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Reviews > Knives > Folding > Gerber Outrigger Serrated Knife > Test Report by Andrew HenrichsGerber Outrigger, Serrated Knife Test Series by Andy Henrichs March 24, 2013 Initial Report - 11-20-13
Product Description The Gerber Outrigger, Serrated is a compact folding knife. As the name implies, this knife features a serrated section of the blade. According to the Gerber website, other variations of the Outrigger design include a Fine Edge, XL version, and Mini version. The folded knife is 3.94 in (10 cm) while the open knife is 7 in (17.8 cm). The body of the knife has cutouts to reduce weight. It also features a rubberized coating along the edges to increase grip. The knife features two thumb studs (one on each side of the blade, near the base) to assist with opening. According to the Gerber website, it has a ball bearing pivot, as well as "Assisted Opening 2.0 technology" (essentially a spring-loaded assist) to facilitate one-handed opening. The knife locks when open, and it is unlocked by depressing a small button on the handle of the knife near the blade. One side of the knife handle features a clip to attach the knife on a belt or something similar. The bottom of the handle features a small hole through which one could thread accessory cord for other attachment options.
Initial Impressions The Gerber Outrigger, Serrated seems to be a nice-sized knife for outdoor adventures. It arrived just as I was heading out the door for an overnight backpacking trip so I've been fortunate to get some use from it right away. It is quite light, but it doesn't feel flimsy in my hands. I have moderately large hands, and I wouldn't want the handle to be any smaller; it's large enough to grip confidently, and the rubberized grip is a nice touch. I can see that potentially being a point of wear, but I won't jump to any conclusions yet. The locking mechanism feels very secure and I don't have any concerns about it accidentally unlocking on me. When closing the blade, the spring-loaded opening mechanism is quite noticeable. The blade closes about 110 degrees before I feel resistance from the spring. The resistance is not great, but it does require effort to close it. I feel that this could be a good safety mechanism to prevent fingers unintentionally being in the way when closing the blade. For whatever reason, the spring doesn't seem to be of much assistance when opening the blade. Maybe I have incredibly weak fingers, but I have not been able to open it one-handed. I'll keep practicing and maybe I'll figure it out over the next 4 months. The knife seems to be quite sharp. So far I've only been able to use the knife to open some packages and slice up salami and cheese for lunch. It did these tasks very well with minimal resistance upon cutting. The backpacking trip I took it on was to the Sawatch range of Colorado. My trip ranged from 8500 ft (2590 m) to nearly 14000 ft (4300 m). There was fresh snow on the ground that melted throughout the day, so I got conditions ranging from quite cold to moderately warm, blue sky to clouds, and snowy to muddy terrain. The knife got fairly wet on the trip but never showed any signs of rust. It also cleaned up very nicely once I got home. It's light enough that I can keep it in my pocket and forget about it until I need it. Fortunately, I only needed it for lunch assembly on this trip. Field Conditions Field Observations I've been impressed with how well the Outrigger has handled these tasks. It is a very sharp little knife and doesn't take much effort to slice through even some of the tougher obstacles. The fine point was helpful as I worked to remove the splinter from my finger. After expanding the opening, I was even able to use the point to pop the splinter up and out of my finger. It has retained a sharp edge even after trimming up the cardboard boxes. One upgrade I plan on making in the next week is to add a small loop of accessory cord to hole at the base of the hilt. The knife has just been loose in the top pocket of my pack thus far, and I always get worried it will slip out without me noticing and will be gone for good. My one disappointment with the knife is the "Assisted Opening 2.0 technology." It just doesn't work. It's a fairly minor inconvenience to use both hands to open the knife, but it's a big selling point that doesn't live up the hype. As I stated in the IR, I'll keep experimenting with the opening of the knife; maybe I'll figure it out yet. Field Conditions Final Observations
The Gerber Outrigger was up to some more demanding tasks as well. I used it to help cut out some small section of bed liner from my truck. Again, I always felt like I had a secure grasp and thought the blade was able to cut through the material quite well. The blade seemed to hold up to this abuse just as well as it did to the lighter tasks. I was nervous about prying too much on the tip, so it didn't stress that aspect too much. My one continued gripe about the Outrigger is the "Assisted Opening 2.0 technology." Despite four months of testing, I have not yet gotten it to work. In the end, I really don't care. A knife is supposed to cut, and it does that very well. Using two hands to open a knife is not a deal-breaker for me and I will continue to keep the Gerber Outrigger handy for my future adventures. Likes: Dislikes: Thank you to Gerber and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test this knife. Read more reviews of Gerber gear Read more gear reviews by Andrew Henrichs Reviews > Knives > Folding > Gerber Outrigger Serrated Knife > Test Report by Andrew Henrichs |