Friday, May 6, 2011

Review: Gerber Paraframe

So, one of the things I intend to do with this blog is do reviews of things I pick up here and there. I'm one of those people who has been burned by crappy products in the past, and now when they are going to spend more than $10 for an item, they're going to search high and low for people's opinions on whatever that item is. With that in mind, I'd like to share my $0.02.



I picked up my Gerber Paraframe from Wal-Mart about mid-April upon the recommendation of a friend. At the time I was looking for a quality lightweight carry knife, and had been looking at a few of the expensive options out there, wishing I had the cash on hand to buy them. The Paraframe cost $21, and at first I was skeptical; I've owned knives cheaper than $50 before, and they almost always broke or dulled quickly. One Scheffield knife I bought from Autozone a few years back comes to mind: I paid $30 for it, and it came dull out of the box. What's worse, the one I exchanged it for was dull too! 3rd time was a charm, but it wasn't long before the wood grips started to come loose. The Paraframe has no wood grips to come loose... actually, the knife doesn't have much of anything as a grip, just a skeletal structure to grab onto. This makes the knife very light - I have actually forgotten that it was in my pocket on numerous occasions. The design is beautiful (in my opinion, some like more flash), but the finish of the Paraframe really sets it off, kind of a matte gunmetal coating that looks very tough. I'm not nice to my carry knives; they get dropped, banged around, used as a flat head screwdriver or pry bar when I'm lacking those tools, and to top it off, I sometimes try to cut things with them that a saw would be better suited for. All that said, the Gerber's finish has held up wonderfully; no visible scratches or wear marks to speak of.



As far as cutting goes, I would rate the blade 8/10. Sharp as a razor out of the box, and it's held an edge for quite some time, but it's a little to the delicate side of the spectrum. As mentioned before, I'm not kind to my carry knives, and a trip to the junkyard put this Paraframe to the test. I was attempting to grab a side marker light for my Trooper, and the vehicle sitting there apparently had a tree growing through the truck, as the wood had sort of molded around everything, covering it up... including the one screw I needed to get to! Having no saws or chisels handy (how often do you have to be a carpenter in a junkyard?), I whipped out the Gerber and improvised. I won't say it made quick work of the wood - it wasn't designed to be a chainsaw - but it got the job done, and I cleared enough wood out to access the screw holding the light in place. What disturbed me was that the wood was very soft, and yet there were some pretty bad nicks toward the tip of the blade. If I had been sawing away at metal or stone, I would expect that kind of damage, but soft wood? Hmmmm



While we're looking at the negative side of things, I'll mention now that it's not the most comfortable knife to hold in your hand. The skeletal structure of the grip frame is pretty, but it's still a skeletal structure, therefore it's thin, stiff, and not very ergonomic. All of the edges feel somewhat unfinished, not sharp, just not smoothed out. The worst offender is the pocket clip! The tip is rounded, but the edges aren't radiused in any way, shape, or form; I've brushed the clip from the wrong angle a few times and scratched my hand pretty good. I could live with most of the "unfinished" feel of the knife, but that pocket clip drives me nuts! I would recommend if anyone were to buy this knife, to sand down the tip of that clip so it's not so rough.



My last point is going to be neutral, because to some this is a plus, and to some it's annoying. Out of the box, the Paraframe has a very stiff rotation when opening and closing; you can't just flick it open like most knives. I personally like the ability to push on the thumb "knob" (or whatever you call it) and flick the blade out because it's a one-hand operation (sometimes my other hand won't be free); so for me the blade stiffness would be a negative. Some people prefer a stiff rotation that requires two hands, and would see this as a positive. In the few weeks I've been using the knife, the blade has loosened up enough to where I can thumb/flick like I previously mentioned, but it still requires more effort than I'm used to. My friend who recommended the Paraframe to me claims that after 40-50 continual open/close actions, it loosens up even more.


Overall, I'm happy with the little guy. It does it's job as a carry knife very well, it's nice and light, yet strong enough to get work done when the need arises. If you've got the funds for a high-end folding knife, by all means, walk right on by without giving a second look; but if you're like me, and are hard on your knives, or loose them a lot, then the Gerber Paraframe is definitely worth a try.

2 comments:

  1. My first paraframe knife held up great to well over 2 years of abuse using it as a box cutter, prybar, screwdriver, razor blade, pick, saw, and many other uses I can't even remember. Stupidly, I gave it to my ex-girlfriend, $21 is worth not having to talk to her again. Oh, and my first paraframe had a few minor scratches as the only cosmetic flaws. Awesome knife. That is why I got a second one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hence why I took your advice and bought one myself

    ReplyDelete