Gerber 06 Auto Knife Review

When Joseph R. Gerber described his young knife company, Gerber Legendary Blades, as the, “birth of an enterprise that grew into big business,” it was true, but it was an understatement for user. What had started out in 1939 as a small batch of handmade cutlery sets given as holiday gifts had turned into thousands of retail accounts around the country. By 1960, Gerber had quickly become one of the most trusted, appreciated, and collected names in knives.

Over 70 years since its founding and Gerber continues to grow. Still grounded in the same principles that first guided Joseph R. Gerber’s “enterprise,” Gerber is a company dedicated to making knives and tools that combine high quality materials and innovative designs that stand up to a lifetime of use. The sleek, stainless steel sheath knives of the ‘50s and ‘60s (The Magnum Hunter) have given birth to today’s lightweight, open-frame clip folders (the Remix). Gerber is no longer just a knife company. Multi-tools, axes, handsaws, machetes, headlamps, flashlights, survival kits, digging implements—these are the newest directions that Gerber explores with the same standards of quality and design that inform their revered knife making.

Gerber Gear says, “Like the men and women who carry our gear, Gerber is Unstoppable. Decades of innovation and dedication have put us here. Renowned as a master of knives and tools, Gerber’s problem-solving, life-saving products are designed with the unique needs of specific activities in mind. Today that includes much more than a blade. All Gerber products are designed and engineered in Portland, OR where many are produced. We also tap our global supply chain to create a wide range of activity specific gear for wide variety of consumers. And no matter what, every product that bears the Gerber name is backed by our famous lifetime warranty. Quality, reliability, innovation. For over 70 years this is what our customers have expected from us. And whether our products are used to save time, save the day, or save a life, Gerber always delivers.”

Today we will be discussing the Gerber 30-000377 06 Automatic knife.

The Blade:

The blade on this Gerber knife is made out of CPM S30V stainless steel. This steel is made by US based Crucible, CPM S30V, which is often referred to as s30V, steel has excellent edge retention and resists rust effortlessly. It was designed in the US and is typically sued for the high-end premium pocket knives and expensive kitchen cutlery. The introduction of vanadium carbides brings extreme harness into the steel alloy matrix. Dollar for dollar, this is generally regarded as one of the finest knife blade steels with the optimal balance of edge retention, hardness, and toughness. One of the only drawbacks to this type of steel is that it is a little bit tricky to work with, which means that it is a little bit tricky to sharpen.

The S30V steel has bene finished with a black coated finish. This gives the knife a very sleek look, while also adding a layer in between the steel and the environment. This prolongs the life of the blade because it prevents the knife from rusting and corroding over time. This also cuts down on glares and reflections, which means that if you are using this knife in the field, the blade glinting off the sun won’t give your position away. However, coating finishes do scratch off after time and use, and will reach a point where it has to be re-coated.

The blade has been carved into a drop point blade shape, which is the most popular blade shape in use in the cutlery industry today. The drop pint blade is an all-purpose blade that can stand up to most things. You are going to be able to find this blade shape on almost any knife style in the industry. The shape of the knife is formed when the unsharpened edge of the knife runs straight from the handle to the tip of the knife in a slow curved manner, creating a lowered point. This lowered point provides more control and adds strength to the tip. While the tip on a drop point is not as sharp as the tip on a clip point, but it is much stronger. Because of how strong the tip is, drop points make fantastic blade shapes on tactical and survival knives. And because the point on a drop point blade is easily controllable, they make a great hunting knife as well as being capable of performing fine detail work. Drop point knives are very versatile because they feature a large belly area that is perfect for slicing, which is most likely the most common task that you will be performing on this knife. There is a disadvantage to the drop point blade shape, which is its relatively broad tip, which makes it less suitable for piercing than the clip point. But, it is this broad tip that provides the point strength that you cannot find on clip point knives. By choosing this Gerber knife, you are preparing yourself for almost any situation.

The blade on this knife is a combination edge, which means that the top half of the blade is a plain edge, and the bottom half of the blade is a combination edge. This is designed to give the user the best of both worlds. You can still perform fine detail work with the top portion, but you have the teeth to saw through any thicker materials that you happen across. While some people feel like this really does give them the best of both worlds, another group of people feel that because the two portions are so small, you actually can’t utilize either of the sections.

