Pros: Good blade steel holds an edge, lightweight, good lockup
Cons: Open handle design can be dangerous
The Bottom Line: The open handle design reduces weight but makes it too easy to cut yourself while handling the knife in the closed position...that alone calls for a 2 star deduction.
buggman's Full Review: Gerber Paraframe I Serrated
Gerber Paraframe 1 partially serrated knife.
I bought this knife about 6 or so years ago; it came as a package deal that included the knife along with a mini multi tool. I have no idea what happened to the multi tool, but I still use the knife all the time.
I've searched & searched, but I cannot find out what the exact type of blade steel is used, other than its "surgical stainless steel", which isn't that specific. I'll venture to guess the blade is 420 or 440 stainless steel as the blade has only been sharpened one time since I bought it & it's still sharp enough to shave the hair off my arm.
My knife happens to be a half serrated clip point that measures right at 3" long. I'd have preferred a plain blade, but this is what came with the combo. As I mentioned, I've had this knife for many years & I only sharpened it one time - right after I opened the package. The knife had a usable edge, but it was nothing spectacular. It would easily open boxes or cut rope, but I like to keep my blades nearly razor sharp. I don't think I've ever really needed a razor sharp knife over a really sharp knife, but that's just me. I normally don't like serrated knives because most knife companies grind a pretty useless pattern that really wastes that portion of the blade. Gerber has a quite useful serrated pattern on this knife and I've actually used it to cut rope & rip through cardboard boxes.
The serrations are still very sharp, although it can be quite difficult to sharpen serrations. I have yet to sharpen the serrated area on this knife. Like most serrated blades, the serrations are ground all from one side, leaving the other side of the blade with no grinding behind the serrated portion. This reminds me of a chisel ground blade, where the entire cutting edge is ground from one side of the blade. In my opinion, this gives a false sense of sharpness.
I believe this knife comes in about 6 variations: mini both plain & serrated blades, #1 slightly longer but same design in plain & serrated blades, and #2 larger than #1 and comes in both plain & serrated blades. The basic design (other than the sizes) for all this series of knives remains nearly identical.
For the handle (or what there is of the handles) is stainless steel that looks & feels to have the same gray finish as the blade. The handles are VERY skeleton-ized, which greatly reduces weight, but leaves plenty of area for you to get your fingers (or anything else) caught and cut even when the blade is closed. The skeleton designed handles look cool & are quite sturdy, but I'm not a fan of this design after using the knife all these years. I've sliced my fingers too many times to count, even when opening or closing the knife by getting my finger into the skeleton holes, right under the blade. If I were to re-design this knife, I'd add about 1/8" in overall width and use a thin Lexan or similar clear material behind the skeleton, sandwiching the blade. It would still retain the see thru look, but add a layer of protection against getting a finger inside the handles.
This knife is a frame lock, similar to a liner lock, one side of the handle has been machined to lock against the blade in the open position. Simply press outward against the handle to release the blade. I'm not a huge fan of the frame lock, especially in this instance. The edge of the handle/lock is quite sharp & uncomfortable when pressing to unlock the blade. The frame lock here also takes quite a bit of pressure to release the blade.
The blade locks up tight as a drum, with no blade play side to side or up or down. This is comforting to know as there isn't much frame/handle material to keep the blade in position. Speaking of opening, this knife has ambidextrous thumb studs positioned close enough to the blade (yet not too far away from) to make opening the knife quite easy. Little pressure is needed to open the knife & with a little practice, you can apply quick pressure to the thumb studs to fully open & lock the knife in one motion, similar to an assisted opening knife. The thumb studs are rock solid & feature a round pyramid step design that enables your thumb with all the grip necessary to keep it in place while opening.
Overall, the knife is 7" long & fits nicely in the hand. All of the outer edges (aside from the area right where you press to unlock the blade is) have been nicely rounded over. The handle shape is comfortable and the skeleton-izing actually helps grip the knife. The rather smooth finish doesn't afford much in the way of traction.
There is no sheath or lanyard hole, but the knife has a pocket/belt clip that works well enough. The clip is mounted in a tip down configuration with no option for moving it as some other brands offer.
I mostly use this knife around my office area, opening packages, mail, boxes, etc. so I rarely carry it in my pocket or on my belt. I'd be afraid to have it in my pocket due to the open handle design; a coin, key or finger could easily get to the blade and cause damage to the blade or to your finger. If you happen to have Andre' The Giant sized fingers, you shouldn't have any problem keeping them from getting inside the handles, but at the same time, if your fingers are that big, this knife will easily get lost in your hand fat.
This knife weighs in at 2.5 ounces (by my scale) which makes a definite light weight. It should, seeing as there's no more than a blade & 1/3 of a handle.
It remains sharp, locks up tight & is light as a feather.... But it can be dangerous due to the handle design and can be difficult to open.
For the price I gave (less than $20 for the package way back when) it's a good knife, just not a great knife. If the handle was made of slim stainless steel liners with fiberglass, G10, composite, wood or even more stainless steel, it would be a better knife.
Extremely lightweight and easy to clean. The frame lock design is very popular, and the highcarbon stainless steel blades are coated with titanium nit...More at Cabela's
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