I'm a knife guy. I just like them. I probably have about 20 knives. Most of them are smaller pocket knives but I have several larger ones as well. About 3 years ago I was looking for a bigger knife and I kept coming back to the Gerber LMF2 model. It was burly and looked like it could do damn near anything. I bought one. It is my third Gerber knife. I have other knives from Case, Old Timer, Buck, Smith and Wesson, etc. but, after today, I am a Gerber guy. For life. Here's the story:
In the fall, there is a group of friends that I get together with (including my buddy Scott). We choose a remote place in the Rockies (different each year) and backpack in and fish these high altitude lakes for Greenbacks. I won't go into detail on how Scott has neglected to organize such a trip since our last one about 2 years ago. I bought this knife specifically for the trip before that one. I remember pulling it out (the knife that is) and seeing the looks on some the faces. I remember one person asking, "Why do you need a knife that big?" The answer is because it does a lot of different things very well and if the shit ever hits the fan, I want it with me. The following year we met again. The hike in was gorgeous but a storm was coming in and things were expected to get ugly. Not long after the sun went down and we were all shivering at about 11,000'. It started snowing. It was going to be a very cold night (well below freezing). We had some logs but nothing to split them with. Until I pulled out this baby. I used a rock and beat the piss out of the top, tip, and handle of the knife to get that wood split into kindling that would make starting a fire easier. In the process, I tore the rubber handle and cracked the resin underneath. The blade was fine and I've used it since then.
Here's the damage. Not much really but I wanted to see if Gerber could repair it. I called them this morning and gave them the Readers Digest of this story. The conversation went a little like this:
Gerber: Yeah that resin handle should not have cracked on you and that rubber handle shouldn't have torn.
Me: Really? Because I beat the ever living shit out of it to make firewood. I abused this knife.
Gerber: You used the knife for it's intended purpose. We will replace that free of charge.
Me: That's wrong. I abused it and it broke and I am more than happy to pay for a repair.
Gerber: All of our knives are guaranteed this way. No questions asked.
So I'll box this up and send it their way and they will send me a brand new one. My next knife (and the ones after that) will all be from Gerber. I hear a lot of guys bitch about the quality of the steel used in Gerber knives and how they aren't able to hold an edge and this and that. I have never experienced this. This LMF2 will shave your arm after very little time spent sharpening it. I could cut down a mall tree in a survival situation and bring the blade right back with little effort. Maybe some folks aren't sharpening them correctly? Thank you Gerber.
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