Camillus 8" Fixed Blade Tigersharp and Gerber Randy Newberg EBS. - Edged Tools

I was at my local Canadian Tire yesterday and came across a pair of knives that caught my interest. One is a Camillus Tigersharp, and the other is a Gerber Randy Newberg EBS. I went for both of them because I like the whole utility knife notion of being able to switch blades when needed. Both of these knives have interchangeable blades, but they couldn't be farther apart in end user experience.

First off will be the Camillus Tigersharp. When I bought this knife, I was mistaken in thinking the blades were rather interesting in that they included a couple of gut hook blades. Little did I know that they are not gut hooks but standard blades for this knife. With the knife, you get a pack of 2 extra blades (serrated and plain edge), to supplement the plain edge already installed. I did not examine the knife all that closely while it was hanging on the peg, and I whish I had. I opened the package after reading the back of the package where there is scant instructions. I found out you have to loosen a screw and slide it towards the handle in order to initiate a blade change. The instructions state to bang the knife handle on a table surface. This will loosen the blade so that you can replace it. Well here I am banging away and wonder what the heck. What I failed to notice is that the blade really isn't a blade. The blade is a very thin razor style blade that fits in-between what I thought was the knife blade.

Once I figured it out, getting the blade out of the metal sandwich was an event bordering on way too much excitement for this guy. Excitement in that I almost cut myself multiple times trying to remove said offending blade. I did manage to get it out somehow. Now the fun began trying to re-install the blade. Once you figure out the trick, the blade exchange is not that bad. The problem is, there was scant info on the package. There was an info sheet hidden inside the belt loop, but only realized it was there after all the blades of horror experimentation occurred. I didn't cut myself, but it was a close call on several occasions and a lot of swearing for good measures. I found that it is best to insert the blade from the spine or top of the knife. There is a built in hook (what I thought was a gut hook) that you insert around a built inside retention pin. After that, simply pivot the blade back into place and move that retention screw forward and tighten it.

With that said, the blade is a weird one with its shallow cutting surface. I bet cleaning this knife would be a pain as well.

The best part, the included sheath offers no blade storage solution as far as I can tell. I tried placing the blade package in the holster, but that retention screw gets in the way when you store the knife in there also. Way to go Camillus...seriously. I love a well thought out product.

20210924_203753A by Chako, on Flickr

Yes, what you think is the blade really isn't. That is just the razer blade holder made to look like a blade. The real blade is that narrow cutting surface.

20210924_203837A by Chako, on Flickr

Here you see that the retention screw is loosened and pushed towards the handle, and the blade pivots like this once you bang your knife handle several hard times on a hard surface.

20210924_204020A by Chako, on Flickr

And here the blade is fully removed from the knife. Like I said, the first time I attempted this, it was a dicey proposition. Once I figured how to do it, not so much dicey, but you still run a real risk of cutting yourself with this system.

20210924_204047A by Chako, on Flickr

Now onto the Gerber, which feels like an entirely different beast. Now before I start this section, I must come clean. I have no idea who the heck is Randy Newberg. I tried looking up the Gerber page for this knife, and it told me that Randy has killed more deer than anyone. Woopty Doo. Paint me unimpressed. With that said, if Randy had anything with the design of this knife, I will say that maybe Camillus should hire him to design their knives because they sure need it badly considering the Guillotine exchange a blade system in their Tigersharp.

Gerber did include a hard plastic blade carrier that does a good job of holding those blades. The weird thing with this one is that you do not store the handle with a blade in it, as there is no way to do so. The carrier not only carries the blades, but also the handle which piggy backs on the carrier. Randy, Gerber, or both have figured out a neat and easy system of blade exchange that is simplicity itself. The blades slide onto a rail and hook up to a bottom stud. Along the way, there is a spring loaded lever that locks everything in. Pressing this lever allows the blade to easily slide onto the handle. Pressing the locking mechanism down allows for easy blade removal. This is a good system. Included with the kit are 3 different blades with one being fully serrated. The handle is fairly skeletonized to save weight, but is also comfortable to hold. Of the two knives mentioned here, the Gerber wins hands down, and those hands will have their full complement of fingers!

The Randy Newberg EBS is in nice hunter orange. There are even reflective stickers on both the knife handle and under the blade carrier.

20210924_204228A by Chako, on Flickr

Here is the back side of the carrier.

20210924_204244A by Chako, on Flickr

Included are 3 blades, one being a short serrated blade, and two plain edge blades with one being longer than the other. The carrier is designed to not make noise while hunting.

20210924_204315A by Chako, on Flickr

The blade mechanism is much like those scalpel systems. Here I have installed the serrated blade onto the handle.