Customer Reviews

Gerber 22-47161 Fast Draw Spring Assisted Opening Stainless Steel Serrated Knife

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've owned this for almost 6 months now, and I'm still very pleased with its performance.

I had read some reviews that suggested that the Gerber FAST spring-assist would sometimes open in the pocket. I'm happy to report that this has never happened to me. I've carried this in my pocket in tight- and loose-fitting pants/shorts, and I've never had any problem with unanticipated opening.

I was a bit worried that the spring would wear out over time, but it shows no signs of weakening yet.

UPDATE:
I've now had this knife for over a year and it is still holding up great. I have honed the forward (non-serrated) portion of the blade a couple of times and it takes and holds an edge well. The serated part of the blade is still sharp and cuts well, but if I were to buy another, I would get the non-serrated version .

I expect alot from my knives and the Gerber F.A.S.T. delivers on all counts. This is my first "assisted opening" knife and now I wouldn't have anything else for an everyday carry. The knife is very solid and the blade opens and locks with an impressive "click". The grip is comfortable, tough and impervious to elements. A (removable) pocket clip makes one handed use a cinch. The serrated edge is long enough to be useful and cuts 50# braid like butter leaving no frayed ends. The safety lays comfortably under your thumb and the thumb stud is positioned exactly where it should be. The knife is of sufficient size that I don't feel naked without my fixed blade while in outdoors situations, yet fits easily and comfortably in my front pocket. Comes sharp. Takes and holds a good edge. This knife is a keeper!

I really liked this knife, for about 2 weeks, at which time the spring mechanism broke, rendering this knife useless as it won't stay open. I hate to leave a bad review on a product, but just wanted to let others know that if you purchase this knife, you're kind of at the mercy of the assisted opening mechanism. If it goes out, the knife is nothing more than a paperweight. When you're looking for an EDC knife such as this, you need it to perform anytime and every time. And this one might fail. Hopefully not, but I don't want to take that chance.

Got this knife a few months about and I would say overall the knife is ok but don't expect it to be on the same level as a SOG or other high end knifes. I have to also warn that if you are left handed I would recommend not buying this knife. The knife has a thumb lock only on the right side of the knife. If you are holding the knife in your left hand you can not release the lock with your thumb since your hand is in the way. The only way to do it is to use both hands.

VERY POOR DURABILITY.

I purchased two of these as Christmas gifts, one for myself and one for my Dad, as we camp/ride together, and both needed a good spring-assist knife.

The latching slide on the side of the grip sticks and is not, itself, spring loaded, which nicer ones are. The knife was sharp and light, not well-balanced but serviceable and compact. After some practice operating the knife (building muscle memory) and lubrication of the spring-assist mechanism, it went into regular use. This was December 2010.

It worked just fine until March 2011, less than 3 months from taking delivery. I pushed on the thumb knob to open the blade, and when it opened, I heard a crack/pop. The spring assist mechanism had broken, along with the locking switch, were broken, and not repairable. This happened to both knives purchased. Unfortunately, it was outside of the return window.

My belief here is that Gerber has done something common to many long-standing brands: to sell their name to another manufacturer to help sell a lower-quality product. If you buy one of their $120 knives, it will probably be wonderful. It's very, very common to rebrand low-end stuff (GE is a good example).

I will no longer be buying Gerber products.

The quick flip action is nice and the locking mechanism is easy to work as well. The blade on mine came fairly sharp and has been a lot of fun to use. So far it has opened every package I've used it on, although that wasn't what I bought it for.

Very solid. Spring assisted so the blade snaps open like a switchbade. You open by using thumb or index finger. Once you get the hang of the best way to open it, you can snap it open very easily.

It also has a lock on the handle. So, you can lock it closed very easily. You use the same button to unlock it to close it. So, it locks automatically when opened, then you unlock it to close.

The blade is very sharp and having the serrated section is really nice. It is very solid overall and feels like a quality knife. It is also very light.

It has a clip built into the handle also.

For this price, I was very surprised how nice this was. For a daily use pocket knife you cant beat it.

When I first got it I was impressed on how compact it was and how the handle feels nice in the hand. One big think I really have against this knife, and it is a BIG ONE, is that it is ridiculously hard to close it. When open, it requires you to release the blade by pushing up on a switch on the handle. It was fairly easy the first few times when I first got it. I was able to open and close the blade with only my right hand. However, after the next couple days it got incredibly hard to push the switch up in order to release the blade. At first I thought I was just a weakling or doing it wrong, but I had my friend who also owns some spring loaded knives, and who is quite strong, try to close it one handed and he could barely get the switch to move. It became also impossible to do it using two hands. I would have to use my shirt sleeve as a glove in order to get more friction so I could apply more force with my hand on the switch to get it to go up.

On the bright side the FAST mechanism is quite good, and doesn't rely you to flick your wrist at all if you are trying to open it one handed and looks and feels quite cool. But whats the point of opening it up if its just too much of a hassle to get the darn thing closed back up. I would not recommend this knife to any of my friends. I went back to using my old folding knife which isn't spring loaded.

I love gerber knives but this model has a very small and slippery handle. The thumb notch on the back is waaaaaaaaay to smooth. Is seems to be made more for looks than use.

I bought this knife for my boyfriend for christmas and he LOVES it. He likes the fact that you can hang it on your pocket so it is handy. It is very sharp though, SO be careful! :)