Gerber LMF II
Survival Knife
When you think of
quality knives, what comes to mind? some say KA-BAR, SOG or Benchmade. I think
of the Gerber LMFII.
I was fortunate
enough to purchase the Geber LMF II Survival knife a few years ago, and I now believe
it to be worth its weight in gold.
The Gerber LMF II is a survival/combat knife with a blade
measuring 4.84 inches long, and it has a 10.59 inch overall length. The blade is semi-serrated, drop point made
of 420 HC stainless steel, measuring at 54 Rockwell hardness. The 420 steel is
capable of being easily honed to a razor's edge, but lacks the edge retention of
a harder steel. To help remedy the relative lack of edge retention, there is a sharpener
integrated in the ballistic nylon sheath. Gerber also includes a safety knife with a MOLLE compatable sheath.
The sheath holds
the knife so securely, that Gerber claims that the knife is military approved
for airborne operations, and a slightly different version of this knife (LMF II
ASEK) is military issue. The only difference between these knives that I could
find, was that the ASEK is infrared resistant, while the Survival is not. The
sheath is MOLLE compatible, and includes two heavy duty nylon leg straps, with
veins of rubber running through them to help the sheath maintain its grip on
your leg.
The handle is
made of glass-filled nylon with TPV overmold, and has superb ergonomics. There
is an parabola dished out on each side of the handle, which provide a
secure grip for your fingers in any position I tried it in. These indentations are also said to help in attaching the knife to as a pole as a spearhead, but I haven't tried it out that way yet.
There is complete separation between the tang and the but
cap, so that the shock of using the but cap as a hammer or glass-breaker is
absorbed, as well as providing electrical insulation, if you have to cut
through power lines.
SFC Dillard
Johnson's Gerber LMF II ASEK, used to sever a 220 volt line in combat in Iraq.
Arrows point to damage done by the current. The electrically insulated handle
may have saved SFC Johnson's life, and cutting the lines potentially saved the
lives of all the members of his patrol.
Contrary to what
a friend of mine thought, having the tang and butt cap separated in no way undermines
the strength of this knife. There are reliable accounts from an emergency worker who successfully
pried a victim's car door open with his LMF II... an impressive feat for any knife.
Gerber claims that you can cut your way out of a helicopter
with this knife, and I have every reason to believe this is true. While I have
never egressed through a chopper's Plexiglas, I have cleared brush with limbs inches thick, cut through sheet metal, and prepared food with this knife. It
also does a pretty slick job of dressing out game.
With a MSRP of around $100, this is a very reasonable and
useful addition to anyone's tactical, survival or hunting gear, and is a knife
that I trust without reservation, and I give it a rating of 4.9 out of 5.0 possible,
the only deduction being that I would prefer more edge retention.
For those
interested, I have included the link to the company's website.
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