The Camp Strongarm!? Was It Worth Waiting 9 Years? 

I bought one for $44.99 back in 2015 the brown one.

@PerceptionVsReality333 I paid about the same on sale 3 year ago. For that money, it's solid.

Totally

I think it's still worth it even now at $90. It's probably not the best choice for most people... But as a one tool option/ soldiers tool it's really difficult to beat at any price point. If you're using it often for prying, scraping clay off your boots, digging/brutalizing your way through roots opening a can e.t.c... combined with rust resistance, ease of sharpening, and the sheath...it'd be my choice even with more expensive options. That said...it's a sharpened pry bar & cuts like it, also the 420 dulls quicker than almost anything.

@@PerceptionVsReality333 Same here when they first came out

and the buck will have a 10x better heat treat. still shitty edge retention but better than the soft butter gerber makes

@@acid6urns I've had countless Buck knives chip out on me with moderate use. Buck is fine for folders, but from my experience their fixed blades suck.

I love the alpha guide very light weight super comfortable blade geometry is amazing absolutely love it mine is in magnacut i know it’s not fair comparison in the steel aspect but bucks 420hc is far better than gerber 420hc

Gerber, (Fiskars), is selling Big Macs at T-bone steak prices. The entire production of this knife is automated. The only time human hands touch this knife is to load and unload it from a machine. The handle is injection molded plastic and overmolded with Kraton or some similar synthetic rubber. I have one of the last folding knives Gerber made before they were bought out by Fiskars. The Gerber specter. 154cm stainless, titanium liners, g-10 scales. I don't think I paid $90 for it and it's a he'll of a lot better quality and about 100x as complex as this.

​@@andrewmcgibbon9785 Exactly. I have grown up on Gerber's through the late 80's and 90's. You could always count on them back then to be competitive and capable. Back then no one really had as good as steels as today but they did have great designs. The steels were at least middle of the pack. 440a, 440c, 440b (not so common) 425m AUS6 to AUS10 and others. Back then for stainless anyway it was good stuff.

1095 is not a good steel. It's less tough than 420hc and about the same ware resistance. Only benefit is it can get harder but a survival knife shouldn't be that hard anyway.

Thanks! You too!

Yeah, those are two other great examples

Glad to hear that!

Gerber Myth Hunting knife reincarnated...

@@dlrmon1 It does look a lot like the Myth but I think the Myth has a 'pointier' tip. The blade on the one I am talking about looked exactly the same except for the choil. Of course I guess all coming from the same company it isn't too surprising.

That would be unstoppable

Gerber will probably want like $250 for it ..... 🙄🤨

3v would be nice, but in keeping with the stainless choice, i'd prefer an option for 14C28N. It has the toughness that 420HC does, but improves on the edge retention while being at a slightly higher HRC. It's also going to be more budget friendly than 3v.

Or magnacut

While I am definitely a MagnaCut fan, I don't feel it would suit the knife and Gerbers intent with it. Stupid prices all around atm not withstanding, when it released; it was super affordable, nigh unbreakable and easily maintained in the field. Even on the soft end, MagnaCut has less than half the ft-lbs of 420HC or 14C28N when treated to about 60HRC. (most consider that soft for MC) While I would still probably buy one in MC because I love the steel, I don't see Gerber indulging us.

Been saying this for years too! Prodigy with the plain edge was my favorite knife.

Yes absolutely , without those goofy serrations the prodigy was the best deal of the three . The plain edge was a Walmart exclusive and when Gerber discontinued them , Walmart put them on clearance for $ 35.00 and I bought four of them . I used three as gifts and kept the one I still have .

@@michaelboldyga6239 $35? Dang, I wish the Walmart locations here had gone that low! The ones around here did go on clearance but not quite that low. I still bought a couple of extra, though, because any time I find a knife I like and it is being discontinued, if the price is affordable, I like to pick up a couple extra in case anything happens to my main one I like carrying a fixed blade. I know nothing of knife fighting but like having a sturdy tool if I need it. Where I live there are no knife restrictions except location specific ones so the plain edge Prodigy is in my EDC rotation for days I am not at work. I never got a Strongarm because I have the Prodigy. I have held a Strongarm and agree that for regular tasks the Prodigy handle is better. I think the only thing the non-serrated Prodigy gives up to the Strongarm might be the super modular sheath system. Why they made the Prodigy sheath with different mounting options but made it so you have to cut a strap on the nylon backing and unbolt it from the main sheath to remove it I do not understand.

