Gerber STL 2.5 Knife [31-000716]

Thin and light, great knife for daily pocket carry.
Can’t say enough about these great little knives. I’m on my fourth or fifth one, not because they break, but because they keep getting misplaced (equal fault lies with myself and my children). I decided to carry a small knife several years ago when I had to open a lot of cardboard boxes every day at work. Note that I am very picky about minimizing the weight and bulk of what I keep in my pockets. My phone goes in one pocket and my keys and knife go in the other. I carry only the keys I need on a daily basis, and even that much annoys me. So I require my daily pocket knife to be as small and light and unobtrusive as feasible. After trying all of the knives I had lying around the house, including belt-clipped and small pocket knives, nothing really suited me well. The belt-clip knives always seemed to be getting in the way or popping off. The knives I put in my pocket were always too big and heavy.I first found this knife in Wal-Mart for about $12 and figured I’d give it a try. It appeared to be thinner and lighter than anything I had tried, plus it looked pretty slick in all black. It was immediately clear that this was the knife I had been looking for. It is as thin and light as it looks. When it is closed, it has no sharp or pointy edges that poke me in my pocket. When it is in there with my keys, I don’t even notice it at all. The locking blade is strong, but very easy to open and close with one hand. There is a little oblong hole on the top of the blade that functions well as a grip to help open it.Probably because the blade is so small and light, but I haven’t ever been able to fling open this knife in that super cool way. You know what I’m talking about. However, it is very easy to open quickly with just one hand. Plus, it wouldn’t be nearly as impressive to fling open a knife this small anyway. And I haven’t yet been in a position where I needed to intimidate any rival gang members, so the lack of flingability is only a very minor issue.The blade is plenty sharp enough for anything I have needed it for, which mostly consists of opening taped boxes, opening envelopes, cutting tags off clothing, and occasionally cutting zip ties or string. It is also effective for sharpening pencils and trimming sharp corners off plastic. I haven’t ever had to sharpen the blade, but I imagine it could get pretty sharp if that’s what you needed. The knife is probably too small to effectively cut larger or tougher things. The short blade works better when cutting against an immovable object. I’ve tried to slice cardboard by holding it at the top and cutting down with the knife, but the blade likes to slip out. If your lifestyle requires cutting through thick or tough things such as wood, bone, or carpet, this probably isn’t the knife for you.Out of the four or five that I’ve had, the blade on one of them was a little looser. If I had been really bothered by it, I probably could have tightened it with a hex or star key, but it was never that much of a problem for me.The only problem I’ve ever had with the knife is forgetting it was in my pocket when I go to the courthouse. Luckily, there is a small hole on the back for attaching it to a string or something. In a pinch, I have used the hole to put the knife on my key ring, and just toss it in the bowl to go through the x-ray machine. I haven’t ever had the deputies give me any problem about it that way, but I wouldn’t recommend pushing your luck.tl;dr — This is an absolutely fantastic knife that is very thin and light, making it comfortable to carry in a pocket. The blade is perfect for small, daily tasks.

Very nice lightweight 2.5 inch locking fine edge knife.
If you’re a wannabe Rambo wanting to impress the faint of heart with your killing machine keep looking. If you want a practical useful every day carry knife this might work for you. It is well designed and sturdy. The action was fine new out of the box and will improve with use. They call it a “clip folding knife” which is a misnomer. There is no clip. Fine with me I didn’t want one. The big selling point is it is very thin and very lightweight. You can put this in any pants pocket and there will be no bulge. It comes very sharp. Which means if you have any skill at all you can make it very sharp. The question is how long will it stay sharp. Only time will tell. This is a welcome addition to my everyday carry tools. I carry two Gerber nylon pouches. The first one came with and holds my Gerber Truss. The second one came with my Gerber bit set. It holds the bit set, my Gerber Dime and, now, this pocket knife. All three fit in the pouch securely and easily. The blade is a standard drop point design. It has a thumb slot cut all the way through for one hand opening. The frame lock is secure and easy to operate. The blade is thin but sturdy. It has a fine edge on its full two and a half inch length. There is a well placed lanyard hole in the frame. The whole idea of this knife is a thin lightweight package. Even so my large hands have a comfortable three and a half finger grip. I would recommend this knife for its intended purpose. Yes, as usual, it was made in China and comes in a blister pack (which is why I carry a Gerber Dime. The package blade makes quick work of blister packs.)

Grosse déception pour ce Gerber, acheté alors que j’avais perdu mon fidèle Gerber Ridge que j’ai heureusement perdu. Autant le Ridge est toujours accroché à mes clés et utilisé quasi quotidiennement, celui-ci est très peu pratique tant il tient mal dans la main, la lame ne tranche pas et je ne me vois pas le destiner à autre chose qu’à ouvrir péniblement des lettres. Ne pas acheter, inintéressant. Il vaut bien mieux lui privilégier un Spyderco Grasshopper cent fois supérieur !

Ich habe das STL bereits zum zweiten Mal gekauft.Das erste hatte ich jahrelang immer in der Tasche und oft benutzt, auch für härtere Materialen wie kleinere Äste.- Das Gelenk wurde nie weich oder leierte aus- die klinge und der rahmen verzogen sich nie und waren bis zum Schluss absolut stabil- selbst die Beschichtung kann kleinere Kratzer locker aushalten.Ich habe damit sogar eine Zimmertür aufgehebelt als der Schlüssel dazu abgebrochen ist, und das bei einer Größe von der ich dachte das kein ordentliches Messer so klein sein darf. Immerhin passt es problemlos in die kleine Innentasche einer Jeans.Der einzige Grund warum ich nicht noch immer das erste Messer benutze und ein zweites kaufen musste, ist das ich es spontan einem alten Freund für seine Reise schenkte.