Customer Reviews

Gerber 31-000698 Bear Grylls Survival Series Parang, With Nylon Sheath

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Length:: 1:58 Mins

Okay... I just want to say... knife elitists of the world, give it a rest! Seriously! Do you honestly expect a "polished" edge you can shave with out of the box on every <$50 knife you buy??? Seems like your going to live a long disappointing life if that's the case. It's borderline mental, how critical people are of a knife having "an okay edge" just blows my mind. Sorry... been bottling that up for a while now :) Anyway... I've owned my share of machetes... this is the best all around brush clearing, log batonning, zombie decapitating piece of steel you could hope for at this price. I know there's a lot of people sitting in their towers criticizing anything marketed with a "celebrity" tag on it, and I'll admit that Mr. Grylls involvement in this sick example of machete engineering had me questioning the actual quality of the product, but once I got it, I was convinced of Gerber's dedication to quality and innovation. Okay... that might be excessive gushing, but I can't help it... I want to scream it from the rooftops! THANK YOU BEAR AND GERBER FOR THIS INCREDIBLE TOOL!

Oh yeah... and the sheath is better than just "sufficient" quality. It's as durable as you can get without going with a thick, heavy leather sheath and it's super lightweight. It's some kind of nylon material with a hard plastic lining. I've seen crappier sheaths sell for the same price you're getting this one for but this one comes with an effing parang! Yeah... the snaps might not be the easiest thing to deal with, but with two of them AND a velcro strap at the top, that thing is never coming out by accident. Even if the lower snap comes unsnapped... who cares?! It doesn't affect the sheaths ability to contain the parang... BTW my sheath doesn't have that problem, and doubt that it will be a deal breaker if it is a problem for other customers.

I will agree that the "survival" guide is pretty pathetic, but to the city slicker who bought this because they really love "that survivor guy with the cool name on TV" and consider being 10 miles or more from a Starbucks a "survival situation" it might have some value.

Pros: Sturdy construction with non-slip handle, more than sharp-enough hardened carbon blade, great balance and thick enough to do heavy chopping and batoning, nice heavy-duty sheath. This will help you build an awesome lean-to and get you through at least the first 10 waves of an attacking zombie horde

Cons: It didn't exist 15 years ago when I was old enough to buy my first machete. And you should really consider the US Army survival guide or SAS pocket survival guide instead of the folded piece of paper you get with this machete.

Edit: I stand slightly corrected... I ordered another parang as a gift for my friend. When he opened it I took a look at it, and I was surprised to find the blade embarrassingly dull. I don't know if I just got lucky, or if they stopped sharpening them as well after the first shipment went out (I pre-ordered mine), but the one I have was way sharper than the one I got for my friend. His is definitely going to need some work to get the razor edge that mine had... way to be consistent Gerber. Still love it though!!!

Edit: Gerber has a lifetime warranty with their knives... so if this parang ever gets to the point where it can't be sharpened or if it is damaged from some sort of factory defect, they will simply replace it. From Gerber's website:
"Gerber warrants to the consumer that this product will be free of defects, in material and workmanship for as long as you own the product. This warranty does not cover damage due to rust, accident, loss, improper use, loss, abuse, negligence, or modification of or to any part of the product. Normal wear and tear is not covered under the warranty. If the product failed while being used as it was intended to be used, we will service under the warranty. At Gerber's option, defective product will be repaired, replaced, or substituted with a product of equal value."

I want to start by saying I use knives and hatchets and have my own sharpening service. I worked in a meat packing plant for years right out of school where we depended on our knives to make a living. So I know knives, cleavers, hatchets, and about anything with an edge. that being said, this parang rocks. I also own the ultimate survival knife from Bear and Gerber, and have not tested it yet. Back to the Parang. I set out with 4 big blades and 2 hatchets. Mind you these were all reputable names of blades(no K-Mart items). I started with chopping, and man can this thing chop for it's weight and size, which is 19 5/8" overall length. the blade is 13 1/2" w/cutting edge of 11". and the thickness is just over 3/32" not quite 1/8". The handle is about 6 1/8" and feels real nice in hand giving you a couple choices on where to hold and that causes less hand fatigue. The weight is 1.2 lbs.(17.52 oz's). Alright, here we go, this Parang out chopped my 2 hatchets and 3 out of the 4 big knives I had taken. the only one that it didn't beat was the Rtak 2 from Ontario knives. So then it was on to batoning, and I used no lube. If I'm caught in a survival situation, I will have a bade on me(I hope) but I will probably not have my handy can of w-d 40 with me, and the wood here where I am right now when dried isn't that sappy, it's not pines and ferns, more like elms and oaks, and some locust. Again the Parang took me by surprise and out performed most of the big blades, except the Rtak again was about even. I didn't use the hatchets for this comparison to be fair, as they don't use the same principal for splitting,(one hard fast blow to try to drive it through), where batoning you use another piece(baton) to drive the primary blade through your work. I want to let everyone know about this Parang that it's not just hype or promotion for Bear Grylls, this thing stands out by itself on it's own merit. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves to get more than what you pay for. This Parang is a new design to me and I was skeptical, but I am glad I purchased it and I am confident you will be too. Now go get one. Love it...Love it..Love it. I wish I could give it higher stars than five, thats how much it impressed me. Hope this helps somebody. Thanks for reading my revue........Later P.S. My blade collection ranges in the hundreds, so I'm not excited about to many blades these days. cu-do's Bear and Gerber for a functional and outstanding looking blade. This one is both kinds of cool!

