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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