Boom!

Thanks for the sub, that’s awesome. Keep up the hard work!

Winner! Exactly...the SOG Tellus FX in blaze orange is a great "camp" knife.

Love my SRK C

Yep dumb

It's a bad design & ugly

This design and price range would have been a huge opportunity for them to use 14c28n. Or took the opportunity and used NitroV and advertised it as an American made knife with American made steel that's super tough, highly stainless and has decent edge retention.. the stock cost wouldn't be much different to them in bulk so the price wouldn't have to change or if it did maybe 5 bucks would cover the cost difference easily. For them to use 420hc here is just stupid. Hell or make it a badass and do it in cpm 3v with pvd or something for corrosion protection and charge maybe 20 more. I believe the sweet spot was NitroV or 14c28n tho, it's well loved by the community and is perfect for a knife like this. Anyone that will pay 100 bucks for 420hc is a little wonky, usa made or not. Gerber if ya read this (I know you won't lol) if you keep the price the same and do this in 14c or NitroV you will sell a ton of them.

@@EDCandLaceExactly those steels would have been good for this blade or Aebl steel also. And take the hardness to 62

The choil is not any better

@@gideonstactical Thanks, I tried anyway... L8TR!!!😇🙏👊

Totally

@@gideonstactical I love the idea of a Strongarm with a 1/8th thick blade & higher saber grind but they ruined it but shortening the blade length SMH. A knife doesn't have to be super thick in my book.

Not that I know of

Mora will have a scandi and not a flat grind like this is and gonna be made from 12c27 or a basic carbon steel (I'm speaking of the basic 15-20 dollar moras) with injection molded grip and not full tang. Mora basic is pretty much impossible to beat at its price range or something like the Garberg for around the same price will be bigger overall and have a scandi grind and be in 14c28n steel. Similar sized esse will be a flat grind like this and in 1095 carbon steel. Overall for around the same money ide take a Esse 4 over this 10 out of 10 times specifically because of the 420hc and just how terrible the edge retention is. 1095 from esse will have better edge life, not a lot better but still better and 1095 is so easy and fast to touch up(420hc will be to but it's a little gummy) that if you just have a ceramic rod you don't have to worry about edge retention becsuse you can be back hair popping in like 30 seconds with the ceramic rod.. not to mention that 1095 is gonna be far more edge stable so your less likely to roll or chip the edge than you would be with the 420. The 420 has thr benefit of being fair corrosion resistant and uncoated 1095 will corrod fairly easily however it's it's parkerized then it will handle corrosion pretty well. I don't own this knife so I can speak on it directly but it does look like it's got pretty good geometry for a camp knife and something like as esse 4 will likely be a little thicker stock and likely a little thicker behind the edge so it won't slice as well... I'm assuming this by what I see so I could be about the same also but it looks like this knife has taller flat grind and comes down a little thinner behind the edge. One thing about both esse and getber is their warranty is both top notch, if you break one or have a failure of any type they will both replace the knife without question. For a camp knife I'm personally gonna go Bradford first and esse second every time... for 90 dollars this knife won't ever be on my radar becsuse of the 420hc... I'll take N690 on a Bradford or 1095 on an esse 10 out of 10 times over 420hc... now if gerber decides to do another release of this knife and does it in 14c28n or nitroV (like they should have to start) and keeps the price close to what it is now I'll definitely buy one. im still scratching my head at why they didn't do this knife in 14c28n with as much as the community loves it and as good of a steel as it is for an application like this they seriously dropped the ball... their cost per knife wouldn't have changed much at all because of how easily 14c is to work with and the raw stock is not much more costly than the 420hc. The blank cost for 14c would likely be less than a dollar more per blade and the machining, grinding time would be about the same and 14c is quicker and easier to heat treat than 420hc sooo their end cost per knife would be about the same and they would be offering a far better product performance wise to the customer. Gerber really missed an opportunity to get the communities eyes back on them with this one. If it was in 14c it would be on every review channel on youtube with in a week or two.

Lionsteel T5, Cold steel SRK 3V, SOG Pillar.

@@gideonstactical 👍🤙

For sure!

That would have been awesome!

Yes it would!

Yeah, the production companies don’t use that steel that often. S35VN would’ve been a great upgrade.

Me too. Or a Becker Or a Kansbol & a Bushcraft Black I don't mind 420 on the Strongarm, for being a bruiser it suits that knife well enough... But this knife really should be a $50 bill at Walmart. It's decent but there's way better options for the money, too many to list