Why Did I Buy Two Bad Blades? Gerber Pledge 

In case anyone is still interested in this knife. I just got one today and there are no issues with either centering or the blade being cocked. Feels really nice in the hand. Lock up is perfect also.

This doesn't surprise me, any knife under $100 I've bought from Gerber was junk in one way or another in the last 15 years

I just bought one today in Australia it was part of a pack with a gerber dime for $49 Aud.. Mine has the black blade. It is straight and the action is smooth. Mabey they listened to you mate 👍

I completely disassembled mine and put it back together and it is way better after doing so. It's definitely straightened out a bit more than it was

I picked mine up last year during a Christmas special for $7 (3 knives for $20). At that price this thing is awesome, but funny enough, mine had the same kinked off issue. Loved your edit in this video 🤣

I laughed when I saw that you had two of them, as I do too. The first one I got had a blade that went sideways from the pivot just like your second one, and while the blade itself was not bowed, it's definitely...a bit wavy. None of that was a deal breaker for me at the price point, though it's crappy, and I have seen countless similarly priced knives without these problems. However, I went to Gerber for a replacement because after about half a day of use, the liner lock started traveling all the way to the other liner and getting stuck so badly that I had to use a pry bar to unlock it. This kept happening over and over again. I thought that if I just broke it in, it would eventually stop. (Obviously I tried to adjust the screws, take it apart and reassemble, etc.) It got a little better, but even now several months later it still gets locked up and travels all the way over at least a tenth of the times I deploy it; seems to happen if I flick it too hard or not hard enough lol. So after a few months, I finally got the replacement in the mail. So far it hasn't had the lock stick issue, but the blade on this one also cants to the side. I guess that's just a feature of this knife! The edge on the replacement is disappointing, considering how surprised I was with how sharp the first one was (could shave hair out of the box). There is a little bit of lock stick on the new one, but the lockbar isn't traveling all the way over like on the other, and I'm fairly sure that this lock stick will wear out with some more use. It's a real bummer because they could have had a massive winner with this one. It's so aesthetically well-designed, there's so much potential! As someone who grew up with his dad always telling him that Gerber made the best knives out there, I keep trying to give them chances to redeem themselves and they keep disappointing. While I know they do make some models in the USA, I have many other options to choose from in that price range and their other offerings are so shoddy that it tarnishes the brand and leaves me uninterested in spending that much on anything bearing their logo. But oh well...I guess for about $20 at my local sporting goods store I ended up getting two knives that look cool and, while far, far from perfect, would be adequate for most of my EDC needs if that were all I cared about.

Got one recently as a birthday gift. I’m pleased to be able to say mine has none of the problems you encounter, nor any other design or manufacturing issues I’ve noticed. I did remove the pocket clip as it create a significant hot spot for me. The pocket clip is also unnecessary as I’ll be carrying this knife in a deep coat pocket. The handle, sans pocket clip, feel great. The blade and handle design of the Pledge make for a good utility knife. And the 7cr… is not an issues, as my Arkansas stones and strop are always handy. I’m thinking Gerber was listening. Thanks for bringing attention to problems as well a features of some nice budget tools.

Just an idea - maybe some large photos from your recent travels might be good for your background (on the horizontal boards which are currently bare). Some great outdoors shots to make us all jealous. Thanks once again for your vids.

I got this last year in a stocking pack ....blade had a small warp ...still loved it ...bought another one this year ...no defects ..

I got one for Christmas from my son. Mine also makes a right hand turn at the pivot, looking down the back of the spine. Never noticed it till I seen your review.

I have a few Gerber knives and all of them have problem's and I will never wast my money on one again good video keep up the good work

The Last good Gerber pocket knife that I got was the Gerber shark belly pocket knife. That pocket knife nailed everything. Great blade and great quality control.

Just picked one up, mines dead straight and for the price I'm very happy with it. It actually looks great in my collection next time so very high dollar knives.

Have you emailed gerber about it? When my centerdrives pliers broke I just sent them pictures and got a new one.

That bowing of the blade is unfortunate. I still may pick 2 of these up. I really dig the simple, minimal, streamlined aesthetics of this knife.

Dude that thing is bowing like a 747!

I learned my lesson years ago to stay away from Gerber. Every single gerber I ever bought had QC issues.

I sharped mine out the box and works great for boxes and rope cutting.

I got one today in a combo package that includes the Gerber Dime Multi tool for around $35 USD today. I didn’t notice any of the issues you mentioned here with my knife

Wow you really can see the bow. Thanks for sharing, I almost was going to get myself one…

60 plus dollar Civivi I recently purchased has a noticeably warped blade as well but perfect centering . Detent and action isn’t very good either . Disappointing to say the least . Pretty much ensures I won’t buy another . I’m going to beat on it like it owes me money from here on out .

