Gerber 22-01629 LMF II Black Infantry Knife with 4.8-Inch Blade
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Gerber 22-01629 LMF II Black Infantry Knife with 4.8-Inch Blade
Customer Review: Excellent knife.... if you don't mind serrations.
Summary: 4 Stars
Seeing as how this knife is meant for military and survival situations, I understand the need for serrations. But having the option to do without would certainly be nice.
That said, this knife is a beast. It is rather large and not something I would not feel comfortable whipping out on a camping trip at the risk of looking like a Rambo wannabe. But for a survival situation, this knife would be almost ideal. The blade is thick, strong and holds a good edge. The included carbide sharpener in the sheath is a nice feature.
The lashing holes are located nicely, and make it easy to lash it to a pole for use as a spear, The heft of the blade makes for good penetration. It works well for splitting small wood using a baton, and the butt of the handle makes for a decent hammer in a pinch.
The handle is a soft rubber handle with good grip when wet, though not with gloves. The lack of a full tang is not a con here, as the handle is insulated against electrical shock, and to be honest you can't even tell it is only a 3/4 tang. I have not tried to use it to cut wires yet, and don't anticipate doing so ever. But it is nice to have that option.
Some people have noted that the knife is a bit tough to unsheath, but I found that to be a pro rather than a con. I would rather my knife be a little tough to deploy rather than it get caught on a stick while bushwhacking and have it go flying into the underbrush. It is molle-comaptible, and comes with two straps with rubber threading to keep the straps where you put them when deploying, rather than have them ride up your leg.
I think I would prefer the Seal Pup Elite from SOG over this blade, but I have not used the Seal Pup extensively as I have the LMF II so it is tough to tell.
Customer Review: Excellent survival knife
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been looking for an affordable yet durable survival knife; full tang, stainless blade and proven - this knife fits the bill. The sheath is also well built and useful - this is a great addition to my large kit.Customer Review: Excellent survival knife
Summary: 5 Stars
I read a lot about this knife here and on knife forums. I hold Gerber in high regard and the price here is excellent, so I ordered one. Amazon shipped it long before they promised and it arrived quickly.
I'm very happy with the LMF II. The steel is the same excellent 420HC Stainless as my beloved Gerber Mark II and the LMF II arrived shaving sharp. Fit and finish is typical Gerber - excellent! The handle fits my medium-sized hand securely and comfortably, and its soft coating keeps it tight in your hand in wet conditions. The "jimping" on the handle rise at the hilt provides a useful thumb rest to leverage while cutting. The knife's a bit heavy, but the balance is great and the build sturdy. The point at the bottom of the grip would make short work of a Plexiglas canopy or window.
The sheath setup is obviously designed for MOLLE gear, but it has a variety of attachment means. I found the leg strap too tight, but it does have a stretch section. The straps also have 6 rubberized thread lines that run lengthwise in two sets of three stitch lines each. These nicely keep the straps from sliding when in use, especially for calf-carry. The built-in sharpener works and will be handy in the field. The quick-release works great, making the two handle restraints almost unnecessary.
Speaking of the handle restraints, the bottom one seems too short to go around the handle near the bottom of the palm swell. Contrary to what others have said here, it DOES stretch. Simply push the knife into the sheath almost to the hilt, but stop short so that the offending restraint will snap closed in the narrow area between the hilt and the palm swell. Once snapped, push the knife the rest of the way into the sheath while working the closed restraint up the palm swell. Leave it sit overnight. That's it! After that, the restraint will be tight but will snap normally.
Overall, this is a great knife with excellent steel that really holds an edge. It upholds Gerber's reputation for high quality cutlery and should last a lifetime. I'd go with a different sheath myself, but this one has enough attachment options to work OK. If you use it on MOLLE gear, you'll be delighted with the sheath's options.
I didn't think that I'd see this day, but the LMF II has replaced my beloved Mark II as my primary field knife.
Customer Review: Gerber 22-01629 LMF II Black Infantry Knife- 4.8 inch blade
Summary: 4 Stars
Good quality sheath with a lot of options to carry, including a built in sharpener is a plus
Sharp knife and fits well in the hand, quality construction
I deducted one star because as an INFANTRY knife you need to deploy quickly, and effortlessly; pulling the knife from the sheath requires a little strength, more than what I think is needed; especially if one hand is holding the sheath while the other pulls the knife from the sheath--in a worst case scenario I may just have one good hand I need to be able to deploy my knife with one hand with little effort. I have a Ka-Bar and Ontario Knife Co M9 Bayonet, they deploy easily from their sheaths, come right off!
Overall package has the "cool" factor being tactical and all
Customer Review: Gerber Delivers
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the last survival-type knife you'll ever buy. It is extremely sturdy and well balanced. The overall design shows that Gerber didn't just whip this one up on the drawing board - they gave it some thought and got some real world input. The convenience of having a sharpener on the sheath is genius (hope that guy got a raise), as was the hammer/punch grip-end. This knife is thick, heavy and substantial -- definitely not a boot-knife unless you want to walk funny. Good job Gerber.