along your waistline. Here, the bracket can be attached to your belt, and the sheath is attached to the bracket with the help of the included plastic plate.
So, with so many options at your disposal, carry it just how you feel comfortable, based on your requirements.
Also, if you are a lefty, Gerber Strong Arm is suitable for you since it can be placed inside the sheath in both left-handed and right-handed directions.
Grip Comfort: Another great feature of the knife is its comfort. The knife handle is rubber, so you will have no difficulty carrying it. The rubber coating on the handle also makes it durable. The diamond texture of the handle makes it look good, too.
The raised bolster, however, takes away a few points and reduces its ergonomic quotient since you cannot find a suitable position for your thumb.
Whether wet or dry, it will never slip from your hands. The grip’s neutral shape feels ergonomic.
Design: The knife is about 3/16th of an inch in thickness. It is not extraordinary in terms of looks but has a classic touch of elegance that easily separates it from its competitors, i.e., other knife models.
The color contrast between the knife and its sheath is worth admiring when inside the case. The knife’s finish has earned the appreciation of its owners.
Durability: It is pretty durable and sturdy. However, the rubber coating may break down with usage. The blade, coated with ceramic and made of durable materials, will not likely break. In terms of durability, it is much better than any other knife available. Both the knife and its sheath are made in the USA.
The Blade: The blade is full tang and ceramic-coated. It comprises 420 HC stainless steel, one of the best steel varieties. The edge is symmetrically ground and quite sharp. The ceramic coating here is not too rough, unlike other models with blades coated with ceramic. It offers scandi-grind features, and unlike a full-grind knife, it cannot grind using all its strength. Instead, it would provide a perfect balance while cutting. The fixed blade built of ceramic offers brute strength and can perform all sorts of cutting operations.
It is a fine-edge knife, meaning no serrations are along the edge. This is unique for a Gerber knife, considering that none of its predecessors from the house of Gerber were plain-edged. The angle is 40 to 50 degrees inclusive of both sides (which means 20-25 degrees for each). Thus, the edge is prevented from chipping and rolling without compromising the blade’s hardness.
The blade’s spine hits the ground at a 90-degree angle, making it ideal for striking Ferro rods.
Handle: The base of the handle has a pommel that helps break hard surfaces. It is coated with ceramic to prevent corrosion. At the same time, it is an altitude adjuster.
The handle might feel a little small for your hand. Maybe the manufacturers only had the people with small hand sizes in mind while making it.
Physical Dimensions: It is light in weight, with a capacity of 7.2oz, approximately 240g. The overall weight, including the sheath, is 10.9 oz, approximately 309 grams. It is 3/16 5.5 inches in dimension.
Functionalities: Finally, we come to the functionalities of the Gerber Strong Arm, where it must be stated that the knife is superb in its cutting abilities and capable of defeating all its competitors!
It cuts like a beast, to put it in short, and is capable of cutting through woods and other most rigid materials. Firstly, let us consider the knife’s ability to process wood, which is immensely important during camping trips.
You will easily find a knife that can split dry oaks, but the question is how smoothly and effortlessly you can cut the wood and how small the pieces formed are. From my personal experience, I can tell you that Gerber StrongArm occupies a significant position in this respect, as it can chip the wood into innumerable tiny pieces without requiring much strength and time on your part. So, if your venture requires a lot of wood processing, forgetting the StrongArm would be a huge blunder!
Many similar knives will have their edges twisted when cutting a considerable quantity of wood. StrongArm is an exception since it did not suffer any malformation throughout the operation.
Dressing Fish: Another aspect of living in the wild for a few days is fishing and having your catch during meals. But for that, you must dress the fish you have caught accurately. Here, the knife removes the scales with great perfection and tremendous efficiency, allowing you to dress your fish quickly. The sharpness of the blade is beyond question.
Cutting Fruit: The following test in which we put it was cutting fruits and vegetables. Before we cut them, we needed to peel them off, and this is where the StrongArm was a bit cornered by its competitors. The edge is not so thin, so the peels could not be deleted. While cutting the peels, a portion of the flesh was also chopped off. That is nothing worth complaining about, though. It is perfectly fine if you are happy with fresh-cut apples to add more flavor to your meals. If you want something to help you make fruit salads, then sorry…choose another knife!
Game Processing: We tested it with chicken wings, which was brilliant! Whether cutting huge chunks or tearing small pieces, whatever your mission, you will succeed with this knife.
Cardboard Slicing: It is also a great performer in cardboard slicing as it can cut both ¾-inch and ½-inch sisals with a single cut.
Cutting Ropes: Lastly, cutting ropes is one of the most important parts of camping. A cutting knife is not a good one unless it can cut rope well. Strong Arm proved to be a great choice by cutting the ropes to meet our expectations.
Value for Money: When it comes to finding value for money, I would say that the Gerber Strong Arm is great in this respect since it provides jaw-dropping features at an affordable price. Also, in terms of functionalities, it can surpass any other knife in its price range or even at a higher price range. The above discussions on the knife’s functionalities must have clarified it.
By now, you should clearly know StrongArm’s features and functionalities. Let’s move on to the product’s pros and cons.
This video was inserted to explain the subject matter. Thanks to: PREPAREDMIND101
Pros
- Its unique shape and design make it effective in its task. It is also good from an ergonomic point of view.
- The blade is made of high-quality stainless steel and coated with ceramic. This makes it corrosion-resistant and capable of cutting quickly.
- It is versatile in its task and can cut meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables into pieces, as well as ropes, wood, and cardboard.
- It comes inside a sheath and can be adjusted to carry it in different positions.
- Its sheath retention is just perfect.
- It provides good value for money.
- You can grip it easily.
- There are no serrations along the edge.
Cons
- The handle is a bit small.
- At the back of the knife, the grind of the clip is not even.
Customer Reviews
The Gerber StrongArm has won the admiration of its customers, and people have enjoyed using it. It has been given 4.7 stars out of 5 on a review site, which is unparalleled for a knife. There have been negative reviews, too, but that isn’t very important. The overall feedback has been great.
Summary
The Gerber StrongArm is unique because of its price, quality features, and versatility. It has been designed with your outdoor ventures in mind, where survival becomes tough. And it does true justice to that, helping you to perform all your necessary tasks during camping. From cutting ropes for setting up your tent to dressing the fish you have caught for your dinner, you can do it all with the least effort, thanks to the cutting power of StrongArm.
Customers and reviewers have admired its classic look, plain blade, ergonomic handle that provides a great grip, and, above all, its ability to cut stuff. However, amongst the ample number of positives, there are a few negatives, too, which include problems with the handle and the grind of the clip.
These negatives, however, are ignorable if you consider the huge number of benefits that you can enjoy. So, overall, the Gerber StrongArm is a knife that you can use for your bushcraft and similar activities and has numerous features. This helps it stand out among the other products of its type and is also the preferred choice of many people. So get hold of the knife and you will never regret buying it!
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