It isn’t often that I am kinda giddy taking something out of the box, but it does happen. And what did it happen with? A Gerber StrongArm Knife.

This knife, sitting there in the box, is just downright impressive. Right away I loved the sheath and the looks of the knife handle. But once it was out of the box and in my hand I just loved the way it felt. The balance to it was near perfect. The blade is plenty heavy enough but it was balanced out by the handle and full tine.

The handle is just simply built right. It is made out of diamond-texture rubber. The little nubs all over it make it a sure grip in your hand. The little indents in the handle on each side also just seemed to make it fit even better. All-round…it was an awesome “feel” in my hand.

Let me share the technical specs with you first, then back to the review.

There was a little confusion as I was looking over the sheath. It was kind of complicated to me at first. I kept trying to figure out how the heck the sheath would attach to something. I mean, it was pretty obvious how it would fit on a belt, but the rest wasn’t not self-evident. And then there were these two plastic pieces as well that were just laying there. So I did the commonsense thing…I got out the instructions.

Whoever designed the sheath system for this knife is a freaking genius! Once I laid it all out and read the instructions it was amazing to me how many different ways this sheath could attach to pretty much anything tactical, or just a belt. I fell even deeper in love it. Yeah, kinda creepy…sorry.

Back to the knife…I looked closely at the blade, it is one hunk of solid steel. This isn’t some thin fighting knife blade. This blade is heavy-duty enough to split wood with no problem. I did it. Yet, there is enough of a sharp point to easily penetrate whatever you needed to, especially an enemy at close range. And that opens another door.

I grasped the knife in a number of fighting grips and made a few moves with it, then a few more. The knife was effortless to move, well-balanced, had the feel of a top tier fighting knife. I would not hesitate to put my life in its hands.

The blade came out of the box razor sharp and with a light coating of oil. That is a mark of a good knife maker…sharp and oiled. The oil on the blade applied by the knife maker will ensure that the knife blade, especially the cutting edge, won’t rust while it sits in a warehouse somewhere waiting for a good home.

I really hesitated to take this knife outside to the fire pit, but I had to test it. I started with splitting wood, and it did just fine. I felt a little strange banging on it to drive it through the wood. But hey, how else are you going to figure out if the knife is any good or not.

I worked the edge against some wood for a bit longer, and then tested it for sharpness. It was still as sharp as I started, I was very pleased. FYI…The blade takes an edge well and isn’t difficult to sharpen.

I went back inside the house and for about 2 hours while I watched some football I just handled the knife. Man, it just kept getting better and better. The feel to this knife is awesome!

I would say this knife isn’t a true fighting blade like the CRKT Hissatsu. But the blade is plenty pointed enough for piercing and the edge will cut just fine. However, the blade is also wide and thick enough to be used around camp or for survival. So I would call this blade a “hybrid” of combat, fighting, hunting, and survival. Probably best to describe it as a solid military-style knife.A great all-pupose, well-rounded knife. This knife will make it onto my tactical vest real soon.

Here are some of the carry methods with the Gerber StrongArm sheath system –

I would have no problem carrying this knife into the wilderness camp or in a grid-down survival & combat situation. The knife is just that good!

Combat knife:  A
Survival knife:  A-
Hunting knife:  A+
Fighting knife:  B+
Sheath & Carry System:  A++

No questions…a very, very solid “Buy!”

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