Guardian Back-Up knife, Tanto, Serrated Edge [31-000559]

This is my third Gerber Guardian. My first was one of the originals from the first batch made and had a leather sheath. About 10-years later I bought a second one that had the same plastic sheath as this one. Frankly, some of the less than stellar reviews of this third one motivated me to try another from the latest Batch.Firstly, the package is very clear that this knife is made in the U.S.A. and not an import.Second, I used this same style plastic sheath for many years. Saying it's cheap quality is like saying your Glock is cheap plastic...nuff said on that. The knife rattles like crazy in this sheath. My 25-year old one also rattles. Gerber could (why don't they) modify this sheath to make it quieter. Retention in the sheath is fine. Many years of operational use and never came out once. Spring clip is strong and can be reversed. I always clipped it over something like a belt so it would hook versus a boot top where it would have to clamp. Hooking over a belt works great. Wouldn't trust it for a boot top where the leather was just clamped between sheath and clip.Third, I thought some reviewers were being too critical about the initial edge sharpness (or lack thereof) because I sharpen and hone all my edge tools whether a knife, chisel, Lie-Nielsen Plane or some other edged tool. The truth is, the knife isn't very sharp out of the package. For grins I tried to slice a plastic water bottle. Blade edge (slice) wouldn't even dig in. Funny thing was, the tip would just about fall through the bottle (a stab) just from the knife's weight. If my blade was average, you'll really want to sharpen it ASAP.Fourth, this isn't a throwing or utility knife. Buy a cheap throwing knife if you want something to throw. Save this one for what it was designed for. Also, this design isn't right for a general utility knife. It won't work all that well in that role. Again, buy a cheap knife that's better suited to that use. I personally haven't tried to torture test this blade yet and I don't intend to, but I will fool around with it and update my review if there are issues with edge retention or softness in the blade. So far I'm neutral on that.Lastly, the package specifies what grade of metal is used in the blade. Not a secret or mystery metal. Package says "Stainless Steel 420HC Blade" which has an excellent reputation for corrosion resistance, being easy to sharpen, strength and durability. Of course, much of that is dependent on the right heat treatment. So, does Gerber/Fiskar know something about metal and heat treating...yeah, probably much more than anyone writing a review about their products. For something that I'll carry on my body, I prefer corrosion resistance like my diving knife and toughness that won't shatter when it hits metal. I'm not skinning a moose with this thing. If you pull this knife out and dull the blade on someone, then it's a really bad situation.Gripes - The cost is crazy silly low for such a well designed and well made knife. Because of some of the complaints and the low price, I started wondering if this was a genuine Gerber. Mine came directly from Amazon so it better be the real deal. Under close examination, it looks (and I've had several Gerber knives over the years) absolutely fine and authentic to me.Bottom line, I've had a Guardian around (starting with one of the very first ones made) for almost 35 years and this one seems fine. I'll udate if there is an issue with performance or more importantly, if there aren't any issuesUpdated Oct 2015 - No issues yet with the knife. I've sharpened it and the edge retention has been fine so far. One caveat, I carelessly managed to cut a finger with my knife, and I can personally testify that the sharp blade slices very nicely!

What can you really say about a Gerber knife? They ALWAYS deliver a quality product and this is just another example of their exceptional craftsmanship and high quality products.Although I have above-average sized hands the Guardian's handle fits comfortably across the entire width of my palm and even protrudes a small bit beyond . This is somewhat unusual when it comes to small fix-bladed knives. The length of the handle provides just enough material for your thumb to be placed over the end to prevent your hand from sliding onto the blade if the knife is used in a hard, downward stabbing motion. The the of swell the handle intersects the base of the blade is not quite wide enough to be considered a true crossguard but it's width should be sufficient to prevent your hand from sliding onto the blade if the knife is used for a hard thrust.When the Guardian arrived the blade was sharp, although not as sharp as I would have liked. However, after about 15 minutes on the whetstone both edges were sharp enough to shave with. While I have not yet taken the time to "test" how well the edge stands up to a variety of cutting chores, I own several Gerber blades and every one of them has done very well cutting through various materials and keeping a good edge afterward and I fully expect that the Guardian will perform as well or better.The sheath for the Guardian is really innovative. This is the first sheath by Gerber or anyone else that that I am aware of that has an adjustable tension for withdrawing the blade from the sheath. There is a button on each side of the sheath that you push all of the way down (towards the tip) for the loosest setting and all of the way up (towards the handle) for the tightest setting. At the loosest setting it takes very little to withdraw the blade. At the tightest setting you almost have to hammer the knife into the sheath and to remove the knife from the sheath takes a bit of doing and a lot of straining. After playing around with the tension buttons for a while it appears that the sheath release tension adjustments can only be made when the knife is out of the sheath.The sheath clip is very rugged and it has a feature to insure that the sheath does not come off accidentally. The clip has a small, hook-like bend at the open end. Provided that the belt or strap is not wider than 1 1/2" this sheath is physically unable to slide off on it's own, you would have to physically pull the open end of the clip in order to remove the sheath. If the sheath is clipped to a boot it will leave an indentation in the leather and would also dig into the boot leather if you simply tried to pull the sheath off without first pulling the end of the clip away from the boot.I would recommend this knife to anyone who needs a small, sturdy knife, either for utility or self-defense purposes.The main reason that I gave the Guardian five stars was because Amazon does not make allowances for a higher rating.

A beautiful little knife that comes with an edge and holds it . The adjustable release tension sheath is a great little bonus to a top quality Gerber knife. If this catches your eye buy it. You won't be disappointed. This is a knife you can hand down to the next generation and it may just save your life. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

If you are looking for a utility knife, this is not it.It is a little long for a concealed carry on your person.This knife comes razor sharp out of the box.Has a super comfortable rubber grip that fits very well in the hand, the front and rear quillons keep your hand firmly on the grip.The sheath is hard plastic, comes with a metal clip, and can be adjusted to change the pull required to draw the blade.Can be secured with either the clip, through a hole in the end to secure with paracord, or through slots cut for a strap to attach.

More expensive than your usual $25 piece of glorified aluminium, for sure. But for the price, you got a razor sharp, double edge, hi carbon steel knife with a practical sheath that will be invisible inside your boot.A vey nice knife overall.

Handy little knife. Fits in my coat pocket, on my boot or my backpack

This is a sneaky knife and it is part of my knife collection.