Gerber is actually made in Oregon, but they are cheap and don't hold an edge to save their life. IMO Buck is the best they are easy to sharped, hold the edge for a long time, and look good while doing it. Look up there heat treatment process on their website to get an idea.
i have used for skinning deer and hogs, fallkniven knives, i have a F1 and a H1, very good steel, and the edge holds very good.....if you prefer us made, i would say Spyderco makes great knives with great steal in them (you have a lot of models to choose from).....
Lots of misunderstanding in this thread. Not all Gerber's are made in China, quite a few are made in OR. Gerber uses several types of steel including 420 and 440HC which is what you will commonly see in cheaper knives as well as most Buck knives. That said, the type of grind and treatment can greatly influence how the blade reacts to sharpening and edge retention. Gerber also use's two of my favorite steels, 154cm and S30V. I currently use a Knives of Alaska Cub Bear in D2 Tool steel and a Havalon Piranta.
Also what I switched to this year; it and an outdoor edge skinning knife quartered and gutted my cow elk and the Razor-lite is still razor sharp. Pretty tough steel for a "disposable" blade.
This is a great little knife. Doesn't break the bank and comes with a few replacement blades when new. I love mine! SCFox
Very impressed with it so far....thought after taken care of my doe a couple weeks ago I'd have to replace the blade and that was def not the case...it has held its edge and has impressed me very much. Came with 6 blades total and I found replacements for 10 bucks...great little knife for the money.
In higher quality knives you wont see this as much. If you don't want to spend some cash to upgrade, just purchase a little field sharpener. Cheap and easy to keep the the blade in skinning condition
If you like Gerber you should get something with a s30v blade. I cut through some bones on a grouse with my Buck knife and it was still pretty sharp where I cut the bones and for $30 that Buck knife has the best blade out of all of my knives.
I agree with everyone saying it's all about the steel! Higher quality steel while more expensive is def worth its weight in gold! I switch to Solid Boradheads this year and they are made of s30V steel and the quality is amazing. SUPER SHARP, durable, and really hold their edge extremely well! If I were looking to spend a decent amount of money on a high quality knife I would def make sure it was s30V steel.
After I got my Havalon Piranta the rest of my knifes went in the drawer. That Havalon does everything I need it to do and then some.
Good to know...def bought mine when Steve owned the company and all my heads are def s30V...not sure if I will stick with them if this is true. Thanks
Just to clarify and sorry to hijack the thread....but Solids are still being mad of s30V steel. Just spoke to Steve Speck 5 minutes ago and he explained everything to me. He did sell the company to Elite Archery over 2 years ago, but he is still very much involved with it. The heads are also still being made in Boise out of s30V steel. They were considering changing to 440 a while ago, but decided to stick with the quality of the s30V steel. They also commented on a pic on their FB page in the matter of 4 minutes after I made a comment on it stating that the steel has not changed either.
well sorry I saw a review where some bought them and said the package said 440 steel maybe misprint or they lied I don't know the only thing I know is that when they updated the website they could have made it clear that they were using s30v steel instead of not putting what type they were using, so no need to be angry at me ok.
Oh I saw a review where someone said their package said they were made from 440 steel. I guess the person who posted the review was either lying or some sort of misprint or something. I guess now I'm going to get a lot of crap from a few people, hopefully they're not like the last person and can at least be respectful like you were.
Since I know now and was given 100% real and truthful information I would love to try the solid broadheads when I stop being a cheapo and spend the money on them.
I'm not sure why 440 is considered junk. I do agree that s30v is a better material(should be at double the cost), it's not like there is a huge difference. Toughness is almost identical but s30v will hold a better edge.
I have a nice Kershaw. So far it's been really good. I bought my dad and step mom Kershaw's a couple years ago for Christmas and they love them. Even a small $30 Kershaw skinned almost a whole deer. So far they've been good to me so I'm sticking with em.
