Review Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

Dupa primul review al Bear Grylls Parang Machete de pe Bushcraft Romania, prietenul Mike de la Osage Bushcraft ne-a trimis si un review complex al  Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife. Thank you, Mike! – Bushcraft Romania

The second item I am reviewing in the Bear Grylls Survival Series is the Ultimate Knife.

The knife was great from the beginning and exceeded my expectations by a-far. I purchased the knife from Amazon.com for about $49.97 USD. This review is very in-depth and informative for the long awaited Ultimate Survival knife of 2011. This knife is the Beta version of the knife, as the first version had some issues with the pommel breaking and falling apart ,this second version seems to have none of the same problems and Gerber reports to have fixxed all the issues with it. The steel on the knife is 440A steel Rc 55-59. It comes complete with a half serratated  blade, steel buttcap on the rear of the knife, fire-steel ferrocium rod that attaches to sheath, built in diamond sharpener and the Bear Grylls Priorities of Survival guide.

1. Splitting and batoning

First off I really wanted to get this gem dirty and down to buisiness quick. I started by getting the wood chunks out for some splitting and batoning.

At first glance the knife might not seem like it but it is built like a tank and will go thru what ever you can baton it into. I split several large pieces of pecan wood horizontally before fipping the tip around and driving it in “tip” first hammering it with the most solid piece of wood I could find being, some Osage Orange cut offs I had lying around the shop. On both occassions both batoning horizontally and vertically the knife passed with flying colors and didnt seem to have any damage to the sharp end of the blade or the tip. So I decided to make it more interesting at this point. I proceeded to run the blade down the blocks of Pecan wood carving length wise to the wood grain for a good three minutes or so.

After that, noticing after many shaving and little edge damage it was time to move on to the second part of the review, I was wasting my time here…. the knife was more than up to the test and had a very nice working edge still on it!

2. Cutting a variety of ropes and cords

At this too the Ultimate knife excelled with flying colors as it sliced right thru them with ease. The pieces of cord used where as follows: orange para-cord, black nylon cord, and a large piece of arbor rope averaging out at about 9/16 of an inch.

The serrations where so aggressive on the paracord that not only did it cut throu,gh it but shredded it in the process making short work of it even doubled up. The black nylon cord was even easier, like butter again. But what suprised me the most was the fact that it ate the 9/16 inch arbor rope like it was starving and hadnt ate in a month. This knife was and is an excellent rope and cord cutter and has a half serrated blade just for that!

3. The fun stuff!

I took an Empty Dr. pepper can and put it on the pecan chopping block and proceeded to knock the heck out of it hammering as hard as I could with the steel capped rear end of the knife! (I’m sure glad I’m not the pop can btw) as it totally flattened it out and left it smeared like a smashed twinkie all over the chopping block. This steel butted knife would make an excellent improvised hammer in the field or any survival situation, no hammer no problem! At the end of the hammering part I noticed there was none if any damage to the rear of the knife at all.

4. Making fire - probably my favorite part!

This task was made easy as the sheath has an integrated fire-steel built into it. One strike is all it took from the ferrocium rod to produce a shower of hot,bright sparks that shot several feet from the steel, making lighting tender or cotton a brease. The back top of the knife has a special place on it just for “striking” the fire-steel and has been ground from the factory just for that purpose and seems to work very well.

When finished with the fire-steel it easily stows away back into the sheath into it’s own water-tight compartment ready to be or service again at a moments notice. Definatley a good addition to the knife!

5. Sharpening

The sheath has a built-in integrated diamond knife sharpener that is made into the sheath. All you have to do to access it is undo the velcro strap half way down the sheath to reveil the stone. At this point in the review the knife was not dull yet by any means but I had to try it anyway, just to give the stone a fair review. The diamond stone was ok and would make a good way to sharpen the knife in the field. It won’t get the knife razor sharp by any means like a ceramic one will, but all you really need in a survival situation is a knife that cuts, not one that shaves. All in all it is a more than adequate addition to the knife and an essential for it.

6. The whistle.

The Ultimate Knife came with a small whistle attached to the butt of the knife. I took the whistle off and attached it to the fire-steel which also has a lanyard hole in it, it fit nicely. The whistle it-self is small, but don’t let that fool you by any means, it packs a punch. One heavy blow on the whistle is loud enough for someone to hear you from a great distance away for signaling or rescue, if they are anywhere close you will be heard!

7. The Bear Grylls Priorities Of Survival Guide

Over all I thought this guide was very well made and packed full of useful info that could help in the bush and might also save your life in a Survival situation. It included diagrams of Snares, Shelterbuilding ,Signaling and Rescue, Fire Making,Clothing options  and advice, different knots of use,Scavenging,Trap’s/Snare’s, Navigation and Water Collection and Purification. Even for someone that does not have any outdoor, bushcraft or survival knowledge it is surley a no-brainer and has the nessesary info with-in to survive well and to make it out alive. I highly suggest that everyone that gets one reads it, even if you are not a beginner in the field!

8. A glance on the sheath

It has a very nice sheath that well protects the knife from being damaged or from cutting anything it’s not supposed to. It snaps into place with a piece of plastic built in to the top of it, holding it very secure and tight. It does come out very easy though, if you know how to do it right. Taking hold of the piece of plastic and gently lifting up on it lets the knife slip out of the sheath smooth as silk and with little effort at all. The rear of the sheath has Alpine and ground to air sigals for rescue and communication, a very good thing to have with it. the knife is also secured by a velcro -elastic strap at the top of the sheath for stability on the go. All in all it is a very nice sheath and looks to be extremely durable.

9. In the end

Lastly a few misc things about the knife are the latching holes in the handle of the knife, which are there as attachment point so that a spear can be made for hunting etc, and can be very useful to get a meal or two with it. The finish on the blade wore alittle bit from all the abuse but still hung on and the blade was still coated pretty good for the most part.  I think that it would make a great addition to anyones collection for a field-knife, survival,scout, or anything in-between, it would surley find a place and a use in anyone’s hand that needed a good solid knife. My only gripe about the knife was the grey coating on a stainless blade. I think a survival knife blade should be shiny or of a satin finish not a dull matt grey one, because of losing it’s ability to sigal by light reflection, impairing it’s ability to aid in rescue and  for someone to spot you  for you to get help. In closing I think this knife is a great knife that the Bushcraft and Survival community have long been awaiting and that Gerber and Bear Grylls have done an excellent job in designing and producing it, I would be more than willing to give this knife 5 stars in spite of its single downfall which is not that serious at all. If you are thinking of buying it or wanting to you should!

You won’t be disappointed!

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