The Handle:
The handle on this knife is made out of T6-6061 aluminum. Aluminum is a very low-density metal used in knife making, and is very corrosion resistant. Since it is such a soft metal, it is primarily used in knife handles and sometimes hard anodized for aesthetics and wear resistance. Aluminum is also the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. Most knives use a type of Aluminum Alloy called T6-6061, which means the type of aluminum is 6061, and it is T6 tempered. T6-6061 Aluminum has one of the highest yield and tensile strengths of all aluminum alloys. T6-6061 is used extensively in aircraft, and is often referred to as “aircraft aluminum”, and sometimes this is seen as a gimmick, kind of like “surgical stainless steel”. Aluminum alloy is cheaper to machine and produce than Titanium, and is lighter, weaker, and less resistant to wear. For the most part, Aluminum is an inferior metal to Titanium aside from its lightness. However, when producing complex knives that require a large amount of CNC machining, such as the case with automatic knives, aluminum is much cheaper to produce and the material costs less. The handle on this knife is made out of T6-6061 aluminum.
The handle has been anodized black. The anodizing process is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of the aluminum handle. This is called anodizing because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electrical circuit. Anodizing increases resistant to corrosion and wear, while also adding in a nice element of color.
One of the disadvantages of an aluminum handle is that it is prone to scratches and dings.
The ergonomics of this handle have been deigned to give you a comfortable, yet secure grip. To add in some texture to the smooth aluminum, Gerber has added diagonal grooves going down the length of the handle. There is also a very wide finger guard to protect your fingers form the thick blade, in case of slipping. There are three finger groves that have been carved into the bottom of the handle. These finger grooves give your fingers a very comfortable grip in case you are going to be using this knife for long periods of time. The bottom groove has a row of jimping to give you an even more secure grip.
On the butt of the handle, there has been a lanyard hole carved out, which will come in handy in a wide variety of situations with this knife. This is more of a tactical knife, so wrapping the lanyard around the face of the handle will give you extra texture to have an even better grip throughout the task.

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip is designed for tip up carry only but is legible for left or right hand carry options. The clip is black, which matches the all-black knife and held in place by two small black screws that match the rest of the hardware on tis knife. Across the length of the clip is stamped “Gerber.”

The Mechanism:

The Gerber 06 is an automatic knife. This means that it will not be legal to own, carry, or use in all states, cities, or areas. It is your responsibility to know what your local knife laws are, not BladeOps. BladeOps does not take any responsibility for your consequences if you choose to illegally use this knife.

These strict laws stem form in 1954, Democratic Representative James J Delaney of New York authored the first bill submitted to the U.S. Congress banning the manufacture and sales of switchblades, beginning a wave of legal restriction worldwide and a consequent decline in their popularity. In 1955, United States newspapers promoted the image of a young delinquent with a stiletto switchblade or flick knife with lurid stories of urban youth gang warfare, often featuring lower class youth and/or racial minorities.

An automatic knife is also commonly known as a switchblade. This is a type of knife with a folding or sliding blade contained in the handle which is opened automatically by a spring when a button on the handle or bolster is activated. Most switchblade designs incorporate a locking blade, in which the blade is locked against closure when the spring extends the blade to the fully opened positon. The blade is unlocked by manually operating a mechanism that unlocks the blade and allows it to be folded and locked in the closed positon.

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 3.7 inches long, with a handle that measures in at 4.9 inches long. The overall length of the Gerber 06 automatic knife when opened measures in at 8.6 inches long, with a knife that weighs in at 7 ounces. This knife was made in the United States of America.

Conclusion:

Gerber’s automatic knife series, the 06, offers a superbly ergonomic design coupled with premium materials and a rugged build that Gerber is all but too familiar with. The smooth aluminum handle was purposefully designed to give you maximum traction in any grip position thanks to the integrated finger grooves and precisely placed jimping patterns. The aluminum has been anodized for a classic black look, while also enhancing the strength, durability, and corrosion resistance of the handle. The front of the knife houses a slide safety that is in close proximity to the over-sized firing button making this knife just as functional with gloves on. The base of the knife also showcases a pommel with a strike point that can easily function as a glass breaker or self-defense tool. This classic 06 auto features a partly serrated drop point blade comprised of premium CPM-S30V stainless steel in a black finish and the pocket clip is designed for tip up carry only but is eligible for left or right hand carry options. The steel has been known to be the perfect balance between strength, toughness, and edge retention—the only complaint being that it does get a little bit tricky to sharpen at times. The coating works to prolong the life of the blade by increasing the corrosion resistance of the knife and cutting down on maintenance time. Pick up this Gerber knife at BladeOps.