I braved the insanity that was shopping today to score a great deal on a 14 piece Kitchenaid knife set in one of those countertop wooden blocks for the kitchen. While there, to alleviate some of the pain and suffering of shopping in such a mad frenzied environment, I decided to treat myself to another of Gerber's Bear Grylls products. Seeing that I seem to have a nice collection of this stuff, I may as well add the biggest knife in the series, the Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife.
Seriously...who comes up with the naming? This is just as bad as the Bear Grylls Ultimate Multi-tool which is nothing more than a rebadged Suspension...of all things! I must say, the knife is a lot better than the Ultimate Multi-tool. Whether it proves to be the Ultimate Knife depends on what you are expecting.
I have said it before, and it bears repeating again. I actually like the colour scheme of the whole BG lineup. It is definitely growing on me in a good way. I also am liking the non slip design on the BG lineup as well. The combination of a nice and useful colour scheme combined with a rubber design that improves grip, is a win win to me at least...stupid naming conventions notwithstanding.
The knife is rather solid and has a nice weight. The blade thickness, or spine is thick. Located on the spine, is a roughed out section to aid in fire starting with the included fire starter.
The blade itself is one of those half serrated blade styles. Like with all of Gerber's BG lineup, you get Bear's signature. The blade is nice, thick, and heavy.
The pommel is heavy and is designed as a striking surface. It even features a textured pattern seen on some hammers that will prevent it from slipping overly much on the other surface when hammering something. You can see the removable fire starter in the background.
This is one of the most comfortable knives in terms of grip that I have tried. It fits my largish hands like a glove. The rubber patterned handles adds a ton of grip. The finger and thumb groove adds a lot of control to the knife. The knife blade is a little over 4 inches, and the whole knife is a little less than 10 inches total.
The sheath is a bit different in that it has two Velcro fasteners. One for the upper handle, and the other to expose the built in diamond hone that is located in the middle of the sheath. The fire starter has its own place, and locks in firmly. My one worry is that over time, it may get loose and simply fall out, as it hangs upside down, gravity could eventually do its worst. There is also a whistle added on an overly short lanyard. The whistle is a pea less design that is very easy to use. Although the whistle is loud and clear, I have to wonder why the lanyard is so short. Furthermore, it tends to get in the way because of how it is wrapped in place through the pommels lanyard hole. It doesn't help any that the cord used is stiff. It just seems to get in the way when holding the knife, when using the upper Velcro fastner to lock the knife in its sheath, etc.
Unfasten the upper Velcro faster to remove the knife. Next, unfasten the lower Velcro faster to flip the sheath downwards to expose the diamond hone. The hone itself is fastened to the sheath at an angle. This makes using the hone easier at the expanse of some bulk.
On the back of the sheath are some instructions for air rescue communication.
Interestingly enough, this information is U stitched, meaning that this forms a little pocket for something very small. I guess it is designed to slip the included survival mini booklet. However, you could use the space for something equally small and flat, such as a few fishhooks, fishing line, etc.
The knife should not fall out of the sheath due to a plastic cup that tightly clasps the guard. Even when hanging downwards. The guard also features a pair of holes for tying the knife to a stick to make a quick makeshift spear.
Here you can see how the sheath holds the knife's guard in place.
In the next photo, you can see how much bulk the diamond hone adds to the thickness of the sheath. You can also see the angled wedges used to impart an angle to the hone. The hone is the metallic coloured piece of steel sandwiched in the middle of the sheath. You can also see how the fire starter sits in the sheath. (After looking at the photo a few times, I have come to realize that the hone does not add any bulk, as it fits in the space provided by the plastic guard).
Overall, I am quite pleased with the knife. Not exactly sure if it's the Ultimate knife, but this is one solid piece of kit I wouldn't mind having with me in a survival situation. I guess in the end, that is probably the best recommendation I can give to such a product.
And to close this...a video.
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