Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife "Out of the Box"

 The Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife:
Well, this Isn't exactly out of the box. Iv'e owned this knife for a couple of months now but feel its well worth a review. In the world of knives there's a lot of room for personal preference. Regarding everything from look, feel, materials, blade type, point type, and even the sheath. But I'm not here to debate all that today. My guiding principle here is that I'm a big fan of getting the most out of your gear. Versatility, and this knife won me over on that point. Now some would use the saying "jack of all trades, master of nothing." which is fine but I'd rather be half decent at any situation that comes up, than a master of a situation I might never encounter.

I should point out that It really came down to 2 choices for me,
this knife or the Gerber Infantry LMF II. They are in essence the same
knife, but with a few small differences. The LMF has a glass breaker on
pommel rather than a hammer/striking surface. and it's Sheath is MOLLE compatible which made it a tough choice cause I did want a knife I could fix to my Plate carrier. In the end I'll probably buy the LMF later anyway cause I'm just stupid like that...

So lets get down to the real dirt! The knife specs are, a ½" thick serrated high carbon stainless steel drop point blade. With a 4.8" length. the knife is 10" overall. the balance is about an inch behind the hilt,  right behind the index finger notch. The weigh of this thing surprised me, it's got some real heft to it, 11.2 oz. The grip feels comfortable in a number of positions, normal, backhand, and face-up with your thumb in the center. It feel's soft and sticks well without feeling too gummy. I am wondering if the grip on this is insulated like the LMF. allowing you to cut electrified wires...but I'm not about to test that without knowing for sure. The blade is not Exactly full tang "running the length of the handle" it stops at the lower screw in in the handle, 1" short of the full length...I would say that's probably it's only fault. I bought the standard serrated version but there is a fine edge version for sale too if you'd prefer that. Mine wasn't particularly very sharp out of the box, but I have since then fixed the problem myself. Its hard to say sometimes you get one that's dull and other times you might get the same knife, razor sharp out of the box.

The Sheath Carrier is made of mildew resistant Nylon. I don't actually know what the blade housing is made of, it feels like some heavy duty plastic. It holds the Blade secure even upside down, but like many things, we'll see if that lasts with use. It can be mounted to belts and straps in a variety of ways. horizontal or vertical. Sadly, as is its not MOLLE compatible but could be made to, with the right quick-straps. The blade housing can be taken off the sheath as well giving you more options.



But this leads me into what I think makes this knife so amazing, its
versatility. On the back of the blade housing is a diamond
sharpener so you can maintain the blades edge while out in the field.



Flip that over and on the top side is a Ferrocerioum "don't ask me
how to pronounce that." fire rod. Strike this on the striking notch

located on top of the blade and you got a way to make fire when you run out of matches or other options. you can buy Replacements for the rod, should you ever lose it on the Gerber website for $5.


 The back side of the sheath has some Land Air rescue information sewn into it, and included in the packaging was a small "Bear Grylls Basics of Survival" manual which was a good read for beginners like me. I keep it in my wallet now.

The Pommel of the knife is a flat stainless steel striking surface which can be used as a hammer for shelter building. Or in a CQB self defense situation, a non-lethal striking option. Hey, you never know! And last but not least, there are three lashing holes through the knife's handle so it can be fastened to make a Spear. It also originally came with a small rescue whistle attached to the handle but I took that off and used some 550 chord to make a lanyard. the whistle is now attached to my jacket zipper. Options, options, options that's why I bough this knife.

Now  I know some of you are sitting there thinking "Bear Grylls is a Tool!" and "that show is a scam!"
I've seen a lot of that talk online from people who must be some real "Experts" but I don't care. Regardless of how the show is made Bear puts himself in some very dangerous situations, to teach people something that could potentially save their lives. The Guy does things for the sake of your education, that you probably wouldn't have the guts to do in a life or death situation. I personally love his show. I haven't used ALL of his products but they sell some pretty awesome stuff. and i definitely stand by this product...for now. As I said before I will update another blog on the product. "In the Field" after some heavy use. Until then stay safe, and be prepared.










 LOL, Update so I just looked that the Gerber website and apparently they make a "Pro" version of the knife now that is full tang so check it out.