GERBER Ultimate Survival Fixed Blade Knife with Fire Starter

Out of the box, the blade was sharp enough to shave my forearm. It’s a good weight — not very heavy and feels incredibly solid for its size. The grip material is very comfortable and gives you a good grip on the knife even in wet conditions. The 90 degree spine will throw a shower of sparks from a ferro rod and the 90 degree spine also assists in making great tender in the form of very fluffy shavings. The serrations on the knife work very well at cutting any type of cordage or rope you need it to cut. The serrations are also capable of making very thin feather sticks which is something that came as a shock to me. The great debate rages on about serrations or no serrations, but in my humble opinion the serrations on this knife are a plus. The 420 steel used in this knife seems to hold a edge very well, and seems to be durable. I did engage the serrations during batoning and found none of them bent or damaged afterwords. The way I tested the knife was I went out in the rain and attempted to make a fire with just my prodigy and a ferro rod. In order to get to the dry wood I needed to split a bigger piece of wood in order to get to the dry wood on the inside. After getting to the dry wood inside I used the 90 degree spine to make a large pile of fuzzy shavings. I then used the Prodigy to baton smaller pieces of kindling from the dry wood on the inside. Once my fire prep was completed I was able to use the 90 degree spine to shower sparks from my ferro rod into the fuzzy shavings and ignite them. The knife performed all of these tasks very well and I am very pleased with its performance. Good job Gerber.

I will give further updates as I continue to test the knife.

First off…. MADE IN USA! it is not so often that you see that on products nowadays’s but when you do your sure as heck your getting a quality product.

Now for the knife itself.

My knife came in a clam shell package, other than the made in USA print nothing to be excited about. The knife itself came sharp out of the box, but just like i do with all my knives i give it a quick run on my leather strop. After a few minutes the knife is shaving sharp.
The Blade: The knife steel is 420HC stainless steel ( 420 stainless steel category with high carbon content ) with a 3/16″ thick stock, i normally do not get knives with 420SS steel due to it being inferior compared to other knife steels, but gerbers heat treatment obviously makes the steel desirable with a good balance of corrosion resistance and edge retention. The blade is full tang all the way to the tip in which acts as a glass breaker or nuggin buster. I have carried this knife a lot and have used it for cutting branches and wires, opening cans and chopping wood. Till this day i have yet to sharpen it since the first time i did the day i got it and it still passes my paper test. With heavy use, the blades black finish gets scratched up and worn out, but that’s to be expected of a rugged tactical/utility knife.
The Handle: Made out of over molded plastic with a rubber top layer. It is contoured well enough to fit most hands and provides enough grip to prevent slippage. My only gripe with the handle or pommel area is the glass breaker, it tends to scratch and poke my arms when i carry it suspended on my belt. But filing of the sharp rough edges on the glass breaker tip of the pommel remedied the problem. I have also made a nylon strap for it replacing the molle compatible strap it came with making it have a slimmer profile than the original and makes it less intimidating when carried as an EDC. To make the strap i just cut a 6 inch long 3 inch wide nylon strap from an old laptop bag strap and folded it into a U shape and drilled two holes through the nylon strap and mounted it to the hard case sheath via the two original screws with the original lock nuts.

The Sheath: The sheath is made out of a durable hard plastic with a rubber over mold and can be mounted for a variety of carry options. This sheath has been through a lot of abuse, from being used as a hammer to being an alternative to a pot holder. I find myself using things for purposes they were not designed for many times, but it is what i had in hand and within my reach and when time is of an essence then if it works then it works. And this one just happened to be one of those things that i had on me when i needed some thing done.

Overall impression:
Great overall quality and construction, Good price point, Sharp blade that holds and edge and a nice quality sheath.
I have chosen this knife over the gerber LMF2 due to the fact that the tang is really FULL tang, unlike the LMF2 that i had a pommel fly on me. This prodigy is almost the same thing as the LMF2 only with some slight differences at a fraction of the price and of course a real full tang.

Excelente faca
Muito bem acabada,cm bainha firme.

Da precisare che mi è arrivato quasi totalmente privo di filo, a parte ciò coltello fantastico, riesce a superare davvero ogni prova di stress per la lama, facile da affilare, perde lentamente il filo. Ottimo anche per il bushcrafting grazie all’impugnatura comodissima.