Gerber Gear FAST Draw Pocket Knife, EDC Assisted Opening Folding Knife, Serrated Edge

I have had this exact Gerber knife in my pocket since they became available. In my opinion it is the very best, most sensible, practical pocket knife one can have. Believe it or not, one of my favorite features is the simple, easily accessible, sliding lock mechinism. If you think this little lock will slow you down I can assure that it will not. The placement of this lock-switch is such that you can activate it and open the knife with your thumb all in virtually one move. You won't even think about after you've had the knife for a little while It just becomes automatic. Then, when you go to close the knife, you slide the little switch to allow the blade to move freely. The reason why this little lock it so important is because a spring loaded pocket knife an actually open in your pocket on occasions just enough to catch your finger when you reach for it. I am not saying this is likely to happen but it can happen and it happened to me many years ago. It also happened to a guy I was working with. That guy is the same person who turned me on to this knife to begin with. I find a use for this knife many times per day and at times I have been very rough on it. I never leave home without it. By the way, I received an expensive pocket knife with a value of around $100 as a gift from my brother a few years back. It is top quality in every way. It sits in my desk drawer and I will not carry it in my pocket because it does not have the locking feature that the Gerber has. I think it is a great value for the money, it's the perfect size for day to day use and I find it very durable in every way. I highly recommend this pocket knife!

There are two versions of this knife. The one built in Portland Oregon, and this one which is made in China. The better one is SV30 steel, push button, standard military issued, and around 250 dollars. It’s heavier. Built completely out of steel. I think they’re no longer available. Haven’t seen them around in a while. This is the cheaper version. The handle is made out of something that feels like graphite, and the steel is a lower quality. Instead of a button, there’s a switch, and the blade will Fast Assist from the side with pressure from your thumb. I have the better version, and I adore it so much that I wanted the cheaper version. I primarily carry this cheaper version around because one, it’s legal in my state whereas the latter is not, and two, I figure if I lose the inferior one, it’ll be an easier loss. I’m happy with it. I’m a big fan of this Tanto Gerber knife. I’ll include a picture with both versions. The better on the left, and this one on the right. Good luck…

Love the knife. Carry it always. Handy pocket clip.

Wonderful knife to carry in your pocket or purse, not too heavy, sharpens well, opens quickly when needed. The small serrated edge section is really nice to have for anything tough to cut. Gets the job done!

See my other review of the Gerber Swagger, which I don't like as much as the Fast Draw, but if you have iron-plated thumbs the Swagger might be worth looking at. This is a great knife, at least for me. I carry it in my back jeans pocket and it fits very low, with nearly all of the knife handle hidden inside the pocket. That's because the clip design is one that "loops around", turning 180° back on itself so the curve of the clip that snugs against the edge of my pocket is nearly at the very end of the knife handle. It's almost invisible if it weren't for the clip on the outside. Also, I love the fact that it is a "tip-up" carry, which for me puts the knife in the perfect position to open it when I pull it out of my pocket. The slide lock works like a charm (now it does, see photos and re-work description below) and is very easy to operate. And of course the blade is sharp as sh..., well , sharp as sharp can be. Very nice to carry and use. I would recommend it highly unless you happen to get one with a similar defect to mine. See the rest of the story below. I purchased this from Amazon as a discounted "open box" price, which I assumed meant it was a return. It appeared perfect in every way but once I tried it out the defect became obvious - the slide lock would jam when the knife was used (force applied to the blade when you cut something) and required a lot of wigging of the blade in order to get the slide lock to release so you could close the knife. Rather than send it back I decided to take it apart (bad habit of mine), and discovered that the slide lock mechanism uses a flat bar, sliding in a slot punched in the back of the blade, to lock and unlock the blade. That slot is literally punched in the steel of the blade and left completely unfinished - no machining at all. So the shearing force of the punching operation left a rough surface for the flat bar to slide against, and there was just enough of a burr for the bar to catch and jam. I used a tiny grindstone in a Dremel tool to remove just enough metal from the slot to get rid of the burr. I also did a little smoothing of the corner of the locking bar that slides inside the slot. See photos for details. After this work the knife operates like a dream.

Best present I got my son for Christmas.

I purchased this knife during a while ago since it was on sale. I liked the look of it and have always had good luck with Gerber products. I received the product in a timely fashion and was very pleased with it as a whole. The knife itself has a very nice feel in my hand (I have a moderately large hand) and is the right length. Another thing I liked was that the blade was secured well into the handle. From personal experience there is nothing worse than having a blade that wobbles back and forth, all that causes is loose pins and screws and a knife that falls apart too soon. This knife also has a lightly pointed metal tip on the handle that can be used as another weapon, a glass breaker, or an attachment point for a lanyard. I was very happy with the sharpness out of the box and did not have to do much sharpening after I received the blade. Overall, I feel that this is a quality knife that I turned out happy to spend my hard earned money on, I have been buying knifes for many years and this one easily ranks in the top 5 I've purchased for this price point. I would definitely buy this knife again.

Worth the money. used every day and it still has a sharp edge. safety switch is nice to have so knife doesnt open up in your pocket.