Paraframe II Tanto

That is the best way I can describe this knife - beefy and intimidating! I've gone through 2 other Gerber Paraframe knifes in the last few years, and this black Tanto Blade is my favorite! This was a cheap knife; it was supposed to be temporary. I bought my first one to replace a Leatherman Skeletool that I loved and lost. Like I said, I did not plan on keeping the knife for more than a few weeks, but then a few weeks turned into a year and a half. I grew very attached to my first Paraframe. It is a lightweight, bare bones, & badass pocket knife. On a very sad day, I ended up losing my first one on a beach in Maui somehow, and immediately bought another when I got home. That one remained attached to my hip until recently; I use it daily. Not only does it get heavy usage at work opening boxes, cutting straps and wrap, & popping industrial-sized bubble wrap, but I find it useful for tearing open packaging on all kinds of stuff at home too (hello fellow Amazon shopping addicts...) Pocket knives come in so handy! So imagine my glee when I saw Gerber had come out with a solid black Paraframe knife with a Tanto blade. Ordered that one with no hesitation and was quite surprised when it arrived. It was slightly larger than the original, in both size and weight. This one is almost an inch longer and has a nice weighty feel to it, without being bulky and heavy. Still, whip this knife out and people will notice - you don't mess around when it comes to pocket knives. This knife is built solid - just metal all the way through. No plasticy handles or flimsy wood accents like that knife your grandpa carries. The blade is razor sharp straight from the package, and easily stays that way with regular sharpening. The matte silver finish on my old one eventually wore away to expose a very awesome looking reflective silver underneath, it aged so well! My only (very minor) complaint is that occasionally the little screws holding it together come a bit loose causing the blade to jiggle ever so slightly. But with the right bit, the blade was easily tightened. Do yourself a favor and buy the best knife you can get for this price - ridiculously cheap - for the life you will get out of this tool. I can not recommend it highly enough!!

The knife is great. I love the Tanto blade is fantastic from its sharpness to shape and the skeleton frame lightweight and easy to hold (very ergonomic) but the one drawback is that it is shredding the top of my pocket on my jeans I carry the knife daily and the small thumb assist on the blade is cone shaped and metal. the consistent moving in and out of my pocket from when I use it has worn out the seam and stitching on my jeans. If this thumb assist were less prolific then I would imagine the wear would be less. Also, the safety latch was super stiff when I bought it over a month ago and it is still stiff. I have owned many pocket knives and this must be my 6th or so Gerber. It is the most stiff release I have ever had. So much so that I find it very tough to close sometimes. Seems too stiff. But aside from. These two concerns I couldn't be happier with the knife itself. I would definitely recommend to a friend. Blade has retained its edge well, though I do give a go on the stone once a week.

This is a great knife!! Feels very well built and looks tough too. I used to have the first paraframe knife, but lost it. I always seen the 2nd model online, but I never thought of buying it. It’s pretty hefty and the size is real nice, a bit bulkier than my Swiss Army knife. The frame lock might be stiff for some people, but for me it’s perfect compared to some liner locking knifes that I’ve had before. It’s funny how all my Gerber knives are tanto tips haha. Overall it cuts great out of the box, feels great, looks great, and it’s my new EDC knife! I would recommend this knife to anyone that’s looking for a good quality folder that’s heavy duty, that won’t have any trouble locking, and isn’t very expensive.

Great knife with solid construction and a rock-hard finish. The action on the blade is smooth, although difficult to open one-handed at first (needs time to be broken in). The blade lock is smooth and easy to operate. While it IS a skeleton frame, the weight is still significant, and feels solid in the hand. The handle is actually an appropriate length for my hands (fairly large as I'm 6'4"). The blade is nice and sharp right out of the box, and the balance is decent for a skeleton frame. Appears to be a great product that will last for years to come.

This knife has to be one of the best pocket knives I have ever carried. I thought gerber was good for fixed blades but this knife is amazing. It's so light that you'll forget it's there. Nothing rattles or clicks when it's being used and it's thin frame helps with EDC aspects. The blade itself comes in razor sharp and keeps it's edge. Even after about 3 months of use I can still shave paper with it. I highly highly recommend this flip knife over all others. The only flaw from it being so sturdy is that you can't really flip it open with your thumb. It requires both hands to open with how rugged the knife is. But this kind of good seeing as opening a blade with your tub can get yourself cut sometimes and seeing as how sharp this knife is, that's a okay and I guess another is that the grip isn't secure. I'd definitely add some grip tape or sand it to get texture so it doesn't slip and end up cutting yourself.