Found the Grylls Parang on Amazon after hearing about it and ordered it. Amazon is great to deal with and delivery was on time with out problem.

The Parang is a great handling tool (I have 2 other similar tools) and the grip is great for doing its job.

Problem: on my first walk down my bush trail I used it to cut some winter damage hanging low and after about 30 minutes of work the handle split up and down at the hilt. These were not big branches or vines, all were cut with one or two swings of the Parang.

I Emailed Gerber over 2weeks ago and have heard nothing yet, I will try one more Email to get a new handle after that I guess I will make my own and lesson learned.

Just a quick comment about parangs in response to some objections that it is not razor sharp out of the box. A parang is intended to have three specific cutting surfaces along a single blade: a relatively dull but powerful chopping section that is analogous in use to a machete, a moderately sharp middle section, and a very sharp area on the lower part of the blade. The chopping section is the area with the greatest mass (at the top) and the blade is weighted towards this area for chopping and brute force applications. The middle and lower sections are sharper and the shape of the blade keeps these out of the way when chopping to avoid dulling.

Despite what everyone may say, this is a great machete! (depending on how high your expectations are) This great tool went above and beyond my expectations. The Parang is a heavy, heavy duty, thick, high carbon steel blade, sharp, durable tool. There is no true negative to this tool. It has the design of a jungle tool but acts like a heavy duty woodsman machete. The handle is rubberized but feels like a brick and your hand and causes aches after even light use. I would give the handle 3/5. Should use gloves when using this item. Despite this, the blade goes beyond 5/5. Its heavy, durable and sharp out of the box. Not razor sharp but sharp and has a great design. Just the weight of the parang is enough to cut small limbs. Put some force behind it and its a dangerous weapon! I recommend it 100%! ONly $30...should be at least 50. Sheath gets 5/5, it is one of the few sheaths for blades that can actually be trusted. Its a durable, nylon sheath that has two belt loops and two buttons to open it plus some velcro. Quite an amazing tool. THANKS BEAR GRYLLS!

This Parang is decent quality but not Gerber's best by any means. It comes sharp near the base but very dull near the tip. I belive that I can get it near razor sharp with some work though. The back of the blade is nice and thick so woodsplitting is possible. The handle has a very good grip and a lanyard. The reason I didnt give this 5 stars is the sheath it comes in. Its not a horrible sheath but it isn't a great one either. It comes with a velcro strap at the top and 2 snap buttons going down the length. The first button snaps in just fine but the second(lower) button will not stay closed for very long. All in all this is a decent machete for 32 bucks. If you like the parang style then give this one a shot. For me it came down to this one and the Gerber Gator II with the saw on the back. I got this one because of the shape and length. I am not dissapointed.

T

I bought this along with the Bear Grylls Ultimate knife. This parang is awesome! It's well built, feels good in use, and is very much worth the money! The lower button on the sheath was stiff at first but eventually broke in. The trick is to twist the parang side-to-side while squeezing the snap. Other than that the sheath is also well built! I'm glad I didn't go off the negative reviews because as I said this parang is very much worth the money! Seriously, buy it and you won't be disappointed.

I usually don't write reviews but this blade absolutely amazed me! Ever since i held it in my hand i could feel the sturdy construction and overall balance that Gerber was able to put into a blade this heavy duty. Not only does this knife slice through decent sized branches like butter, it does it with very little wear on the user.

Overall, the sheath is a perfect match to the parang and i wont be found anywhere in the woods without it.

I didn't know what to expect. After all, this thing is pretty funny looking. However, after swinging on a few branches and limbs, the design really stands out. It goes through branches up to 1 1/4" thick in one swing. Thicker limbs need a few whacks, but come down very quickly. The design puts the weight and force out in front where it is needed. I really like this tool; I'm sure it will come in handy either in the back yard or on the trail.

I live in the Dominican Republic where there remains a lot of rain forest and other extremely difficult terrain to walk over. I watch Bear a lot on TV so when I saw the Gerber endorsed parang I decided to buy it to replace my traditional machete used here. As Joan Rivers would say, "can we talk?"

What an amazing tool. Extremely well made, hefty and able to slice through very thick branches with very little effort. The sheath is a tad difficult to get used to because it is curved but once you do you'll never leave without it.

Buy it, you won't be sorry!