Great review my dude. Thanks for the heads up

I've really been loving my new Gerber quadrant. They have rel3ased a black bamboo handle version. It's sweet razer sharp out of the box to. I also carry a buck 102 woodsman cause you always need a fixed blade.

I picked up a Pledge, mine has the off-center pivot issue. I was already iffy about the 7Cr, but okay, for a utility/box opener, fine. But not with that cant to the side --- throws off the alignment of the tip. Not sure if I'll return or keep it as a warning to myself about Gerber's budget blades...

I picked one up today for my little brother since it was on sale for Black Friday; he's a southpaw and I'm not, and as such, almost all the knives I've given him (typically from my collection) don't match his dominant hand, and I was hoping this would be a nice change of pace for him since it's ambidextrous. The blade is perfectly straight with no bowing, so it's possible that they got QC under control, or I might've just gotten lucky. Regardless, I gotta say, it feels shockingly good in the hand; if this knife was in anything other than 7cr17mov, they could've gotten away charging quite a bit more. I really like that they went with a thumb shelf instead of a thumb stud; it may not be perfectly level with the spine, but it feels nice to have a little extra width when choking up. For what I paid, I think it's probably one of the better budget knives I've handled-nowhere near the best, but I'd say it's on the upper half of the bell curve.

Have you checked out Honey Badger knives? Great quality and value.

Dont expect anything good below $30 and even at $30 its hard to find something really good cause most of it is dog water. My kershaw natrix was bowed. Crap knife. Instead of fixing it they shipped it and put more washers on one side to make it fit right. So they knew it was bad.

Thank you for the review

Just picked up a pledge + mullet tool in a combo pack together for $25, will update y’all on the knife in due time 🙂

Hi can you make a video about Civivi elementum ether with the D2 or with the S35vn steel

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you want a budget folder that will impress and never let you down go with a Ontario Rat 1, get the aus8, it’s way better done than the d2. I did just pick up a cjrb with their recoil lock, excellent fit and finish, d2 steel, ball bearings and flipper. For less than $40 it’s one hell of a knife.

I got one a month ago and its all good noe bowing and the pivot is centered its a really good knife for the price since it seem yo be fixed.

Mines pretty straight. I like knives at this price point for work. It’s fun to flip and I like the blade shape

The 'ole wrist flick. LMAO.

Ticks so many boxes. So bummed. Thanks for the review, mate!! Stay up!

I don't get buying 'knives' in those wildly unusable steels when there's 9cr and so on at that price. Those Gerber budget models literally make S&W look fancy and high performance by comparison. 7cr is like Aus 6, it'll take an edge and fool you into thinking it's a knife... until you try to make more than 3 cuts with it and discover that it holds that edge about as well as aluminum.

Might want to look at Gerber E Z Out and LST. Made in USA. This reminds me of Kershaw Random Leek.

Gerber makes low end Chinese brands like Eafengrow or Ganzo look like premium brands.

the base cold steel tantos used to be a bargain, the kobuns

Any chance you could check out The Nero from Warrior Poet Society? $60 EDC knife, drop point D2, liner lock, G-10 handles

Awesome backdrop!

I’ve seen that sloppy bow before, usually on cheap slipjoints, but not too many liner locks. Just lousy work that never should have passed QC. For a great knife in the $20’s or low $30 something get a Ruike P801. I think I paid $26 for mine, and it’s an excellent stainless steel knife.

Just bought a SVORD mini because I saw an old video from Wranglerstar in my feed, as simple as it can be but really great, you should check those out.

If you look at your knife collection. You will find that most blades are warped. I'm sure this happens during heat treat. I'm not sure what can be done when the stock is thin. I'm not familiar with the process with mass produced folders. Do they heat treat first then grind? So what is the manufacture doing to do? Throw out all of the warped blades? You would think they would have a quality check after final assembly to weed out the severely warped ones. But that would add the to final cost of course, but what do I know.

I like this design but I don't like how they made a half axis lock they should have went all the way instead of half ass. And now as I write this you mentioned the bow . Gerber has dropped the ball with heat treat , I bought the machete combo the large and mid sized, and I was clear cutting my fence line ,the thickest brush I was going through was 5/8-3/4 inch and 5 minutes ini looked at my blade and it completely rolled over . I think I could have done better with aluminum foil , or the harbor freight machete. Also a while back I bought the square and the Para set and the square rolled while I was basically feather sticking. I love my strongarm tho I haven't had an issue so far very good hunting and camping kinfe

6/20/2024 impulse buy at my local wally world.. i can know see the "defects"you pointed out. Thanks for the review.