The status of the knife's box when I recieved it was crippled, bent and had a hole where the knife was kept in it and cuts on it's handle. When I took the knife out of it's package even the knife itself was in very poor shape. It had small dents, scratches, fingerprints and even small cuts on the handle. The thing that I don't understand is that the knife's package was sealed almost as if it was new, with a small hole but WTF !!? I don't mind seeing some wear on my knives... AS LONG AS I PUT THEM THEIR THOUGH! so that's why I have to rate my particular experience in this transaction a 1 star. not sure if it's gerber's fault or amazon's but it's just not cool . To get straight to the point , the knife is ok , very far from great and mission impossible for perfect . with that said I would rate it a 2 stars and here is why. starting with cons. CONS - straight out of the package the knife is super stiff.I needed both hands to open it the first time.it gets easier after you keep openening it. I didn't expect a super smooth IKBS ball bearing opening for the price but this is way too stiff. -the handle is very very smooth but not a good feeling combining it with the heavy duty blade. I expected a minimum average of grip but none at all. so if you have sweaty hands, or you use it in rainy situations be very careful. -blade is not correctly centered. I'm not talking about 1/2 mm off i'm talking big time off, so much it scratches against the frame. that is so frustrating if you're a knife lover like me ! PROS the good thing about this knife is that : -it fits well in your grasp for guys like me who have big hands. -the blade is quite thick and hefty , good for some heavy duty work cutting.only if sharp though. -it's easy to sharp, but doesn't keep an edge for too long. I'm getting this knife anyway but not from amazon. it's not a bad knife. I'll just go to my local store and get the one without serrations because that's all they have. if you are looking for something for work purpose however invest in something more expensive but that offers better quality and safety. if you're on a budget, this will do, but don't use it with a crooked blade like mine for work or you'll end up hurting yourself . I'll be investing in a crkt no time off in the future with that said. I'll try to contact someone but because I live abroad I am not paying to send this POS back to wherever it came from, so that they can send another one . stay safe and have a good one .. cheers. pictures will be coming soon ..

Minimalist design with the expected HIGH Gerber quality. Still comfortable in your hand. Note the point. It’s a “tanto” point. The blade’s edge at the tip is STRAIGHT, not curved. This is what I wanted for scraping FLAT surfaces very nicely. And, do-it-yourselfers (sharpen your own) will find it easier to keep razor sharp. If you want HIGH quality (say “Gerber”) TANTO blade, folding and lockable knife, this is it. Locking function is a little bit stiff. But SAFE.

I would have like to have give this knife 3.5 stars, but you can't do that on Amazon. This really is a great, everyday carry knife. Good balance. Looks great. Very sturdy. Solid weight. Good price. Pocket clip. But it is designed for right-handed people. For us left-handers, the clip is NOT movable. So when it comes out of your pocket, the knife will be backward. When you attempt to open the knife with your left hand, the clip obscures the the thumb pin on the blade. Finally, the clip is fairly large (a good thing normally) but it sits in a little bit of an awkward position in your left hand. Finally, the blade is extremely (almost impossible) difficult to open one-handed (left or right). I am hoping that they are not all like this and I just got one that was too tight-- and that it is not just a design flaw. Because it is so tight, the thumb pin starts to dig into your thumb pretty good due to its design. Watching the video and knowing Gerber's quality, I think I just got a bum knife do you probably won't have this issue. UPDATE (05AUG13): When removing the safety to close the knife, the clip is designed for right-handed people to push--a very natural movement. For left-handed people you must pull the clip toward you. Difficult? Not really, but also not the as easy nor as intuitive. Also, I would have moved a few more grams of the knife's weight into the blade for an even better balance. The opening of the blade has not loosened up after about 150 open and closings, so the thumb pin is not usable for one-handed opening. I do agree that this knife should be shipped a little sharper than it actually is. Overall, I still really like this knife and carry it every day. Gerber, are you listening???