Product Reviews



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 last fall, 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 oval-shaped area 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 said to help in attaching the knife to as a pole as a spearhead.


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. I read an account by an emergency worker who successfully pried a victim's car door open with his LMF II.


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 4 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.




Luke Cleghorn

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