Almost had me sold. Looks cool. Until the Bow. I’ll Stick with my USA made shark belly from them 👍

That's crazy. Mine is fine, no bend. It's a new favorite

Poor tolerances. Cool design, and thin blade which is nice. No surprise from the brand.

I bought a budget knife a while back from buck and it was the cheapest feeling thing I've ever had worse than the gas station knife someone bought me.

Mine is perfect. Plus its 20$ so if it cuts good and looks good why is it such a big deal anyway....

Unfortunate because it is a nice design and great price. Good thing I saw the review before ordering.

if you get a chance review the Kobun or post a link to your review, it is heavily reviewed on YT but why not

Mine perfectly centered and has a perfectly straight blade. You must have got a bad batch.

DUDE.. YOU MOST DO A VIDEO ON THE CRESCENT 3.5 HARPOON KNIFE IN D2 STEEL..AROUND 24$...FROM CRESCENT TOOL MAKER

G'day Aaron, like the "thumb tab" idea, haven't seen it done quite like that before and yep nice lines too, but man either one of those issues would really P155 me off, even on a budget job. I often wonder how many of these, inexpensive, lets say, sub-par things, does one need to sell to make a profit.............. I can understand the concept of "high demand, low profit margin" though even with impulse buying, surely you're not gonna get return customers + it taints the overall brand. With simple word of mouth and the honest segment, (thanks once again Aaron), of social media too, many are not gonna buy it in the first place anyway, so the high demand part of the equation goes out the window. Anyone got a logical explanation ? only thing I can think of is offset the decent, well selling models, with who cares rubbish as some sort of tax dodge overall. Cheers Duke.

Mine has the bow, but it really doesn't bother me. Overall it's a good, functional knife and that bow doesn't affect usability for me. For my money, the bow isn't a reason not to buy the knife if you otherwise like it. Happy with mine and it only cost $24. I think you'd be pressed to find a significantly better knife at that price point.

Thanks for the $54 garberg tip!

Thanks

Mine is fine...very nice, no complaints...

Best edc knife I ever had, is the Manly Patriot. Very similar desing to this folder, only the tip isn't the same. What I want to say, is that nothing beats simplicity, for versatile general use knife. That simplicity, is what provides the versatility such a knife should have.

Gerber QC has gone to crap the last few years, even on their U.S. models. I'll never buy another one.

Stay away from gerber knives 🔪 they look nice but there is always something wrong. M-tech makes better knives and uses better steel and even use bearings for 20 bones. I’ll take a m-tech over a gerber

I stopped buying any Gerber's several years ago. Blades kept chipping and snapping, and even one of their multitools snapped a spring that was meant to make the pliers spring back. Their knives look great, but their blade steel is shit. It's a pity.

Sounds about right for their $20 stuff. That's too bad cuz I really liked the look of this one

It is from the same company that brought us the Bear Grylls survival knives...arguably the worst knives on the planet besides those caveman knives they sell on social media with the finger hole in the blade.

Most of my knives, including brands like spyderco (their tenacious is bad about it), benchmade, cjrb (I have a crag with a nasty warp), mora (I don’t own a single mora that doesn’t have a warped blade), have warped blades. In fact, most knives do have warped blades, many of the warps are just super subtle. It’s bad with every brand unfortunately.

Just grabbed one and it’s dead nuts straight. Woooo hooooo!!!!

Gerber strikes again, 😂

I have had several issues with Gerber products in the past, and no longer buy them, nor recommend them.

Looks good, but isn't good. Buy American. You can get a Buck 112 Slim for about 30, made in America.

Hey Gerber an crit ,kershaw knives are great knives

One word: Gerber.

Yeah I could see the bow in blade 😳☹️.

Considering mine was free, it does everything I've asked it to do, the Pledge that is. Sorry that one was bowed, mine is not. Its completely straight tip to butt. I'm not working hard these days and this is much easier to carry than my typical Cold Steel Recon1 or AD10. If i had to abuse a knife i would grab something that can take it. For the jobs i would use this dress knife for, its a good deal, at least for the cost. The steel is junk and needs sharpened constantly, but its a $20 knife.

People are going to hate me for saying this, but the Spyderco Tenacious has this exact problem too. It's hilarious, all the youtubers are like "huh, they all seem consistently off center to the right a little" Gee... I wonder why? Look down the spine........... Almost every Spyderco Tenacious has a warped blade. Also... Another interesting fact people aren't going to like, that slight (or not so slight) warp in the blade actually makes it feel like it's cutting better. THAT is why blades/models with this issue seem to cut surprisingly well.

