TLDR: Unexpectedly bought a Gerber auto, and it feels (to me) every bit as good as my Benchmades and Protechs.
Long story:
Earlier today I stopped at my local Farm and Fleet to get some cashews for work, but left with three knives instead!
As is required, I lightly browsed their knife selection whenever I’m in the store. They have a decent selection of popular models from Leatherman, Benchmade, Gerber and Buck in the case, and then an aisle full of budget knives from all the usual budget brands.
I’ve always liked the automatic offerings from Gerber despite the company’s general reputation. I’ve had a few Gerbers over the last decade, and I haven’t had a single problem other than a REALLY tight pivot and clip on a paraframe; I personally don’t buy into the whole “Gerber sucks” mob mentality too much, or at least I try not to.
ANYWAY, I noticed yellow clearance tags on about half of their knives in the case, and saw that the Empower was marked down from $200 to $150. Naturally my lack of self control took over and I grabbed one. When I got to the checkout, it rang up as $100! I went right back to the knife counter and bought the other two they had.
Granted this is my first Gerber auto, it feels REALLY nice in hand; great action, great edge, great tolerances, solid lockup, and no obvious QC issues. Same for the other two. My main carry at work is a Benchmade auto Triage, and I recently retired my home carry Benchmade Pardue auto. These Gerbers feel every bit as solid as my Benchmades.
For the pics I didn’t think it was fair to compare the new Gerbers to my old and heavily used Benchmades, so I used a brand new Triage I have as a backup.
Honestly, if I had my eyes closed and you handed me this Gerber knife, I wouldn’t be able to tell it apart from any of my push button Benchmades and even Protechs apart from the safety and prominent push button.
Blasphemy, I know! Put Gerber on the same level as Benchmade and even Protech? What am I smoking, right?
I’m really excited to see how this knife performs long term.
Oh, and I never ended up getting my cashews. I guess I’ll have to stop back tomorrow and might as well check out the other clearance blades while I’m there!
by tacmedrn44