I just bought one today, damn near perfect. My only issue is the inside edge of the scales all the way around are kinda sharp. But for a knife that’s less than $25 complaining about that is kinda bitchy

looks like the ruike that you and i both loved for $30

@1:01 "Chinese alphabet soup steel" LOL. I now shy away from these Chinese steels since, on recommendation from a knife channel, I bought a Ruike P841 with 14C28N for $40. The edge has chipped many times and rolls easily so I continually have to sharpen it. And I haven't put it through hard use. I've opened boxes, cut some cardboard, scored some soft pine shims to break off, etc.

That sounds like typical Gerber to me. So sad.

Is that a Tops Steel Eagle mounted in the wall ? Oh yeah don't waste your money on Gerber. Budget or otherwise. Too many good Ganzos, Sitivian, CJRB even Efengrows out there. Yes they are Chinese made, not getting a sub $40 knife made in USA.

Hey Arron not gonna lie I’ve disagreed with you on some stuff over the years. As weird at that is for a guy I don’t really know. Just a you tube influencer. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. Just that it’s like being mad at a tv show. But after looking back through your channel and where you started. And becoming this excuse my language (bad ass family man) who lives in my state. You’re a good dude and I appreciate your content and for how stubborn I am I’ve even come to agree with a lot of your opinions on things gear,family,values. But especially how your just trying to Create a good life for you, and yours. Your a good dude brother. And I know this comment will probably never reach you. But just know I’m out here wishing you and yours the best life because you deserve it. P.S. I know your wife is a little camera shy but let her know her opinion is valued because she has a different view on things then us men. Heck my girlfriend feels the same way she does about alot of gear. And that’s important. I think you guys reach a different audience together. And your fabulous together. Because together you guys reach us all male,female what works for both and she’s rare on your channel. But when she speaks up I can honestly say she’s never been wrong. And mostly because she feels real like she could care less if it’s a Benchmade,a fixed blade, a name brand or not she just likes what works for her. I think and no offense to females but there not driven by hype but comfort and that’s a new view that nobody on RU-vid but you and her have. I guess I’m just saying I appreciate you both and what you stand for in a morally bankrupt world. YOU AND YOUR’E WIFE ARE REAL. And that’s a rarity. Keep it up my guy RU-vid needs you guys.

Too many complaints from people for a $20 knife. Cmon people its $20

Oh oh! I was about to purchase one and seen this. As always great vid, god bless!

Gerber quality, an oxymoron 🤣🤣🤣

I watched at least 4 other reviews of this knife and nobody found any defect in the blade/pivot that you found. In their videos, I could look down the length of the blades & there was no deformation. You have really bad luck..!

The consistency is why I will not consider any Gerber knife. It's a crap shoot. When you can get a qsp penguin or parrot for just a few dollars more than this knife, it's a no brainer.

i`ll ask again, what happened to "live the trek" channel.

I guess I'm just not expecting that much from a $20 dollar knife.

Too bad; it is a good looking blade at an affordable price.

If it works, it works.

I've had the gerber pledge for about 6 months, and i must have got lucky because mine is straight and everything else. I like the knife a lot. I wanted a cheaper knife because i am not easy on knifes and i tend to loose them at work alot (im a diesel mechanic and i work for a large farm / ranch and do alot of work in feilds and what not so i somehow drop jt or leave it siting somewhere idk but ive lost probably 20 knifes in the 6 years since ive been working there) and im talking $150 to $300 knifes a couple cheaper ones but mostly expensive. And i make good money, but with todays economy (thank Biden🖕), i can't afford to keep buying new knives. But i saw the pledge and immediately was drawn to it because i like the reverse tanto or warnclife blade style. And i dont have much negative to say about the knife. Besides, i wish it was a spring assist knife. But that being said, it opens very easily with a flick of your thumb, so it's not a big deal

I paid 68 bucks for a Gerber fast tanto and noticed that the pivot washers are Teflon plastic. That’s what’s used on 15 dollar knives. I’m very disappointed.

mine is fine

I got lucky or maybe cause it’s been a couple years mine is perfect

Mines fine

Man Gerber just can't catch a W 😑

The Red Chinese do their best work on bioweapons.

All lefthanded folks beware! This knife is Pos!! I Bought 2 and returned them both because of stripped thumbstud and pocket clip screws! Oh and the lefthanded thumbstud position rubs the bolster! Junk!

I really like your dark blue 👖 and I like how the thumbstud is wide and looks comfortable